(a) Normal Retirement. A participant who retires upon attainment of normal retirement age shall be entitled to receive a monthly retirement benefit, in an amount equal to 1.3 percent of the participant's final monthly average compensation multiplied by the participant's credited service paid in the normal form, commencing on the first day of the month coincident with or next following the date of retirement.
(Ord. 2224. Passed 12-29-97.)
(b) Early Retirement. A participant who terminates employment after attaining early retirement age, but prior to attainment of normal retirement age, shall be entitled to a monthly retirement benefit, commencing on the first day of any month prior to the date on which attainment of normal retirement age would occur if the participant continued in employment until such date, in an amount equal to the participant's accrued benefit at the date of termination of employment, paid in the normal form actuarially reduced for early commencement. Such actuarial reduction for early commencement shall be in an amount equal to one-half of one percent for each month that the payment commencement date precedes the date the participant would attain normal retirement age.
(c) Late Retirement. A participant who retires after the first day of the month coincident with or next following the date on which normal retirement age has been attained shall receive a retirement benefit pursuant to subsection (a) hereof in an amount equal to the amount calculated as of the date on which actual retirement occurs.
(d) Disability Retirement. A participant who has incurred a total and permanent disability, which causes such participant to cease active employment with the employer before the attainment of normal or early retirement age, shall be eligible to receive a disability retirement benefit under this Plan. The disability retirement benefit shall be in an amount equal to the participant's accrued benefit determined as of the date of disability. The disability retirement benefit shall be paid monthly until the earliest of the death of the participant or cessation of total and permanent disability.
The employer may require proof of continued disability, but not more frequently than once in any twelve-month period. Any participant who refuses to submit to a medical examination or furnish proof of continued disability upon the request of the employer shall cease to be eligible for receipt of a disability retirement benefit. A participant who does not resume employment upon cessation of total and permanent disability shall be deemed to have terminated employment as of the date the total and permanent disability commenced, and any benefits due pursuant to Section 292.06 shall be reduced by the value of the benefits received hereunder.
(e) Application for Benefit. A participant must complete and execute an application for benefit, on a form and in the manner prescribed by the Plan Administrator, and deliver the said application to the Plan Administrator at least thirty days prior to the date on which benefit payments are to commence. Notwithstanding anything contained herein to the contrary, no retirement benefit payments or any other benefit payments shall be due or payable on or before the first day of the month coincident with or next following the date that is thirty days after the date the Plan Administrator receives the application for benefit.
(f) Non-Duplication of Benefit. A participant who shall be receiving a monthly retirement benefit under this Plan, and who shall resume employment as an employee, shall have benefit payments suspended until the first day of the month coincident with or next following the date such employment shall cease. Such benefit payments shall be adjusted to reflect any additional years of credited service which may have accrued prior to the resumption of payment of benefits.
(g) Small Amounts. If the Plan Administrator determines that the value of a participant's accrued benefit is so small as to make monthly pension payments administratively impractical, the Plan Administrator may cause such payments to be made at such other periodic intervals as are administratively practical, but no less frequently than annually, or may make a single lump sum payment equal to the commuted value of such accrued benefit to the extent permitted under applicable law.
(h) Cessation of Benefit Payments. Any pension benefit payable hereunder shall be payable through and including the later of the month in which such participant's death occurs or the month in which any period certain payments due on or after the participant's death have been paid. Any survivor annuity payable on or after the participant's death, in accordance with the form of pension benefit elected, shall be paid through the month in which such surviving annuitant's death occurs.
(i) Special Provision for Restated Plans. The benefit amount of any participant who may have retired prior to the restatement date shall not be in any way altered by the provisions of this Plan, except where otherwise expressly indicated herein, and shall continue to be determined on the basis of the terms of the Plan in effect on the day preceding the restatement date.
(j) Maximum Benefit Limitations.
(1) Notwithstanding any provision of this Plan to the contrary, no benefit provided under this Plan attributable to contributions of the employer shall exceed, as an annual amount, the lesser of:
A. The amount specified in Code Section 415(b)(1)(A), as adjusted pursuant to Code Section 415(d), assuming the form of benefit shall be a straight life annuity (with no ancillary benefits); or
B. One hundred percent of the participant's average compensation for the participant's high three years.
(2) The limitations described in paragraph (j)(1) hereof shall be governed by the following conditions and definitions:
A. "Compensation" shall include the participant's wages, salaries and fees for personal services actually rendered in employment, to the extent that the amounts are includable in gross income, and shall exclude contributions made by the employer to a plan of deferred compensation, to the extent that, before the application of Code Section 415 limitations to that plan, the contributions are not includable in the gross income of the employee for the taxable year in which contributed; exclude distributions from a qualified plan of deferred compensation; and exclude other amounts which receive special tax benefits, such as premiums for group term life insurance, to the extent not includable in the gross income of the employee, or contributions made by the employer (whether made under a salary reduction agreement or not) to the purchase of an annuity contract pursuant to Code Section 403(b).
B. Benefits paid or payable in a form other than a straight life annuity (with no ancillary benefits), or where the employee contributes to the Plan or makes rollover contributions, shall be adjusted on an actuarially equivalent basis to determine the limitation contained herein.
C. In the case of a benefit which commences prior to the attainment of age sixty-two by the participant, the limitation set forth in paragraph (j)(1)A. hereof shall be adjusted on an actuarially equivalent basis to the amount determined pursuant to paragraph (j)(1)A. hereof commencing at age sixty-two. However, the reduction shall not reduce the limitation below seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000) for a benefit commencing at or after age fifty-five, or, if the benefit commences prior to the attainment of age fifty-five, the amount which is actuarially equivalent to a benefit of seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000) commencing at age fifty-five.
D. In the case of a benefit which commences after the attainment of age sixty-five by the participant, the limitation set forth in paragraph (j)(1)A. hereof shall be adjusted on an actuarially equivalent basis to the amount determined pursuant to paragraph (j)(1)A. hereof commencing at age sixty-five.
E. Benefits paid to a participant which total less than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) from all defined benefit plans maintained by the employer, expressed as an annual benefit, shall be deemed not to exceed the limitation of this section, provided that the employer has not, at any time, maintained a defined contribution plan in which the participant has participated. However, in the case of a participant with fewer than ten years of participation, the limitation expressed in this paragraph shall be reduced by one-tenth for each year of participation less than ten, but in no event shall this limitation be less than one thousand dollars ($1,000).
F. The limitations expressed herein shall be based upon Plan years for calculation purposes, shall be applied to all defined benefit plans maintained by the employer as one defined benefit plan and to all defined contribution plans maintained by the employer as one defined contribution plan, and shall be applied and interpreted, consistent with Code Section 415 and regulations thereunder, as applicable to government plans in general and this Plan in particular.
(Ord. 2138. Passed 3-15-93.)
(k) Additional Benefits for Qualified Participants. A "participant" who attains a normal retirement, early retirement, late retirement, disability retirement or a payable death benefit, or terminates on or after January 1, 2000, shall be entitled to receive an additional monthly retirement benefit provided that they had contributed an extra one percent from gross earnings from their date of hire until January 5, 1998, at which time an ordinance was changed that authorized all members to contribute the same percentage and further granted retirement eligibility upon completion of twenty years of credited service. Furthermore, only those qualifying participants who retire after January 1, 2000, shall be entitled to an additional benefit to be determined by accumulating the excess employee contributions with interest until the date of retirement and calculating the actuarial equivalent annuity benefit in accordance with Section 292.01 of the Plan.
(Ord. 2323. Passed 3-17-03; Ord. 2336. Passed 10-20-03.)