§ 11-3. Definitions.

The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

Actuarial equivalent shall mean that any benefit payable under the terms of the plan other than the normal form of benefit shall have the same actuarial present value as the normal form of payment on any single measurement date. The determination of the actuarial present value of any form of benefit, including lump sum distributions, shall be based on:

(1)

The RP-2000 static mortality table (h) unisex 50/50 for healthy lives projected to 2010 for healthy participants and the RP-2000 static mortality table (d) unisex 50/50 projected to 2010 for disabled participants, and

(2)

The interest discount rate of eight (8) percent per annum, compounded annually.

Average final compensation means the average salary of the five (5) best contributing years. Effective September 13, 1999, average final compensation for general employees means the average salary of the three (3) best consecutive contributing years. Effective October 1, 2004, average final compensation for firefighters shall mean the average salary of the three (3) best consecutive contributing years of creditable service, or the average salary of the best five (5) years of the last ten (10) years of creditable service, whichever is greater. Effective October 1, 2000, average final compensation for members of the police officers' retirement plan who retire on or after that date shall mean the average salary of the three (3) best contributing years of service contingent on the annual adjustment described in subsection 11-52(d). The incremental benefit resulting from the change in the definition of average final compensation for police officers provided in this paragraph shall be determined on an annual basis, and the amount of the incremental benefit may vary from year to year, or the incremental benefit may be discontinued entirely, based on the annual adjustment described in subsection 11-52(d), which adjustment shall be applied to the incremental benefit resulting from the change in the definition of average final compensation provided in this paragraph, as well as the supplemental retirement benefit described in subsection 11-52(c). Any increase in contributions resulting from the change in the definition of average final compensation for police officers provided in this paragraph shall not be effective prior to October 1, 2001. A year should consist of twelve (12) consecutive months. Effective September 30, 2015, average final compensation for members of the police officers' retirement plan who are hired or rehired on or after that date shall be calculated as provided in subsection 11-66(a).

Beneficiary or designated beneficiary means any person designated by a member to receive a benefit from the plan.

Benefit means the monies provided to the member or beneficiary upon the occurrence of:

(1)

Retirement;

(2)

Disability; or

(3)

Termination of employment as provided by the plan pursuant to the provisions of this article.

City commission shall mean the duly constituted governing body of the city. City commissioners shall be deemed "general employees" for the purposes of this article.

Contribution means the employee's regular contribution, the city's contribution and all other contributions to the funds as more particularly described in sections 11-26 and 11-65.

Creditable service means full-time service with the city as a salaried employee during which time the employee contributed the prescribed payment to the plan or complied with the buy-back provisions of this article. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, effective November 1, 2013, creditable service shall also include the full-time service of dispatchers and communication supervisors who are laid off by the city and become employees of Broward County or an entity designated as the operator of the Consolidated Regional E-911 Communications System pursuant to the participation agreement between Broward County and the city which is effective October 1, 2013, and who elect to continue their participation in the plan and continue to contribute the prescribed employee contribution to the plan. Additionally, except as otherwise provided herein, time spent in the military services of the United States by any such employee shall be added to the years of service; however, to receive credit for such service the employee must have left city employment to enter military service and reentered employment by the city within one (1) year of the date of release from military service.

(a)

