(a) Members hired before January 1, 2018 shall be entitled to receive a normal retirement benefit, provided the member has completed at least twenty years of continuous service with the employer. Members hired on or after January 1, 2018 shall be entitled to a normal retirement benefit upon attainment of the age of fifty-five and the completion of twenty-five years of continuous service. Payment of pension benefits upon retirement shall be conditioned upon a member being subject to service, from time to time, as a firemen's reserve, until unfitted for service, at which time such member shall be finally discharged by reason of age or disability. In no case, however, shall a member's retirement be later than the date when he or she attains age sixty-five.
(b) A member entitled to a pension benefit shall receive, during his or her lifetime, a monthly retirement income which is equal to one-half of his or her final monthly average salary.
(c) Each member who becomes entitled to a pension benefit shall also become entitled to payment of a service increment benefit equal to the number of whole years in excess of twenty of continuous service, or twenty-five years for members hired on or after January 1, 2018, (including any credit for military service as provided in Section 291.04) multiplied by one-fortieth of the pension benefit which the member is entitled to receive. No service increment which is in excess of five hundred dollars per month, or one hundred dollars per month in the case of a member hired on or after January 1, 2018, shall be paid to a member, nor shall such increment reflect any employment after the member has reached sixty-five years of age.
(d) The pension payments herein provided for shall be payable only to the member and his or her survivors and shall not be subject to attachment, execution, levy, garnishment or other legal process, nor shall they be subject to assignment or transfer.
(e) If a member who is active or who is eligible to receive or is receiving pension benefits dies, the spouse of the deceased member shall, during the spouse's lifetime, receive a monthly pension which shall be equal to fifty percent of the amount which the mem her was receiving or would have received prior to the member's date of death. For members with a hire date prior to January 1, 2018, the survivor's benefit shall be one hundred percent.
(f) If a member who has completed at least fifteen years of continuous service with the employer incurs a disability, or if a member who has completed less than fifteen years of continuous service with the employer incurs a disability while in the line of duty, and the member is unable to perform the duties of a member, the member shall be entitled to receive a disability pension benefit equal to the member's pension benefit calculated as of the member's date of disability.
(g) Whenever a member becomes entitled to receive a pension benefit from the Pension Fund, he or she shall not be deprived of his or her benefit, except for one or more of the following causes: conviction of a felony or misdemeanor; becoming a habitual drunkard; or failing to comply with some general regulation relating to the management of the Pension Fund, if such regulation provides that failure to comply shall terminate the right to participate in the Pension Fund. Any termination of a pension benefit shall be only after such due notice and hearing as shall be prescribed by regulations of Council.
(Ord. 4441. Passed 10-28-87; Ord. 4928. Passed 2-11-04; Ord. 5355. Passed 6-14-23.)