NEW CMERS ANNUITY & PENSION BOARD EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & SECRETARY
The ERS has Appointed a New Executive Director & Secretary Patrick McClain has been appointed by CMERS Annuity & Pension Board to the position of Executive Director & Secretary, to succeed the long serving incumbent, Jerry Allen, upon his planned retirement on January 1, 2026. Patrick is a highly adaptable organizational leader and seasoned public pension attorney, combining over 15 years of experience as a distinguished military commander and CMERS General Counsel. In addition to earning a Bachelor of Arts from Purdue University in 2007 and a Juris Doctor from The John Marshall Law School in 2011, Patrick has attended the U.S. Marine Corps Officer Candidate School (2008), Naval Justice School (2012), and U.S. Marine Corps Command and Staff College (2024).
Patrick began his career in the Milwaukee City Attorney’s Office in 2015. In that role, he managed all legal matters for the $6 billion CMERS pension system, advising the Annuity and Pension Board on fiduciary governance, regulatory compliance, benefit administration, and litigation. He played a key role in drafting authoritative legal opinions, guiding legislative changes—including 2023 Wisconsin Act 12—and protecting ERS interests during one of the most significant legislative plan overhauls in decades. Simultaneously, Patrick served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, retiring in 2024 as a Civil Affairs Officer with the rank of Major. He led international humanitarian and civic assistance missions, coordinating directly with local leaders to aid civilian populations and strengthen U.S. partnerships.
Patrick’s career reflects a rare blend of legal expertise, executive leadership, and operational resilience. He looks forward to leveraging this dual-track experience to promote continued pension plan stability and fiduciary excellence for CMERS members and beneficiaries. CMERS Board of Trustees and staff congratulate Patrick on his promotion and are confident he will succeed in his new role.
Results of the election for the retiree representative seat on our Pension Board
This 2025 Fall’s election for the retiree representative seat on our Pension Board resulted in the election of John Barmore who won over Andrew Wagner. The election was very close with Barmore receiving 48 votes more than Wagner, proving once again that your vote really does count.
The MRPA Board would like to congratulate John on his victory and wish him well in his upcoming 4-year term.
We would also like to thank soon to be retired Tom Klusman for his hardworking dedication to this position over the past 12 years. Tom has spent countless hours devoted to the task of ensuring that our $6+ billion Pension Fund, the “lifeblood” of retirees, remains financially sound. Throughout his 12 years, Tom has done an outstanding job and has kept the MRPA membership up to date on everything Pension related. A big thank you Tom, and much good luck in your retirement!
Pension Protection Act & Secure Act 2.0
$3,000. Tax Deduction for Police Officers
The Pension Protection Act of 2006 allowed retired public safety officers a tax deduction of up to $3,000 of your health insurance premium bills if those premiums came directly off from your pension check. The SECURE Act 2.0 of 2022 states that those premiums no longer must come solely from insurance premiums deducted from your pension check. The MRPA can’t give tax advice so please ask your tax advisor for further clarification.
Our sister organization, the Milwaukee Retired Fire & Police Association kindly forwarded us the following information listed on the International Association of Fire Fighters website. This information applies to all public safety officers including police officers. Click on the link and most all of your questions will be answered. Any further questions, please consult your tax advisor.
Healthcare Enhancement for Local Public Safety Officers (HELPS) – IAFF
Social Security Fairness Act H.R.82
President Joe Biden signed this act on 1-05-25. This law repeals the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) provision. This law applies to benefits payable for the months after December 2023. Retired government employees currently receiving pensions will see a dramatic increase in their monthly Social Security benefits. This, along with a “back pay check” will occur (according to “experts”) sometime in the next few weeks.