For members of the police officers' retirement plan who are employed by the city on or after September 13, 2004 and who retire or enter the DROP on or after the effective date of this ordinance and who have ten (10) or more years of creditable service based on city employment, creditable service shall also include up to four (4) years of active service in the U.S. Armed Forces or full-time employment as a police officer with another governmental entity prior to employment by the city, purchased by the member in accordance with this paragraph; provided the member has not received and will not receive a benefit from another retirement plan based on such prior employment. The member may purchase credited service under the plan for all or a portion of the maximum period of active service in the U.S. Armed Forces or full-time employment as a police officer with another governmental entity prior to employment by the city allowed herein, by paying into the fund the full actuarial cost of such service, as determined by the plan actuary, plus the full cost of any actuarial calculations required. Payment for such service must be made in full prior to entering the DROP or separation from city employment, whichever occurs earlier. In the event full payment is not made prior to such date, the member shall receive only the amount of creditable service for which payment of the full actuarial cost has been made. Payment for the purchase of prior service pursuant to this paragraph may be made either by a cash lump sum payment or a direct transfer of funds from a member's account in the city's 457 plan. Notwithstanding any other provision of this paragraph, a member of the police officers' retirement plan who is hired by the city on or after September 13, 2004, terminates city employment and is subsequently rehired by the city as a police officer on or after September 30, 2015, shall be eligible to purchase creditable service for full-time employment as a police officer with another governmental entity during the period between the date of termination and the date of rehire in accordance with this paragraph; and the benefits for such service shall be as provided in section 11-66(a).

(b)

For members of the firefighters' retirement plan who retire or enter the DROP on or after September 25, 2012 and who have ten (10) or more years of creditable service based on city employment, creditable service shall also include up to four (4) years of active service in the U.S. Armed Forces or full-time employment as a firefighter, as defined in F.S. § 175.032(8)(a), with another governmental entity prior to employment by the city, purchased by the member in accordance with this paragraph; provided the member has not received and will not receive a benefit from another retirement plan based on such prior employment. The member may purchase credited service under the plan for all or a portion of the period of full-time employment as a firefighter with another governmental entity and active duty military service in the armed forces of the United States prior to employment by the city allowed herein, by paying into the fund the full actuarial cost of such service, as determined by the plan actuary, plus the full cost of any actuarial calculations required. The total combined purchase of prior governmental and military service as provided herein shall not exceed four (4) years of credited service. Payment for such service must be made in full prior to entering the DROP or separation from city employment, whichever occurs earlier. In the event full payment is not made prior to such date, the member shall receive only the amount of creditable service for which payment of the full actuarial cost has been made. Payment for the purchase of prior service pursuant to this paragraph may be made either by a cash lump sum payment or a direct transfer of funds from a member's account in the city's 457 plan.

Custodian means the trust department of any bank or savings association that is a qualified public depository as defined in F.S. § 280.02, which depository shall conform to and be bound by all of the provisions of F.S. Ch. 280.

Division means the bureau of municipal police officers and firefighters' retirement fund in the division of retirement, state department of insurance.

Election means the first election of each board held during the month of September, 1989 and thereafter the regular elections held on even number years in the month of March starting 1992.

Firefighter means any person employed full time solely in a constituted fire department of the city, who is certified as a firefighter as a condition of employment in accordance with the provisions of F.S. § 633.35 and whose duty is to extinguish fires, to protect life and protect property. This definition includes all supervisory and command personnel whose duties include, in whole or in part, the supervision, training, guidance, and management responsibilities of full-time firefighters.

General employee means all full-time employees (except temporary, substitute and seasonal employees, and the police chief upon his election not to participate in the Police Officers' Retirement Plan) hired by the city who are not firefighters or police officers, or fire recruits as those terms are defined in this chapter. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, effective November 1, 2013, general employee shall include dispatchers and communication supervisors who are laid off by the city and become employees of Broward County or an entity designated as the operator of the Consolidated Regional E-911 Communications System pursuant to the participation agreement between Broward County and the city which is effective October 1, 2013, and who elect to continue their participation in the plan and continue to contribute the prescribed employee contribution to the plan.

Hired means, as to a permanent full-time employee, the date he was employed full time by the city.

Management means all members of the general employees' retirement plan who are entitled to receive benefits provided to the city's executive/management supervisory/professional personnel, excluding any hourly employee who is appointed to serve in a general executive/management or supervisory/professional position in a temporary or acting capacity.

Medical board means the physician or physicians appointed by the retirement board in connection with applications to the retirement board for service incurred disability benefits as more particularly described in section 11-33 hereof.

