In addition to the words and phrases defined in the Fire and Police Pension Plans General Provisions in Article XI, Part 3, of the Los Angeles City Charter and for the purposes of this Tier 5, the following words or phrases shall have the meaning ascribed to them in this section, unless a different meaning is clearly indicated in the context.
(a) Member of the Fire Department. Member of the Fire Department means the Fire Chief and a person duly and regularly appointed in the Fire Department, under civil service rules and regulations or provisions of the Charter, or both, governing the making of original regular and permanent appointments which require the serving of probationary periods but not of original emergency or temporary appointments, to perform duties as a firefighter or as a paramedic for the City, under whatever designation such person may be described in any salary or departmental ordinance providing salaries for the members of the department, but such person shall be a member of the department only until the person’s status as such shall be terminated by reason of retirement, resignation, discharge or for any other reason.
(b) Member of the Police Department. Member of the Police Department means the Chief of Police and a person duly and regularly appointed in the Police Department, under civil service rules and regulations or provisions of the Charter, or both, governing the making of original regular and permanent appointments which require the serving of probationary periods but not of original emergency or temporary appointments therein, and sworn in, as provided by law, to perform duties as a police officer for the City, under whatever designation such person may be described in any salary or departmental ordinance providing salaries for the members of the department, but such person shall be a member of the department only until the person’s status as such shall be terminated by reason of retirement, resignation or discharge or for any other reason.
(c) Tier 5 Plan Member. Tier 5 Plan Member means a person who is a Department Member and whose pension rights and benefits are governed by this Tier 5. Status as a Tier 5 Plan Member is limited by the provisions of Section 4.2000.
(d) Qualified Surviving Spouse/Qualified Surviving Domestic Partner.
(1) Qualified Surviving Spouse means a person who is the widow or widower of a deceased Tier 5 Plan Member or Retired Tier 5 Plan Member and who has been married:
(a) to the Tier 5 Plan Member for at least one year prior to the date of the Plan Member’s nonservice-connected death while a Plan Member, or
(b) to the Tier 5 Plan Member as of the date of the Plan Member’s service- connected death while a Plan Member, or
(d) to the Retired Tier 5 Plan Member as of the effective date of the Plan Member’s retirement upon a service- connected disability pension pursuant to Section 4.2006(a).
(2) Qualified Surviving Domestic Partner means a person who meets the requirements of Los Angeles Administrative Code Section 4.2004 and who fulfills the following requirements before the member’s death:
A declaration of Domestic Partnership, signed by both partners, must be on file with the Board of Fire and Police Pension Commissioners:
(a) for at least one year prior to the date of the Tier 5 Plan Member’s nonservice-connected death while a Plan Member, or
(b) on the date of the Tier 5 Plan Member’s service-connected death while a Plan Member, or
(d) on the effective date of the Retired Tier 5 Plan Member’s retirement upon a service-connected disability pension pursuant to Section 4.2006(a).
(3) In addition, the survivor must be either the domestic partner or spouse of the member on the date of the member’s death.
(4) For members who transfer to Tier 5 from LACERS pursuant to the provisions of Section 4.2000(i)(2) and who filed an affidavit or declaration of domestic partnership with LACERS prior to January 8, 2006, who subsequently file a Declaration of Domestic Partnership with the Board of Fire and Police Pension Commissioners, the filing date of the Declaration filed with the Board for purposes of this subsection and of Sections 4.2204 and 4.2206 shall be the date that the affidavit or declaration was filed with LACERS.
(e) Minor Child. Minor Child means a person who is a child or an adopted child of a deceased Tier 5 Plan Member or a Retired Tier 5 Plan Member, but such person shall be a Minor Child only until such person shall attain the age of 18 years or shall marry, whichever shall be earlier. A person may further qualify for the benefits provided for a Minor Child under the provisions of this Tier until the person reaches the age of 22 years if such person is enrolled in school on a full-time basis as determined by the Board but such person’s marriage terminates entitlement to the benefits of a Minor Child.
