2009-26ORDINANCE N0.2009-26
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CERTAIN SECTIONS OF
ARTICLE III, CHAPTER 66 OF THE CODE OF THE
CITY OF FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA, PERTAINING TO THE
RETIREMENT PLAN FOR PUBLIC SAFETY
EMPLOYEES
BE IT ORDAINED, by the City Council of the City of Fairfax, that the following
specified Section of Article II, Chapter 66, of the Code of the City of Fairfax, Virginia, is
hereby amended to read in its entirety as follows:
Sec. 66-281. Definitions.
For the purposes of this article, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings
respectively ascribed to them by this section, unless otherwise required by the context:
Accumulated contributions means, for any participant as of any date, the total obtained by
accumulating each individual contribution of the participant, with interest from the July 1 next
following the date such contribution was made to the first day of the month of the date as of
which the computation is made. The interest to be credited to each participant's contributions
for each 12-month period commencing on July 1 and ending on the following June 30 shall be
determined by the committee each year on the basis of the actual net yield of the fund for such
period, provided, however, that in no event shall the rate of interest credited for any such 12-
month period be less than four percent per annum.
Actuarial equivalent means a benefit with a reserve equal to the reserve of another benefit.
Average final compensation means for any participant, as of any date, the average annual
compensation of the participant during the three consecutive years of his credited service
during which his compensation was highest or during the entire period of his credited service
if less than three years.
Beneficiary means any person who is receiving or designated to receive a plan benefit by
reason of the plan participation of another person.
City means the City of Fairfax, Virginia, or any municipal corporation successor thereto, or
the authority of the city having the power to appoint an employee to office or employment.
Committee means the administrative committee provided for in division 9 of this article.
Compensation means, for any eligible employee, the full base compensation paid to him by
the city excluding overtime or other compensation not a part of the set scale for an established
normal working period and excluding contributions by the city to any employee benefit plan
other than this plan. Compensation shall include, without duplication, contributions picked up
under subsection 66-432(c) on behalf of the eligible employee and shall include any salary
deferrals made to plans maintained by the city pursuant to sections 125 or 132(f) of the IRS
Code, but shall not include contributions by the city pursuant to section 66-433. In cases
where compensation includes maintenance or other perquisites, the committee shall fix the
value of that part of the compensation not paid in money. Notwithstanding the foregoing,
"compensation" shall not include (1) any item not specified in section 1.415-2(d)(2) of the
treasury regulations or (2) any item which is listed in section 1.415-2(d)(3) of the treasury
regulations.
In addition to other applicable limitations set forth in the plan and notwithstanding any other
provision of the plan to the contrary, for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 1994, the
annual compensation for each employee taken into account under the plan shall not exceed
the OBRA '93 annual compensation limit. The OBRA '93 annual compensation limit is
$150,000.00, as adjusted by the secretary of the treasury for increases in the cost of living in
accordance with section 401(a)(17)(b) of the IRS Code. The cost-of-living adjustment in
effect for a calendar year applies to any period, not exceeding 12 months, over which
compensation is determined (the determination period) beginning in such calendar year. If a
determination period consists of fewer than 12 months, the OBRA '93 annual compensation
limit will be multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the number of months in the
determination period, and the denominator of which is 12.
For plan years beginning on or after January 1, 1994, any reference in this plan to the
limitation under section 401(a)(17) of the IRS Code shall mean the OBRA '93 annual
compensation limit set forth in this provision.
If compensation for any prior determination period is taken into account in determining a
participant's benefits accruing in the current plan year, the compensation for that prior
determination period is subject to the OBRA '93 annual compensation limit in effect for that
prior determination period. For this purpose, for determination periods beginning before the
first day of the first plan year beginning on or after January 1, 1994, the OBRA '93 annual
compensation limit is $150,000.00.