Members means all full-time employees of the city, police officers, firefighters, and general employees, unless otherwise provided by this article.

Noninvestment expense means the cost of administering the plan.

Nonservice incurred disability retirement means a total and permanent disability by a member of the plan that is not a service incurred disability, as more specifically set forth in section 11-30.

Plan, the plan, retirement plan, retirement system, the system and pension plan shall be construed to refer to each of the retirement plans created in section 11-16, unless it is clearly indicated to the contrary.

Police officer means any person who is appointed or employed full time by the city who is certified or required to be certified as a law enforcement officer in compliance with F.S. § 943.14, who is vested with authority to bear arms and make arrests, and whose primary responsibility is the prevention and detection of crime as the enforcement of the penal, criminal, traffic, or highway laws of the state. This definition includes all certified supervisory and command personnel whose duties include, in whole or in part, the supervision, training, guidance, and management responsibilities of full-time law enforcement officers; provided, the police chief may elect not to participate in the Police Officers' Retirement Plan by filing an irrevocable written election with the board of trustees of such plan at any time prior to DROP entry. Notwithstanding any other provision of the plan, upon the effective date of the police chief's irrevocable written election not to participate in the Police Officers' Retirement Plan, the police chief shall be deemed to be a vested terminated member of the Police Officers' Retirement Plan, shall accrue no further benefits and make no further member contributions to such plan, and shall be eligible to receive his accrued benefit upon separation from city employment.

Police officer or member of the police officers' retirement plan hired on or after September 30, 2015 means any police officer hired or rehired on or after September 30, 2015, with the exception of three (3) expressly named candidates listed in the September 2, 2015 memorandum from the human resources director to the FOP president who were being processed to fill three (3) vacant police officer positions on September 30, 2015, provided they are hired as a police officer on or before December 30, 2015. Upon their employment as a police officer in accordance with the preceding sentence, the three (3) candidates will be deemed to have been hired on September 29, 2015 for all purposes of the police officers' retirement plan, except that their creditable service shall commence on their actual date of hire as a police officer.

Regular contributions means the amounts contributed to the plan periodically from the salary of a member.

Regular interest means interest at the rate or rates determined by the board for purposes of computing the actuarial equivalent.

Retirement means a member's withdrawal from service to the city at the normal or early retirement age after having obtained a vested interest in the plan with the benefits granted to the member pursuant to the provisions of this article.

Retirement ages for the respective plans shall be as follows:

(1)

a.

For the City Firefighter Retirement Plan, the normal retirement age for members who retire or terminate employment prior to January 1, 2004, is fifty (50) years. Early retirement age is forty-seven (47) years. For members of the City Firefighter Retirement Plan hired prior to September 25, 2012 who retire or terminate employment on or after January 1, 2004, the normal retirement age is forty-five (45) for employees with at least twenty-five (25) years of creditable service; age forty-eight (48) for employees with at least twenty-one (21) years of creditable service, provided that an employee may elect to accelerate this normal retirement age by one (1) year (i.e. to age forty-seven (47) with at least twenty (20) years of creditable service); and age fifty (50) for employees with at least ten (10) years of creditable service.

b.

The normal and early retirement ages for members of the Firefighters' Retirement Plan hired or rehired on or after September 25, 2012 are specified in section 11-65.

(2)

a.

For the city police officers' retirement plan, the normal retirement age is fifty-three (53) years or upon completion of twenty (20) years of creditable service to the city. Early retirement age shall be forty-seven (47) years.

b.

Notwithstanding any other provision of subsection (a) above, the normal and early retirement ages for members of the police officers' retirement plan hired or rehired on or after September 30, 2015 are specified in subsection 11-66(a).

(3)

a.

For the City General Employees' Retirement Plan, the normal retirement age for members who separate from city employment or retire prior to January 1, 2004, shall be sixty (60) years. The early retirement age for such members is fifty-five (55) years.

b.

