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(a) Council Authority. The Council may, by ordinance adopted in accordance with the provisions of this section, authorize the return to active duty of Retired Plan Members from any Tier.
(b) Limitations on Council Authority. The authority given to the Council herein is specifically limited as follows:
(1) A retiree's pension shall be terminated when he or she returns to active duty.
(2) The return to active duty provisions shall be substantially similar to those contained in Charter Section 1410 for Tier 2.
(3) The Retired Plan Member shall return to active duty as a member of the tier from which he or she retired.
(4) Members who participate in the Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP) shall not be eligible to return to active duty.
(5) Rehired Members are ineligible to participate in DROP until three years following return to active duty.
(c) Mode of Adoption. Ordinances adopted pursuant to this section shall be adopted in the same manner as provided in Section 1618(b), but the City Council shall be advised in writing by an enrolled actuary as to the cost of the proposed change.
SECTION HISTORY
Added by Charter Amendment 2, approved March 8, 2005, effective April 6, 2005.
Amended by: Title and Section, Charter Amendment G § 3, approved March 8, 2011, Effective April 8, 2011.
The Council may by ordinance amend Tier 5 to establish maximum subsidy payments for beneficiaries and to authorize the Board to increase or decrease subsidy payments on the same terms and conditions that apply to subsidy payments for members of Tier 4 in Section 1618 of this Charter. 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 program.
SECTION HISTORY
Added by Charter Amendment 2, approved March 8, 2005, effective April 6, 2005.
(a) Council Authority. The Council may, by ordinance adopted in accordance with the provisions of this section, authorize payment of a portion of employee contributions to Tiers 3, 4, and 5 of the Fire and Police Pension Plan, not to exceed a portion of the required contributions under Charter Sections 1514 and 1614 and Los Angeles Administrative Code Section 4.2014 equal to 2% of salary, pursuant to labor-management Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) for members of the Fire and Police Pension Plan. Provided that a defrayal of an amount equal to no more than 1% of salary may be negotiated as part of each MOU and that such defrayal shall not be considered salary for purposes of computing Final Average Salary or for any other purpose. Funds paid by the City as a defrayal of member contributions pursuant to this section shall be paid into the appropriate Fund of the Fire and Police Pension Plan, but shall not be credited to members' individual contribution accounts, nor shall such funds be refundable to any member, former member or beneficiary. The defrayal of employee contributions authorized in this section shall be in addition to the contribution payment authorized under Charter Section 1222 in an amount equal to 1% of salary; should that payment cease by operation of the terms of Charter Section 1222, this shall not affect the authority granted to the Council under this section.
(b) Mode of Adoption. Ordinances adopted pursuant to this section shall be adopted in the same manner as provided in section 1618(b), but the City Council shall be advised in writing by an enrolled actuary as to the cost of the proposed defrayal.
SECTION HISTORY
Added by Charter Amendment 2, approved March 8, 2005, effective April 6, 2005.
(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.
(a) Council Authority. The Council may by ordinance adopted in accordance with the provisions of this section establish a voluntary Public Service Purchase (PSP) program to allow members to purchase service credit with the Fire and Police Pension Plan (the Plan) for prior full-time service with other public agencies that may include military service. The authority granted in this section shall include the authority to determine which members may participate in the program and specify what public service is eligible for purchase, to establish eligibility requirements and benefit limitations, to conduct periodic review of the costs and usefulness of the program for recruitment and retention purposes, and to terminate or make changes to the program. The authority granted in this section shall include the authority to make necessary modifications to requirements of other Charter and Los Angeles Administrative Code provisions of the Plan for the specific and limited purpose of implementing a PSP program.
(b) Limitations of the PSP Program. The authority given to the Council to establish a PSP program is specifically limited as follows:
(1) The PSP Program Shall Be Cost Neutral. The member shall be required to pay the full actuarial cost of the service credit to be purchased as determined by the Plan's actuary based upon the additional benefits available from the Plan as a result of the purchase. The City shall conduct periodic reviews of the PSP program to ensure the program is cost neutral to the City insofar as the additional benefits provided by the Plan are concerned, without regard to incidental administrative expenses incurred by the Plan.
(2) Limitations on Service Purchases. A member may only purchase full-time service with eligible public agencies. A member may purchase full-time service with a branch of the United States military service only if the member was honorably discharged. Full-time service with any bona fide police agency or fire suppression agency may be purchased only if the member was not terminated for cause. A member may not purchase service for which the member is eligible, or may become eligible, to receive a retirement benefit from another entity unless federal law requires otherwise.
