(a) Effective December 19, 2005, the full amount of the statutorily required contributions to the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS) shall be withheld from the gross pay of each person within any of the classes established in division (b) of this section, and shall be “picked up” (assumed and paid) by the City. This pick-up by the City is, and shall be, designated as public employee contributions and shall be in lieu of contributions to OPERS by each person within any of the classes established in division (b). No person subject to this pick-up shall have the option of choosing to receive the statutorily required contribution to OPERS directly instead of having it picked up by the City or of being excluded from the pick-up.
(b) The pick-up by the City shall apply to all persons that are:
(1) Employees of the City who are, or become, contributing members of the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System.
(2) Elected officials who are, or elect to become, contributing members of the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System.
(c) The city’s method of payment of salary to employees who are participants in OPERS is hereby modified as follows, in order to provide for a salary reduction pick-up of employee contributions to OPERS: The total salary for each employee shall be the salary otherwise payable under the City policies. Such total salary 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 that employee’s total salary which is required from time to time by OPERS to be paid as an employee contribution by that employee and shall be paid by the City to OPERS on behalf of that employee as a pick-up and in lieu of the OPERS employee contribution otherwise payable by that employee. An 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. The City shall compute and remit its employer contributions to OPERS based upon an employee’s total salary. The total combined expenditures of the City for such employees’ total salaries payable under applicable City policies and the pick-up provisions of this section shall not be greater than the amounts it would have paid for those items had this provision not been in effect.
(d) Police department employees’ contributions.
(1) Effective December 19, 2005, the City Council has determined to begin to pick up all of the mandatory contributions by all of the police department employees who are members of the Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund through a payroll reduction. No contributions, other than police officers’, prior to the Council’s action, shall be picked up.
(2) Said picked-up contributions paid through a payroll reduction, even though designated as employee contributions for state law purposes, are being paid by the City in lieu of said contributions by the employee.
(3) Said picked-up contributions will not be included in the gross income of the employees for tax reporting purposes; that is, for federal or state income tax withholding, until distributed from the Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund.
(4) Said picked-up contributions will be included in the gross income of the employees for employment tax purposes, as the contributions are made to the Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund.
(5) Said employees shall not be entitled to any option of choosing to receive the contributed amounts directly instead of having them paid by the City to the Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund.
(e) Fire department employees’ contributions.
(1) Effective December 19, 2005, the City Council has determined to begin to pick up all of the mandatory contributions by the fire department employees who are members of the Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund through a payroll reduction. No contributions prior to the Council’s action shall be picked up.
(2) Said picked-up contributions paid through a payroll reduction, even though designated as employee contributions for state law purposes, are being paid by the City in lieu of said contributions by the employee.
(3) Said picked-up contributions will not be included in the gross income of the employees for tax reporting purposes; that is, for federal or state income tax withholding, until distributed from the Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund.
(4) Said picked-up contributions will be included in the gross income of the employees, for employment tax purposes, as the contributions are made to the Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund.
(5) Said employees shall not be entitled to any option of choosing to receive the contributed amounts directly instead of having them paid by the City to the Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund.
(Ord. 99-23. Passed 12-28-99; Ord. 00-25. Passed 12-12-00; Ord. 05-25. Passed 11-8-05; Ord. 05-26. Passed 11-8-05; Ord. 05-27. Passed 11-8-05.)