By Yarbrough H.B. No. 1502
75R6764 GCH-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to eligibility for, and payment of, benefits by certain
1-3 public retirement systems for municipal employees.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Sections 2(g) and (l), Chapter 358, Acts of the
1-6 48th Legislature, 1943 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas Civil
1-7 Statutes), are amended to read as follows:
1-8 (g) "Employee" means and includes any person whose name
1-9 appears on a regular full time payroll of any such city or Pension
1-10 System and who is paid a regular salary for his services.
1-11 Provided, that any elected official who becomes a member of the
1-12 Pension System as permitted by this amended Act shall be considered
1-13 to be and to have been an employee during the period of any service
1-14 as an elected official.
1-15 (l) "Pension Fund" or "fund" means assets consisting of the
1-16 contributions made by the city, contributions made by any member of
1-17 Group A, and any income derived from investments made from those
1-18 contributions, which are held in trust for the sole benefit of the
1-19 members of the Pension System.
1-20 SECTION 2. Sections 11(a) and (b), Chapter 358, Acts of the
1-21 48th Legislature, 1943 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas Civil
1-22 Statutes), are amended to read as follows:
1-23 (a) Any [Group A] member of such Pension System who has
1-24 attained fifty (50) years of age and completed twenty-five (25) or
2-1 more years of credited service, [and any Group A member of such
2-2 Pension System] who has attained fifty-five (55) years of age and
2-3 completed twenty (20) or more years of credited service, [and any
2-4 Group A member of the Pension System] who has attained sixty (60)
2-5 years of age and completed ten (10) or more years of credited
2-6 service, or who has attained sixty-two (62) years of age and
2-7 completed five (5) or more years of credited service shall be
2-8 eligible for a pension.
2-9 (b) The amount of the monthly pension for each [such] Group
2-10 A member shall equal the member's average monthly salary multiplied
2-11 by two percent (2%) for each of the member's first twenty (20)
2-12 years of credited service and two and three-quarters [one-half]
2-13 percent (2-3/4%) [(2-1/2%)] for each additional year of credited
2-14 service of such member. For purposes of this Subsection, such
2-15 average salary shall be computed by adding together the
2-16 seventy-eight (78) highest biweekly salaries paid to a member
2-17 during his period of credited service and dividing the sum by
2-18 thirty-six (36). Provided, however, that no Group A member's
2-19 pension shall be more than eighty percent (80%) of such average
2-20 salary; and no Group A member's pension shall be less than Eight
2-21 Dollars ($8) a month for each year of credited service, or One
2-22 Hundred Dollars ($100) a month total pension, whichever is the
2-23 greater amount.
2-24 SECTION 3. Section 12(d), Chapter 358, Acts of the 48th
2-25 Legislature, 1943 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes),
2-26 is amended to read as follows:
2-27 (d)(1) Any Group A member receiving a disability pension in
3-1 accordance with this section or any Group B member receiving a
3-2 disability pension in accordance with Section 25 of this Act shall,
3-3 each April 1, submit a sworn affidavit stating his earnings for the
3-4 previous calendar year, if any, obtained from any gainful
3-5 occupation. If the earnings together with the disability pension
3-6 being received by any member exceed the monthly salary of such
3-7 member at the time of his separation from service, as adjusted
3-8 annually by compounded cost-of-living adjustments made in the
3-9 manner provided by Section 11(g) of this Act, the Pension Board
3-10 shall have authority to reduce the amount of pension. Failure to
3-11 submit an affidavit of earnings or submission of a materially false
3-12 affidavit shall be cause for suspension of the pension upon proper
3-13 action by the Pension Board.
3-14 (2) No member shall receive a disability and service
3-15 pension at the same time. If [However, in the event] a member who
3-16 is already eligible for retirement is granted a disability pension
3-17 and, thereafter, although his disability ceases to exist, he does
3-18 not return to work for the city, he shall be entitled to receive a
3-19 service pension, calculated in accordance with Section 11 for Group
3-20 A members and Section 24 for Group B members. Such service pension
3-21 shall be based on actual service up to the time of disability. If
3-22 a disability does not cease before a member becomes sixty-five (65)
3-23 years of age while continuing to receive a disability pension, the
3-24 Pension System shall reclassify the pension as a service pension,
3-25 without regard to whether the person is otherwise eligible to
3-26 receive a service pension.