(3) Restrictions Applicable to Purchased Service. Purchased service shall be included in a member's years of service for purposes of calculating the amount of the member's service pension, but shall not be included in years of service for purposes of establishing eligibility for service retirement. Purchased service may be used to qualify for other retirement benefits that are dependent on years of service, such as the Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP) or health premium subsidies or reimbursements payable after retirement, if authorized by ordinance and the member has paid the full actuarial costs to cover these additional benefits.
(4) Refund of PSP Program Payments. In the event a member terminates employment, all payments made by the member under the PSP program, including interest accruing on the payments, shall be refunded to the member upon request. If a member dies and contributions become payable from the Plan upon his or her death, all payments made by the member under the PSP program, including interest accruing on the payments, shall be considered contributions of the member and shall be paid accordingly.
(5) PSP Program May Be Modified or Terminated. If the Council determines that the PSP program is not cost neutral and/or that the program is not useful for recruitment or retention, the PSP program may be modified or terminated by the Council by ordinance provided that the appropriate employee representatives have received a minimum of sixty days notice prior to Council action. Agreements entered into prior to the PSP program's termination shall be honored based upon the benefits available from the Plan at the time the agreement was executed. If the PSP program is modified by ordinance, existing agreements to purchase service will continue to be honored based upon the benefits available from the Plan at the time the agreement was executed, unless the agreement is modified to encompass different benefits with actuarial costs adjusted accordingly.
(c) Mode of Adoption. Ordinances adopted pursuant to this section shall be adopted in the same manner as provided in Charter Section 1618(b), but the Council shall be advised in writing by an enrolled actuary as to the cost of the proposed program.
SECTION HISTORY
Added by Charter Amendment M, approved March 6, 2007, effective April 4, 2007.
A Retired Plan Member may elect, after retirement, to provide a survivor benefit to a spouse or domestic partner subject to the following:
(a) Member to Pay Full Cost. The Retired Plan Member shall pay the full actuarially determined cost of the survivor benefit through an actuarial reduction in his or her monthly pension benefit.
(b) Vesting Requirement. The right to benefits under this program shall not vest until the Retired Plan Member survives at least one year from the date he or she makes an election to provide this benefit, unless the Board shall determine by a preponderance of the evidence that the Retired Plan Member's death was accidental.
If the right to benefits has not vested before the date of the Retired Plan Member's death and the accidental death exception does not apply, then no survivor benefit shall be provided by the Plan and the amount by which the Retired Plan Member's monthly benefits were reduced after making this election shall be paid as a lump sum to the spouse or domestic partner, provided that if the spouse or domestic partner has predeceased the member, the lump sum shall be paid to the member's estate.
(c) Only One Election Allowed. In order to minimize administrative costs to the Plan, a Retired Plan Member may only exercise this election once. The Retired Plan Member's election shall not apply to any interest in his or her pension benefit awarded by the court to another person, but only to the interest retained by the Retired Plan Member. The election may only be made to provide a benefit for a spouse or domestic partner who is not already qualified to receive a benefit from the Plan upon the Retired Plan Member's death. For purposes of this section, a domestic partnership must either be filed with the Plan or the California Secretary of State or be recognized as a valid domestic partnership in this state based upon the provisions of Section 299.2 of the Family Code or any successor provisions.
(d) Irrevocable Election. Once an election is made, it is irrevocable. The Retired Plan Member's monthly pension benefits will be permanently reduced and will not increase if the spouse or domestic partner predeceases the Retired Plan Member or if their marriage or domestic partnership is otherwise terminated.
(e) Survivor Benefit. The benefit authorized by this section consists of a percentage continuation of the Retired Plan Member's monthly pension benefit payable to the surviving spouse or domestic partner of the Retired Plan Member for the survivor's lifetime. In order to be eligible to receive the survivor benefit provided by this section, the survivor must be either the spouse or domestic partner of the Retired Plan Member at the time he or she elected to provide this benefit and at the time of his or her death. A survivor receiving a benefit under this section shall not be eligible for a health subsidy from the Plan. The payment of a survivor benefit provided by this section does not impact the payment of other survivor benefits from the Plan.
