Sec. 22-33(a). Mandatory membership. All permanent employees in the classified service who are employed by the city on a full time basis shall be contributing members of the system upon their date of hire by the city as a condition of their employment. For purposes of this chapter, full time basis is defined by the Tucson City Code Civil Service Rules and Regulations. Additionally, certain permanent part-time employees hired by the city before October 4, 2004, entered the system as contributing members and shall remain grandfathered members pursuant to city Ordinance 10047. Permanent full time employees who, without a break in service, elect to work less than full time shall remain contributing members of the system.
Sec. 22-33(b). Optional Membership. Full-time appointed officers, full-time employees in the offices of the Mayor and City Council and full-time unclassified employees in the City Manager's office (collectively, "appointed positions") may elect membership in the system within ninety (90) days of their formal appointment to an appointed position. Accrued service accrues from the beginning of the first payroll period commencing after an application for participation in the system has been accepted by the system administrator. An individual who is appointed to a second or successive appointed position shall be afforded an additional opportunity to apply for participation in the system as a result of the second or successive appointment only if the individual commences the new appointed position at least thirty (30) days after his most recent termination date. Similarly, a member who transfers directly from a mandatory membership position defined in section 22-33(a) above to an appointed position without a termination date may elect to waive membership in the system within ninety (90) days of their formal appointment to the appointed position. In the case of an individual who waives membership while serving in an appointed position, accrued service and member contributions shall cease on the effective date of the membership waiver, as determined by the system administrator in a uniform and non-discriminatory manner. A waiver of membership pursuant to this section shall not constitute a termination of membership for purposes of determining a member's right to a refund of accumulated contributions or entitlement to retirement benefits.
Sec. 22-33(c). Termination of membership. Should any member leave city employment with less than five (5) years of accrued service and for any reason other than death, the member shall cease to be a member of the system and will receive a refund of the member's accumulated contributions account in accordance with section 22-41(b). As set forth in section 22-41(e), the refund of the accumulated contributions account triggers an immediate forfeiture of credited service.
Sec. 22-33(d). Exclusion from membership. The following individuals are excluded from membership: (1) nonpermanent city employees and permanent part-time city employees whose membership has not been grandfathered by the city in accordance with section 22-33(a); (2) employees occupying positions covered by the State of Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System; (3) leased employees, as defined in Section 414(n) of the Code, and (4) independent contractors.
Sec. 22-33(e). Reentry into membership. Any former member who is reemployed by the city in an eligible job classification shall become a member of the system. The member contributions required from a rehired member shall be determined in accordance with section 22-34(c) and credited service accrued by the rehired member shall be determined in accordance with section 22-36(h). The accrued benefit earned by a rehired member shall be determined based on the member's status as a tier I member or a tier II member, as those terms are defined in section 22-30(hh) and 22-30(ii), respectively. The rules set forth herein regarding rehired members shall apply to members who return to employment with the city following a layoff or any other event which constitutes a termination date under section 22-30(gg).
Sec. 22-33(f). Designation of beneficiary(ies). Each employee, or designated legal representative, shall file a statement designating a beneficiary(ies) or contingent beneficiary(ies) within thirty (30) days after becoming a member of the system. Any member who is married and wishes to designate a non-spouse beneficiary must provide spousal consent to the beneficiary designation in accordance with paragraph (1) below. Until such statements are filed, any death benefit, survivor annuity or refund of member contributions payable upon the member's death shall be paid to the member's spouse, if the member was married at death, or to the member's estate, if the member is not married at death.
(1) Spousal consent. Any member who is married and wishes to designate a non-spouse beneficiary must provide spousal consent to the beneficiary designation. The consent of a member's spouse to a beneficiary designation shall be in writing, acknowledge the effect of such an election and be witnessed by a notary public or a designated representative of the system administrator. No spousal consent will be required if the system administrator determines, in its sole discretion, that such consent cannot be obtained because the spouse cannot be located or other circumstances exist that preclude the member from obtaining such consent.
(2) Changes in marital status. Except as set forth herein, a member who intends to change their beneficiary as a result of a change in marital status must update the beneficiary designation to reflect the member's wishes. A member's divorce generally does not impact the validity or enforceability of a beneficiary designation on file with the system administrator. Beneficiary designation provisions contained in a domestic relations order accepted by the system administrator in accordance with section 22-43.1 will be enforced, however, notwithstanding any beneficiary designation or provision of the system to the contrary. Effective with regard to deaths occurring after December 31, 2018, the member's spouse will become the member's default beneficiary even if the member enters into a marriage after having filed a beneficiary designation with the system administrator, unless and until the member files a new designation with the consent of the member's current spouse.
(3) Designation of a trust as beneficiary. A trust may be designated as a beneficiary only if the trust is established by the member, the trust is or becomes irrevocable at the time of the member's death and both the member and the trustee of the member's trust provide all requested information regarding the trust to the system administrator.
(4) Finality of Designations. A designation of a beneficiary(ies) shall become effective and shall remain effective upon receipt and acceptance of the designation by the system administrator and except as set forth in paragraph (1) above. If the system administrator does not receive sufficient information to implement a member's beneficiary designation, the system administrator may exercise its discretion to declare a designation invalid. Upon ratification by the board of a member's application for retirement benefits, the member's designation of a retirement benefit survivor shall become irrevocable with regard to any joint and survivor annuity elected in accordance with section 22-42(c) or section 22-42(d). All other beneficiary designations become irrevocable upon the member's death. There shall be no liability on the part of the city, the board or the system administrator with respect to any payment made in accordance with this section 22-33(f).
(Ord. No. 10657, § 1, 4-28-09, eff. 7-1-09; Ord. No. 10711, § 2, 9-9-09, eff. 7-1-09; Ord. No. 10712, § 2, 9-9-09, eff. 7-1-09; Ord. No. 10915, § 2, 6-21-11, eff. 7-1-11; Ord. No. 11020, § 2, 9-11-12, eff. 7-1-09; Ord. No. 11327, §§ 2, 3, 12-8-15, eff. 1-1-16; Ord. No. 11595, § 2, 10-23-18)