Waxahachie Firemen’s Relief and Retirement Fund

Waxahachie Firemen’s Relief and Retirement Fund

The Waxahachie Firemen's Relief and Retirement Fund was established in 1941 to serve firefighters employed by the City of Waxahachie. It is a single-employer defined benefit plan governed by a local Board of Trustees. The City of Waxahachie acts as the primary employer and plan sponsor, with the City's Finance Director historically serving on the board. The fund operates under Chapter 8 of the Texas Government Code, the statutory framework for local firefighter pensions. The fund's investment strategy is straightforward and weighted toward real estate and mutual funds. Its portfolio includes a commercial real estate asset in Waxahachie, a mixed-use private real estate position in New York via Central Park Group, and a broader allocation to real estate mutual funds. This mix reflects a bias toward income-generating property, a common preference among small Texas firefighter pensions that prioritize stable returns over venture or growth equity. The fund's total fiduciary net position anchors the portfolio, and its investment posture remains entirely domestic, centered on Texas real estate with a single out-of-state private real estate commitment. The fund participates in two state-level peer networks: the Texas Local Fire Fighters Retirement Act association and the Texas Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems. TEXPERS provides annual asset allocation and performance benchmarking studies, which allows the fund to measure its conservative real-estate-heavy portfolio against peer municipal plans without retaining external investment consultants. The fund's architecture is defined by its statutory origins. Unlike municipal pensions that operate under home-rule governance, this fund's investment authority, board composition, and reporting requirements are dictated solely by the Texas Local Fire Fighter Retirement Act. That legal structure limits the fund's ability to deviate from prescribed asset classes without legislative action, making its investment posture more rigid — but also more predictable — than comparably sized corporate or foundation pools.