Effective June 26, 2011, the Village hereby adopts the following policies and procedures, in accordance with Ohio law, to perform the “employer pick-up” of employee contributions to the Ohio Public Employee Retirement System (“OPERS”) and the Police and the Ohio Police and Fire Pension (“OP&F”):
(a) For the categories of Village employees listed in subsection (b) hereof, the contributions required to be made by each such employee to the OPERS or OP&F, whichever is applicable, as an employee contribution under Ohio R.C. Chapters 145 and 742 shall be paid, pursuant to subsection (c) hereof, by the Village on behalf of the employee in lieu of contribution by the employees and in accordance with the provisions of this section.
(Ord. 2011-26. Passed 5-23-11.)
(b) This section shall apply to all Village officials and/or employees in the following categories: Police Department personnel, Fire Department Personnel, Public Service Department personnel, support personnel, elected officials, appointed officials, and all other employees who are not members of the above groups. This section shall not apply to non Village employees who are hired temporarily in order to provide traffic control at private construction projects and shall not apply to elected officials who, consistent with Ohio law and OPERS regulations, decline OPERS membership. (Ord. 2011-37. Passed 6-27-11.)
(c) The Village’s method of payment of salary to employees who are participants in OPERS and OP&F shall be as follows, in order to provide for a salary reduction pick up of employee contributions to OPERS or OP&F:
(1) The total salary for each eligible employee shall be the salary otherwise payable under the Village policies. Such total salary of each employee shall be payable by the Village in two parts:
A. Deferred salary; and
B. Cash salary.
(2) An eligible employee’s deferred salary shall be equal to that percentage of that employee’s total salary which is required from time to time by OPERS or OP&F to be paid as an employee contribution by that employee, and shall be paid by the Village to OPERS or OP&F on behalf of that employee as a pick up and in lieu of OPERS or OP&F employee contribution otherwise payable by that employee. Employees shall not have the option of receiving the statutorily required contribution directly instead of it being paid by the Village to OPERS or OP&F.
(d) Such employee’s cash salary shall be equal to that employee’s total salary less the amount of the pick up for that employee, and shall be payable, subject to applicable payroll deductions to that employee.
(1) The Village shall compute and remit its employer contributions to OPERS or OP&F based upon an employee’s total salary. The total combined expenditures of the Village for such employee’s total salaries payable under applicable Village policies and the pick up provisions of this section shall not be greater than the amounts the employee would have been paid for those items had this provision not been in effect.
(2) A person electing this pick up deduction shall not have the option of choosing to receive the payroll deduction directly instead of having this deduction picked up by the Village. Members who have elected to participate in this plan cannot increase, decrease or terminate the amount of the pick up deduction.
(e) All full-time Village employees identified in subsection (b) hereof and who are contributing members of OPERS or OP&F may purchase additional service credit, tax deferred, and the Village shall withhold the required service credit deduction from the gross pay of each person who elects to do so and shall pick up (assume and pay) such deduction to OPERS or OP&F in accordance with subsection (c) hereof.
(f) The Director of Finance is hereby authorized to perform all acts necessary and appropriate to facilitate the implementation of the provisions of this section, including, but not limited to, making applications to the Internal Revenue Service for private letter rulings concerning Federal tax treatment of the provisions of this plan and making applications to the appropriate State retirement boards.
(Ord. 2011-26. Passed 5-23-11.)