3-27 (3) When any member has been retired for disability,
4-1 he shall be subject at all times to re-examination by the Pension
4-2 Board and shall submit himself to such further examination as the
4-3 Pension Board may require. If any such member shall refuse to
4-4 submit himself to any such examination, the Pension Board may,
4-5 within its discretion, order said payments stopped. If such a
4-6 member who has been retired under the provisions of this Section
4-7 should thereafter recover so that in the opinion of the Pension
4-8 Board he is able to perform the usual and customary duties formerly
4-9 handled by him for said city, and such member is reinstated or
4-10 tendered reinstatement to the position he had at the time of his
4-11 retirement, then the Pension Board shall order such pension
4-12 payments stopped.
4-13 SECTION 4. Section 13, Chapter 358, Acts of the 48th
4-14 Legislature, 1943 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes),
4-15 is amended to read as follows:
4-16 Sec. 13. MONTHLY ALLOWANCE TO SURVIVING SPOUSES [WIDOWS] AND
4-17 CHILDREN. If any Group A or Group B member of the Pension System,
4-18 as herein defined, shall die from any cause whatsoever after having
4-19 completed five (5) [ten (10)] years of service with the city, or
4-20 if, while in the service of the city, any such member shall die
4-21 from any cause growing out of or in consequence of the performance
4-22 of his duty, or shall die after he has been retired on pension
4-23 because of length of service or disability and shall leave a
4-24 surviving spouse [widow or widower], or a qualifying child or
4-25 children [under the age of eighteen (18) years], or both a spouse
4-26 [such widow or widower] and a qualifying child or children, said
4-27 Board shall order paid monthly allowances as follows:
5-1 (a) To the surviving spouse of a member who dies after
5-2 having completed five (5) years of service with the city but before
5-3 beginning to receive retirement benefits or who dies from a cause
5-4 growing out of or in consequence of the performance of duty with
5-5 the city [widow or widower], provided she or he shall have married
5-6 such member before the decedent terminated employment with the city
5-7 [prior to her or his retirement], a sum equal to one-half (1/2) of
5-8 the retirement benefits that the deceased Group A member would have
5-9 been entitled to had she or he been totally disabled at the time of
5-10 her or his retirement or death, but the allowance payable to the
5-11 surviving spouse [any such widow or widower] shall not in any event
5-12 be less than Fifty Dollars ($50) a month.
5-13 (b) To the surviving spouse of a person who dies after
5-14 having begun to receive retirement benefits, a sum equal to
5-15 seventy-five percent (75%) of the retirement benefits being
5-16 received at the time of the retiree's death, if the surviving
5-17 spouse married the decedent before the decedent terminated
5-18 employment with the city.
5-19 (c) If there is a surviving spouse, each dependent child
5-20 shall receive a death benefit equal to ten percent (10%) of the
5-21 pension the member would have received if the member had been
5-22 disabled at the time of death, to a maximum of twenty percent (20%)
5-23 for all dependent children.
5-24 (d) [(c)] If there is no surviving spouse, each dependent
5-25 child shall receive a death benefit equal to twenty percent (20%)
5-26 of the pension the member would have received if the member had
5-27 been disabled at the time of death, to a maximum of forty percent
6-1 (40%) for all dependent children.
6-2 (e) [(d)] Benefits payable to each dependent child shall be
6-3 paid if [until] the child:
6-4 (1) is younger than [becomes] eighteen (18) years of
6-5 age and unmarried;
6-6 (2) is a full-time student and younger than
6-7 twenty-three (23) years of age; or
6-8 (3) is permanently and totally disabled because of
6-9 illness, injury, or retardation.
