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The following time shall be included in the computation of the service to be credited to a member of the Police Department for the purposes of determining whether such member qualified for retirement and calculating benefits, excluding, however, any time, the contributions for which were withdrawn by said member upon termination of his service while he was a member under any other Charter section, and not redeposited upon reentry into service:
(a) Time during and for which said member is entitled to receive compensation because of services as a member of the fire or police department.
(b) Time during which said member served and received compensation as a jail matron in the office of the sheriff.
(c) Time during which said member is entitled to receive compensation while a member of the Retirement System, because of service rendered in other offices and departments prior to July 1, 1949, provided that accumulated contributions on account of such service previously refunded, are redeposited, with interest from date of refund to date of redeposit, at times and in the manner fixed by the Retirement Board; and solely for purpose of determining qualification for retirement under Section 8.559-3 for disability not resulting from injury received in, or illness caused by performance of duty, time during which said member serves, after July 1, 1949, and receives compensation because of services rendered in other offices and departments.
(d) Time during which said member is absent from a status included in Subsections (a), (b), or (c) next preceding, by reason of service in the Armed Forces of the United States of America, or by reason of any other service included in Section 8.520 of the Charter, during any war in which the United States was or shall be engaged or during other national emergency, and for which said member contributed or contributes to the Retirement System or for which the City and County contributed or contributes on his account.
(e) Time during which said member was on Unpaid Parental Leave pursuant to Charter Section A8.523, and for which said member has purchased service credit in the Retirement System.
(Amended by Proposition G, 11/4/2008)
All payments provided for members under Section 8.559 shall be made from funds derived from the following sources, plus interest earned on said funds;
(a) The normal rate of contribution for each member under Section 8.559 shall be based on his age taken to the next lower complete quarter year, (1) at the date he became a member under Section 8.544, in the case of persons who are members under that section, or (2) on his age at the date he becomes a member under Section 8.559 in the case of persons who become members on or after July 1, 1973, without credit for service counted under Section 8.559-10. The age of entrance into the police department shall be determined by deducting the member's service credited under Section 8.559-10 as rendered prior to the date upon which his age is based for determination of his rate of contribution according to the sentence next preceding, from said age. The normal rate of contribution of each such member, to be effective from the effective date of membership under Section 8.559, shall be such as, on the average for such member, will provide, assuming service without interruption, under Section 8.559-2, one-third of that portion of the service retirement allowance to which he would be entitled, without continuance to dependents, upon first qualifying as to age and service for retirement under that section, which is based on service rendered after the date upon which his age is based for determination of his rate of contribution according to the first sentence in this paragraph, and assuming the contribution to be made from that date. The normal rate of contribution, however, shall not exceed seven percent.
(b) The dependent contributions of each member under this section which shall be required of each member throughout his membership in addition to the normal contributions, and in the same manner as normal contributions, shall be such as, on the average for such member, will provide, assuming service without interruption under Section 8.559-2, and upon his first qualifying as to age and service for retirement under that section, one-third of the portion of his allowance, which is to be continued under Section 8.559-5 after his death and throughout the life of a surviving wife whose age at said death is three years less than the age of said member. If, at the date of retirement for service or retirement for disability resulting from injury received in performance of duty, said member has no wife who would qualify for the continuance of the allowance to her after the death of said member, or upon retirement for disability resulting from other causes, regardless of his marital conditions, the dependent contributions with accumulated interest thereon, shall be paid to him forthwith. The dependent rate of contribution, however, shall not exceed the difference between seven percent and the member's normal rate of contribution, and said dependent rate may be taken as a flat percentage of the member's normal rate, regardless of the age of qualification for service retirement.
(c) There shall be deducted from each payment of compensation made to a member under this section, a sum determined by applying the member's rates of contribution to such compensation payment. The sum so deducted shall be paid forthwith to the Retirement System. Said contribution shall be credited to the individual account of the member from whose salary it was deducted, and the total of said contributions, together with interest credited thereon in the same manner as is prescribed by the Board of Supervisors for crediting interest to contributions of other member of the Retirement System, shall be applied to provide part of the retirement allowance granted to, or allowance granted on account of said member, or shall be paid to said member or his estate or beneficiary as provided in Sections 8.559-8, 8.559-9 and 8.559-10. The individual accounts of members who purchased service credit for Unpaid Parental Leave shall also include the amount paid by the member for said purchase, plus interest.
