For the purpose of this subchapter the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
AMENDED PLAN OR SYSTEM or PLAN. The City General Employees Retirement System as contained herein and all amendments thereto.
AVERAGE MONTHLY EARNINGS. For members hired before June 8, 2011, one thirty-sixth of the earnings paid for the highest completed 78 bi-weekly pay periods preceding the actual retirement or termination date of a member times 1.0048. Compensation in excess of limitations set forth in Section 401(a)(17) of the Internal Revenue Code (as adjusted for cost-of-living increases under Section 401(a)(17)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code) shall be disregarded. The limitation on compensation for an “eligible employee” shall not be less than the amount which was allowed to be taken into account hereunder as in effect on July 1, 1993. “Eligible employee” is an individual who was a member before the first plan year beginning after December 31, 1995. For members hired on or after June 8, 2011 and before December 8, 2020, AVERAGE MONTHLY EARNINGS means the base compensation for one sixtieth of the earnings paid for the highest completed 130 bi-weekly pay periods preceding the actual retirement or termination date of a member times 1.0048 for service before December 8, 2020. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, for members hired on or after June 8, 2011 and before December 8, 2020 who make contributions in accordance with § 34.025(D) and (E), AVERAGE MONTHLY EARNINGS for service before December 8, 2020 means one thirty-sixth of the earnings paid for the highest completed 78 bi-weekly pay periods preceding the actual retirement or termination date of a member times 1.0048. Effective December 8, 2020 for service on and after that date, AVERAGE MONTHLY EARNINGS means one thirty-sixth of the earnings paid for the highest completed 78 bi-weekly pay periods preceding the actual retirement or termination date of a member times 1.0048. Provided however, if a person is hired on or after June 8, 2011, and retires prior to attaining five years of continuous service, AVERAGE MONTHLY EARNINGS means the base compensation for earnings paid for the completed bi-weekly pay periods of the member, divided by the number of months of continuous service of the member times 1.0048.
BENEFICIARY. The person or persons entitled to receive any benefits at the death of a member who has or have been designated in writing by the member and filed with the Board. If no designation is in effect at the time of death of the member, or if no person so designated is living at that time, the Board shall have the authority to designate the beneficiary or beneficiaries as provided herein.
BOARD. The Board of Pension Trustees, which shall hold the plan assets for the city and shall supervise, administer, and manage the system herein provided and serve as trustees of the fund.
CONTINUOUS SERVICE.
(1) Uninterrupted service by a member (expressed as years and completed months), from the date he last entered employment as an employee until the date his employment shall be terminated by death, retirement or discharge; however, the continuous service of any member shall not be deemed to be interrupted by, although credit for benefit purposes shall not be granted for, the following.
(a) Any authorized leave of absence, provided all members similarly situated in similar circumstances are treated alike pursuant to uniform, nondiscriminatory rules.
(b) Transfer of employment category within the city to one not covered by this plan.
(2) A member who separates from city employment for active duty service in the Armed Forces of the United States, the United States Merchant Marine or the United States Coast Guard, voluntarily or involuntarily, shall be entitled to continuous service under this plan for the period of such service, provided:
(a) The member must return to city employment within one year from the earlier of the date of military discharge or release from active service, unless otherwise provided by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, as amended.
(b) The member is entitled to reemployment with the city under the provisions of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act.
(c) The maximum amount of continuous service available under this subsection shall be five years.
COST OF LIVING ADJUSTMENT (COLA).
A permanent increase in the retiree's monthly benefit calculated by multiplying the COLA amount by the retiree's existing monthly pension benefit immediately prior to the time the COLA takes effect.
DEFERRED RETIREMENT CALCULATION DATE.
The date prior to a member's entering the DROP period when benefits under the DROP shall be calculated as provided in § 34.0263.
DROP.
The Deferred Retirement Option Plan established by § 34.026(E).
DROP ACCOUNT.
The bookkeeping account established by the plan for each member of the DROP pursuant to § 34.0263.
DROP ELECTION DATE.
The date a member elects to participate in the DROP.
DROP PARTICIPANT.
Any eligible member of the General Employees Retirement System who has validly elected to participate in the DROP.
DROP PERIOD.