6-10 (f) Benefits for a dependant child are [or marries and shall
6-11 be] payable to the guardian of the child. The term "guardian," as
6-12 used in this subsection, means the person who has the primary
6-13 responsibility for a child's care and support, for example, the
6-14 surviving spouse, legal guardian, managing conservator, or any
6-15 other person with a similar legal relationship to the child.
6-16 SECTION 5. Section 24, Chapter 358, Acts of the 48th
6-17 Legislature, 1943 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes),
6-18 is amended to read as follows:
6-19 Sec. 24. AMOUNT OF PENSION. [(a)] The amount of the normal
6-20 pension payable to a retired Group B member shall equal the
6-21 member's average monthly salary multiplied by one and one-quarter
6-22 percent (1-1/4%) for each of the member's first ten (10) years of
6-23 credited service, one and three-fifths percent (1-3/5%) for each of
6-24 the next ten (10) years of credited service, and two [one and
6-25 three-quarters] percent (2%) [(1-3/4%)] for each additional year,
6-26 taken to the nearest twelfth (12th) of a year, in the period of
6-27 credited service. The normal pension of a retired Group B member
7-1 may not exceed eighty percent (80%) of the member's average monthly
7-2 salary computed under this section. Average monthly salary shall
7-3 be the average of the seventy-eight (78) highest biweekly salaries
7-4 during a member's period of credited service.
7-5 SECTION 6. Section 28(a), Chapter 358, Acts of the 48th
7-6 Legislature, 1943 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes),
7-7 is amended to read as follows:
7-8 (a) The surviving spouse and/or dependent child or children
7-9 of a Group B member shall be eligible for a death benefit, if the
7-10 member died before September 1, 1997 [dies]:
7-11 (1) from any cause while in service of the city and
7-12 has five (5) years of credited service; or
7-13 (2) from any cause while in service of the city in
7-14 consequence of the performance of his duty.
7-15 SECTION 7. Section 29(a), Chapter 358, Acts of the 48th
7-16 Legislature, 1943 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes),
7-17 is amended to read as follows:
7-18 (a) A Group B member who terminated employment with the city
7-19 or the Pension System before September 1, 1997, may elect at the
7-20 time of retirement or termination of employment to have his normal
7-21 or early pension paid under one of the options provided by
7-22 Subsection (b) of this section.
7-23 SECTION 8. Chapter 358, Acts of the 48th Legislature, 1943
7-24 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by
7-25 adding Sections 31B, 31C, and 31D to read as follows:
7-26 Sec. 31B. DEFERRED RETIREMENT OPTION PLAN. (a) In this
7-27 section:
8-1 (1) "DROP" means the deferred retirement option plan
8-2 established under this Act.
8-3 (2) "DROP benefit" means a member's total DROP account
8-4 balance at the time the member terminates active service.
8-5 (3) "DROP member" means a Pension System member who is
8-6 participating in the DROP.
8-7 (b) The Board shall design and implement a deferred
8-8 retirement option plan for members of the Pension System.
8-9 (c) A member who is eligible to receive a normal retirement
8-10 pension under this Act and who remains in active service with the
8-11 city may file with the Pension System an election to participate in
8-12 the DROP and receive a DROP benefit. Except as otherwise provided
8-13 by this section, an election to participate in the DROP is
8-14 irrevocable. The effective date of a member's participation in the
8-15 DROP is the first day of the first month following the month in
8-16 which the Board approves the member's DROP election.
8-17 (d) Credits to a member's DROP account consist of:
8-18 (1) a monthly amount equal to the member's normal
8-19 accrued monthly retirement benefit on the effective date of the
8-20 member's participation in the DROP, adjusted for cost-of-living
8-21 adjustments that occur on or after the effective date of the DROP
8-22 and that otherwise would apply to the benefit;
8-23 (2) a Plan A member's regular biweekly contributions;
8-24 and
8-25 (3) interest on the member's DROP account balance
8-26 computed at a rate determined by the Board and compounded at
8-27 intervals designated by the Board, but at least once in each
9-1 thirteen-month period.