(f) Dependent Child. Dependent Child means a person who is a child of a deceased Tier 5 Plan Member or a deceased Retired Tier 5 Plan Member, who is not married and who, while under the age of 21 years, had become disabled, either prior to or after the date of death of such Tier 5 Plan Member or Retired Tier 5 Plan Member, from earning a livelihood for any cause or reason whatsoever, but such person shall be a Dependent Child only until the person shall cease to be disabled from earning a livelihood. Should disability cease before the age of 22 years, the limitations set forth in subsection (e) shall be applicable.
(g) Dependent Parent. Dependent Parent means a person who is a parent of a deceased Tier 5 Plan Member or a deceased Retired Tier 5 Plan Member to or for whom such deceased Tier 5 Plan Member or deceased Retired Tier 5 Plan Member, during at least one year immediately preceding the Member’s death, contributed one-half or more of such Dependent Parent’s necessary living expenses and who is unable to pay such expenses without the receipt of a pension, but such person shall be a Dependent Parent only until the person shall be able to pay the person’s necessary living expenses.
(h) Length of Service Pay. Length of Service Pay means any additional gross monthly pay which, by reason of length of service, shall be provided by ordinance or by Memorandum of Understanding.
(i) Special Pay. Special Pay means any additional gross monthly pay which, by reason of assignment to perform special duties other than hazardous duties, shall be provided by ordinance or Memorandum of Understanding.
(j) Hazard Pay. Hazard Pay means any additional gross monthly pay which, by reason of assignment to perform helicopter duties, two-wheel motorcycle duties or any other hazardous duties, shall be provided by ordinance or Memorandum of Understanding.
(k) Assignment Pay. Assignment Pay means any additional gross monthly pay which, by reason of assignment to perform special duties or hazardous duties, in a higher class, position, grade, code or other title than the lowest within the Plan Member’s permanent rank, shall be provided by ordinance or Memorandum of Understanding.
(l) Year. Year means a period of 12 months or, in aggregating partial years for purposes of determining Years of Service, means 365 days.
(m) Years of Service. Years of Service means and includes only those periods during or for which the Plan Member was a Department Member of the Fire Department, a Department Member of the Police Department, or a Department Member of the Harbor Department, and whether prior to or after the Plan Member’s becoming a Plan Member and subject to the limitations contained in Section 4.2000 of this Tier 5:
(1) did or shall receive salary, whether in full or reduced amounts thereof;
(2) did or shall receive either a service- connected disability pension or a nonservice- connected disability pension under any Tier of the Fire and Police Pension Plan if the Plan Member was or shall be restored to active duty as a Department Member, and did or shall perform the Plan Member’s duties as such for at least one year prior to again retiring or being retired pursuant to this Tier 5, which year shall not include any time off from work by reason of any injury or illness which had been caused by or contributed to by any injury or illness which had been sustained or suffered by the Plan Member prior to such restoration. The restored Plan Member, upon completing one Year of Service following restoration, shall be eligible for such credit only to the extent that the length of service following restoration matches the period the disability pension was received; but upon completing three years of restored service, the restored Plan Member is eligible for credit for the entire period the disability pension was received; and provided further that a period during which a Plan Member was on a nonservice-connected disability pension may only be counted toward the Plan Member’s Years of Service if the Plan Member makes contributions therefor at the rate provided in Section 4.2014 of this Tier 5 in accordance with the rules to be adopted by the Board;
(3) is or shall become entitled, under any provision of general law or ordinance of the City, to credit toward retirement for periods of military service or military leave;
(4) did or shall receive Workers’ Compensation benefits for temporary disability as provided by general law on account of any injury or illness arising out of and in the course of employment, but such period shall be made a part of the Plan Member’s Years of Service only if the Plan Member has made contributions to the Fire and Police Pension Plan in the manner prescribed by Board rule;
(5) is or shall become entitled to compensation for injury on duty pursuant to any ordinance of the City or any applicable Memorandum of Understanding;
(6) had served as a member of the Fire and Police Pension System - Tiers 2, 3, or 4, without having become eligible to service retirement benefits; and
(7) acquired Years of Service credit for periods of membership in LACERS while the Plan Member was a paramedic or civilian ambulance employee. If a Tier 5 Plan Member should die before having made such election, the Plan Member’s surviving spouse or domestic partner may make the election in the place of the Plan Member prior to the start of benefit payments under the Plan.
