Aug. 7--Weatherford City Council discussed plans to build new police and fire stations during a work session on Tuesday evening at city hall.

The council committed to proceed with a funding plan for the projects. The plan includes using money from reserves, capital fund and a 1-cent tax rate increase.

Action was not necessarily made by council, but they did commit to a funding plan, Mayor Paul Paschall said.

"This is a firm commitment that we're making council move forward for this budget period and these two capital projects that we've talked about tonight," Paschall said.

According to a presentation by Assistant City Manager Brad Burnett, the new public safety building would be 32,000 square feet, cost no more than $14.5 million and have a life span of 30 years. Construction is expected to start in 2021.

The fire station would be about 10,000 square feet, cost no more than $4.5 million and have a life span of 30 years, according to the presentation. The building would need to withstand severe weather and would include sleeping quarters, commercial kitchen, fire marshals' office, emergency back-up power and specialized equipment like an exhaust capture system and washing machine for bunker gear. Construction is planned to start in 2021 or 2022 after the property selection and design is complete.

Weatherford Police Chief Lance Arnold and Fire Chief Paul Rust gave presentations at the work session about why they need new buildings.

Arnold described the space issues at WPD's current public safety building on Santa Fe Drive, including issues that people may come across when coming to the police station. He said there is a need for more parking space as the building is used for community meetings, a bigger conference room, room for training, an inside K-9 kennel and storage space. He also said police employees often share offices, and more private spaces are needed for officers to work on sensitive cases.

"It is not uncommon to see officers processing evidence, from drugs to everything else, right next to someone who might be eating their dinner, working on a report at a computer station," Arnold said. "Again, that limited space is causing us some issues."

Rust said the fire station is having similar issues as the police station related to design and function of the building. He mentioned that a study is in progress currently to use data to determine the best location for a fire station. He also said there is a need for unisex bathroom areas, more privacy in living quarters and a better ventilation system to handle exhaust. Rust talked about the need to keep air with carcinogens out of spaces where firefighters live.

"What we're finding is everything that we use is releasing those carcinogens, it's in the smoke, everything that burns today is synthetic and all smoke has carcinogens, is loaded with carcinogens," Rust said. "That's why we're finding out that so many firefighters are coming down with cancer."

Completing both projects is expected to cost no more than $19 million, Burnett said. The city needs $7.2 million to fund debt service until fiscal year 2027, at which time debt service capacity increases. New debt will be funded through reserves and other revenue sources until then.

"The proposed options do not compromise short- or long-term financial strategies," Burnett said.

Burnett then presented three funding options to council and asked for their direction. Council decided they were most comfortable with option three, which pulls $2.5 million from general fund cash reserves and a capital fund transfer of $3.5 million, or $500,000 yearly for seven years. Option three also includes a 1-cent tax rate increase, which amounts to $250,000 for seven years or $1.75 million in total.

A 1-cent increase would amount to an annual tax bill increase of $10, while a 2-cent increase would be a $20 increase, according to Burnett's presentation.

Council also considered option two, which includes pulling $4 million from general fund cash reserves, capital fund transfer of $1.75 million and a 1-cent tax rate increase.

The council eliminated option one first. That plan included using $4 million from general fund cash reserves and a 2-cent tax rate increase to total to $3.5 million over seven years.

All options include $7.5 million for debt service and an extra $300,000 in case of interest rate fluctuations, according to the presentation.

Council is expected to vote on a proposed tax rate on Aug. 13. Tax rate hearings take place on Aug. 27 and Sept. 10. The budget and tax rate are scheduled to be adopted on Sept. 24.

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A newly filed lawsuit in South Carolina alleges that Pacific Life continued accepting more than $1 million in premium payments tied to indexed universal life policies after terminating the agents who sold the policies, without informing the policyholders of those terminations.

The complaint places Pacific Life at the center of renewed scrutiny over IUL sales practices connected to the Dixon family and Black Harbor network. Agents associated with that network were previously linked to the widely publicized Future Income Payments scandal.