The period of time commencing on the deferred retirement calculation date and ending on the member’s DROP termination date, which period may not exceed the maximum DROP period provided in § 34.0263.
DROP TERMINATION DATE.
The date a DROP participant ceases to be an employee of the city and begins receiving their calculated retirement benefit.
EARNINGS. Basic wages and regular longevity wages paid to a member, excluding overtime, bonuses, and any other nonregular payments.
EFFECTIVE DATE. Thirty days following final approval of Ordinance No. 73-3 on the second reading by the City Commission (i.e. 11-8-72 is the second reading approval date).
ELECTED OFFICIALS AND APPOINTEES. The Mayor, City Commissioners, City Clerk, City Attorney, City Auditor and City Manager on the effective date of Ord. 2005-16, and any person who is elected or appointed to any of the foregoing positions after such date. A member shall be considered to be ELECTED OFFICIALS AND APPOINTEES as long as he or she holds one of the foregoing positions.
EMPLOYEE. All regular employees of the city’s classification service except the members of the Fire Department with the job title of firefighter, driver/engineer, Fire Inspector, Fire Lieutenant, Paramedic Lieutenant, Fire Captain, Fire Marshal, Division Chief, Assistant Fire Chief, and Fire Chief and members of the Police Department with the job title of patrolman, Sergeant, Detective, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Commander, Assistant Police Chief, or Police Chief. For this purpose, the term REGULAR EMPLOYEE shall include those who work for 26 hours or more per week and five months or more per year. This definition shall also include all former EMPLOYEES who were transferred to the Broward County Library System pursuant to the Interlocal Agreement between Broward County and the City of Pompano Beach Library, effective October 1, 1991, and who elected to remain in this System, all former EMPLOYEES who transferred to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office and elected to remain in this system pursuant to the Interlocal Agreement between the Sheriff’s Office of Broward County and the city relating to dispatch services, dated October 16, 1998, and all former EMPLOYEES who transferred to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office and elected to remain in this system pursuant to the Agreement for Services adopted by Resolution No. 99-223 and Ordinance No. 99-46, effective August 1, 1999. Effective on the effective date of Ord. 2005-16, EMPLOYEE shall include elected officials and appointees as defined herein. Effective on the effective date of Ord. 2008-16, EMPLOYEE shall include senior management employees as defined herein. Effective on the effective date of Ordinance 2022-26, EMPLOYEE shall include management support employees as defined herein.
FISCAL AGENT. The person or entity designated to serve as investment agent, or custodian of the fund of the retirement system.
FUND. The trust fund originally established and continued hereunder as part of the plan.
HIGHLY COMPENSATED EMPLOYEE. A HIGHLY COMPENSATED EMPLOYEE is a member of this plan who, during the taxable year or the preceding taxable year, received compensation in excess of $75,000 from the city, or received compensation in excess of $50,000 from the city and was in the top-paid group. An employee is considered to be in the top-paid group of employees for any year if the employee is in the group consisting of the top 20% of employees ranked on the basis of compensation paid during the year. For the purpose of determining the number of employee in the top-paid group, the following employees are excluded and disregarded:
(1) Employees who have not completed six months of service;
(2) Employees who normally work less than 17½ hours per week;
(3) Employees who normally work six months or less during any year;
(4) Employees under age 21;
(5) Employees included in a unit of employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement (between employee representatives and the employer, and approved by the Secretary of Labor), except to the extent IRS regulations provide otherwise; and
(6) Employees who are nonresident aliens and who receive no Code Sec. 911(d)(2) earned income (foreign earned income exclusion per Code Sec. 911) which is Code Sec. 861(a)(3) U.S. source income (source of income from personal services Code Sec. 862(a)(3)). With regard to items (1), (2), (3) and (4), above, the city may substitute a shorter period of service, smaller number of hours or months, or lower age, as the case may be. Any alternative used must be made on a uniform and consistent basis. The exclusions may be modified to substitute a zero service or age requirement for the year at issue.
MANAGEMENT SUPPORT EMPLOYEES.
(1) The current Executive Director and the Assistant Administrator employed by the Board of the System on the effective date of Ordinance 2022-26 and all persons employed in either of those specific positions thereafter, and the Executive Director and Deputy Director serving the Police and Firefighters’ Retirement System on the effective date of Ordinance 2023-41 and all persons employed in either of those specific positions thereafter.