', The annual compensation of each participant taken into account in determining benefit
accruals for any plan year beginning after December 31, 2001, shall not exceed $200,000.00,
as adjusted for cost-of-living increases in accordance with section 401(a)(17)(b) of the IRS
~I Code. Annual compensation means compensation during the plan year or the determination
~ period. The cost-of-living adjustment in effect for a calendar year applies to annual
compensation for the determination period that begins with or within such calendar year.
Contingent annuitant means the person designated by a participant to receive retirement
benefits, after the death of the participant, under the joint and last survivor option of division
5 of this article.
Contributions means the payments to the fund by the city and/or the participants as provided
for in this article.
Credited service means, for any participant as of any date, the period or periods prior thereto
during which he shall have been in the full-time employ of the city as an eligible employee,
exclusive of:
(a) Any period of employment prior to his date of becoming a participant if he did not
become a participant within 90 days after his earliest opportunity to do so; and
(b) Subject to subsection (f) below, any period of employment prior to the date of any
withdrawal of the participant's accumulated contributions in accordance with the provisions of
division 7 of this article.
In addition to his period or periods of full-time employment, the credited service of a
participant shall include any period of his:
(c) Vacation, or any other absence from employment for which the participant shall receive
full compensation;
(d) Leave of absence without pay specifically authorized by the city under general rules
uniformly applicable to all employees similarly situated; and
(e) Service in the armed forces of the United States, provided the participant entered such
service directly from the employ of the city, was honorably discharged from such service, and
was reemployed by the city during a period when his right to reemployment with the city was
protected by law, to the extent credit for service is required to be given pursuant to section
414(u) of the IRS Code and the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights
Act.
(f) Service that was previously cancelled in accordance with section 66-407, or not credited
during a period of time classified by the city as "leave without pay," and reinstated effective
as of the earlier of the date of the participant's cessation of the receipt of compensation
following termination of employment or completion of repayment of withdrawn
contributions, under the following conditions:
1. The participant has at least one month of "qualified 2004 service" within the meaning of
this section 66-281 or 66-41.
2. The participant has repaid all or a portion of the contributions withdrawn plus interest on
such contributions as determined in subparagraph 3.
3. Interest has been charged on the participant's previously withdrawn contributions at an
annual rate of 5.0 percent or such other rate as the committee may subsequently establish for
these purposes, compounded biweekly. The interest has been charged from the date of
withdrawal to the earlier of the participant's termination of employment or completion of the
repayment.
4. Redeposit of the withdrawn contributions, plus interest, has been made on or before the
later of the following two dates:
(A) Five years after the participant has been reemployed by the city, and
(B) December 31, 2009.
5. The service to be reinstated is not eligible for and has not been credited under another
retirement system (with the exception of the Virginia Retirement System).
6. The participant has completed and executed in a timely manner any and all forms the
committee deems necessary for the reasonable operation and administration of these service
reinstatement provisions.
7. The participant has elected to repay the withdrawn contributions in one of the following
forms:
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(A) A direct rollover from another employer's qualified retirement plan or tax deferred
annuity plan of the total amount of the withdrawn contributions, plus interest;
(B) A direct rollover or direct transfer from an eligible deferred compensation plan
established pursuant to section 457(b) of the IRS Code of the total amount of the withdrawn
contributions, plus interest; or
(C) Pretax payments pursuant to one or more binding, irrevocable payroll deduction
authorizations between the city and the participant. If the participant enters into such an
authorization, the participant contributions will be picked up by the city, as described in
section 414(h)(2) of the IRS Code and deducted from the pay of the contributing participant
as a salary reduction contribution and paid by the city to the trustee with reasonable
promptness.
8. If the participant elects to repay the withdrawn contributions by pre-tax payments
pursuant to subsection (f)(7)(C), the minimum payment per pay period shall be $20.00.
Furthermore, if the participant ceases to receive compensation from the city following
termination of employment prior to completing the payment of the withdrawn contributions,
the service credit awarded shall be prorated based on the payments made as of the date the
participant ceases to receive compensation following termination of employment.
