All current and former members of Tier 3 of Retirement System shall, at the time of retirement, whether for service or disability, be eligible for the benefit provided in this section, provided they have an eligible survivor as defined in this section.
(a) Definitions. For purposes of this section, the following words and phrases are defined as follows:
Eligible Survivor shall include the following:
(1) The spouse of a retired member to whom such member is married at time of retirement and has been so married for at least one (1) year prior thereto, and further provided that said spouse is either the surviving spouse or surviving domestic partner of the retired member at the time of the retired member’s death.
(2) The domestic partner of a retired member provided that at the time of the member’s retirement their domestic partnership had been established for at least one (1) year, and further provided that said domestic partner is either the surviving domestic partner or surviving spouse of the retired member at the time of the retired member’s death.
Unmodified Allowance. The total monthly retirement allowance payable to the member as of the date of retirement, calculated in accordance with the provisions of sections 4.1080.7, in the case of service retirement and deferred service retirement, or 4.1080.8, in the case of disability retirement.
Joint and Survivor Cash Refund Annuity. An annuity which shall be the actuarial equivalent of the member’s total accumulated contributions providing for equal monthly payments during the lifetime of such member and the eligible survivor, with payment of any unused contributions, as defined in Section 4.1080.10 (c)(2), upon the death of the last survivor as provided in that provision, calculated in accordance with approved actuarial methods as of the date of retirement.
(b) Survivor Contributions. Every member shall contribute by salary deduction at the rate of contribution established in Section 4.1080.3(a) on account of the benefit provided by this section. Said contributions shall be known and designated as survivor contributions and are in addition to the member’s normal contributions.
(c) Retirement with Eligible Survivor. Upon the retirement of a member having an eligible survivor, other than one selecting one of the options available under Section 4.1080.13, the annuity portion of such member’s retirement allowance shall be calculated as a joint and survivor cash refund annuity, and the amount of pension payable during the member’s lifetime shall be the excess of the member’s unmodified retirement allowance over such joint and survivor cash refund annuity.
Upon the death of a member survived by an eligible survivor, there shall be continued to such survivor a retirement allowance which shall consist of:
(1) The joint and survivor cash refund annuity paid during the member’s lifetime; and
(2) A pension amount payable during the lifetime of the eligible survivor, which shall be the excess of one-half (1/2) of the unmodified allowance over said joint and survivor cash refund annuity.
(d) Retirement with No Eligible Survivor. Upon the retirement of a member having no eligible survivor at the time of retirement, the annuity portion of such member’s retirement allowance shall be calculated on the basis of the member’s normal accumulated contributions as opposed to the sum of the normal contributions and the survivor contributions taken pursuant to the provisions of this section. The excess of such member’s total accumulated contributions over the normal accumulated contributions at time of retirement shall be paid to such member, or at the member’s option, considered as additional contributions made to provide an increased annuity.
SECTION HISTORY
Added by Ord. No. 184,134, Eff. 1-22-16.