(f) Payment Options. The Retired Plan Member shall select the percentage of continuance that he or she desires to fund from the options provided by the Plan. These options shall be established by Board rule and shall provide a reasonable range of choices, subject to any limitations imposed by federal law. If no continuance is payable based on the provisions of sub-section (b), then the amount paid by the Retired Member as a reduction in his or her monthly retirement benefit shall be refunded as provided therein.
(g) Right to Review, Modify and Terminate the Program. The City's right to review the program, as provided below, may not be exercised until the program has been operative for at least five years and may not be exercised more often than every five years.
To initiate a review, the City Administrative Officer (CAO) shall request the Plan to provide data relevant to the program's costs. If the CAO so requests after reviewing the data provided, an actuarial report shall be obtained. As part of this review, the City Council shall have the authority, by ordinance, to enact modifications to the program necessary to maintain cost neutrality or to terminate the program if the program cannot be modified to maintain cost neutrality.
If the program is modified, the modifications shall not apply to Retired Plan Members who elected this benefit before the effective date of the modifications. If the program is terminated, the Plan shall continue to administer the program for all Retired Plan Members who elected benefits under the program prior to the termination date, but shall not allow Retired Plan Members to elect benefits under the program after the termination date.
(h) Board's Authority to Adopt Rules and Administer the Program. The Board shall administer this program and adopt any necessary rules. This includes the authority to establish any mortality assumptions required for the administration of the program.
SECTION HISTORY
Added by Charter Amendment D, approved March 3, 2009, effective April 1, 2009.
(a) Applicability. The modifications set forth in this section are operative May 1, 2009 and apply to disabled persons receiving Dependent Child benefits provided under any tier.
(b) Elimination of the Marriage Penalty. No person shall be disqualified as a Dependent Child due to the fact that the person is married, was previously married, or subsequently marries. This provision shall apply to all persons who are Dependent Children on the operative date of this section and to all applications for Dependent Child benefits on or after this date. The benefits payable for any Dependent Child who was previously disqualified due to his or her marriage may, on request, be reinstated as of this operative date.
(c) Elimination of the Adoption Penalty. No person shall be disqualified as a Dependent Child due to the fact that the person has been adopted by a person of the same gender as the Plan Member or Retired Plan Member. This provision shall apply to all persons who are Dependent Children on the operative date of this section and to any applicant for Dependent Child benefits on or after this date. The benefits payable for any Dependent Child who was previously disqualified due to his or her adoption may, on request, be reinstated as of this operative date.
(d) Payment Options For Benefits Belonging to the Dependent Child. The following payment options, as applicable, shall be available under all tiers for Dependent Child benefits that are the property of the Dependent Child, provided that these payment options shall not apply to Dependent Child benefits that, under the provisions of the applicable tier, are the property of the Qualified Survivor:
(1) Upon the Dependent Child's request, benefits may be paid directly to the Dependent Child if the Board is satisfied, based upon such evidence as the Board considers sufficient, that the Dependent Child is an adult who is capable of managing his or her own financial affairs, provided that the Board may terminate direct payment to a Dependent Child upon receipt of evidence that he or she is no longer capable of managing his or her own financial affairs; or
(2) Dependent Child benefits that are the property of a person, who is either a minor or an adult whom the Board has not determined to be capable of managing his or her own financial affairs, shall be paid to the guardian or conservator of the Dependent Child's estate, as applicable, unless the Board authorizes payment to the trustee of a trust as provided below; or
(3) The Board may authorize payment to the trustee of a trust that meets the criteria of 42 U.S.C. Section 1396p(d)(4)(A), (B) or (C), after having determined it is in the best interest of the Dependent Child to do so, based upon the request of:
(A) The Dependent Child or the Dependent Child's agent pursuant to a durable power of attorney, provided that the Dependent Child is an adult with the capacity to manage his or her own financial affairs; or
(B) The parent or grandparent of the Dependent Child, if the Dependent Child does not have a guardian or conservator of his or her estate or person and is either a minor or an adult who is not capable of managing his or her own financial affairs; or
(C) The conservator or guardian of the Dependent Child's estate or, if none, the conservator or guardian of the Dependent Child's person.
(e) Effect on Future Tiers. The provisions of this section shall apply to all new tiers of the Plan that may be enacted in the future, unless expressly provided otherwise.
(f) Board Authority to Adopt Rules. The Board is authorized to adopt any rules necessary to implement these changes.
SECTION HISTORY
Added by Charter Amendment C, approved March 3, 2009, effective April 1, 2009.
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