AN ACT
1-1 relating to eligibility for, and payment of, benefits by certain
1-2 public retirement systems for municipal employees.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Subsections (g) and (l), Section 2, Chapter 358,
1-5 Acts of the 48th Legislature, 1943 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas
1-6 Civil Statutes), are amended to read as follows:
1-7 (g) "Employee" means and includes any person whose name
1-8 appears on a regular full time payroll of any such city or Pension
1-9 System and who is paid a regular salary for his services.
1-10 Provided, that any elected official who becomes a member of the
1-11 Pension System as permitted by this amended Act shall be considered
1-12 to be and to have been an employee during the period of any service
1-13 as an elected official.
1-14 (l) "Pension Fund" or "fund" means assets consisting of the
1-15 contributions made by the city, contributions made by any member of
1-16 Group A, and any income derived from investments made from those
1-17 contributions, which are held in trust for the sole benefit of the
1-18 members of the Pension System.
1-19 SECTION 2. Subsections (a) and (b), Section 11, Chapter 358,
1-20 Acts of the 48th Legislature, 1943 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas
1-21 Civil Statutes), are amended to read as follows:
1-22 (a) Any [Group A] member of such Pension System who has
1-23 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. Subsection (d), Section 12, Chapter 358, Acts of
2-25 the 48th Legislature, 1943 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas Civil
3-1 Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
3-2 (d)(1) Any Group A member receiving a disability pension in
3-3 accordance with this section or any Group B member receiving a
3-4 disability pension in accordance with Section 25 of this Act shall,
3-5 each April 1, submit a sworn affidavit stating his earnings for the
3-6 previous calendar year, if any, obtained from any gainful
3-7 occupation. If the earnings together with the disability pension
3-8 being received by any member exceed the monthly salary of such
3-9 member at the time of his separation from service, as adjusted
3-10 annually by cost-of-living adjustments made in the manner provided
3-11 by Section 11(g) or Section 31 of this Act, the Pension Board shall
3-12 have authority to reduce the amount of pension. Failure to submit
3-13 an affidavit of earnings or submission of a materially false
3-14 affidavit shall be cause for suspension of the pension upon proper
3-15 action by the Pension Board.
3-16 (2) No member shall receive a disability and service
3-17 pension at the same time. If [However, in the event] a member who
3-18 is already eligible for retirement is granted a disability pension
3-19 and, thereafter, although his disability ceases to exist, he does
3-20 not return to work for the city, he shall be entitled to receive a
3-21 service pension, calculated in accordance with Section 11 for Group
3-22 A members and Section 24 for Group B members. Such service pension
3-23 shall be based on actual service up to the time of disability. If
3-24 a disability does not cease before a member becomes sixty-five (65)
3-25 years of age while continuing to receive a disability pension, the
4-1 Pension System shall reclassify the pension as a service pension,
4-2 without regard to whether the person is otherwise eligible to
4-3 receive a service pension.
4-4 (3) When any member has been retired for disability,
4-5 he shall be subject at all times to re-examination by the Pension
4-6 Board and shall submit himself to such further examination as the
4-7 Pension Board may require. If any such member shall refuse to
4-8 submit himself to any such examination, the Pension Board may,
4-9 within its discretion, order said payments stopped. If such a
4-10 member who has been retired under the provisions of this Section
4-11 should thereafter recover so that in the opinion of the Pension
4-12 Board he is able to perform the usual and customary duties formerly
4-13 handled by him for said city, and such member is reinstated or
4-14 tendered reinstatement to the position he had at the time of his
4-15 retirement, then the Pension Board shall order such pension
4-16 payments stopped.