****UPDATE****
February 25th 2025 Update from the Social Security Admin. Re. The Social Security Fairness Act Payments
Starting the week of February 24, 2025, SSA is beginning to pay retroactive benefits and will increase monthly benefit payments to people whose benefits have been affected by the WEP and GPO
If a beneficiary is due retroactive benefits as a result of the Act, they will receive a one-time retroactive payment, deposited into the bank account SSA has on file, by the end of March. This retroactive payment will cover the increase in their benefit amount back to January 2024, the month when WEP and GPO no longer apply.
Social Security benefits are paid one month behind. Most affected beneficiaries will begin receiving their new monthly benefit amount in April 2025 (for their March 2025 benefit).
Anyone whose monthly benefit is adjusted, or who will get a retroactive payment, will receive a mailed notice from Social Security explaining the benefit change or retroactive payment.
NOTE: A beneficiary may receive two mailed notices, the first when WEP or GPO is removed from their record, and a second when their monthly benefit amount is adjusted for their new monthly payment amount. They may receive the retroactive payment before receiving the mailed notice.
We have been able to expedite payments due to the use of automation. For the many complex cases that cannot be processed automatically, additional time is required to manually update the records and pay both retroactive benefits and the new benefits amount.
We urge beneficiaries to wait until April to inquire about the status of their retroactive payment, since these payments will process incrementally throughout March.
Beneficiaries should also wait until after receiving their April payment before contacting SSA to ask about their monthly benefit amount because the new amount will not be reflected until April for their March payment.
Please check the below link to the Social Security Administration Website to get more accurate information.
Pension Fund Update
by Tom Klusman, Retiree-elect ERS Board Trustee
Hello my fellow MPD retirees! I hope your Summer went well, and Welcome to the Fall season. The following is my regular update to you all on recent happenings and the current stats on our pension fund.
CURRENT STATUS
As of the first week of September 2025, our fund’s total value stands at $6.24 Billion. We started the year at $5.85 Billion. So, clearly, 2025 has been a good year so far. Here’s more particulars …
Outgoing monies YTD are just shy of $342 million, with $326.6 million of that being the eight (8) so far monthly retiree payrolls. So we see now, our monthly retiree payroll has surpassed $40 million per month. The rest is the administrative expenses to run the fund and GPS payments.
On the incoming / contributions side, we have received $237.5 million YTD in employee & employer contributions. This is now our 2nd year of historically large employer contributions, mainly funded by the Act 12 city sales tax.
On the investment portfolio side of things; it’s a wonderful world. We currently have an 8.18% return so far (YTD). The excellent work of our investment team & managers clearly continues. This return already exceeds our year-end return assumption of 6.8%, as required by Act 12. In dollars, this return equates to $492 million in Capital Market Gain for our fund so far YTD.
So in summary, we are about $400 million better off than we were on January 1 of this year, and we’ve paid out quite a bit in the meantime. The strong incoming contributions and the excellent investment returns are to thank for this.
2025 ANNUAL ACTUARIAL VALUATION
As I always mention, an Annual Actuarial Valuation of our fund is required by Chapter 36 and is routinely presented to the ERS Board at its June meeting. This year that occurred on June 24th. The valuation reports a snapshot of our fund as of January 1st of each year, in this case 2025. This year’s valuation determined and reported our fund’s actuarial accrued liability has risen to $8.04 Billion, from $7.8 Billion last year. As we always like to do; comparing that number to what we cited above that we ‘have in the bank’ ($6.24 Billion) reveals a $1.8 Billion unfunded actuarially accrued liability, which, if you’re keeping track is the same as last year. So it seems we picked up some extra cash this year, but also some extra liabilities; isn’t that life?
Also, as I enjoy reporting to you each year, each year’s valuation exposes what our funded ratio is. This year (on an actuarial basis) our funded ratio decreased a bit to 76.01%, from 76.7% last year. What ‘funded ratio’ means is that currently our fund realistically has about 76% of the money it needs to meet all its obligations.
