Enrolled Bill Summary

            House Bill 1569 amends provisions relating to the benefits of a firefighters' relief and retirement fund in certain municipalities. The bill makes several changes to provisions relating to the deferred retirement option plan (DROP): it extends from 7 to 10 years the maximum period of participation in a DROP during which payroll deductions may be credited to a member's DROP account, increases the monthly benefit at retirement for DROP participants by two percent of the amount of the member's original benefit for every full year of participation, and authorizes death or disability benefits to be paid to a qualified member who participates in the DROP program or to the member's eligible survivors. In addition, a DROP participant who postponed making a DROP election at an earlier date is authorized to participate in a Back-DROP, in which the member's account is recomputed to have an amount equal to the amount that it would have had if the member had elected to participate in the DROP on an earlier date.

            House Bill 1569 also increases the monthly benefits payable to certain retired and disabled members, creates a proportional retirement program for the retirement fund's members, and increases from $4,000 to $5,000 the lump-sum payments that the board is required to pay to certain members and eligible survivors. The bill lowers from 50 to 48 the minimum age that certain members must have reached for benefits to be increased annually, and it removes the requirement that a member complete 30 years of service to qualify for such increases. Finally, the bill sets the amount of the aggregate supplemental benefit amount from which supplemental benefits are to be paid to retired members and eligible survivors at $5 million, regardless of the fund's value or rate of return or the impact of the payment on the contribution rates of participating municipalities.

            The provisions of the bill are effective September 1, 2001, except for provisions relating to the proportional retirement program, which take effect October 1, 2001.