4-17 SECTION 4. Section 13, Chapter 358, Acts of the 48th
4-18 Legislature, 1943 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes),
4-19 is amended to read as follows:
4-20 Sec. 13. MONTHLY ALLOWANCE TO SURVIVING SPOUSES [WIDOWS] AND
4-21 CHILDREN. If any Group A or Group B member of the Pension System,
4-22 as herein defined, shall die from any cause whatsoever after having
4-23 completed five (5) [ten (10)] years of service with the city, or
4-24 if, while in the service of the city, any such member shall die
4-25 from any cause growing out of or in consequence of the performance
5-1 of his duty, or shall die after he has been retired on pension
5-2 because of length of service or disability and shall leave a
5-3 surviving spouse [widow or widower], or a qualifying child or
5-4 children [under the age of eighteen (18) years], or both a spouse
5-5 [such widow or widower] and a qualifying child or children, said
5-6 Board shall order paid monthly allowances as follows:
5-7 (a) To the surviving spouse of a member who dies after
5-8 having completed five (5) years of service with the city but before
5-9 beginning to receive retirement benefits or who dies from a cause
5-10 growing out of or in consequence of the performance of duty with
5-11 the city [widow or widower], provided she or he shall have married
5-12 such member before the decedent terminated employment with the city
5-13 [prior to her or his retirement], a sum equal to one-half (1/2) of
5-14 the retirement benefits that the deceased Group A member would have
5-15 been entitled to had she or he been totally disabled at the time of
5-16 her or his retirement or death, but the allowance payable to the
5-17 surviving spouse [any such widow or widower] shall not in any event
5-18 be less than Fifty Dollars ($50) a month.
5-19 (b) To the surviving spouse of a person who dies after
5-20 having begun to receive retirement benefits, a sum equal to
5-21 seventy-five percent (75%) of the retirement benefits being
5-22 received at the time of the retiree's death, if the surviving
5-23 spouse married the decedent before the decedent terminated
5-24 employment with the city.
5-25 (c) If there is a surviving spouse, each dependent child
6-1 shall receive a death benefit equal to ten percent (10%) of the
6-2 pension the member would have received if the member had been
6-3 disabled at the time of death, to a maximum of twenty percent (20%)
6-4 for all dependent children.
6-5 (d) [(c)] If there is no surviving spouse, each dependent
6-6 child shall receive a death benefit equal to twenty percent (20%)
6-7 of the pension the member would have received if the member had
6-8 been disabled at the time of death, to a maximum of forty percent
6-9 (40%) for all dependent children.
6-10 (e) [(d)] Benefits payable to each dependent child shall be
6-11 paid if [until] the child:
6-12 (1) is younger than [becomes] eighteen (18) years of
6-13 age and unmarried;
6-14 (2) is a full-time student and younger than
6-15 twenty-three (23) years of age; or
6-16 (3) is permanently and totally disabled because of
6-17 illness, injury, or retardation.
6-18 (f) Benefits for a dependent child are [or marries and shall
6-19 be] payable to the guardian of the child. The term "guardian," as
6-20 used in this subsection, means the person who has the primary
6-21 responsibility for a child's care and support, for example, the
6-22 surviving spouse, legal guardian, managing conservator, or any
6-23 other person with a similar legal relationship to the child.
6-24 SECTION 5. Section 24, Chapter 358, Acts of the 48th
6-25 Legislature, 1943 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes),
7-1 is amended to read as follows:
7-2 Sec. 24. AMOUNT OF PENSION. [(a)] The amount of the normal
7-3 pension payable to a retired Group B member shall equal the
7-4 member's average monthly salary multiplied by one and one-quarter
7-5 percent (1-1/4%) for each of the member's first ten (10) years of
7-6 credited service, one and three-fifths percent (1-3/5%) for each of
7-7 the next ten (10) years of credited service, and two [one and
7-8 three-quarters] percent (2%) [(1-3/4%)] for each additional year,
7-9 taken to the nearest twelfth (12th) of a year, in the period of
7-10 credited service. The normal pension of a retired Group B member
7-11 may not exceed eighty percent (80%) of the member's average monthly
7-12 salary computed under this section. Average monthly salary shall
7-13 be the average of the seventy-eight (78) highest biweekly salaries
7-14 during a member's period of credited service.
7-15 SECTION 6. Subsection (a), Section 28, Chapter 358, Acts of
7-16 the 48th Legislature, 1943 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas Civil
7-17 Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
7-18 (a) The surviving spouse and/or dependent child or children
7-19 of a Group B member shall be eligible for a death benefit, if the
7-20 member died before September 1, 1997 [dies]:
7-21 (1) from any cause while in service of the city and
7-22 has five (5) years of credited service; or
7-23 (2) from any cause while in service of the city in
7-24 consequence of the performance of his duty.