(d) Contributions based on time included in Subsections (a), (b) and (c) of Section 8.559-10, and deducted prior to July 1, 1975, from compensation of persons who become members under Section 8.559, and standing with interest thereon, to the credit of such members on the records of the Retirement System on said date, together with contributions made by such members pursuant to the provisions of Section 8.526 and standing with interest thereon to the credit of such members on the records of the Retirement System on said date, shall continue to be credited to the individual accounts of said members and shall be combined with and administered in the same manner as the contributions deducted after said date.
(e) The total contributions, with interest thereon, made by or charged against the City and County and standing to its credit, in the accounts of the Retirement System, on account of persons who become members under Section 8.559, shall be applied to provide the benefits under said Section 8.559.
(f) The City and County shall contribute to the Retirement System such amounts as may be necessary, when added to the contributions referred to in the preceding paragraphs of this Section 8.559-11 to provide the benefits payable to members under Section 8.559. Such contributions of the City and County to provide the portion of the benefits hereunder which shall be based on service rendered by each member prior to the date upon which his age is based for determination of his rate of contribution in Subsection (a) of this Section 8.559-11, shall not be less during any fiscal year than the amount of such benefits paid during said year. Such contributions of the City and County to provide the portion of the benefits hereunder which shall be based on service rendered by respective members on and after the date stated in the next preceding sentence, shall be made in annual installments, and the installment to be paid in any year shall be determined by the application of a percentage to the total compensation paid during said year, to persons who are members under Section 8.559, said percentage to be the ratio of the value on July 1, 1975, or at the later date of a periodical actuarial valuation and investigation into the experience under the system, of the benefits thereafter to be paid under this section, from contributions of the City and County, less the amount of such contributions, and plus accumulated interest thereon, then held by said systems to provide said benefits on account of service rendered by respective members after the date stated in the sentence next preceding, to the value of said respective dates of salaries thereafter payable to said members. Said values shall be determined by the actuary, who shall take into account the interest which shall be earned on said contributions, the compensation experience of members, and the probabilities of separation by all causes, of members from service before retirement and of death after retirement. Said percentage shall be changed only on the basis of said periodical actuarial valuation and investigation into the experience under the system. Said actuarial valuation shall be made every even-numbered year and said investigation into the experience under the system shall be every odd-numbered year.
(g) To promote the stability of the Retirement System through a joint participation in the result of variations in the experience under mortality, investment and other contingencies the contributions of both members and the City and County held by the system to provide the benefits under this section, shall be a part of the fund in which all other assets of said system are included. Nothing in this section shall affect the obligations of the City and County to pay to the Retirement System any amounts which may or shall become due under the provisions of the Charter prior to July 1, 1975, and which are represented on said effective date, in the accounts of said system by debits against the City and County.
(Amended by Proposition G, 11/4/2008)
Upon the completion of the years of service set forth in Section 8.559-2 as requisite to retirement, a member of the police department shall be entitled to retire at any time thereafter in accordance with the provisions of said Section 8.559-2, and nothing shall deprive said member of said right.
Except as otherwise provided in section 8.511 of this Charter, no person retired as a member under Section 8.559 for service or disability and entitled to receive a retirement allowance under the Retirement System shall serve in any elective or appointive position in the City and County service, including membership on boards and commissions, nor shall such person receive any payment for service rendered to the City and County after retirement, provided that service as an election officer or juror, or in the preparation for, or the giving of, testimony as an expert witness for or on behalf of the City and County of San Francisco before any court or legislative body shall not be affected by this section.
Notwithstanding any provisions of this Charter to the contrary, any person who, on or after January 1, 1981, is a member of the Police Department, and is a member of the Retirement System under Charter Section 8.559, may become a member of the Retirement System under Charter Section 8.586 by filing in writing with the Retirement System no later than December 31, 1981, an executed waiver of all benefits which might inure to him under Charter Section 8.559. This waiver must be without right of revocation and on a form furnished by the Retirement System. The Retirement Board may require that this waiver be executed by additional persons before it becomes operative.
This transfer will be effective July 1, 1980. Those persons so electing to become members under Charter Section 8.586 shall receive service credit under Charter Section 8.586 equal to their service credit under Charter Section 8.559 as of June 30, 1980.
Those persons so electing to become members under Charter Section 8.586 shall not be subject to any of those provisions of Charter Section 8.559 as of July 1, 1980.
Notwithstanding the provisions of Charter Section 8.526, the cost of living adjustment in any given year prior to January 1, 2000 for those persons electing this transfer to Charter Section 8.586 shall not exceed the provisions of Charter Section 8.526 as they existed on July 1, 1980.
