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If a member of the police department shall die, before retirement from causes other than an injury received in or illness caused by the performance of duty, or regardless of cause, if no allowance shall be payable under Section 8.595-4 or 8.595-5 preceding, a death benefit shall be paid to his or her estate or designated beneficiary, 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 or her estate or designated beneficiary 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.
(Added November 2002)
Should any member of the police department cease to be employed as such a member, through any cause other than death or retirement or transfer to another office or department, all of his or her contributions, with interest credited thereon, shall be refunded to him or her subject to the conditions prescribed by the Board of Supervisors to govern similar terminations of employment of other members of the Retirement System. If he or she shall again become a member of the department, he or she shall redeposit in the retirement fund, the amount refunded to him or her. Should a member of the police department become an employee of any other office or department, his or her accumulated contribution account shall be adjusted by payments to or from him or her as the case may be to make the accumulated contributions credited to him or her at the time of change, equal to the amount which would have been credited to him or her if he or she had been employed in said other office or department at the rate of compensation received by him or her in the police department and he or she shall receive credit for service for which said contributions were made, according to the Charter section under which his or her membership in the Retirement System continues.
(Added November 2002)
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 or her service while he or she 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 absent from a status included in Subsections (a) or (b) 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 Sections A8.520 and A8.521 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 or her account.
(d) 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.
(Added November 2002; Amended by Proposition G, 11/4/2008)
All payments provided for members under Section A8.595 shall be made from funds derived from the following sources, plus interest earned on said funds:
(a) There shall be deducted from each payment of compensation made to a member under Section A8.595 a sum equal to seven percent of such payment of compensation. 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 members 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 or her estate or beneficiary as provided in Section A8.595-4, A8.595-5 and A8.595-8.
(b) The dependent contributions of each member under this Section which shall be required of each member throughout his or her 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 A8.595-2, and upon he or she first qualifying as to age and service for retirement under that section, one-third of the portion of his or her allowance, which is to be continued under Section A8.595-5 after his or her death and throughout the life of a surviving spouse 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 the performance of duty, said member has no spouse who would qualify for the continuance of the allowance to him or her after the death of said member, or upon retirement for disability resulting from other causes, regardless of his or her marital conditions, the dependent contributions with accumulated interest thereon, shall be paid to him or her 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) The City and County shall contribute to the Retirement System such amounts as may be necessary, when added to the contributions referred to in Subsection (a) of this Section A8.595-11, to provide the benefits payable to members under Section A8.595. Such contributions of the City and County to provide the portion of the benefits hereunder 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 A8.595 in accordance with the provisions of Section A8.510.
(d) 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 benefits for members under Section A8.595, shall be a part of the fund in which all other assets of said system are included.
(e) Any year in which, based upon the Retirement System's annual actuarial valuation, the employer contribution rate exceeds 0%, the employee organizations representing safety members shall jointly meet and confer with City representatives to implement a cost sharing arrangement between the City and employee organizations. Such arrangement will effect a material reduction of the cost impact of employer contributions on the City's general fund.
The dollar value of the cost sharing arrangement shall not exceed the total annual cost to the Retirement System of improving the police and fire safety retirement plans to the 3% @ 55 benefit level or the total employer contribution required by the Retirement System, whichever is lesser. Such cost sharing arrangement shall not require an employee contribution in excess of the limits set elsewhere in this Charter.
The meet and confer process, including all impasse procedures under Section A8.590-1 et seq., shall be concluded not later than April 1st except by mutual agreement of the parties. The cost sharing arrangement must be finalized to permit implementation effective July 1.