7-25 SECTION 7. Subsection (a), Section 29, Chapter 358, Acts of
8-1 the 48th Legislature, 1943 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas Civil
8-2 Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
8-3 (a) A Group B member who terminated employment with the city
8-4 or the Pension System before September 1, 1997, may elect at the
8-5 time of retirement or termination of employment to have his normal
8-6 or early pension paid under one of the options provided by
8-7 Subsection (b) of this section.
8-8 SECTION 8. Chapter 358, Acts of the 48th Legislature, 1943
8-9 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by
8-10 adding Sections 31B, 31C, and 31D to read as follows:
8-11 Sec. 31B. DEFERRED RETIREMENT OPTION PLAN. (a) In this
8-12 section:
8-13 (1) "DROP" means the deferred retirement option plan
8-14 established under this Act.
8-15 (2) "DROP benefit" means a member's total DROP account
8-16 balance at the time the member terminates active service.
8-17 (3) "DROP member" means a Pension System member who is
8-18 participating in the DROP.
8-19 (b) The Board shall design and implement a deferred
8-20 retirement option plan for members of the Pension System.
8-21 (c) A member who is eligible to receive a normal retirement
8-22 pension under this Act and who remains in active service with the
8-23 city may file with the Pension System an election to participate in
8-24 the DROP and receive a DROP benefit. Except as otherwise provided
8-25 by this section, an election to participate in the DROP is
9-1 irrevocable. The effective date of a member's participation in the
9-2 DROP is the first day of the first month following the month in
9-3 which the Board approves the member's DROP election.
9-4 (d) Credits to a member's DROP account consist of:
9-5 (1) a monthly amount equal to the member's normal
9-6 accrued monthly retirement benefit on the effective date of the
9-7 member's participation in the DROP, adjusted for cost-of-living
9-8 adjustments that occur on or after the effective date of the DROP
9-9 and that otherwise would apply to the benefit;
9-10 (2) a Plan A member's regular biweekly contributions;
9-11 and
9-12 (3) interest on the member's DROP account balance
9-13 computed at a rate determined by the Board and compounded at
9-14 intervals designated by the Board, but at least once in each
9-15 thirteen-month period.
9-16 (e) Credits to a member's DROP account begin on the
9-17 effective date of the member's participation in the DROP and
9-18 continue until the DROP member terminates active service with the
9-19 city. Amounts are creditable for partial crediting periods.
9-20 Credits may not be made to a member's DROP account for a period
9-21 that occurs after the member terminates active service with the
9-22 city.
9-23 (f) A DROP member who terminates active service with the
9-24 city is entitled to receive the member's DROP benefit in a lump sum
9-25 or in periodic payments, plus a monthly retirement benefit. The
10-1 Board shall determine a reasonable time for lump-sum and periodic
10-2 DROP benefit payments and shall approve the monthly retirement
10-3 benefit. Normal retirement benefits cease to accrue on the
10-4 effective date of a member's participation in the DROP, and the
10-5 monthly retirement benefit approved by the Board for payment after
10-6 the member terminates active service is based on the member's 78
10-7 highest biweekly salaries.
10-8 (g) The beneficiaries of a deceased DROP member may
10-9 collectively revoke the deceased member's election to participate
10-10 in the DROP.
10-11 (h) A DROP member is ineligible for disability benefits
10-12 provided by this Act, except that a DROP member who incurs an
10-13 on-duty, service-related disability may revoke the member's DROP
10-14 election.
10-15 (i) A DROP election revocation must be made at a time and in
10-16 a manner determined by the Board. After revocation, the balance in
10-17 the DROP account reverts to the Pension System, a distribution of
10-18 DROP benefits may not be made to the member or the member's
10-19 beneficiaries, and the benefits based on the member's service will
10-20 be determined as if the member's DROP election had never occurred.
10-21 (j) If an unanticipated actuarial cost occurs in
10-22 administering the DROP, the Board, on the advice of the Pension
10-23 System's actuary, may take action necessary to mitigate the
10-24 unanticipated cost, including refusal to accept additional
10-25 elections to participate in the plan, but the Pension System shall
11-1 continue to administer the plan for the members participating in
11-2 the plan before the date of the mitigating action.