9-2 (e) Credits to a member's DROP account begin on the
9-3 effective date of the member's participation in the DROP and
9-4 continue until the DROP member terminates active service with the
9-5 city. Amounts are creditable for partial crediting periods.
9-6 Credits may not be made to a member's DROP account for a period
9-7 that occurs after the member terminates active service with the
9-8 city.
9-9 (f) A DROP member who terminates active service with the
9-10 city is entitled to receive the member's DROP benefit in a lump sum
9-11 or in periodic payments, plus a monthly retirement benefit. The
9-12 Board shall determine a reasonable time for lump-sum and periodic
9-13 DROP benefit payments and shall approve the monthly retirement
9-14 benefit. Normal retirement benefits cease to accrue on the
9-15 effective date of a member's participation in the DROP, and the
9-16 monthly retirement benefit approved by the Board for payment after
9-17 the member terminates active service is based on the member's 78
9-18 highest biweekly salaries.
9-19 (g) The beneficiaries of a deceased DROP member may
9-20 collectively revoke the deceased member's election to participate
9-21 in the DROP.
9-22 (h) A DROP member is ineligible for disability benefits
9-23 provided by this Act, except that a DROP member who incurs an
9-24 on-duty, service-related disability may revoke the member's DROP
9-25 election.
9-26 (i) A DROP election revocation must be made at a time and in
9-27 a manner determined by the Board. After revocation, the balance in
10-1 the DROP account reverts to the Pension System, a distribution of
10-2 DROP benefits may not be made to the member or the member's
10-3 beneficiaries, and the benefits based on the member's service will
10-4 be determined as if the member's DROP election had never occurred.
10-5 (j) If an unanticipated actuarial cost occurs in
10-6 administering the DROP, the Board, on the advice of the Pension
10-7 System's actuary, may take action necessary to mitigate the
10-8 unanticipated cost, including refusal to accept additional
10-9 elections to participate in the plan, but the Pension System shall
10-10 continue to administer the plan for the members participating in
10-11 the plan before the date of the mitigating action.
10-12 Sec. 31C. MAXIMUM BENEFITS FROM THE FUND. (a) The fund
10-13 created by this Act is for the exclusive benefit of the members,
10-14 retirees, and their survivors. No part of the corpus or income of
10-15 the fund may ever be used for, or diverted to, any purpose other
10-16 than the benefit of members, retirees, and their survivors as
10-17 provided in this Act.
10-18 (b) A member, retiree, or survivor of a member or retiree of
10-19 the Pension System may not accrue a retirement pension, disability
10-20 retirement allowance, death benefit allowance, DROP benefit, or any
10-21 other benefit under this Act in excess of the benefit limits
10-22 applicable to the fund under Section 415 of the Internal Revenue
10-23 Code of 1986. The Board shall reduce the amount of any benefit
10-24 that exceeds those limits by the amount of the excess. If total
10-25 benefits under this fund and the benefits and contributions to
10-26 which any member is entitled under any other qualified plans
10-27 maintained by the city that employs the member would otherwise
11-1 exceed the applicable limits under Section 415 of the Internal
11-2 Revenue Code of 1986, the benefits the member would otherwise
11-3 receive from the fund shall be reduced to the extent necessary to
11-4 enable the benefits to comply with Section 415.
11-5 (c) Any member or survivor who receives any distribution
11-6 that is an eligible rollover distribution as defined by Section
11-7 402(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is entitled to have
11-8 that distribution transferred directly to another eligible
11-9 retirement plan of the member's or survivor's choice on providing
11-10 direction to the Pension System regarding that transfer in
11-11 accordance with procedures established by the Board.
11-12 (d) The total salary taken into account for any purpose for
11-13 any member or retiree of the Pension System may not exceed $200,000
11-14 for any year for an eligible participant, or $150,000 a year for an
11-15 ineligible participant. These dollar limits shall be adjusted from
11-16 time to time in accordance with guidelines provided by the
11-17 secretary of the treasury. For purposes of this subsection, an
11-18 eligible participant is a person who first became a member before
11-19 1996, and an ineligible participant is a member who is not an
11-20 eligible participant.