Those persons so electing to transfer membership from Charter Section 8.559 to Charter Section 8.586 shall receive a monetary consideration not to exceed $40,000 calculated at the rate of $2,500 for each year of said service credit up to ten years and then at the rate of $1000 for each additional year of said service credit. This monetary consideration shall be paid from said member's contribution account including any interest thereon. When said member's contribution account is depleted, the balance shall be paid from the City and County contributions held by the Retirement System.
This consideration shall be payable January 1, 1982. Alternatively, an employee may elect to receive payments according to a schedule established by the Retirement Board.
Notwithstanding any other Charter or ordinance provisions, a member transferring pursuant to this section shall be eligible to receive any benefits payable because of an increase in benefits approved by the voters for other members under Charter Section 8.586, provided, however, that said member repays with interest the monetary consideration he or she received in making this transfer, offset by the amount of said member's own account in the Retirement System under Charter Section 8.559. Interest on the repayment amount shall be charged at the rate credited to member accounts from January 1, 1981 until repayment or effective date of retirement. Members shall have the option of making said repayment either through a lump-sum payment, payroll deduction or through an actuarial offset against any benefits payable because of an increase in benefits subsequent to July 1, 1980.
The amendments to this section contained in the proposition submitted to the electorate on November 2, 1999 shall apply only to active and retired members on November 2, 1999 and constitute a prospective increase in benefits to such members subject to repayment in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph. Upon repayment, retirees shall have their benefits recalculated under Charter Section 8.586 as in force at the date of their retirement. These recalculated benefits shall be first payable on and after November 2, 1999. No retired member shall become eligible under said amendments for any retroactive payments. Notwithstanding the preceding sentences, the provisions in Charter Section 8.586-3 for recalculation on the date upon which said member would have qualified for service retirement ("QSR") shall use the provisions of Charter Section 8.586 at QSR.
(Amended November 1999)
Should any member of the police department who is a member of the Retirement System under Charter section 8.559, with five years of credited service, cease to be so employed, through any cause other than death or retirement, he or she shall have the right to elect, without right of revocation and within 90 days after termination of said service, to allow his or her accumulated contributions including interest to remain in the retirement fund and to receive a retirement benefit calculated at termination, defined as that proportion of the normal service retirement benefit that his or her accrued service credit bears to 25 years, payable beginning at age 50.
Any member of the police department convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude committed in connection with his or her duties as a member of the police department shall, upon termination of his or her employment pursuant to the provisions of this Charter, forfeit all right to any benefits under this section except refund of his or her accumulated contributions.
Every retirement or death allowance payable to or on account of any member under Section 8.559-15 shall be adjusted in accordance with the provisions of Section 8.559-6 provided that if the member's accrued service credit is less than 25 years the section 8.559-6 adjustment will be multiplied by a fraction where the denominator is 25 and the numerator is equal to the member's accrued service credit at the date of termination.
For the purpose of the Retirement System, any officer or employee of the police or the fire departments whose employment therein began prior to January 1, 1900, or whose employment therein began on or shall begin after that date and was or shall be subject to a Charter maximum age at the time of employment of not over 35 years, shall be considered to be a member of the police department or the fire department, respectively. Any fire or police service outside the limits of the City and County performed by a member of the Retirement System and under orders of a superior officer of any such member, shall be considered as City and County service, and any disability or death incurred therein shall be covered under the provisions of the Retirement System.
If a member of the fire or police departments, as defined in the Charter for the purposes of the Retirement System, or a member of the salvage corps in the fire department, or any person employed by the City and County to perform duties now performed under the titles of pilots of fireboats, marine engineer of fireboats, or marine fireman of fireboats, all of whom are hereinafter designated as members, shall die before or after retirement as a result of an injury received in, or illness caused by the performance of his duty, a monthly allowance, in lieu of any allowance payable under any other section of the Charter or by ordinance, shall be paid, beginning on the date next following the date of death, to his surviving wife throughout her life or until her remarriage. If the member, at the time of death, was qualified for service retirement, but had not retired, the allowance payable shall be equal to the retirement allowance which the member would have received if he had been retired for service on the day of death, but such allowances shall not be less than one-half of the average monthly compensation earnable by said member during the three years immediately preceding death, and if he had retired prior to death, the allowance payable shall be equal to the retirement allowance of the member. If death occurs prior to qualification for service retirement, the allowance payable shall be equal to the compensation of said member at the date of death, until the date upon which said member would have qualified for service retirement, had he lived and rendered service without interruption in the rank held by him at death, and after said date the allowance payable shall be equal to the retirement allowance said member would have received if retired for service on said date, based on the average monthly compensation he would have received during the three years immediately prior to said date, had he lived and rendered service as assumed, but such allowance shall not be less than one-half of such average monthly compensation. If there be no surviving wife entitled to an allowance hereunder, of if she die or remarry before every child of such deceased member attains the age of 18 years, then the allowance which the surviving wife would have received had she lived and not remarried shall be paid to his child or children under said age, collectively, to continue until every such child dies or attains said age, provided that no child shall receive any allowance after marrying or attaining the age of 18 years. Should said member leave no surviving wife and no children under the age of 18 years, but leave a parent or parents dependent upon him for support, the parents so dependent shall collectively receive a monthly allowance equal to that which a surviving widow otherwise would have received, during such dependency. No allowance, however, shall be paid under this subsection to a surviving wife following the death of a member unless she was married to the member prior to the date of the injury or onset of the illness which result in death.
