(a) Members Who Retired or Terminated Membership Prior to July 1, 1965.
(1) Member Retired Prior to July 1, 1965. A member who retired prior to July 1, 1965, pursuant to the provisions of former Charter Sections 508 or 510, and who has a spouse to whom he or she was married for at least one (1) year at the time of retirement (an eligible survivor for purposes of this subsection), may elect in writing to provide for a continuance of his or her retirement allowance to said eligible survivor, which election shall be filed with the Board of Administration. In the event a retired member who is eligible to make the election herein provided should die prior to having made such election, his or her eligible survivor shall have the right to so elect in his or her stead and shall thereafter receive the continuance to survivor benefit as hereinafter provided.
Upon the death of a retired member who elected to provide for a continuance to his or her eligible survivor, as provided in the preceding paragraph, there shall be continued to such survivor, provided he or she is the deceased retiree’s surviving spouse or domestic partner, an allowance which shall consist of:
(i) An annuity equal to the amount of the annuity which was payable to the retired member during his or her lifetime by virtue of his or her normal contributions; and
(ii) A pension amount payable during the lifetime of such survivor which shall be the difference between one-half (1/2) of the member’s base amount excluding from said base amount any portion payable by virtue of additional contributions paid towards a larger annuity, and the amount of said annuity.
(iii) A cost of living equal to one-half (1/2) the cost of living amount payable to the deceased member at the time of his or her death, after excluding therefrom any portion of said cost of living amount payable by virtue of additional contributions paid towards a larger annuity. All adjustments to the cost of living amount pursuant to this provision shall be subject to future adjustments as provided in Section 4.1022.
(2) Former Member Who Terminated Prior to July 1, 1965. Any former member who terminated prior to July 1, 1965, and who elected the benefit of a “vested right” pension but has not made application for such pension, may make the election described above in Subsection(a)(1) at the time such former member files his or her application for service retirement if he or she has either a spouse to whom he or she has been married for at least one (1) year prior to the date of his or her retirement or a domestic partner in a partnership that has been established for at least one (1) year prior to the date of his or her retirement (an eligible survivor for purposes of this subsection). Upon the death of such retired member who elected to provide for a continuance to his or her eligible survivor as provided herein, there shall be continued to such survivor, provided he or she is the deceased retiree’s surviving spouse or domestic partner, an allowance which shall be based upon the components set forth in Subsection(a)(1)(i), (ii) and (iii).
(3) Payment of Contributions upon Death. Upon the death of both the retired member and his or her eligible survivor where an election has been made as provided in this Subsection (a), any unused contributions and accrued retirement allowance shall be paid as provided in Section 4.1010(c)(2).
(b) Members with Service Prior to July 1, 1965. Members shall not receive credit under the provisions of Section 4.1012 for service rendered prior to July 1, 1965, unless said member shall both:
(1) Elect, in writing, and file with the Board of Administration an application to participate in the continuance to survivor benefit established in Section 4.1012; and
(2) Pay survivor contributions in an amount equal to all the contributions which he or she would have made had he or she elected said benefit on July 1, 1965, together with all regular interest which, had he or she so made the same, would have been credited thereon prior to the date of such payment. The mode of paying such back contributions in a lump sum or on an installment basis shall be as decided by the Board of Administration and set forth in their rules.
The surviving spouse or domestic partner of a deceased retired member is hereby given the right to make an election to participate in the continuance to survivor benefit provided in Section 4.1012 if such deceased retired member did not during his or her lifetime make the election to participate in said benefit; provided, however, that such survivor must qualify as an eligible survivor as said term is defined in Section 4.1012.
The eligible survivor’s election shall be in writing on such forms as the Board may prescribe, and must be accompanied by the amount of survivor contributions which the deceased retired member would have contributed by salary deduction during the entire period of membership in the Retirement System during or for which he or she would have been eligible to participate in the benefit provided in Section 4.1012.
The benefit herein provided shall entitle a survivor eligible to make an election to receive an allowance calculated as of the time immediately following the deceased retired member’s death, but such allowance shall become payable only as of the first day of the month following the exercise of the election and receipt by the Retirement System of the required survivor contributions. There is to be no retroactive entitlement to benefits under the provisions of this section.
SECTION HISTORY
Added by Ord. No. 182,629, Eff. 7-25-13.