11-21 (e) Accrued benefits under this Act become 100 percent
11-22 vested for a member on the date the member has completed five (5)
11-23 years of service.
11-24 (f) Amounts representing forfeited nonvested benefits of
11-25 terminated members may not be used to increase benefits payable
11-26 from the fund but may be used to reduce contributions for future
11-27 plan years.
12-1 (g) Distributions of benefits must begin not later than
12-2 April 1 of the year following the calendar year during which the
12-3 member becomes 70-1/2 years of age or terminates employment with
12-4 the employer, if later, and must otherwise conform to Section
12-5 401(a)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
12-6 (h) If the amount of any benefit is to be determined on the
12-7 basis of actuarial assumptions that are not otherwise specifically
12-8 set forth for that purpose in this Act, the actuarial assumptions
12-9 to be used are those earnings and mortality assumptions being used
12-10 on the date of the determination by the fund's actuary and approved
12-11 by the Board. The actuarial assumptions being used at any
12-12 particular time shall be attached as an addendum to a copy of this
12-13 Act and treated for all purposes as a part of the Act. The
12-14 actuarial assumptions may be changed by the fund's actuary at any
12-15 time if approved by the Board, but a change in actuarial
12-16 assumptions may not result in any decrease in benefits accrued as
12-17 of the effective date of the change.
12-18 (i) To the extent permitted by law, the Board may adjust the
12-19 benefits of retirees and survivors by increasing any benefit that
12-20 was reduced because of Section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code of
12-21 1986. If Section 415 is amended to permit the payment of amounts
12-22 previously precluded under that section, the Board may adjust the
12-23 benefits of retirees and survivors, including the restoration of
12-24 benefits previously denied. Benefits paid under this subsection
12-25 are not considered as extra compensation earned after retirement
12-26 but as the delayed payment of benefits earned before retirement.
12-27 Sec. 31D. EXCESS BENEFIT PLAN. (a) A separate,
13-1 nonqualified, unfunded excess benefit plan is created outside the
13-2 fund.
13-3 (b) In this section:
13-4 (1) "Excess benefit plan" means the separate,
13-5 nonqualified, unfunded excess benefit plan created by this section
13-6 for the benefit of eligible members, as amended or restated from
13-7 time to time, that is intended to be a "qualified governmental
13-8 excess benefit arrangement" within the meaning of Section 415(m) of
13-9 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
13-10 (2) "Qualified plan" means the fund and any other plan
13-11 maintained by the city for the exclusive benefit of some or all of
13-12 the members of the fund that has been found by the Internal Revenue
13-13 Service to be qualified or has been treated by the city as a
13-14 qualified plan under Section 401 of the Internal Revenue Code of
13-15 1986.
13-16 (3) "Maximum benefit" means the retirement benefit a
13-17 retiree and the spouse or dependent child of a retiree or deceased
13-18 member or retiree are entitled to receive from all qualified plans
13-19 in any month after giving effect to Section 31C of this Act and any
13-20 similar provisions of any other qualified plans designed to conform
13-21 to Section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
13-22 (4) "Excess benefit participant" means any retiree
13-23 whose retirement benefits as determined on the basis of all
13-24 qualified plans without regard to the limitations of Section 31C of
13-25 this Act and comparable provisions of other qualified plans, would
13-26 exceed the maximum benefit permitted under Section 415 of the
13-27 Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
14-1 (5) "Unrestricted benefit" means the monthly
14-2 retirement benefit a retiree and the surviving spouse and dependent
14-3 child of a retiree or deceased member or retiree would have
14-4 received under the terms of all qualified plans except for the
14-5 restrictions of Section 31C of this Act and any similar provisions
14-6 of any other qualified plans designed to conform to Section 415 of
14-7 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
14-8 (c) An excess benefit participant who is receiving benefits
14-9 from the fund is entitled to a monthly benefit under this excess
14-10 benefit plan in an amount equal to the lesser of:
14-11 (1) the member's unrestricted benefit less the maximum
14-12 benefit; or
14-13 (2) the amount by which the member's monthly benefit
14-14 from the fund has been reduced because of the limitations of
14-15 Section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
14-16 (d) If a surviving spouse or dependent child is entitled to
14-17 preretirement or postretirement death benefits under a qualified
14-18 plan after the death of an excess benefit participant, the
14-19 surviving spouse or dependent child is entitled to a monthly
14-20 benefit under the excess benefit plan equal to the benefit
14-21 determined in accordance with this Act without regard to the
14-22 limitations under Section 31C of this Act or Section 415 of the
14-23 Internal Revenue Code of 1986, less the maximum benefit.