11-3 Sec. 31C. MAXIMUM BENEFITS FROM THE FUND. (a) The fund
11-4 created by this Act is for the exclusive benefit of the members,
11-5 retirees, and their survivors. No part of the corpus or income of
11-6 the fund may ever be used for, or diverted to, any purpose other
11-7 than the benefit of members, retirees, and their survivors as
11-8 provided in this Act.
11-9 (b) A member, retiree, or survivor of a member or retiree of
11-10 the Pension System may not accrue a retirement pension, disability
11-11 retirement allowance, death benefit allowance, DROP benefit, or any
11-12 other benefit under this Act in excess of the benefit limits
11-13 applicable to the fund under Section 415 of the Internal Revenue
11-14 Code of 1986. The Board shall reduce the amount of any benefit
11-15 that exceeds those limits by the amount of the excess. If total
11-16 benefits under this fund and the benefits and contributions to
11-17 which any member is entitled under any other qualified plans
11-18 maintained by the city that employs the member would otherwise
11-19 exceed the applicable limits under Section 415 of the Internal
11-20 Revenue Code of 1986, the benefits the member would otherwise
11-21 receive from the fund shall be reduced to the extent necessary to
11-22 enable the benefits to comply with Section 415.
11-23 (c) Any member or survivor who receives any distribution
11-24 that is an eligible rollover distribution as defined by Section
11-25 402(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is entitled to have
12-1 that distribution transferred directly to another eligible
12-2 retirement plan of the member's or survivor's choice on providing
12-3 direction to the Pension System regarding that transfer in
12-4 accordance with procedures established by the Board.
12-5 (d) The total salary taken into account for any purpose for
12-6 any member or retiree of the Pension System may not exceed $200,000
12-7 for any year for an eligible participant, or $150,000 a year for an
12-8 ineligible participant. These dollar limits shall be adjusted from
12-9 time to time in accordance with guidelines provided by the
12-10 secretary of the treasury. For purposes of this subsection, an
12-11 eligible participant is a person who first became a member before
12-12 1996, and an ineligible participant is a member who is not an
12-13 eligible participant.
12-14 (e) Accrued benefits under this Act become 100 percent
12-15 vested for a member on the date the member has completed five (5)
12-16 years of service.
12-17 (f) Amounts representing forfeited nonvested benefits of
12-18 terminated members may not be used to increase benefits payable
12-19 from the fund but may be used to reduce contributions for future
12-20 plan years.
12-21 (g) Distributions of benefits must begin not later than
12-22 April 1 of the year following the calendar year during which the
12-23 member becomes 70-1/2 years of age or terminates employment with
12-24 the employer, if later, and must otherwise conform to Section
12-25 401(a)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
13-1 (h) If the amount of any benefit is to be determined on the
13-2 basis of actuarial assumptions that are not otherwise specifically
13-3 set forth for that purpose in this Act, the actuarial assumptions
13-4 to be used are those earnings and mortality assumptions being used
13-5 on the date of the determination by the fund's actuary and approved
13-6 by the Board. The actuarial assumptions being used at any
13-7 particular time shall be attached as an addendum to a copy of this
13-8 Act and treated for all purposes as a part of the Act. The
13-9 actuarial assumptions may be changed by the fund's actuary at any
13-10 time if approved by the Board, but a change in actuarial
13-11 assumptions may not result in any decrease in benefits accrued as
13-12 of the effective date of the change.
13-13 (i) To the extent permitted by law, the Board may adjust the
13-14 benefits of retirees and survivors by increasing any benefit that
13-15 was reduced because of Section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code of
13-16 1986. If Section 415 is amended to permit the payment of amounts
13-17 previously precluded under that section, the Board may adjust the
13-18 benefits of retirees and survivors, including the restoration of
13-19 benefits previously denied. Benefits paid under this subsection
13-20 are not considered as extra compensation earned after retirement
13-21 but as the delayed payment of benefits earned before retirement.
