SPOILER ALERT
As of 2021, Troy’s pension fund was approximately 56% funded, leaving the city with an estimated $11.6 million unfunded liability, a liability the city likely knew it could not fully fund under the existing structure.
For years, the City of Troy has justified eliminating the former firefighter incentive plan by citing an IRS determination letter that allegedly required the plan to end.
If that letter exists, one simple question remains unanswered:
❓ Why won’t the city release it?
This is not a minor detail. The IRS letter is the foundation for a policy decision that dramatically altered firefighter compensation, retention, and morale. It has been repeatedly invoked as the reason “the old plan had to go away.”
Yet despite years of requests, the city has consistently refused to produce it.
🔍 A Pattern That Raises Reasonable Questions
Efforts to obtain the letter have not been casual or informal:
📄 FOIA requests have been denied
⚖️ Four retired firefighters sued to obtain the letter and lost
📂 Other FOIA attempts have been unsuccessful
🧑⚖️ During my own trial, the city attorney suggested that the letter may not exist
🚫 Despite that, the city fought aggressively to prevent even in camera review by a judge
This is not how routine public records are normally handled.
To put it plainly: if someone asked for a nuclear weapons schematic in the 1940s, the reaction might look similar. But this is allegedly a letter from the federal government to a city government about a retirement plan.
That should be public.
🧠 Applying Occam’s Razor
Occam’s Razor tells us that the simplest explanation is usually the correct one. If the IRS truly required Troy’s old firefighter plan to be eliminated:
❓ Why has the city refused to release the letter?
❓ Why fight disclosure at every level?
❓ Why prevent judicial review?
If the letter clearly supports the city’s position, transparency would strengthen that position, not weaken it.
And yet, the opposite has happened.
🔄 The Clawson Comparison
Another unanswered question makes this more confusing.
If the “big bad IRS” forced Troy’s plan to go away, how did it simultaneously approve Clawson’s plan, which is, by most accounts, nearly identical?
That inconsistency alone warrants explanation.
Federal agencies do not typically invalidate one municipal plan while approving a functionally similar one nearby without clear, documented reasons. If those reasons exist, the letter should clarify them.
Again, transparency would resolve this immediately.
💰 Following the Money
There is another possibility that deserves serious consideration.
As of 2021, Troy’s pension fund was approximately 56% funded, leaving the city with an estimated $11.6 million unfunded liability, a liability the city likely knew it could not fully fund under the existing structure.
That financial reality matters.
If the incentive plan was reduced not because of IRS enforcement, but because of long-term fiscal constraints, residents and firefighters deserve honesty about that decision. Difficult financial truths are not the same thing as wrongdoing — but hiding behind an unseen letter erodes trust.
🧭 Why This Still Matters
This issue is not about relitigating the past. It is about credibility going forward.
The new plan provides only a fraction of the value of the old one, and the city continues to struggle with retention and morale. Understanding why the old plan was eliminated is essential to evaluating whether current policy choices are sound, fair, and sustainable.
Transparency is not a threat to good governance. It is a requirement of it.
✅ A Reasonable Request
If the IRS letter exists, there is nothing to hide. The city should publish it.
Doing so would:
📌 Clarify the record
🧾 End years of speculation
🤝 Restore trust
👀 Allow firefighters and residents to assess the facts for themselves
If it does not exist, the city owes the public an explanation.
Either way, Troy deserves honesty.
This is not an unreasonable demand. It is the bare minimum standard for accountable local government.