14-24 (e) Any benefit to which a person is entitled under this
14-25 section shall be paid at the same time and in the same manner as
14-26 the benefit would have been paid from the fund if payment of the
14-27 benefit from the fund had not been precluded by Section 31C of this
15-1 Act. An excess benefit participant or any beneficiary may not,
15-2 under any circumstances, elect to defer the receipt of all or any
15-3 part of a payment due under this section.
15-4 (f) The Board shall administer this plan, and the executive
15-5 director also shall carry out the business of the Board with
15-6 respect to this plan. Except as otherwise provided by this
15-7 section, the rights, duties, and responsibilities of the Board and
15-8 the executive director are the same for this plan as for the fund.
15-9 (g) The consultants, independent auditors, attorneys, and
15-10 actuaries selected to perform services for the fund also shall
15-11 perform services for this plan, but their fees for their services
15-12 may not be paid by the fund. The actuary engaged to perform
15-13 services for the fund shall advise the Board of the amount of
15-14 benefits that may not be provided from the fund solely by reason of
15-15 the limitations of Section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
15-16 and the amount of employer contributions that will be made to this
15-17 plan rather than to the fund.
15-18 (h) Contributions may not be accumulated under this plan to
15-19 pay future retirement benefits. Instead, each payment of employer
15-20 contributions that would otherwise be made to the fund under
15-21 Section 8 of this Act shall be reduced by the amount determined by
15-22 the executive director as necessary to meet the requirements for
15-23 retirement benefits under this plan, including reasonable
15-24 administrative expenses, until the next payment of municipal
15-25 contributions is expected to be made to the fund. The employer
15-26 shall then pay to this plan, from the withheld contributions, not
15-27 earlier than the 30th day before the date each distribution of
16-1 monthly retirement benefits is required to be made from this plan,
16-2 the amount necessary to satisfy the obligation to pay monthly
16-3 retirement benefits from this plan. The executive director shall
16-4 satisfy the obligation of this plan to pay retirement benefits from
16-5 the employer contributions so transferred for that month.
16-6 (i) Employer contributions otherwise required to be made to
16-7 the fund under Section 8 of this Act and any other qualified plan
16-8 shall be divided into those contributions required to pay
16-9 retirement benefits under this section and those contributions paid
16-10 into and accumulated to pay the maximum benefits required under the
16-11 qualified plan. Employer contributions made to provide retirement
16-12 benefits under this section may not be commingled with the monies
16-13 of the fund or any other qualified plan.
16-14 (j) Benefits under this section are exempt from execution,
16-15 attachment, garnishment, assignment, injunction, and other writ in
16-16 the same manner as retirement annuities under Section 20 of this
16-17 Act and may not be paid to any person other than the person who
16-18 would have received the benefits from the fund except for Section
16-19 31C of this Act.
