(a) The City's method of payment of salary and the provision of fringe benefits to the classes of employees who are salaried employees or administrators and participants in the Ohio State Public Employees Retirement System ("PERS") are hereby modified as follows, in order to provide for a salary reduction pickup of employee contributions to PERS.
(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 such employee's total annual salary or salary per pay period which is required from time to time by PERS to be paid as an employee and shall be paid by the City to PERS on behalf of such employee as a pick-up and in lieu of the PERS employee contribution otherwise payable by such employee. An employee's cash salary shall be equal to such employee's total annual salary or salary per pay period less the amount of the pick-up for such employee and shall be payable, subject to applicable payroll deductions, to such employee. The City shall compute and remit its employer contributions to PERS based upon an employee's total annual salary or salary per pay period, including the aforesaid pick-up. The City's total combined expenditures for such employees' total salaries otherwise payable under their contracts and applicable City policies (including pick-up amounts) and its employer contributions to PERS 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 PERS shall be mandatory for all of the employees previously described who are members of the PERS. No such member shall have the option of choosing to receive the contributed amounts directly instead of having them paid by the City to PERS.
(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 that Federal and Ohio income tax laws and regulations presently require it to report as an employee's gross income his total annual salary less the amount of the pick-up while applicable municipal income tax laws require it to report as an employee's gross income his total annual salary including the amount of the pick-up.
(f) The Mayor, or his 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 PERS 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. 86-39. Passed 7-14-86.)