(a) The City's method of payment of salary and the provisions of fringe benefits to members of the P.E.R.S. employees not covered by a bargaining unit, who are participants in the P.E.R.S. fund of Ohio, are hereby modified as follows, in order to provide for a salary reduction pickup of contributions to the Public Employees Retirement System Fund.
(b) The total annual salary and salary per pay period for each such employee shall be the salary otherwise payable under the applicable contracts and applicable City policies. Such total annual salary and salary per pay period of each employee shall be payable by the City in two parts: (1) deferred salary and (2) cash salary. An employee's deferred salary shall be equal to that percentage of said employee's total annual salary or salary per pay period which is required from time to time by the Public Employees Retirement System Fund of Ohio to be paid as an employee and shall be paid by the City to the Public Employees Retirement System Fund on behalf of said employee as a pick-up and in lieu of the Public Employees Retirement System Fund of Ohio contribution otherwise payable by said employee. An employee's cash salary shall be equal to said employee's total annual salary or salary per pay period less the amount of the pick-up for said employee and shall be payable, subject to applicable payroll deductions, to said employee. The City shall compute and remit its employer contributions to the Public Employees Retirement System Fund of Ohio based upon an employee's total annual salary or salary per pay period, including the aforesaid pick-up. The City's total combined expenditures of such employee's total salaries otherwise payable under their contracts and applicable City policies (including pick-up amounts) and its employer contributions to the Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio shall not be greater than the amounts it would have paid for those items had this provision not been in effect.
(c) The pick-up shall be included in the employee's total annual salary for the purpose of computing daily rate of pay, for determining paid salary adjustments to be made due to absence, or for any similar purpose.
(d) Any pick-up by the City of an employee's contributions to the Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio shall be mandatory for all of the employees previously described who are members of Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio not covered by a bargaining unit. No such member shall have the option of choosing to receive the contributed amounts directly instead of having them paid by the City to Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio.
(e) The City shall fulfill its income tax reporting and withholding responsibilities for each employee in such manner as is required by applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations as they may exist at the time of such reporting and withholding, it being the City's understanding of the pick-up while applicable municipal income tax laws required it to report as an employee's gross income his or her total annual salary including the amount of the pick-up.
(f) he Finance Director, or his or her designee, is hereby directed to take all acts necessary and appropriate to initiate implementation of the provisions of this section, including but not limited to making applications to the Board administering the Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio program to determine the requirements of that board in connection with such pick-up plan.
(g) The pick-up plan shall apply to all eligible employees who qualify under this section and the plan shall commence once the Internal Revenue Service has ruled that the City's plan meets the qualifications of Section 414(h)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code and Revenue Regulations 81-35 and 81-36.
(Ord. 2020-14. Passed 3-23-20.)