16-20 SECTION 9. Effective July 1, 1998, Sections 11(b) and (g),
16-21 Chapter 358, Acts of the 48th Legislature, 1943 (Article 6243g,
16-22 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), are amended to read as follows:
16-23 (b) The amount of the monthly pension for each such Group A
16-24 member shall equal the member's average monthly salary multiplied
16-25 by two and one-quarter percent (2-1/4%) [(2%)] for each of the
16-26 member's first twenty (20) years of credited service and two and
16-27 three-quarters [one-half] percent (2-3/4%) [(2-1/2%)] for each
17-1 additional year of credited service of such member. For purposes
17-2 of this Subsection, such average salary shall be computed by adding
17-3 together the seventy-eight (78) highest biweekly salaries paid to a
17-4 member during his period of credited service and dividing the sum
17-5 by thirty-six (36). Provided, however, that no Group A member's
17-6 pension shall be more than eighty percent (80%) of such average
17-7 salary; and no Group A member's pension shall be less than Eight
17-8 Dollars ($8) a month for each year of credited service, or One
17-9 Hundred Dollars ($100) a month total pension, whichever is the
17-10 greater amount.
17-11 (g) Pensions [Effective January 1, 1992, pensions] for all
17-12 Group A members or their survivors shall be adjusted annually
17-13 upward or downward in accordance with the percentage change in the
17-14 Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI) for the
17-15 preceding year as determined by the United States Department of
17-16 Labor. The adjusted pension may never be less than the basic
17-17 pension or deferred basic pension that the [retired] member or
17-18 survivor would otherwise be entitled to receive without regard to
17-19 changes in the CPI. The adjusted pension may never be greater than
17-20 the basic pension or deferred basic pension plus increases of not
17-21 to exceed four percent (4%) annually, [not] compounded,
17-22 notwithstanding a greater increase in the CPI.
17-23 SECTION 10. Effective July 1, 1998, Section 13, Chapter 358,
17-24 Acts of the 48th Legislature, Regular Session, 1943 (Article 6243g,
17-25 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
17-26 Sec. 13. MONTHLY ALLOWANCE TO SURVIVING SPOUSES [WIDOWS] AND
17-27 CHILDREN. If any Group A or Group B member of the Pension System,
18-1 as herein defined, shall die from any cause whatsoever after having
18-2 completed five (5) [ten (10)] years of service with the city, or
18-3 if, while in the service of the city, any such member shall die
18-4 from any cause growing out of or in consequence of the performance
18-5 of his duty, or shall die after he has been retired on pension
18-6 because of length of service or disability and shall leave a
18-7 surviving spouse [widow or widower], or a qualifying child or
18-8 children [under the age of eighteen (18) years], or both a
18-9 surviving spouse [such widow or widower] and a qualifying child or
18-10 children, said Board shall order paid monthly allowances as
18-11 follows:
18-12 (a) To the surviving spouse of a member who dies after
18-13 having completed five (5) years of active service with the city but
18-14 before beginning to receive retirement benefits [widow or widower],
18-15 provided she or he shall have married such member before the
18-16 decedent terminated employment with the city [prior to her or his
18-17 retirement], a sum equal to one-half (1/2) of the retirement
18-18 benefits that the deceased [Group A] member would have been
18-19 entitled to had she or he been totally disabled at the time of her
18-20 or his retirement or death, but the allowance payable to the
18-21 surviving spouse [any such widow or widower] shall not in any event
18-22 be less than Fifty Dollars ($50) a month.
18-23 (b) To the surviving spouse of a member who dies from a
18-24 cause growing out of or in consequence of the performance of duty
18-25 with the city, a sum equal to eighty percent (80%) of the deceased
18-26 member's final average salary.
18-27 (c) To the surviving spouse of a member who dies after
19-1 having begun to receive retirement benefits, a sum equal to
19-2 seventy-five percent (75%) of the retirement benefits being
19-3 received at the time of the retiree's death, if the surviving
19-4 spouse married the decedent before the decedent terminated
19-5 employment with the city.
19-6 (d) If there is a surviving spouse, each dependent child
19-7 shall receive a death benefit equal to ten percent (10%) of the
19-8 pension the member would have received if the member had been
19-9 disabled at the time of death, to a maximum of twenty percent (20%)
19-10 for all dependent children.