(f) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section A8.595-11 or this Charter, beginning on July 1, 2012, the employee contribution rate set forth in Subsection (a) shall be increased or decreased each fiscal year based on the employer contribution rate for that fiscal year calculated by the Retirement System's actuary as prescribed in Subsection (c). Said increase or decrease in the employee contribution rate shall be calculated as a percentage of compensation, as set forth below:
Employer Contribution Rate | Change In Member Contribution |
Employer Contribution Rate | Change In Member Contribution |
0% | -6.0% |
.01%-1.0% | -5.0% |
1.01%-2.5% | -4.75% |
2.51%-4.0% | -4.5% |
4.01%-5.5% | -3.5% |
5.51%-7.0% | -3.0% |
7.01%-8.5% | -2.0% |
8.51%-10.0% | -1.5% |
10.01%-11.0% | -0.5% |
11.01%-12.0% | 0% |
12.01%-13.0% | 0.5% |
13.01%-15.0% | 1.5% |
15.01%-17.5% | 2.0% |
17.51%-20.0% | 3.0% |
20.01%-22.5% | 3.5% |
22.51%-25.0% | 4.5% |
25.01%-27.5% | 4.5% |
27.51%-30.0% | 4.75% |
30.01%-32.5% | 4.75% |
32.51%-35.0% | 5.0% |
Over 35.0% | 6.0% |
The employee contribution increases shall be deducted from each payment of compensation and shall be paid forthwith to the Retirement System. Said additional 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 members of the Retirement System, shall be applied to provide part of the retirement allowance granted to, or allowance granted on account of said member under Section A8.595, or shall be paid to said member or his or her beneficiary or estate as provided in Sections A8.595-4, A8.595-5 and A8.595-8.
The percentage increase in member contributions shall reduce, by a corresponding percentage, the City and County contributions to the Retirement System on account of said member otherwise required for that fiscal year.
The employee contribution decreases shall be paid by the City and County at the time each member is paid compensation, such that the Retirement System receives from the member and the City and County combined, a sum equal to seven percent of the member's compensation as provided in Subsection (a). The sums so received shall be credited to the individual accounts of the member on whose behalf the contributions are made.
The percentage increase in contributions by the City and County shall be in addition to the contributions required by the City and County under Subsection (c) for that fiscal year.
(Added November 2002; amended by Proposition G, Approved 11/4/2008; Proposition C, Approved 11/8/2011)
(Added November 2002)
Except as otherwise provided in Section A8.511 of this Charter, no person retired as a member under Section A8.595 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.
(Added November 2002)
Notwithstanding any provisions of this Charter to the contrary, should any member of the police department who is a member of the Retirement System under Charter Section A8.595 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 allowance equal to the percent set forth in Section A8.595-2 opposite his or her age at retirement, for each year of service multiplied against the final compensation of said member, calculated at termination, payable beginning no earlier than age 50. The provisions of Section A8.595-14 shall not apply to any members of the Retirement System under Section A8.559 who terminated before January 1, 2003 or their continuants. No vesting retirement allowance under this section shall exceed ninety (90%) percent of the member's final compensation.
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 A8.595-14 shall be adjusted in accordance with the provisions of Section A8.595-6 provided that if the member's accrued service credit is less than 25 years the Section A8.595-6 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.
(Added November 2002)
Any Section or part of any Section in this Charter, insofar as it should conflict with the provisions of Section A8.595 or with any part thereof, shall be superseded by the contents of Section A8.595. Section A8.595 shall be interpreted to be consistent with all federal and state laws, rules, and regulations. If any words, phrases, clauses, sentences, subsections, provisions or portions of Section A8.595 are held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a final judgment of a court; such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining words, phrases, clauses, sentences, subsections, provisions or portions of Section A8.595. If any words,. phrases, clauses, sentences, subsections, provisions or portions of Section A8.595 are held invalid as applied to any person, circumstance, employee or category of employee, such invalidity shall not affect any application of Section A8.595 which can be given effect. Section A8.595 shall be broadly construed to achieve its stated purposes.
(Added by Proposition C, Approved 11/8/2011)
A8.596 MEMBERS OF THE FIRE DEPARTMENT ON JANUARY 1, 2003 WHO ARE MEMBERS OF THE RETIREMENT SYSTEM UNDER CHARTER SECTION A8.585
Members of the fire department on January 1, 2003 who are members of the Retirement System under Section A8.585 may elect to be members of the Retirement System under Section A8.596 instead of Section A8.585. Any such election must be exercised in writing, on a form furnished by the Retirement System, and filed at the office of said system not later than the close of business on December 31, 2002.