For members of the City General Employees' Retirement Plan hired prior to October 1, 2009 who separate from city employment or retire on or after January 1, 2004, the normal retirement age shall be fifty-eight (58) years. The early retirement age for such members is fifty-three (53) years.

c.

For members of the City General Employees' Retirement Plan hired prior to October 1, 2009 who separate from city employment and retire, or enter the DROP, on or after October 1, 2007 with at least thirty (30) years of creditable service, the normal retirement age shall be fifty-three (53) years.

d.

The normal and early retirement ages for members of the general employees' retirement plan, including management and senior management personnel, hired or rehired on or after October 1, 2009, are specified in section 11-62.

Retirement board, the board, board, board of trustees or the pension board shall be construed to refer to each of the retirement boards more particularly described in section 11-11, unless it is clearly indicated to the contrary.

Retirement plan trust fund, fund means the sum total of all monies received by each board which includes, but is not limited to, employees' regular contributions, the city contribution, state monies and private donations, gifts, and contributions as more particularly described in subsection 11-13(c).

Salary means the total actual fixed cash compensation paid yearly on behalf of the members by the city for services rendered. This includes regular pay, overtime, holiday and other payroll cash incentives and general monthly expense allowances. Lump sum pay outs of accrued benefits upon termination of employment shall not be included in salary. Auto allowances, uniform allowances, mileage and travel reimbursements shall not be included in salary. Income from private details (work assignments paid for by individuals other than the city) shall not be included in "salary" for purposes of this article. Notwithstanding the foregoing definition, effective August 9, 2011, overtime pay for hours earned after August 9, 2011 in excess of three hundred (300) hours of overtime per year shall not be included in the "salary" of police officers for purposes of this article. Notwithstanding the foregoing definition, effective October 1, 2012 overtime pay in excess of three hundred (300) hours per year shall not be included in the "salary" of firefighters for purposes of this article. Notwithstanding the foregoing definition, effective October 1, 2013 overtime pay in excess of three hundred (300) hours per fiscal year shall not be included in the salary of general employees for purposes of this article. For the purpose of the preceding sentence and effective October 1, 2016, overtime pay shall include only those overtime hours that are compensated at time and one-half (½) the employee's regular rate of pay. Notwithstanding any other provision of the foregoing definition, effective September 15, 2015, salary for members of the police officer's retirement plan shall exclude all payments for accrued unused sick and annual leave. Effective September 30, 2015, salary for members of the police officers' retirement plan who are hired or rehired on or after that date shall exclude all overtime pay. Notwithstanding the foregoing definition, any retroactive pay (1) attributable to a cost of living increase or increase in the salary range for fiscal years 2014/2015, 2015/2016 or 2016/2017 provided to members of the general employees' retirement plan or the fire chief on or after September 28, 2016 for purposes of this article and (2) attributable to a cost of living increase for fiscal years 2017/2018, 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 provided after August 14, 2018 to (a) members of the general employees' retirement plan and (b) the person in the position of fire chief through June 23, 2017 shall not be included in the salary of any such member who retired or entered the DROP before August 14, 2018 for purposes of this article. Effective September 1, 2012, salary for members of the general employees' retirement plan, the persons in the position of fire chief through September 30, 2017, and the police chief shall exclude all payments for accrued unused sick and annual leave.

Senior management means management personnel, who are also assistant city manager, department directors or charter officers, including any police chief or fire chief who elects not to participate in the Police Officers' Retirement Plan or Firefighters' Retirement Plan in accordance with this section, but excluding any employee who is appointed to serve as an assistant city manager, department director or charter officer in a temporary or acting capacity.

Service incurred disability means a total and permanent disability arising directly from the performance by any member of the plan of service-related duties to the city, as more particularly set forth in subsection 11-28(b).

Social security coverage means old-age survivors' insurance, as provided by the Federal Social Security Act.