(2) The employer contribution to the System for the Executive Director and Deputy Director serving the Police and Firefighter’s System shall be paid by that System as defined in § 34.045.
MEMBER. An employee who fulfills the prescribed participation requirements.
NEW EMPLOYEE. A member who joins the system with no vested benefit due him at the time he joins the system, or a member that retired and received or is receiving benefits from this system and then returns to the employment of the city.
PLAN ADMINISTRATOR and ASSISTANT PLAN ADMINISTRATOR. The then current and serving Chairman and Vice-Chairman, respectively, of the Board.
PRIOR PLAN. The city's employees' pension plan as in effect prior to the adoption of this system.
RE-ENTERED EMPLOYEE. A former member of this system who is rehired by the city as a REGULAR EMPLOYEE and who has vested benefits no part of which he has received.
RETIRED. Retirees who are receiving monthly benefits from General Employees' Pension Plan or participating in the DROP.
RETIREE. A retired employee or, after the retired employee's death, the retired employee's survivor or beneficiary, who is receiving monthly benefits, normal retirement, early retirement, disability, or remainder of ten-year certain or survivor from the General Employees' Pension Plan. A DROP participant is considered a "retiree" for purposes of this subchapter. For purposes of this subchapter, a retired employee and, after the retired employee's death, the retired employee's survivor or beneficiary who is receiving monthly benefits on account of the retired employs death, shall be considered the same retiree.
RETIREMENT DATE. The date the employee retired, entered the DROP, or if the employee died before retiring or entering the DROP, the date of death.
SENIOR MANAGEMENT EMPLOYEES. All full- time employees of the city who are employed and who are not eligible members of the city’s General Employees’ Retirement System on the effective date of Ord. 2008-16 or who were already members but whose current position had been specifically excluded from the plan by Ord. 96-85, effective September 10, 1996, and any person employed in the same or similar position held by such an employee after such date. A member shall be considered to be a senior management employee for as long as he or she is employed in the position, or in one of such positions.
SUFFICIENTLY FUNDED. The most recent annual actuarial valuation performed by the pension fund actuary and approved by the Pension Board of Trustees shows that the required city contribution for general employees is less than zero, and after payment of any variable cost of living adjustment remains less than zero; or shows that there is an actuarial gain attributable to general employees sufficient to fully fund the cost of any variable cost of living adjustment. The required city contribution may be found in the Discussion of Valuation Results section of the annual actuarial report. The actuarial gain attributable to general employees maybe found in the annual actuarial report in the exhibit entitled Liquidation of the Unfunded Actuarial Liability. Actuarial wins and losses for each year shall be determined based on the funding methods and actuarial assumptions used in the most recent annual actuarial valuation.
(‘58 Code, § 11.02) (Ord. 73-3, passed 11-8-72; Am. Ord. 75-81, passed 9-16-75; Am. Ord. 80-29, passed 12-26-79; Am. Ord. 83-37, passed 2-8-83; Am. Ord. 86-82, passed 7-29-86; Am. Ord. 88-60, passed 5-24-88; Am. Ord. 91-16, passed 12-4-90; Am. Ord. 92-53, passed 7-21-92; Am. Ord. 94-41, passed 5-24-94; Am. Ord. 94-55, passed 7-19-94; Am. Ord. 96-21, passed 11-28-95; Am. Ord. 96-28, passed 12-26-95; Am. Ord. 96-85, passed 9-10-96; Am. Ord. 97-52, passed 4-22-97; Am. Ord. 99-1, passed 10-27-98; Am. Ord. 99-61, passed 7-27-99; Am. Ord. 2001-50, passed 3-27-01; Am. Ord. 2002-43, passed 3-26-02; Am. Ord. 2004-55, passed 7-27-04; Am. Ord. 2005-16, passed 12-14-04; Am. Ord. 2007-22, passed 1-9-07; Am. Ord. 2008-16, passed 12-11-07; Am. Ord. 2010-35, passed 6-22-10; Am. Ord. 2011-53, passed 6-14-11; Am. Ord. 2021-31, passed 12-8-20; Am. Ord. 2022-26, passed 2-8-22; Am. Ord. 2023-41, passed 3-14-23)