Those persons who elect to be members under Section A8.596 as provided in the preceding paragraph, shall be members of the system subject to provisions of Section A8.596 through Section A8.596-14 (which shall apply only to members under Section A8.596) in addition to the provisions contained in Sections 12.100 to 12.103 and Sections A8.500, A8.510 and A8.520 of this Charter, notwithstanding the provisions of any other section of this Charter, and shall not be subject to any of the provisions of Section A8.585 of this Charter.
The provisions of section A8.596 shall not apply to any member of the Retirement System under section A8.585 who separated from service, retired or died before January 1, 2003, or to his or her continuant; provided, however, that the provisions of section A8.596-2 shall apply to the adjustment required in Sections A8.585-3, A8-585-4 and A8.585-5 for a retired member or his or her surviving spouse or continuant when the retired member would not have completed at least twenty-five (25) years of service in the aggregate and attained the age of fifty (50) years until after January 1, 2003.
(Added November 2002)
"Retirement allowance," "death allowance" or "allowance," shall mean equal monthly payments, beginning to accrue upon the date of retirement, or upon the day following the date of death, as the case may be, and continuing for life unless a different term of payment is definitely provided by the context.
"Compensation," as distinguished from benefits under the Workers' Compensation Insurance and Safety Act of the State of California, shall mean the remuneration payable in cash, by the City and County, without deduction except for absence from duty, for time during which the individual receiving such remuneration is a member of the fire department, but excluding remuneration paid for overtime.
"Compensation earnable" shall mean the compensation which would have been earned had the member received compensation without interruption throughout the period under consideration and at the rates of remuneration attached at that time to the ranks or positions held by him or her during such period, it being assumed that during any absence, he or she was in the rank or position held by him or her at the beginning of the absence, and that prior to becoming a member of the fire department, he or she was in the rank or position first held by him or her in such department.
"Benefit" shall include "allowance," "retirement allowance," "death allowance" and "death benefit."
"Final compensation" shall mean the monthly compensation earnable by a member at the time of his or her retirement, or death before retirement, as the case may be, at the rate of remuneration attached at that time to the rank or position which said member held, provided that said member has held said rank or position for at least one year immediately prior to said retirement or death; and provided, further, that if said member has not held said rank or position for at least one year immediately prior to said retirement or death, "final compensation," as to such member, shall mean the monthly compensation earnable by such member in the rank or position next lower to the rank or position which he or she held at the time of retirement or death at the rate of remuneration attached at the time of said retirement or death to said next lower rank or position; provided, however, that in the case of a member's death before retirement as the result of a violent traumatic injury received in the performance of his or her duty, "final compensation," as to such member shall mean the monthly compensation earnable by such member at the rate of remuneration attached on the date he or she receives such injury to the rank or position held by such member on that date.
For the purpose of Sections A8.596 through A8.596-14, the terms "member of the fire department," "member of the department," or "member" shall mean any officer or employee of the fire department, who was a member of the fire department on January 1, 2003 and a member of the Retirement System under Section A8.585 and who elected to be a member of Section A8.596 as provided in Section A8.596.
Any fire service performed by such members of the fire department outside the limits of the City and County 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.
"Retirement system" or "system" shall mean San Francisco City and County Employees' Retirement System as created in Section A8.500 of the Charter.
"Retirement board" shall mean "retirement board" as created in Section 12.100 of the Charter.
"Charter" shall mean the Charter of the City and County of San Francisco.
Words used in the masculine gender shall include the feminine and neuter gender, words used in the feminine gender shall include the masculine and neuter gender, and singular numbers shall include the plural and the plural the singular.
"Interest" shall mean interest at the rate adopted by the retirement board.
