A. Normal retirement benefits.
(1) Amount.
(a) Effective January 1, 1999, all members of the plan shall be eligible for a normal retirement of 50% of average annual pay upon having completed 20 years of service, without regard to age.
(b) Effective January 1, 2007, members may retire with the following benefit:
[1] Sixty percent of average annual pay with 20 years of service.
[2] Sixty two percent of average annual pay with 21 years of service.
[3] Sixty four percent of average annual pay with 22 years of service.
[4] Sixty six percent of average annual pay with 23 years of service.
[5] Sixty eight percent of average annual pay with 24 years of service.
[6] Seventy percent of average annual pay with 25 years of service.
(c) Effective January 1, 2008, all members shall be required to retire upon the completion of 30 years of service.
(d) Notwithstanding the foregoing sentence, members hired after December 31, 2011, shall be eligible for a normal retirement of 50% of average annual pay upon having completed 20 years of service and reaching 50 years of age. [Added 9-14-2015 by Ord. No. 47-2015]
(2) During the lifetime of any retired member, such member shall be entitled to receive 1/12 of the annual pension benefit specified in Subsection A(1). Such pension benefits shall be paid monthly, in advance, in accordance with and subject to the conditions set forth herein. Members hired after December 31, 2011, shall not be entitled to the increased benefits provided by this § 62-405A(2). Such members shall be eligible for a normal retirement of 50% of average annual pay upon having completed 20 years of service and reaching 50 years of age. [Amended 9-14-2015 by Ord. No. 47-2015]
(3) In addition to the pension benefits which are authorized to be paid in accordance with the previous Subsection A(2), each member who may become entitled to pension benefits shall also become entitled to the payment of a service increment in accordance with and subject to the conditions hereinafter set forth:
(a) Service increments shall be the sum obtained by computing the number of whole years a member shall have continued as a paid City employee after having served in the employment of the City for a period of 20 years and multiplying the number of years in excess of 20 by an amount equal to 1/40 of the pension benefit which becomes payable to such member in accordance with the provisions of this part. The maximum service increment pension shall be $500 per month.
B. Members entitled to reduced retirement benefits. Any member who ceases to be employed by the City for any reason prior to completing the minimum required period for continuous service under Subsection C, but after having completed 12 years of full-time service shall be entitled upon retirement to receive benefits in accordance with Subsection C of this section.
C. Computation of reduced retirement benefits. Should a member of the Police Pension Fund cease to be employed as a full-time employee for any reason prior to completing the minimum period of continuous service requirement, but after completing 12 years of full- time service, the member shall be entitled to cease his or her employment and vest in his or her retirement benefit computed under § 62-405, subject to the following conditions:
(1) The member must file on a fund-authorized form with the Board Administrator a written notice of his or her intention to vest.
(2) The member must include in the notice the date the member intends to terminate his or her service as a full-time employee.
(3) The termination date shall be at least 30 days later than the date the notice to vest is received by the Board.
(4) The member must be in good standing with the Police Department on the date of notice to vest.
(5) The Board shall indicate on the notice to vest the rate of the monthly pay of the member as of the date of said notice to vest or the highest average annual salary which the member received during any five calendar years of service preceding said date, whichever is higher.
(6) Upon reaching the date which would have been the member's retirement date had the member continued his or her full-time employment with the Police Department, the member shall notify the Board, in writing, that the member desires to collect his or her pension. The amount of pension benefits the member is entitled to receive under this section shall be computed as follows:
(a) The initial determination of the member's base retirement benefits shall be computed on the salary indicated on the notice to vest.
(b) The portion of the base retirement due the member shall be determined by applying to the base amount the percentage that his or her years of service actually rendered bears to the years of service which would have been rendered had the member continued to be employed by the Department until his or minimum retirement date.
D. Refund of payments used to parchase intervening military service, nonintervening military service and/or police service. At the cessation of employment, any member that has purchased service time as permitted under §§ 62-414A, B, C or 62-415, may elect to obtain a refund of all or a portion of the payments used to purchase such service time, without interest, rather than receive the benefits, if any, of the additional service time so purchased for purposes of calculating service time under this Police Pension Fund, subject to the following conditions: [Added 9-14-2015 by Ord. No. 47-2015]
(1) The member must file with the Police Pension Fund Association Board written notice of his or her intention to request a refund.
(2) The member must include in the notice the date that the member intends to terminate his or her service as an employee.
(3) The refund will be scheduled for approval at the next suitable Police Pension Board meeting.
(4) The member must include in the written notice the amount of the requested refund. When requesting a partial refund, such members should give notice of their requested refund amount by stating the number of purchased years of service for which they are not requesting a refund. In this case, the remaining funds used to purchase additional service time will be refunded.
(5) The member must include in the written notice a statement acknowledging that by requesting a refund he or she forfeits any benefits, rights or entitlements, if any, associated with the additional service time purchased with the refunded payments and will be treated, for the purposes of this Police Pension Plan, as not having served the time that was purchased with the refunded payments.
(6) All refunds will be subject to tax withholding as required by applicable law. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if any member that has purchased service time as permitted under §§ 62-414A, B, C or 62-415 has previously requested and has received, prior to cessation of employment, a refund of all or a portion of the payments used to purchase such service time, and such refund has not been repaid prior to cessation of employment, the member may not obtain a refund pursuant to this § 62-405D of any purchases of service time that had previously been refunded.