THE RETIREMENT OF JERRY ALLEN AND OUR SEARCH FOR A NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
You may have heard that the Executive Director of our ERS has announced his own retirement at the end of 2025. Many of you have met Mr. Jerry Allen over the years, as he has spoken at many retiree functions, City meetings, etc. in the past. Mr. Allen has served our fund for over seventeen years as its Executive Director. Jerry’s significant intelligence, talent, patience, and just outright caring for us retirees has impacted every aspect of our ERS and made it the great institution it now is. His retirement is very much deserved, but will leave a huge hole in our front office. We (the pension board) earlier this year hired a national executive talent search firm to seek-out Jerry’s successor. We are currently in the midst of this process and it is going well. We have received an overwhelming response in the number of applicants from all over the country, many with public pension plan executive experience, and others similarly qualified. We as a board are looking for a person to carry-on the excellence that Jerry has built, and that surely will be a very difficult task. We hope to have this process completed by the end of 2025 when Jerry goes to his very much deserved retirement. Jerry is irreplaceable, but our goal is to find the next-best on earth, wherever he or she may be.
In closing, I have been honored to serve in the ‘retiree rep’ seat on our pension board for so long, and with your support. The best part of that job has always been seeing so many of you at meetings, luncheons, and around town as I try my best to keep you informed of the important things that affect us.
Thank You for reading, but mostly for all your support over the years.
Sincerely,
-Tom Klusman
Medicare Info- 2025 Information
Kerry Leist, VP/Operations for NATIONAL BENEFIT CONSULTANTS, INC. passes along the following important information regarding Medicare eligibility. Click on the following link to see more information on Medicare costs and benefits
If you have any questions concerning the attached Medicare information, please contact Kerry Leist at 262-201-4370 ext. 101
Milwaukee Police Relief Association (MPRA) –By: President Eric Pfeiffer
The Milwaukee Police Relief Association is a non-profit organization (501c3) whose Board is elected by the membership, which includes members of the Milwaukee Police Department Retirees Association (MPRA), the Milwaukee Police Association (MPA), and the Milwaukee Police Supervisor’s Organization (MPSO). The current Board members include: President: Eric Pfeiffer, Vice President: David Feldmeier, Treasurer: Ray Bratchett, Secretary: Craig Sarnow, Directors: Mark Krowski, Greg Borst, and Gust Petropoulos (retired member).
To be an active member of the MPRA, one must be a sworn active law enforcement officer and/or a retiree who pays monthly dues of $2.08 into the benefit fund, which includes those members approved for a duty and/or ordinary disability. If a MPD member did not leave in good standing (i.e. termination and/or resigned) his/her MPRA benefit ceases.
At retirement, all active MPD members have the option to “opt out” of the MPRA, but the Board discourages this option as the majority of members lose a $9,000.00 benefit that their beneficiary is entitled to at time of death. Once the latter “opt out” election is made, a member cannot re-enroll in the MPRA. There are also a few older retirees who only pay $1.25 per month into the MPRA fund, so their benefit is reduced.
As an active member of the MPRA, it is important that any life change such as marriage, birth/death, re-location, etc. that may result in a beneficiary, address and/or phone change, that the MPRA is provided the updated information. Updated information can be provided on a beneficiary form that can be found on our website: http://www.pra-milwaukee.org/ or by contacting us at (414) 649-8373 to request a form be emailed or mailed.
To claim a death benefit for a MPRA member, the beneficiary (i.e. spouse, surviving children) should contact the MPRA at (414)649-8373 to verify the member was active, in good standing, and must provide a death certificate for the member.
If you have any questions regarding any part of the process please call the office or email President Pfeiffer at epfeif@milwaukee.gov. Members should be aware that our office is not staffed full-time and we will make a good faith effort to respond to any requests as soon as possible.
Currently, the MPRA Fund is at $11 million dollars and it is the Board’s fiduciary responsibility to ensure money collected from members and through donations (i.e. Combined Giving and/or private donors) is invested properly for fund growth. We thank you for allowing us to serve the membership as your Board.
-Eric, Dave, Craig, Ray, Mark, Greg, and Gust