(Added November 2002)
Any member of the fire department who completes at least twenty-five (25) years of service in the aggregate and attains the age of fifty (50) years, said service to be computed under Section A8.596-10, may retire for service at his or her option. A member retired after meeting the service and age requirements in the preceding sentence, shall receive a retirement allowance equal to the percent of the final compensation of said member, as defined in Section A8.596-1, set forth below opposite his or her age at retirement, taken to the preceding quarter year, for each year of service, as computed under Section A8.596-10:
Retirement Age | Percent for Each Year of Credited Service |
Retirement Age | Percent for Each Year of Credited Service |
50 | 2.400 |
50.25 | 2.430 |
50.5 | 2.460 |
50.75 | 2.490 |
51 | 2.520 |
51.25 | 2.550 |
51.5 | 2.580 |
51.75 | 2.610 |
52 | 2.640 |
52.25 | 2.670 |
52.5 | 2.700 |
52.75 | 2.730 |
53 | 2.760 |
53.25 | 2.790 |
53.5 | 2.820 |
53.75 | 2.850 |
54 | 2.880 |
54.25 | 2.910 |
54.5 | 2.940 |
54.75 | 2.970 |
55+ | 3.000 |
In no event, however, shall such a retirement allowance exceed ninety (90) percent of a member's final compensation.
If, at the date of retirement for service, or retirement for disability resulting from an injury received in the performance of duty, said member has no spouse, children or dependent parents, who would qualify for the continuance of the allowance after the death of said member, or with respect to the portion of the allowance which would not be continued regardless of dependents, or upon retirement for disability resulting from other causes, with respect to all of the allowance and regardless of dependents at retirement, a member retired under this section, or Section A8.596-3, may elect before the first payment of the retirement allowance is made, to receive the actuarial equivalent of his or her allowance or the portion which would not be continued regardless of dependents, as the case may be, partly in a lesser allowance to be received by him or her throughout his or her life, and partly in other benefits payable after his or her death to another person or persons, provided that such election shall be subject to all the conditions prescribed by the Board of Supervisors to govern similar election by other members of the Retirement System, including the character and amount of such other benefits.
(Added November 2002)
Any member of the fire department who becomes incapacitated for the performance of his or her duty by reason of any bodily injury received in, or illness caused by the performance of his or her duty, shall be retired. If he or she is not qualified for service retirement, he or she shall receive a retirement allowance in an amount which shall be equal to the same percentage of the final compensation of said member, as defined in Section A8.596-1, as his or her percentage of disability is determined to be. The percentage of disability shall be as determined by the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board of the State of California upon referral from the retirement board for that purpose; provided that the retirement board may, by five affirmative votes, adjust the percentage of disability as determined by said appeals board; and provided, further, that such retirement allowance shall be in an amount not less than 50 percent nor more than 90 percent of the final compensation of said member, as defined in Section A8.596-1. Said allowance shall be paid to said member until the date upon which said member would have qualified for service retirement had he or she lived and rendered service without interruption in the rank held by the member at retirement, 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 final compensation, as defined in Section A8.596-1, he or she would have received immediately prior to said date, had he or she lived and rendered service as assumed, but such allowance shall not be less than 55 percent of such final compensation.
If, at the time of retirement because of disability, he or she is qualified as to age and service for retirement under Section A8.596-2, he or she shall receive an allowance equal to the retirement allowance which he or she would receive if retired under Section A8.596-2, but not less than 55 percent of said final compensation. Any member of the fire department who becomes incapacitated for performance of his or her duty, by reason of a cause not included under the provisions of the immediately preceding sentences, and who shall have completed at least 10 years of service in the aggregate, computed as provided in Section A8.596-10, shall be retired upon an allowance of one and one-half percent of the final compensation of said member as defined in Section A8.596-1 for each year of service, provided that said allowance shall not be less than 331/3 percent of said final compensation; provided, however, that if such member has completed at least 25 years of service in the aggregate, computed as provided in Section A8.596-10, but has not yet attained the age of 50 years, he or she shall receive an allowance equal to the retirement allowance he or she would have received if he or she had attained the age of 50 years and retired under Section A8.596-2 as of the date of retirement for such incapacity. The question of retiring a member under this section may be brought before the retirement board on said board's own motion, by recommendation of the fire commission, or by said member or his or her guardian. If his or her disability shall cease, his or her retirement allowance shall cease, and he or she shall be restored to the service in the rank he or she occupied at the time of his or her retirement.
(Added November 2002)
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