13-22 Sec. 31D. EXCESS BENEFIT PLAN. (a) A separate,
13-23 nonqualified, unfunded excess benefit plan is created outside the
13-24 fund.
13-25 (b) In this section:
14-1 (1) "Excess benefit plan" means the separate,
14-2 nonqualified, unfunded excess benefit plan created by this section
14-3 for the benefit of eligible members, as amended or restated from
14-4 time to time, that is intended to be a "qualified governmental
14-5 excess benefit arrangement" within the meaning of Section 415(m) of
14-6 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
14-7 (2) "Qualified plan" means the fund and any other plan
14-8 maintained by the city for the exclusive benefit of some or all of
14-9 the members of the fund that has been found by the Internal Revenue
14-10 Service to be qualified or has been treated by the city as a
14-11 qualified plan under Section 401 of the Internal Revenue Code of
14-12 1986.
14-13 (3) "Maximum benefit" means the retirement benefit a
14-14 retiree and the spouse or dependent child of a retiree or deceased
14-15 member or retiree are entitled to receive from all qualified plans
14-16 in any month after giving effect to Section 31C of this Act and any
14-17 similar provisions of any other qualified plans designed to conform
14-18 to Section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
14-19 (4) "Excess benefit participant" means any retiree
14-20 whose retirement benefits, as determined on the basis of all
14-21 qualified plans without regard to the limitations of Section 31C of
14-22 this Act and comparable provisions of other qualified plans, would
14-23 exceed the maximum benefit permitted under Section 415 of the
14-24 Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
14-25 (5) "Unrestricted benefit" means the monthly
15-1 retirement benefit a retiree and the surviving spouse and dependent
15-2 child of a retiree or deceased member or retiree would have
15-3 received under the terms of all qualified plans except for the
15-4 restrictions of Section 31C of this Act and any similar provisions
15-5 of any other qualified plans designed to conform to Section 415 of
15-6 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
15-7 (c) An excess benefit participant who is receiving benefits
15-8 from the fund is entitled to a monthly benefit under this excess
15-9 benefit plan in an amount equal to the lesser of:
15-10 (1) the member's unrestricted benefit less the maximum
15-11 benefit; or
15-12 (2) the amount by which the member's monthly benefit
15-13 from the fund has been reduced because of the limitations of
15-14 Section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
15-15 (d) If a surviving spouse or dependent child is entitled to
15-16 preretirement or postretirement death benefits under a qualified
15-17 plan after the death of an excess benefit participant, the
15-18 surviving spouse or dependent child is entitled to a monthly
15-19 benefit under the excess benefit plan equal to the benefit
15-20 determined in accordance with this Act, without regard to the
15-21 limitations under Section 31C of this Act or Section 415 of the
15-22 Internal Revenue Code of 1986, less the maximum benefit.
15-23 (e) Any benefit to which a person is entitled under this
15-24 section shall be paid at the same time and in the same manner as
15-25 the benefit would have been paid from the fund if payment of the
16-1 benefit from the fund had not been precluded by Section 31C of this
16-2 Act. An excess benefit participant or any beneficiary may not,
16-3 under any circumstances, elect to defer the receipt of all or any
16-4 part of a payment due under this section.
16-5 (f) The Board shall administer this plan, and the executive
16-6 director also shall carry out the business of the Board with
16-7 respect to this plan. Except as otherwise provided by this
16-8 section, the rights, duties, and responsibilities of the Board and
16-9 the executive director are the same for this plan as for the fund.
16-10 (g) The consultants, independent auditors, attorneys, and
16-11 actuaries selected to perform services for the fund also shall
16-12 perform services for this plan, but their fees for their services
16-13 may not be paid by the fund. The actuary engaged to perform
16-14 services for the fund shall advise the Board of the amount of
16-15 benefits that may not be provided from the fund solely by reason of
16-16 the limitations of Section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
16-17 and the amount of employer contributions that will be made to this
16-18 plan rather than to the fund.
