(A) All regular county employees shall be members of the South Carolina State Retirement System. Both county and employee shall make contributions in accordance with state law.
(1) Upon separation from the county, the employee may withdraw his or her contributions plus interest as authorized by the retirement system.
(2) After five years of creditable service in the retirement system, an employee who terminates with the county may choose to leave his or her contributions in the system. Upon reaching 60 years of age, the employee may start receiving a deferred retirement allowance.
(3) Employee shall be eligible to apply for disability retirement according to S.C. retirement requirements.
(4) As members of the state retirement system, employees shall also be covered under the pre-retirement death benefit program. After a minimum of one year of creditable service, upon the death of an employee, the beneficiary shall receive benefits as established by the S.C. Retirement System. This payment shall be separate from the employee’s contribution to the retirement system.
(5) (a) Persons retiring after the effective date of Ordinance No. 3891 in 1991 shall be entitled to have an employer insurance paid benefit paid by the county. Beginning in January of 2015 this employer-paid benefit will be capped at an amount approved by the County Council provided that the employee is employed by the county at the time of his or her retirement; the employee has at least ten years of employment with the county prior to leaving employment due to retirement; and the retiring employee is eligible for retirement benefits under the S.C. Retirement Systems at the time of his or her retirement from the county under applicable S.C. Retirement System regulations. Retirees will be responsible for payments for benefit costs above the capped amounts which may vary dependent upon coverage choices that the retiree makes.
(b) Persons hired after October 1, 2008 shall be entitled to have an employer- paid insurance benefit paid by the county. Beginning in January of 2015 this employer-paid benefit will be capped at an amount approved by the County Council provided that the employee is employed by the county at the time of his or her retirement; the employee has at least 25 years of creditable S.C. Retirement service time, with at least ten of those years as a full-time employee of York County; and the retiring employee is eligible for retirement under the S.C. Retirement Systems at the time of his or her retirement from the county under applicable S.C. Retirement System regulations. Retirees will be responsible for payments for benefit costs above the capped amounts which may vary dependent upon coverage choices that the retiree makes.
(c) Employees who enter the TERI retirement program or are otherwise retired from the South Carolina Retirement Systems and continue to work as a county employee gain no new employment rights and are subject to the employment policies and procedures associated with the position(s) such employees occupy during the program period, to include those policies and procedures related to salary and benefits. Employees who retire but continue to work are eligible for regular employment benefits issued to active retirement participants.
(d) Persons hired after August 31, 2011 shall not be entitled to have employer costs of their standard health/dental insurance under the county’s health insurance program paid by the county at the time of their retirement. If at the time of retirement, the person hired after August 31, 2011 is eligible to draw a retirement benefit from the South Carolina Retirement System; is an active York County employee; and, has at least five years’ service as a member of the South Carolina Retirement System, the person who was hired by York County after August 31, 2011 may continue his or her own health, dental, and vision coverage under the County Health Plan, as administered, by paying the applicable employer and employee costs for the benefits.
(6) Persons retiring after the effective date of Ordinance No. 3891 who meet all requirements of division (A)(5) above, except the requirement of ten years of employment with the county prior to retirement, may continue health insurance through the county health insurance program at their own expense if the persons have not less than five years of service as an employee of the county.
(7) Surviving spouses of deceased former county employees may continue health insurance through the county health insurance program at their own expense.
(B) (1) All regular certified officers of the sheriff’s office shall be members of the South Carolina Police Officers’ Retirement System. Both the county and the employee shall make contributions in accordance with state law. Law enforcement employees leaving county service shall receive the same benefits as all other county employees covered by the state retirement system.
(2) Sheriff’s office personnel shall also be covered by the pre-retirement death benefits program. In addition to this benefit, law enforcement officers shall be covered under an accidental death benefit which provides additional benefits to beneficiaries of employees who suffer accidental death in the line of duty.
(‘77 Code, § 13-61) (Ord. 1584, passed 9-17-84; Am. Ord. 5288, passed 10-17-88; Am. Ord. 3891, passed 12-9-91; Am. Ord. 5308, passed 9-2-08; Am. Ord. 2111, passed 8-15-11; Am. Ord. 1214, passed 5-5-14; Am. Ord. 2914, passed 9-2-14; Am. Ord. 3918, passed 8-20-18)