Total and permanent disability means an injury, disease or condition which permanently incapacitates a member, either physically or mentally impairing the member from:

(1)

His regular and continuous duty as an employee within his classification from performing services to the city if the member is applying for service incurred disability retirement;

(2)

From rendering efficient service to the city, if the member is applying for nonservice incurred disability retirement.

Unfunded liability means unfunded actuarial liability which is the excess of the actuarial accrued liability of the plan over the value of its present assets.

Vested interest, vested benefit means that length of creditable service that establishes a present or future benefit to a member pursuant to the plan. Vesting shall occur upon a total of ten (10) years of full-time employee regular contributions since April 10, 1972 for police and firefighters. Vesting shall occur upon a total of five (5) years of full-time employee regular contributions since April 10, 1972 for general employees hired prior to October 1, 2009. The vesting period for members of the general employees' retirement plan, including management and senior management personnel, hired or rehired on or after October 1, 2009, is specified in section 11-62. The vesting period for members of the general employees' retirement plan, including management and senior management personnel, hired or rehired on or after October 1, 2018, is specified in section 11-69. In the event of the termination or partial termination of any of the city retirement plans, the participant's accrued pension benefit in the terminated or partially terminated plan shall become non-forfeitable, i.e., one hundred (100) percent vested, to the extent funded.

(Code 1972, § 16-2; Ord. No. 124-X-O, § 1(16-2), 9-12-89; Ord. No. 124-X-P, § 1, 12-18-90; Ord. No. 124-X-Q, § 1, 12-18-91; Ord. No. 124-X-W, § 1, 4-12-94; Ord. No. 124-X-Y, § 1, 10-11-94; Ord. No. 124-X-98-A, § 1, 4-28-98; Ord. No. 124-X-99-D, § 1, 7-27-99; Ord. No. 124-X-99-E, § 1, 9-13-99; Ord. No. 124-X-00-D, § 1, 10-24-00; Ord. No. 124-X-01-A, § 1, 1-23-01; Ord. No. 124-X-01-D, § 1, 11-13-01; Ord. No. 124-X-03-B, § 1, 12-23-03; Ord. No. 124-X-03-C, § 1, 12-23-03; Ord. No. 124-X-05-A, § 1, 1-25-05; Ord. No. 124-X-05-B, § 1, 1-25-05; Ord. No. 124-X-05-D, § 1, 5-17-05; Ord. No. 124-X-05-E, § 1, 6-28-05; Ord. No. 124-X-07-B, § 1, 10-23-07; Ord. No. 124-X-07-C, § 1, 10-23-07; Ord. No. 124-X-08-A, § 1, 2-26-08; Ord. No. 124-X-09-A, § 2, 10-13-09; Ord. No. 124-X-10-A, § 1, 4-27-10; Ord. No. 124-X-11-A, § 1, 8-9-11; Ord. No. 124-X-12-A, § 2, 9-25-12; Ord. No. 124-X-13-C, § 2, 10-22-13; Ord. No. 124-X-15-A, § 1, 3-24-15; Ord. No. 124-X-15-B, § 2, 9-15-15; Ord. No. 124-X-16-B, § 2, 6-14-16; Ord. No. 124-X-16-C, § 2, 7-12-16; Ord. No. 124-X-16-D, § 2, 9-28-16; Ord. No. 124-X-18-A, § 1, 1-9-18; Ord. No. 124-X-18-B, § 2, 8-14-18)

Editor's note

The definitions of firefighter, general employee and senior management shall be effective retroactive to January 25, 2008, except as otherwise specifically provided herein, pursuant to § 6 of Ord. No. 124-X-08-A, adopted February 26, 2008. The definitions of firefighter, general employee and police officer shall be effective retroactive to January 5, 2018, except as otherwise specifically provided herein, pursuant to § 8 of Ord. No. 124-X-18-A, adopted January 9, 2018.

Cross reference

Definitions and rules of construction generally, § 1-2.