Benefits provided under this section shall be in lieu of all benefits payable under other sections of the Charter upon death of such member resulting from an injury received in, or illness caused by the performance of duty, except the five hundred dollar benefit payable upon death after retirement.
Contributions to provide the allowance under this section shall be made to the San Francisco City and County Employees' Retirement System by the City and County. The amount of the contribution shall be determined and payment to the system shall be made in the same manner as contributions are determined and paid which are required for other benefits provided under the Retirement System for the respective groups of members who are included under this section.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this Charter, any member of the salvage corps in the fire department, or any person employed by the City and County to perform duties now performed under the titles of pilot of fire boats, marine engineer of fire boats, or marine fireman of fire boats, who becomes incapacitated for performance of his duty by reason of any bodily injury received in, or illness caused by, the performance of his duty, shall receive the same benefits as members of the fire department who are members of the Retirement System under Section 8.567 of the Charter.
Any person who is a member under Section 8.568 on February 1, 1970, and who was employed in the uniformed force of the Underwriters' Fire Patrol of San Francisco prior to becoming such a member shall have the right to elect to make contributions pursuant to this section and to receive credit as service under the Retirement System for all or any part of the time he was so employed.
Said election shall be made in writing on a form provided by the Retirement System and filed with the retirement board within 90 days after February 1, 1970.
Any such member who elects to make contributions and receive such credit shall contribute to the retirement fund an amount equal to the sum of:
(a) contributions computed by applying the rate of contribution applicable to him on the date he elected to receive credit for such service to the monthly compensation earnable by him on said date multiplied by the number of months of such service for which he has elected to receive credit; and
(b) interest on the unpaid balance of said contributions, commencing on the date of the member's election to make such contributions, at the rate of interest currently being used from time to time under the Retirement System.
Payment of the contributions required by this section shall be made in a lump sum or by installment payments. Installment payments shall be made at times and in a manner fixed by the retirement board, provided that the period for completion of such payments shall not extend beyond the effective date of the member's retirement.
Upon completion of payment of contributions in the amount specified in this section, the member shall be credited with service under the Retirement System in an amount equal to the service for which he has elected to receive credit pursuant to this section. The service with which the member is so credited shall be credited as current service.
Persons who are members of the fire department on the eighth day of January, 1932, shall become members of the Retirement System on the date, subject only to the following provisions, in addition to the provisions contained in Sections 3.670-3.672, 8.500-8.502, 8.510, 8.511, 8.520, and 8.560 of this Charter.
(a) Any member of the fire department who shall have completed 25 years of continuous service as a member of the fire department next preceding the date of his retirement, or any member of the fire department who shall have reached the age of 55 years and shall have completed 20 years of continuous service as a member of the fire department next preceding the date of his retirement, may retire from service at his option. Any member of the fire department who shall become physically disabled by reason of any bodily injury received in the performance of his duty may be retired from service on satisfactory proof thereof. The retirement board, by unanimous vote, may retire from service any aged, disabled or infirm member of the fire department who has arrived at the age of 60 years and who has completed 20 years of continuous service as a member of the department next preceding such age, who may be ascertained to be, by reason of such age, infirmity or other disability, unfit for the performance of his duties.
