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(a) Council Authority. The Council may, by ordinance adopted in accordance with the provisions of this section, provide for mandatory Tier 5 membership in the Fire and Police Pension Plan (Plan) for sworn Port Police employees with Peace Officer status under Penal Code Section 830.1 (Sworn Port Police Officers) appointed on or after the operative date of the ordinance, and provide Sworn Port Police Officers who were appointed prior to the operative date of the ordinance the right to irrevocably elect Tier 5 Plan membership. The authority granted in this section shall include the authority to make necessary modifications by ordinance to Tier 5 of the Plan, to the Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP), to the Pension Savings Plan for Part-Time, Seasonal and Temporary Employees, and to the Los Angeles City Employees' Retirement System (LACERS) in order to implement this membership change. Such ordinance shall be adopted by the Council no later than December 31, 2005 and shall specify an operative date that is the first day of a payroll period.
(b) Limitations on Council Authority. The authority given to the Council to implement this membership change is specifically limited as follows:
(1) Sworn Port Police Officers includes only employees serving in Port Police civil service classifications with the Harbor Department requiring Peace Officer status under Penal Code Section 830.1.
(2) Each person regularly appointed as a Sworn Port Police Officer on or after the operative date of the ordinance shall become a member of Tier 5 upon appointment, provided that person has previously completed academy training required by the Harbor Department. The Council retains the authority to determine if, and on what terms and conditions, such persons may be allowed to transfer prior sworn service in the Harbor Department from LACERS to Tier 5.
(3) Each Sworn Port Police Officer who was regularly appointed and completed the required academy training prior to the operative date of the ordinance and who was employed in that capacity on such date may elect to become a member of Tier 5. The election to transfer to Tier 5 membership must be made no later than one year after the operative date of the ordinance and shall be conditioned upon the person agreeing to pay an amount as determined by a labor-management Memorandum of Understanding as the employee contributions for all periods of service transferred to Tier 5 from LACERS. Employees who elect to change retirement plans shall have all sworn service with the Harbor Department in classifications included in subsection (1) above transferred to Tier 5 from LACERS. Only actual service with the Harbor Department shall be transferred; prior service with other City departments transferred for purposes of Charter Section 1014 to the Harbor Department shall not be transferred. Further, all funds on deposit in LACERS attributable to service transferred to Tier 5 on behalf of these employees shall be transferred to the Plan. The amount of funds due to the Plan from LACERS shall be mutually agreed upon between the Plan and LACERS and is to include, but not necessarily be limited to: employee contributions, City contributions, and earnings to cover all funded accrued liability. All transferring employees shall pay the full amount of contributions required under Tier 5 retroactive to the operative date of the ordinance, provided that the City shall pay 1% as provided in Charter Section 1222, if applicable. An employee who is eligible to become a Tier 5 member, but chooses to remain in LACERS, will continue as a LACERS member even if subsequently appointed to a different Sworn Port Police Officer civil service classification.
(4) Sworn Port Police Officers who become members of Tier 5 of the Plan shall not be eligible to retire from LACERS while remaining employed as Sworn Port Police Officers. Charter section 1164 prohibits retired members of LACERS from thereafter being paid for any services rendered as an officer or employee of the City, except as expressly provided therein.
(5) The Harbor Department shall pay the Plan for all costs and expenses incurred by the Plan as a result of amending Tier 5 of the Plan to include Sworn Port Police Officers, including any unfunded liability incurred by the Plan. The Harbor Department shall also pay LACERS for all costs and expenses incurred by LACERS in connection with transfers between LACERS and Tier 5 related to these Sworn Port Police Officers.
(6) Inclusion of Sworn Port Police Officers in Tier 5 of the Plan shall not trigger the elimination of the 1% payment by the City of Tier 5 employee contributions as provided in Charter Section 1222 and Los Angeles Administrative Code Section 4.2014. The determination of 100% funded status required by Charter Section 1222 and Los Angeles Administrative Code section 4.2014 shall be made without regard to any impact resulting from the inclusion of this group of employees in Tier 5 of the Plan and any other group of employees from other Outside Agencies included in Tier 5 in the future.
(c) Technical Corrections. The Council is hereby authorized to make conforming and technical changes to Tier 5 that do not result in any additional costs to the Plan.
(d) Operability of the Section. This section shall become inoperative in the event that a demand is made by a bargaining unit representing employees affected by this section that an impasse over a proposed ordinance authorized by this section be resolved by binding arbitration if such arbitration is authorized by law. In such event, pension benefits shall again be determined by Charter provisions in effect at the time this section was adopted. Courts of law shall have the exclusive authority to resolve disputes over whether an ordinance authorized by this section satisfies any legal requirement.
(e) Mode of Adoption. Ordinances adopted pursuant to this section shall be adopted in the same manner as provided in Section 1618(b) of this Charter, but the City Council shall be advised in writing by an enrolled actuary as to the cost of the proposed changes.
SECTION HISTORY
Added by Charter Amendment 1, approved March 8, 2005, effective April 6, 2005.
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