A Tier 5 Plan Member who has previously been a Plan Member of any Tier and who has ceased to be such by virtue of the Plan Member’s resignation or discharge and who again becomes a Tier 5 Plan Member, shall be entitled to service credit only if the Plan Member has first redeposited with interest, any Plan Member contributions previously withdrawn by the Plan Member, in the manner provided by the Board.
(n) Partial Year of Service. Partial Year of Service means any period mentioned in subsection (m) of this section which is less than 12 months.
Any such Partial Year of Service shall be calculated from the end of the Plan Member’s last completed Year of Service to the end of the payroll period immediately prior to the date of the Plan Member’s retirement and shall be counted as part of a Plan Member’s Years of Service for the Plan Member’s retirement upon a service pension hereafter granted or for a pension hereafter granted to the Plan Member’s Qualified Surviving Spouse/Qualified Surviving Domestic Partner, Minor Child or children, Dependent Child or children or Dependent Parent or Parents if the Plan Member hereafter shall die while upon a service pension hereafter granted or while eligible for a service pension.
(o) Final Average Salary. Final Average Salary means an amount equivalent to a monthly average of salary actually received during any 12 consecutive months of service as a Plan Member as designated by the Tier 5 Plan Member. In the absence of such designation, the last 12 consecutive months preceding the date upon which retirement would become effective shall be used as the basis for the calculation of Final Average Salary.
For the purposes of determining Final Average Salary for periods during which the Tier 5 Plan Member receives less than full salary on account of injury or illness, pursuant to any applicable ordinance of the City, the Final Average Salary shall be based upon the salary, including any Length of Service Pay, Special Pay, Assignment Pay or Hazard Pay, the Tier 5 Plan Member would have received but for the injury or illness.
Included in the calculation of Final Average Salary shall be Length of Service Pay, Special Pay, Assignment Pay and Hazard Pay actually received during the 12 consecutive months used to determine Final Average Salary.
For those Tier 5 Plan Members who retire from the Fire Department while holding a rank no higher than Captain or from the Police Department holding a rank no higher than Lieutenant: If Hazard Pay was not received during all or any part of the 12 consecutive months used to determine Final Average Salary, then an amount equivalent to 10% of the Hazard Pay received at the time of the termination of the last assignment to hazardous duties for each year in the aggregate of the assignment to hazardous duties shall be added to the Final Average Salary, not to exceed 10 years in the aggregate. The total amount of Hazard Pay included in Final Average Salary may not exceed 100% of the amount the Plan Member would have received had the Tier 5 Plan Member been entitled to Hazard Pay during the entire 12 month period utilized in the calculation of Final Average Salary.
Overtime compensation or payments of money to the member not designated as salary by an ordinance of the City shall not be considered for purposes of calculating Final Average Salary.
Notwithstanding any of the foregoing, if a Retired Tier 5 Plan Member were to be restored to active duty as a Department Member and thereby again were to become a Tier 5 Plan Member and if such Plan Member again were to retire or to be retired without having performed the Plan Member’s duties for at least one year subsequent to such restoration, which year shall not include any time off from work by reason of any injury or illness which had been caused by or contributed to by any injury or illness which had been sustained or suffered by the Plan Member prior to such restoration, the Final Average Salary which shall be applicable to the Plan Member’s later retirement shall be the Final Average Salary which had been applicable to the Plan Member’s previous retirement.
