(A) If a police officer quits or is discharged before his or her normal or early retirement date, the officer may request and receive as a lump-sum payment an amount equal to the retirement value of his or her employee account as determined at the valuation date preceding his or her termination of employment. Such police officer, if vested, shall also receive a deferred pension benefit in an amount purchased or provided by the retirement value at the date of retirement. The retirement value at the retirement date shall consist of the accumulated value of the police officer’s employee account, as reduced by any lump-sum distributions received prior to retirement, together with a vested percentage of the accumulated value of the police officer’s employer account at the date of retirement.
(B) The vesting schedule shall be as follows:
(1) If the terminated police officer has been a member of the system for less than 4 years, the vesting shall be nil;
(2) If the terminating officer has been a member of the paid Department of the city of the first class for at least 4 years, the vesting percentage shall be 40%. The vesting percentage shall be 50% after 5 years, 60% after 6 years, 70% after 7 years, 80% after 8 years, 90% after 9 years and 100% after 10 years; and
(3) All police officers shall be 100% vested upon attainment of age 60 while employed by the city as a police officer.
(C) The deferred pension benefit shall be payable on the first of the month immediately following the police officer’s sixtieth birthday. At the option of the terminating police officer, the pension benefit may be paid as of the first of the month after the police officer attains the age of 55. The election may be made by the police officer any time prior to the payment of the pension benefits. The deferred pension benefit shall be paid in the form of the benefit options specified in § 35.081(A) as elected by the police officer. If the police officer’s vested retirement value at the date of his or her termination of employment is less than $3,500, the city may elect to pay the police officer his or her vested retirement value in the form of a single lump-sum payment.
(D) Effective January 1, 1997, a police officer may elect upon his or her termination of employment to receive his or her vested retirement value in the form of a single lump-sum payment. For a police officer whose termination of employment is prior to January 1, 1997, this election shall be available only if the city has adopted a lump-sum distribution option for terminating police officers in the funding medium established for the retirement system.
(E) Upon any lump-sum payment of a terminating police officer’s retirement value under this section, the police officer will not be entitled to any deferred pension benefit and the city and the retirement system shall have no further obligation to pay the police officer or his or her beneficiaries any benefits under this subchapter.
(F) If the terminating police officer is not credited with 100% of his or her employer account, the non-vested portion of the account shall be forfeited and first used to meet the expense charges incurred by the city in connection with administering the police officers retirement system and the remainder shall then be used to reduce the city contribution which would otherwise be required to fund pension benefits.
(Prior Code, § 30-73)
Statutory reference:
Similar provisions, see Neb. RS 16-1013