19-11 (e) [(c)] If there is no surviving spouse, each dependent
19-12 child shall receive a death benefit equal to twenty percent (20%)
19-13 of the pension the member would have received if the member had
19-14 been disabled at the time of death, to a maximum of forty percent
19-15 (40%) for all dependent children.
19-16 (f) [(d)] Benefits payable to each dependent child shall be
19-17 paid if [until] the child:
19-18 (1) is younger than [becomes] eighteen (18) years of
19-19 age and unmarried;
19-20 (2) is a full-time student and younger than
19-21 twenty-three (23) years of age; or
19-22 (3) is permanently and totally disabled because of
19-23 illness, injury, or retardation.
19-24 (g) Benefits for a dependent child are [or marries and shall
19-25 be] payable to the guardian of the child. The term "guardian," as
19-26 used in this subsection, means the person who has the primary
19-27 responsibility for a child's care and support, for example, the
20-1 surviving spouse, legal guardian, managing conservator, or any
20-2 other person with a similar legal relationship to the child.
20-3 SECTION 11. Effective July 1, 1998, Section 24, Chapter 358,
20-4 Acts of the 48th Legislature, 1943 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas
20-5 Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
20-6 Sec. 24. AMOUNT OF PENSION. [(a)] The amount of the normal
20-7 pension payable to a retired Group B member shall equal the
20-8 member's average monthly salary multiplied by one and one-half
20-9 [one-quarter] percent (1-1/2%) [(1-1/4%)] for each of the member's
20-10 first ten (10) years of credited service, one and three-quarters
20-11 [three-fifths] percent (1-3/4%) [(1-3/5%)] for each of the next ten
20-12 (10) years of credited service, and two [one and three-quarters]
20-13 percent (2%) [(1-3/4%)] for each additional year, taken to the
20-14 nearest twelfth (12th) of a year, in the period of credited
20-15 service. The normal pension of a retired Group B member may not
20-16 exceed eighty percent (80%) of the member's average monthly salary
20-17 computed under this section. Average monthly salary shall be the
20-18 average of the seventy-eight (78) highest biweekly salaries during
20-19 a member's period of credited service.
20-20 SECTION 12. Section 31, Chapter 358, Acts of the 48th
20-21 Legislature, 1943 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes),
20-22 is amended to read as follows:
20-23 Sec. 31. POSTRETIREMENT ADJUSTMENTS. Pensions for all Group
20-24 B members or their survivors [All pensions] shall be adjusted
20-25 annually upward or downward in accordance with the percentage
20-26 change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI)
20-27 for the preceding year as determined by the United States
21-1 Department of Labor. The adjusted pension shall never be less than
21-2 the basic pension or deferred basic pension which the retired
21-3 member or survivor would otherwise be entitled to receive without
21-4 regard to changes in the CPI. The adjusted pension shall never be
21-5 greater than the basic pension or deferred basic pension, plus
21-6 increases of not to exceed four percent (4%) annually, [not]
21-7 compounded, notwithstanding a greater increase in the CPI.
21-8 SECTION 13. Section 23, Chapter 358, Acts of the 48th
21-9 Legislature, 1943 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes),
21-10 is repealed.
21-11 SECTION 14. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of
21-12 this section or as expressly provided in the changes in law made by
21-13 this Act, the changes in the benefits payable under Chapter 358,
21-14 Acts of the 48th Legislature, 1943 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas
21-15 Civil Statutes), apply only to retirements or deaths, as
21-16 applicable, that occur on or after the effective dates of the
21-17 changes.
21-18 (b) Section 13, Chapter 358, Acts of the 48th Legislature,
21-19 1943 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), as amended by
21-20 Section 4 of this Act, applies to deaths that occur on or after the
21-21 effective date of that section, without regard to the date of a
21-22 retiree's retirement.
21-23 (c) Except as otherwise provided by this Act, this Act takes
21-24 effect September 1, 1997.
21-25 SECTION 15. The importance of this legislation and the
21-26 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
21-27 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
22-1 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
22-2 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.