(A) Member contributions.
(1) Amount:
(a) Police officer members shall contribute eight and seventy-six one-hundredths percent (8.76%) of compensation, effective September 30, 2000.
(b) Firefighter members shall contribute five and twenty-nine one-hundredths percent (5.29%) of compensation, effective September 30, 2001. Firefighter members shall contribute six and eighty-six one-hundredths percent (6.86%) of compensation, effective October 1, 2003). Effective October 1, 2007, firefighter members shall contribute eight and seventy-six one-hundredths percent (8.76%) of compensation.
Member contributions withheld by the city on behalf of members shall be deposited in the fund immediately after each pay period. The contributions made by each member to the fund shall be designated as employer contributions pursuant to Section 414(h) of the code. Such designation is contingent upon the contributions being excluded from the members' gross income for Federal Income Tax purposes. For all other purposes of the system, such contributions shall be considered to be member contributions. No member shall have the option of choosing to receive the contributed amounts directly instead of having them paid by the City to the fund.
(2) Method. Member contributions shall be made by payroll deduction.
(3) Duration. Member contributions shall be deducted until a member has reached his actual retirement date or his termination date, whichever occurs first.
(4) Suspension. Should a member be suspended and subsequently reinstated as a police officer or firefighter, he may receive credit for the period he was under suspension by making member contributions for such period, and shall again become a member of the system. In the event that the reinstatement of such member is made on the basis that he is entitled to receive full credit for the period of service prior to his date of suspension and for the period during his suspension as though his employment had never terminated, then the following shall apply:
(a) Member contributions shall be deducted from compensation that the city is required to pay for the period of suspension.
(b) If the suspended member had withdrawn his accumulated contributions, then he shall repay to the fund an amount equal to the amount of the withdrawal and the city shall pay interest thereon, at a rate to be determined by the board, from the date of withdrawal to the date of repayment. These payments shall be made within ninety (90) days of the date of reinstatement.
(c) Upon satisfaction of these conditions, the suspended member shall reenter the system and receive service credit for his credited service prior to his suspension and for the period of suspension. During the period from the date of reinstatement to the date when the conditions set forth in subdivisions (a) and (b) above are satisfied, member contributions shall be made in the same manner as for other members of the system.
(d) In the event that such suspended member fails to comply with subdivision (a) above, his credited service shall begin as of his date of reinstatement and he shall forfeit all credited service prior to the date of reinstatement.
(5) Transfers between employment groups. In the event that a member of the system changes his job status with the city such that he is considered to be in a different employment group, he shall transfer to and become a member of the new group for purposes of the system as of the date when the change in job status occurs. An example of a transfer between employment groups is where a general employee becomes a police officer. In the event of such a transfer, the member's accumulated contributions as of the date of transfer shall remain allocable to the previous group. The member's retirement benefit payable by the previous group shall be calculated by using his credited service as of the date of transfer and his average final compensation as of the date of his termination of employment or the date of transfer, whichever amount is greater. This benefit shall be payable commencing on the date when retirement benefits applicable to his new group status begin. The transferred employee shall not be eligible for any other benefits from the previous group. For purposes of determining his eligibility for vesting, death, disability and retirement benefits as a member of the new group, the employee's credited service prior to the date of transfer shall be included. For the purposes of determining the amount of any vesting and retirement benefits as a member of the new group, only service following the date of transfer shall be included. For purposes of determining the amount of any death or disability benefits as a member of the new group, the employee's credited service prior to date of transfer shall be included.
(B) State contributions.
(1) Any monies received or receivable by reason of the laws of the State of Florida for the purpose of funding and paying for retirement benefits for police officers or firefighters shall be used to provide benefits for police officers and firefighters that are in addition to or greater than benefits provided for general employees of the city. Additional or greater benefits may take the form of lower retirement ages, higher benefit accrual rates, higher disability benefits or any other type of extra benefit. Such monies shall be deposited in the fund immediately and under no circumstances more than five (5) days after receipt by the city. The city may provide authorization for the direct payment to the board.
(2) Two separate sub-accounts shall be created within the fund, one for the state contributions received on behalf of police officers and one for the state contributions received on behalf of firefighters. The monies allocable to these sub-accounts shall be invested in securities or assets, as determined by the board, that are separate from the securities and assets held by the main fund. The sub-accounts shall be increased by the respective payments received from the state and by the investment earnings attributable to the securities and assets attributable to such sub-accounts. The sub-accounts shall be reduced by their share of administrative expenses of the system and by all benefits paid to police officers and firefighters as compared to general employees.
(3) Each year, as part of the actuarial valuation, the system's actuary shall determine the cost of benefits provided for police officer members and firefighter members over and above those provided for general employees of the city. The cost of additional benefits shall be equal to the excess of the required annual contribution for benefits of police officer members and firefighter members over the required annual contribution that will result if police officer members and firefighter members were covered by the same benefits as general employees of the city. In computing the latter amount, assets attributable to police officer members and firefighter members shall be reduced by the sub-account attributable to each group. The city shall take a credit against its required annual contribution in an amount equal to the lesser of the cost of the additional benefits or the monies received from the State of Florida for the year.
(4) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section:
(a) Chapter 185 funds in the amount of $380,000 in the excess state monies reserve as of June 1, 2016 shall be used to reduce the city's annual contributions to the fund; and Chapter 185 funds in the excess state monies reserve as of June 1, 2016 in excess of $380,000 shall be transferred to the Police Share Plan as provided in § 55.29.
(b) Annual premium tax revenues received pursuant to Chapter 185 after June 1, 2016 shall be used as follows: annual premium tax revenues received up to $520,734.08 shall be used to reduce the city's annual pension contribution. If the annual premium tax distribution exceeds $520,734.08, fifty percent (50%) of the sum above $520,734.08 shall be transferred to the Police Share Plan as provided in § 55.29, and the remaining fifty percent (50%) shall be used to reduce the City's annual pension contribution.
(5) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section:
(a) Chapter 175 funds in the amount of $150,000 in the excess state monies reserve as of October 1, 2015 shall be used to reduce the city's annual contributions to the fund; and Chapter 175 funds in the excess state monies reserve in the amount of $7,840 shall be transferred to the Fire Share Plan as provided in § 55.30.
(b) Annual premium tax revenues received pursuant to Chapter 175 after October 1, 2015 shall be used as follows: annual premium tax revenues received up to $825,324 shall be used to reduce the city's annual pension contribution. If the annual premium tax distribution exceeds $825,324, fifty percent (50%) of the sum above $825,324 shall be transferred to the Fire Share Plan as provided in § 55.30, and the remaining fifty percent (50%) shall be used to reduce the City's annual pension contribution.
(C) City contributions. Each year the city shall make monthly contributions to the fund in an amount equal to the difference in each year between the total aggregate member contributions for the year, plus state contributions for such year, and the total cost for the year, as shown by the most recent actuarial valuation of the system. The total cost for any year shall be defined as the total normal cost plus the additional amount sufficient to amortize all unfunded past service liability as provided in Fla. Stat. Part VII of Chapter 112.
(D) Other. Private donations, gifts and other contributions shall be deposited to the fund, but such deposits may be used only for additional benefits for members, as determined by the board, and may not be used to reduce what would have otherwise been required city contributions.
(Ord. 2000-15, passed 5-5-00; Am. Ord. 2001-64, passed 10-18-01; Am. Ord. 2004-04, passed 1-22-04; Am. Ord. 2007-108, passed 11-15- 07; Am. Ord. 2013-45, passed 8- 13-13; Am. Ord. 2017-29, passed 4-6-17; Am. Ord. 2017-34, passed 5-4-17)