Solely for purposes of calculating a benefit (other than a disability retirement allowance)
becoming effective April 1, 1983,or later, the credited service of a participant shall also
include his completed months of unused sick leave at time of termination of employment,
based on 173 hours of unused sick leave constituting one completed month; provided, in no
event shall the inclusion of unused sick leave as credited service affect the calculation of the
participant's compensation or average final compensation.
Eligible employee means any person regularly employed by the city on a full-time basis as a
member of the police department with police powers (except an animal control officer with
police powers) or as a salaried member of the department of fire and rescue services (fire
service uniform personnel), other than a temporary employee, within the meaning of Section
66-2 of the city code. Eligible employee also means any former eligible employee who, as a
result of a disability incurred while an eligible employee, is no longer able to continue in
employment described in the preceding sentence and is now regularly employed by the city
on a full-time basis, other than as a temporary employee in other employment.
Fund means the trust fund created under the terms of the trust agreement, consisting of the
cash, securities and other assets held by the trustee pursuant to the terms of the plan.
Inflation index means the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, All Items, U.S.
City Average, as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department
of Labor.
IRS Code means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended from time to time.
Participant means an eligible employee or a former eligible employee who has become
eligible to participate in the plan as provided in division 2 of this article, and is prospectively
entitled to future benefits under the terms of the plan.
Plan means the retirement plan for police and fire employees of the city as now contained in
this article or as duly amended.
Plan year means the 12-month period ending on the last day of June.
Qualified 2004 service (for the purposes of the January 1, 2004, amendments) means credited
service earned on or after December 1, 2003, in direct connection with employment as an
eligible employee of the city.
Reserve means the present value of all payments to be made on account of any plan benefit,
based upon such reasonable tables of experience and interest as the committee shall adopt,
from time to time, after consulting with its actuary.
Social Security full retirement age means the age at which there is no reduction in Social
Security benefits based upon the following table:
TABLE INSET:
Year Born ge for Full Benefits
1937 or earlier 65 yrs.
1938 65 yrs., 2 mos.
1939 65 yrs., 4 mos.
1940 65 yrs., 6 mos.
1941 65 yrs., 8 mos.
1942 65 yrs., 10 mos.
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1943--1954 66 yrs.
1955 66 yrs., 2 mos.
1956 66 yrs., 4 mos.
1957 66 yrs., 6 mos.
1958 66 yrs., 8 mos.
1959 66 yrs., 10 mos.
1960 or later 67 yrs.
Totally and permanently disabled means as set forth in subsection 66-323(b).
Trust agreement means the agreement entered into between the city and the trustee pertaining
to the administration of the fund.
Trustee means the financial institution appointed by council to hold in trust and invest the
fund, as provided for in division 8, which may, from time to time, be acting in that capacity
under the terms of the trust agreement.
Year of credited service means a plan year during which an eligible employee is employed on
a substantially full-time basis and makes the contributions required to be made pursuant to
section 66-432 for the entire year or otherwise receives credit for credited service pursuant to
this section 66-281. Notwithstanding the foregoing, for purposes of determining the amount
of a participant's retirement benefit pursuant to sections 66-321 and 66-323, a participant shall
receive credit for one-twelfth of a year of credited service for each month during which the
participant was an eligible employee for the entire month, was employed on a substantially
full time basis and made the contributions required to be made pursuant to section 66-432 for
the entire month or otherwise receives credit for credited service pursuant to this section 66-
281.
(Code 1978, § 17-151; Ord. No. 2002-11, 6-11-2002; Ord. No. 2003-26, 12-9-2003; Ord. No.
2004-21, 10-12-2004)
Cross references: Definitions generally, § 1-2.
INTRODUCED: September 22, 2009
PUBLIC HEARING: October 13, 2009
ENACTED: October 13, 2009
ayor
1 a
ate
ATTEST:
City Clerk
The vote on the motion to approve was recorded as follows:
VOTE:
councilwoman Cross Aye
councilman Drummond Nay
councilman Greenfield Absent
councilman Meyer Aye
councilman Rasmussen Aye
councilman Stombres Aye
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