“This case exposes a structural conflict at the heart of certain indexed universal life sales," said Robert Rikard of RP Legal Group, who represents the plaintiffs. "The higher the base premium, the higher the commission. The more optimistic the illustration, the easier the sale. But when the assumptions fail, it is the retiree, not the carrier and not the producer, who absorbs the damage.”

A spokesperson for PacLife declined to comment.

According to the lawsuit, PacLife investigated sales activity involving the agents and terminated them in early 2019. The plaintiffs, Richard and Cherie Geib, allege they were not informed of the terminations and were directed to continue communicating with or relying on the same agents whose authority had allegedly been revoked.

The carrier allegedly continued accepting more than $1 million in premium payments after the terminations without disclosing the change in agent status. The lawsuit characterizes that as a material omission that deprived policyholders of critical information about the integrity of the sales process and the servicing of their policies.

"You cannot cut off the architects of the strategy and keep collecting the money without telling the people whose retirement is on the line," Rikard maintained.

Christopher Dixon, Samuel Dixon, Resolute Capital, Black Harbor Wealth Management and Oxford Advisory Group are named as defendants along with PacLife. Chris Dixon and Black Harbor were caught up in the Future Income Payments scandal.

Investigators say FIP was a massive nationwide Ponzi scheme that defrauded more than 2,600 retirees and exploited more than 13,000 veterans. The scheme operated by offering lump-sum cash advances to pensioners in exchange for their future monthly pension or disability payments.

401(k) liquidation strategy at issue

At the center of the case is a strategy marketed as “Retirement Approach No Tax,” or RANT, which allegedly encouraged the plaintiffs to liquidate about $1.7 million from qualified 401(k) retirement accounts and move the funds into IUL policies.

The complaint alleges that the liquidation triggered substantial and irreversible tax liabilities, along with collateral effects on Social Security and Medicare calculations. The plaintiffs claim they were told the IUL policies would generate projected “tax-free” retirement income through policy loans, enhanced market participation and downside protection.

Instead, the lawsuit alleges the strategy exposed them to immediate tax acceleration, internal policy charges, carrier-controlled cap reductions and reliance on non-guaranteed illustrated assumptions that materially affected long-term performance.

The complaint further alleges that the tax liability created by the liquidation was financed through borrowing, compounding the plaintiffs’ financial exposure.

Broader structural allegations

IUL policies credit interest based on the performance of market indices, subject to caps, participation rates, spreads and other carrier-controlled features. While often marketed as a source of tax-advantaged retirement income through policy loans, projections depend on non-guaranteed assumptions and internal cost structures.

The lawsuit contends the policies were presented as retirement planning solutions rather than as insurance contracts whose performance was contingent on carrier-controlled variables.

The plaintiffs also allege the policies were structured as 100% base premium designs to maximize target premium under PacLife’s internal compensation grid. That design allegedly increased commissionable premiums and upfront compensation to the selling agents while increasing long-term policy expenses and reducing performance sustainability.

According to the complaint, that compensation-driven structure was not disclosed to the plaintiffs as such but was presented as an appropriate retirement configuration.

PacLife recently released the following statement, in part, in response to a separate lawsuit brought by RP Legal on behalf of NASCAR racing legend Kyle Busch:

"We stand by all our life insurance products, including Indexed Universal Life (IUL). An IUL policy provides valuable life insurance protection, helping ensure that families and other beneficiaries receive financial protection in the event of an unexpected or premature death of a loved one. IUL also offers the opportunity to build cash value over time, which may be accessed for a variety of purposes, including supplementing retirement income."

RP Legal and Chris Vernon of Vernon Litigation Group represent the plaintiffs. Both firms focus on complex financial product litigation, including insurance-based retirement strategies.

The complaint seeks damages based on alleged misrepresentation, omission of material facts and the unsuitable repositioning of qualified retirement assets into an illustration-dependent insurance structure.

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