(a) (1) Effective January 25, 1998, the full amount of the statutorily required contributions to the Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio (PERS) 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 to PERS) by the City. This pick up by the City constitutes, and shall be designated as, employee contributions and shall be in lieu of contributions to PERS by each person within any of the classes established in division(b) of this section. No person subject to this pick up shall have the option of choosing to receive the statutorily required contribution to PERS directly instead of having it picked up by the City or of being excluded from the pick up.
(2) The City shall, in reporting and making remittance to PERS, report that the public employee's contribution for each person subject to this pick up has been made, as provided by statute.
(b) The pick up by the City provided by this section shall apply to all persons who are employees of the City and who are or become contributing members of PERS.
(c) The City's method of payment of salary to employees who are participants in PERS is hereby modified as provided for in divisions (d) and (e) of this section, in order to provide for a salary reduction pick-up of employee contributions to PERS.
(d) The total salary for each employee, as set forth in division (b) of this section, shall be the salary otherwise payable under City policies. Such total salary of each such 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 PERS to be paid as an employee contribution by that employee, and shall be paid by the City to PERS on behalf of that employee as a pick-up and in lieu of the PERS 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 PERS 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 amount it would have paid for these items had this provision not been in effect.
(e) The Finance Director is hereby authorized and directed to implement the provisions of this section to institute the pick-up of the statutorily required contributions to PERS for those persons reflected in division(b) of this section hereof so as to enable them to obtain the result in Federal and State tax deferments and other benefits.
(Ord. 2587. Passed 11-24-97.)