(a) An employee who retires on or after January 1, 1977, but before January 2, 2001, will normally retire on the first day of the month following his or her sixty-second birthday or the first day of the month following ten years of completed service with the city, whichever is later.
(b) An employee who retires prior to January 1, 1977, will normally retire on the first day of the month following his or her sixty-fifth birthday or the first day of the month following ten years of completed service with the city, whichever is later.
(c) On or after January 2, 2001, an employee will be eligible to retire on the first day of the month following his or her fifty-fifth birthday and the completion of 25 years of services, or his or her sixty-second birthday and the completion of five years of services, or the completion of 30 years of services regardless of age.
(d) In the event of normal retirement, the retiring employee shall be entitled to and shall be paid an annuity payable monthly beginning with the month of retirement and continuing until death. The amount of annuity to which the retiring employee will be entitled will be calculated as follows:
(1) An employee who retires prior to October 6, 1988, shall be eligible to receive a monthly benefit computed in accordance with the provisions of the plan as in effect as of the date of his or her retirement; provided, however, that with respect to those employees who retired prior to January 1, 1977, effective as of January 1, 1977 the retirement benefit payable to each such individual was increased by 25% as of that date; and, provided further, that effective as of October 6, 1988, the monthly benefit payable to each individual who retired before such date shall be increased by 2% of each such individual’s current benefit times the number of full years between each such individual’s most recent retirement date and October 6, 1988.
(2) An employee who retires prior to October 6, 1988, shall be eligible to receive a monthly benefit computed in accordance with the provisions of the plan as in effect as of the date of his or her retirement. An employee who retires on or after October 6, 1988, but before January 2, 2001, shall be entitled to, and shall be paid, an annuity payable monthly beginning with the month of retirement and continuing until death. The amount of the annuity to which the retired employee will be entitled will be equal to 50% of his or her final average monthly compensation plus 75% of the excess over $825 of such final average monthly compensation; provided, however, the employee has completed at least 25 full years of credited service at his or her normal retirement date. If the employee’s credited service at normal retirement date is less than 25 full years, the aforesaid amount shall be reduced for the shorter service by multiplying it by a fraction, the numerator of which is the employee’s full years and fractions thereof in months of credited service at normal retirement date and the denominator of which is 25 years.
(3) An employee who retires on or after January 2, 2001, shall be entitled to and shall be paid an annuity in the amount of 3% times the number of years of his or her service to the city times his or her final average monthly compensation, subject in any event to a maximum of 75% of his or her final average monthly compensation.
(4) “Final average monthly compensation,” for the purposes of this section, shall mean the monthly average of the employee’s annual earnings during the highest 60 consecutive calendar months occurring in the 120 calendar months immediately preceding his or her normal retirement date if such date falls on or after January 1, 1979, and based upon compensation immediately preceding actual retirement date if normal retirement date preceded January 1, 1979, or he or she elected to continue to contribute after normal retirement date as provided in section 18-95. “Annual earnings” as used in the above sentence shall mean gross earnings received by the employee as compensation for service to the city as provided for in Section 18-55.
(5) Elective benefits. The city may, from time to time, offer elective benefits to employees, which benefits would be funded solely by employees contributions and would not result in any additional cost to the city. These benefits are provided for in section 18-128 of the plan.
(e) Commencing October 1, 2001, in lieu of receiving a cost of living increase, retirees may be eligible to receive a supplemental pension distribution payable by the following July 1, the amount of which shall be determined as of September 30 of each year. The amount of the distribution is equal to the amount the net investment return exceeds the assumed rate of investment return divided equally among all participants whose benefit was in pay status as of the previous October 1. The amount of the distribution shall be the same for all eligible retired members regardless of years of service, age, years retired, or amount of monthly benefit. In no event shall the supplemental benefit exceed the average monthly benefit of those retirees receiving a monthly benefit calculated as of the previous October 1.
(1) The actuary for the pension fund shall determine the rate of investment return on the pension fund assets during the 12-month period ending each September 30, and shall be the rate reported in the most recent actuarial report.
(2) The actuary for the pension fund shall, as of September 30, determine the actuarial present value of future pension payments to current retirees.
(3) The supplemental benefit shall not be paid in any year that the present value of such benefits does not exceed the net actuarial experience accumulated from all sources of gains and losses since this benefit was enacted.
(4) If there shall be a supplemental distribution, Board of Trustees shall authorize a supplemental pension distribution, unless the administrative expenses of distribution exceed the amount available for distribution.
(5) The eligible persons to receive a supplemental distribution are retirees, including participants in the DROP, and their beneficiaries.
(6) For members who participate in the DROP, as provided in § 18-127 of the plan, the supplemental pension distribution, if distributed, shall be deposited in the member's DROP account during their term of the participation in the DROP.
(f) An employee's right to his or her normal retirement benefit is non-forfeitable upon attainment of normal retirement age.
(Code 1958, § 21-47; Ord. No. 79-20, Art. I, § 5, 7-17-79; Ord. No. 80-51, § 5, 12-16-80; Ord. No. 88-43, § 3, 9-21-88; Ord. No. 98-15, § 1, 5-19-98; Ord. No. 00-75, § 4, 1-2-01; Ord. No. 02-026, § 2, 6-18-02; Ord. No. 06-079, § 2, 10-17-06; Ord. No. 10-028, § 10, 11-3-10; Ord. No. 13-035, § 3, 12-3-13)