Such retired member shall receive a monthly pension, payable throughout his life, equal to one-half the amount of the salary attached to the rank held by him three years prior to the date of his retirement hereinafter referred to as "pension" in this and the following section; provided that where such retirement is based on disability alone, in case the disability of such member shall cease, his pension shall cease, and he shall be restored to service in the rank he occupied at the time of his retirement. Should any said retired member die leaving a widow, who shall have been married to the decedent at least one year prior to the date of his retirement, such widow shall, as long as she may live and remain unmarried, be paid said pension; provided, further, that the widow of any said retired member who married said member after the effective date of his retirement and at least one year prior to his death shall be paid pension for time after December 31, 1974, as long as she may live and remain unmarried; provided, further, that should widow die leaving a child or children under the age of 16 years, said pension shall continue to be paid such children collectively until the youngest child arrives at the age of 16 years; and provided further, that should said retired member die leaving no widow but leaving an orphan child or children under the age of 16 years, such child or children collectively shall receive said pension until the youngest child attains the age of 16 years.
(b) The family of any member of the fire department who shall die as a result of any injury received during the performance of his duty, or from sickness clearly, unmistakably and directly caused by and resulting from the discharge of such duty, or while eligible for a pension on account of years of service in the department, or who has served 20 consecutive years in the department and attained the age of 55 years, shall receive the following benefits.
First, should the decedent leave a widow to whom he was married prior to the date of the injury resulting in death, his widow shall, as long as she may live and remain unmarried, be paid a monthly pension equal to one- half of the salary attached to the rank held by the decedent at the time of his said injury; provided that the widow of any said retired member who married said member after the effective date of his retirement and at least one year prior to his death shall be paid pension for time after December 31, 1974, as long as she may live and remain unmarried; provided, however, that should said widow die, leaving a child or children under the age of 16 years, said pension shall continue to such child or children collectively until the youngest child arrives at the age of 16 years.
Second, should the decedent leave no widow, but leave an orphan child or children under the age of 16 years, such child or such children collectively shall receive said pension until the youngest child attains the age of 16 years.
Third, should the decedent leave no widow and no orphan child or children, but leave a parent or parents dependent solely upon him for support, such parents so depending shall collectively receive said pension during such time as the retirement board may unanimously determine its necessity.
(c) When any member of the department shall die from natural causes and before retirement, and when no pension is payable to his widow or children, there shall be paid to his estate or beneficiary a death benefit, the amount of which and the conditions for the payment of which shall be determined in the manner prescribed by the Board of Supervisors for the death benefit of other members of the Retirement System.
Upon the death of a member after retirement and regardless of the cause of death, a death benefit shall be paid to his estate or designated beneficiary, the amount of which and the conditions for payment of which shall be determined in the manner prescribed by the Board of Supervisors for the payment of a similar death benefit upon the death of other retired members.
(d) In addition to the other contributions required of the City and County under the Retirement System, the City and County shall contribute to the Retirement System during each fiscal year a sum which shall be equal to the liabilities accruing under the Retirement System because of service rendered during such year by persons becoming members on the eighth day of January, 1932, under this section. If, subsequent to such fiscal year, it shall be determined that such contribution by the City and County was not sufficient to meet such liability, then the City and County shall make such additional contribution as may be necessary to make up the deficit.
(e) No benefits shall be provided under the Retirement System for, nor shall any contributions be required of, persons who become members of the Retirement System under this section, in addition to the benefits specifically provided and contributions specifically required in such section. Any pension payable because of the death or retirement of any such person shall be reduced in the manner fixed by the Board of Supervisors, by the amount of any benefits payable to or on account of such person, under the Workers' Compensation Insurance and Safety Law of the State of California.
(f) Persons who are members of the fire department on the eighth day of January, 1932, shall have the option, to be exercised in writing on or before the first day of July, 1932, of becoming members of the Retirement System under the provisions of Section 8.567, which applies to persons who become members of the department after the eighth day of January, 1932. If such persons shall affirmatively exercise such option within the time specified, then they shall not receive any benefit under this section, but shall become members of the Retirement System and shall receive benefits and make contributions on the same basis as persons who become members of the department after the eighth day of January, 1932, provided that a pension for each person affirmatively exercising such option shall be payable on account of service rendered to the City and County prior to the eighth day of January, 1932, by contributions of the City and County, which pension shall be the same percentage, regardless of the age of retirement of his final compensation, as defined by the Board of Supervisors, for each year of service, as the contributions of the member and the City and County are calculated to provide upon retirement at age 55 for each year of service rendered as a member of the Retirement System.
The amendments of Subsections (a), and (b), of this section contained in the proposition therefor submitted to the electorate on November 5, 1974, do not and shall not give any person any claim against the City and County for any pension for time prior to January 1, 1975.
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