(a) Membership Provisions. Effective July 1, 2013, and ongoing, every employee shall become a member of Tier 2 of the Retirement System on the first day of employment in a position with the City in which he or she is not excluded from membership pursuant to the provisions of Subsection (b) of this section, unless he or she qualifies for Tier 1 membership pursuant to one of the following four exceptions to Tier 2 membership:
(1) Former Tier 1 Member with Contributions on Deposit. A former Tier 1 member who returns to membership in the Retirement System on or after July 1, 2013, shall return to membership in Tier 1 if he or she has pre-July 1, 2013, contributions that remain on deposit with the Retirement Fund on the date he or she begins City service in a position in which he or she again becomes eligible for membership in the Retirement System. In the event a former member’s pre-July 1, 2013, contributions have been forfeited to the Retirement Fund, he or she shall return to membership in Tier 1, provided that he or she is relieved from such forfeiture and said funds are returned to his or her individual account. Former members may not qualify to return to Tier 1 membership under this paragraph by making back contributions or re-deposits of contributions after re-entry into City service.
(2) Tier 1 Disability Retirees Returned to Employment. A Tier 1 disability retiree who is returned to City employment on or after July 1, 2013, as provided in Subsections 4.1008(e) or (f), shall return to membership in Tier 1.
(3) Reciprocal Retirement Benefit Arrangement. If an employee of the City’s Department of Water and Power (DWP) participates in the reciprocal retirement benefit arrangement established in Section 4.1095, he or she shall become a member of Tier 1 upon becoming a member of the Retirement System, rather than Tier 2, provided that his or her employment with the DWP commenced prior to July 1, 2013, and there is no break in service of more than seven (7) calendar days, as provided in Section 4.1095(b). In the event that a member is initially placed into membership in Tier 1 based upon this exception and subsequently makes a timely election not to participate in the reciprocal retirement benefits arrangement, as provided in Subsection 4.1095(d), this exception to Tier 2 membership shall no longer apply to said member and he or she shall become a member of Tier 2, retroactive to the first date of his or membership in the Retirement System.
(4) Limited Term Retirement Plan. An elected official who was a member of the Limited Term Retirement Plan (LTRP) on June 30, 2013, and subsequently becomes a member of the Retirement System shall become a member of Tier 1, rather than Tier 2, provided that his or her service as an elected official was continuous from June 30, 2013, until the date he or she became a member of the Retirement System and all of the funds in his or her individual account with the LTRP are transferred to his or her member account with the Retirement System pursuant to the provisions of Section 4.1017(c)(1).
The only exceptions to Tier 2 membership are the four exceptions set forth above, determined based upon the employee’s status at the time he or she enters membership in the Retirement System. Service or service credit obtained in connection with the provisions of Sections 4.1017, 4.1018, 4.1019, 4.1020 or any other provision that permits a Tier 2 member to purchase service or service credit shall not qualify a Tier 2 member for membership in Tier 1. Further, there shall be no exception to Tier 2 membership based upon establishing a right to reciprocity pursuant to Section 4.1096. If an employee becomes a member of LACERS on or after July 1, 2013, the fact that he or she was a member of a reciprocal system prior to July 1, 2013 shall not qualify him or her for membership in Tier 1.
A City employee shall cease to be a member upon termination of employment. A City employee shall also cease to be a member if a change in his or her employment results in an exclusion from membership pursuant to the provisions of Subsection (b) of this section, or if his or her membership has been terminated pursuant to the provisions of Subsection (c) of this section.
(b) Exclusions from Membership. The following employees shall not be members of the Retirement System:
(1) Persons employed by the Board of Education or School District.
(2) Persons serving on any Board of Commissioners whose compensation consist of attendance fees per meeting attended.
(3) Members of the Fire and Police Pension Plans and members of the Water and Power Employees’ Retirement Plan; provided, however, that this exclusion shall not operate during any period of City service in which any such person is employed in any capacity which renders that person ineligible for current membership in said Plans. Nothing in this Chapter shall be construed to prevent any person entitled to the payment of any benefit on account of service as a member of the Plans herein mentioned, from receiving payment on account of any benefit to which such person is entitled as a member of this Retirement System; provided, nevertheless, that no payment shall be made under provisions of this Chapter, for or on account of any period of service for which such person is entitled to receive or is receiving any benefit, under the Fire and Police Pension Plans or the Water and Power Employees’ Retirement Plan.
(4) Inmates of City institutions who are allowed compensation for such services as they are able to perform.
(5) Persons in City institutions principally for the purpose of receiving training but who receive compensation.
(6) Persons employed under contract for a definite period or for the performance of a particular special service.
(7) Persons employed only on call or for seasonal work.
(8) Any person employed on an intermittent, temporary or part-time basis, unless the person is a member at the time he or she commences to serve on such a basis, or unless the appointing authority certifies to the Board of Administration that the person’s employment is regular and continuous and will probably extend for at least one (1) year and require service for at least one-half the time required of employees in the same group or class of service on a full-time basis.
(9) Any officer of the City elected for a fixed term who files a written declaration of his or her desire not to become a member of the System within ninety (90) days next following the last day of the calendar month during which the first deduction on account of member contributions to the Retirement Fund is taken. When the declaration is filed, any contributions already taken attributable to the fixed term to which he or she was just elected, including interest thereon, shall be transferred to the officer’s account with the Limited Term Retirement Plan, and said officer shall have no right to benefits from the System for any periods for which such contributions were taken; provided that any officer who has filed such declaration may revoke it in writing and, upon filing the revocation with the Board of Administration, shall become a member of the System. In addition to persons elected for a fixed term as an officer of the City, any person appointed to fill a vacancy in an elected office for a fixed term, whether for the full remainder of such term or any portion thereof, may choose not to become a member of the System as provided in this paragraph, and shall be considered an elected official of the City for purposes of participation in the Limited Term Retirement Plan.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, whenever any retired member of the System is elected as an officer of the City, he or she shall not re-enter membership in the System, but shall instead become a participant in the Limited Term Retirement Plan, during which time he or she shall continue to receive benefits as a retired member of the System.
(10) Any person undergoing training who will become a member of the Fire and Police Pension Plan upon completion of training.
(c) Employees Who May Terminate Membership. Any member whose employment status changes in such manner that he or she would be ineligible for membership pursuant to the provisions of Subsection 4.1052(b)(8) if not already a member, may file a written application, together with proof of status change, with the Board of Administration requesting that his or her membership in the Retirement System be terminated. Provided that he or she provides sufficient proof of status change, the Retirement System shall approve the request. If such request is approved, the former member shall become a member of the Pension Savings Plan for Part-time, Seasonal and Temporary Employees established in Chapter 16 of this Code, provided that he or she otherwise qualifies to participate in such plan. Unless federal law permits a withdrawal of contributions, the former member’s accumulated contributions shall remain in the Fund so long as he or she continues to be employed, in any capacity, by the City.
SECTION HISTORY
Added by Ord. No. 182,629, Eff. 7-25-13.