Should a Plan Member not have completed 12 consecutive months of service as a Plan Member, then and in that event only shall the Final Average Salary be calculated as a monthly average of all consecutive calendar months completed, and, if the Plan Member has completed less than one month of total service as a Plan Member, the salary actually received shall be used to calculate its monthly equivalent.
(p) Normal Pension Base. Normal Pension Base, as used for the survivorship pension benefits for former Tier 2 members, means the sum of:
(1) the member’s monthly salary as defined in Tier 2;
(2) any length of service pay which the member had received immediately preceding the date of the member’s retirement or death or upon the last day the member had performed duties as a Department Member;
(3) any special pay which the member had received immediately preceding the date of the member’s retirement or death or upon the last day the member had performed duties as a Department Member; and
(4) any hazard pay which the member had received immediately preceding the date of the member’s retirement or death or upon the last day the member had performed duties as a Department Member or, if the member had not received the same at either such time but had received such pay at some time prior thereto, 10% of the hazard pay which the member had received at the time of the termination of the member’s last assignment to hazardous duties for each year in the aggregate of the member’s assignment to any hazardous duties not exceeding, however, ten years in the aggregate.
(5) for only those Plan Members who completed at least 12 months service in a Deputy Chief position, which was exempt from civil service, and who did not retire in the position of Deputy Chief or Chief of Police, an additional supplement of a percentage of the difference in the amount of compensation between the Deputy Chief position and the Plan Member’s compensation at the time of retirement. This percentage shall be prescribed by ordinance and shall apply for each year of service in the position of Deputy Chief, not to exceed the number of years as prescribed by ordinance.
Notwithstanding any of the foregoing, if a Retired Member were to be restored to active duty as a Department Member and thereby again were to become a Plan Member and if the Plan Member again were to retire or be retired without having performed the Plan Member’s duties for at least 1 year subsequent to such restoration, which year shall not include any time off from work by reason of any injury or illness which had been caused by or contributed to by any injury or illness which had been sustained or suffered by the Plan Member prior to such restoration, the Normal Pension Base which shall be applicable to the Plan Member’s later retirement shall be the Normal Pension Base which had been applicable to the Plan Member’s previous retirement.
(q) Non-service Connected Pension Base. Non-service Connected Pension Base, as used for the survivorship benefits for former Tier 2 members, means the sum of:
(1) the highest monthly salary provided, as of the date of the Plan Member’s retirement or death, whichever shall first occur, for a Department Member then holding the basic rank of firefighter or police officer; and
(2) the highest length of service pay provided, as of the date of the Plan Member’s retirement or death, whichever shall first occur, for a Department Member then holding either of the basic ranks.
(r) Member of the Harbor Department. Member of the Harbor Department means a person appointed to one of the following classifications in the Harbor Department, which require the person so employed to complete the academy training required by the Harbor Department and to become sworn, as provided by Penal Code Section 830.1: Special Officer (Class Code 3183-H), Senior Special Officer (Class Code 3185-H), Principal Special Officer (Class Code 3198-H), Chief Special Officer (Class Code 3188-H), Port Police Officer (Class Code 3221), Port Police Sergeant (Class Code 3222), Port Police Lieutenant (Class Code 3223), Port Police Captain (Class Code 3224), and Port Warden (Class Code 0801). Provided that this person shall be a member of the department only until the person’s status as such shall be terminated by reason of the person’s retirement, resignation or discharge or for any reason.
SECTION HISTORY
Added by Ord. No. 174,367, Eff. 12-19-01.
Amended by: Subsecs. (m)(5) and (m)(6) amended, Subsec. (m)(7) added, second undesignated para. of Subsec. (o) deleted, Ord. No. 176,416, Eff. 1-25-05; Subsecs. (h), (i), (j), (k), First Para. of (m), and (m)(5) amended, Subsecs. (d)(4) and (r) added, Ord. No. 177,214, Eff. 1-4-06; Subsecs. (d)(2) and (d)(4), Ord. No. 179,538. Eff. 3-2-08.