16-19 (h) Contributions may not be accumulated under this plan to
16-20 pay future retirement benefits. Instead, each payment of employer
16-21 contributions that would otherwise be made to the fund under
16-22 Section 8 of this Act shall be reduced by the amount determined by
16-23 the executive director as necessary to meet the requirements for
16-24 retirement benefits under this plan, including reasonable
16-25 administrative expenses, until the next payment of municipal
17-1 contributions is expected to be made to the fund. The employer
17-2 shall then pay to this plan, from the withheld contributions, not
17-3 earlier than the 30th day before the date each distribution of
17-4 monthly retirement benefits is required to be made from this plan,
17-5 the amount necessary to satisfy the obligation to pay monthly
17-6 retirement benefits from this plan. The executive director shall
17-7 satisfy the obligation of this plan to pay retirement benefits from
17-8 the employer contributions so transferred for that month.
17-9 (i) Employer contributions otherwise required to be made to
17-10 the fund under Section 8 of this Act and any other qualified plan
17-11 shall be divided into those contributions required to pay
17-12 retirement benefits under this section and those contributions paid
17-13 into and accumulated to pay the maximum benefits required under the
17-14 qualified plan. Employer contributions made to provide retirement
17-15 benefits under this section may not be commingled with the money of
17-16 the fund or any other qualified plan.
17-17 (j) Benefits under this section are exempt from execution,
17-18 attachment, garnishment, assignment, injunction, and other writ in
17-19 the same manner as retirement annuities under Section 20 of this
17-20 Act and may not be paid to any person other than the person who
17-21 would have received the benefits from the fund except for Section
17-22 31C of this Act.
17-23 SECTION 9. Effective July 1, 1998, Subsection (b), Section
17-24 11, Chapter 358, Acts of the 48th Legislature, 1943 (Article 6243g,
17-25 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
18-1 (b) The amount of the monthly pension for each [such] Group
18-2 A member shall equal the member's average monthly salary multiplied
18-3 by two and one-quarter percent (2-1/4%) [2%] for each of the
18-4 member's first twenty (20) years of credited service and two and
18-5 three-quarters [one-half] percent (2-3/4%) [(2-1/2%)] for each
18-6 additional year of credited service of the [such] member. For
18-7 purposes of this Subsection, such average salary shall be computed
18-8 by adding together the seventy-eight (78) highest biweekly salaries
18-9 paid to a member during his period of credited service and dividing
18-10 the sum by thirty-six (36). Provided, however, that no Group A
18-11 member's pension shall be more than eighty percent (80%) of such
18-12 average salary; and no Group A member's pension shall be less than
18-13 Eight Dollars ($8) a month for each year of credited service, or
18-14 One Hundred Dollars ($100) a month total pension, whichever is the
18-15 greater amount.
18-16 SECTION 10. Subsection (g), Section 11, Chapter 358, Acts of
18-17 the 48th Legislature, 1943 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas Civil
18-18 Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
18-19 (g) Pensions [Effective January 1, 1992, pensions] for all
18-20 Group A members or their survivors shall be adjusted annually
18-21 upward by three and one-half percent (3-1/2%), not compounded [or
18-22 downward in accordance with the percentage change in the Consumer
18-23 Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI) for the preceding year as
18-24 determined by the United States Department of Labor. The adjusted
18-25 pension may never be less than the basic pension that the retired
19-1 member or survivor would otherwise be entitled to receive without
19-2 regard to changes in the CPI. The adjusted pension may never be
19-3 greater than the basic pension plus increases of not to exceed four
19-4 percent (4%) annually, not compounded, notwithstanding a greater
19-5 increase in the CPI].
19-6 SECTION 11. Effective July 1, 1998, Section 13, Chapter 358,
19-7 Acts of the 48th Legislature, Regular Session, 1943 (Article 6243g,
19-8 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
19-9 Sec. 13. MONTHLY ALLOWANCE TO SURVIVING SPOUSES [WIDOWS] AND
19-10 CHILDREN. If any Group A or Group B member of the Pension System,
19-11 as herein defined, shall die from any cause whatsoever after having
19-12 completed five (5) [ten (10)] years of service with the city, or
19-13 if, while in the service of the city, any such member shall die
19-14 from any cause growing out of or in consequence of the performance
19-15 of his duty, or shall die after he has been retired on pension
19-16 because of length of service or disability and shall leave a
19-17 surviving spouse [widow or widower], or a qualifying child or
19-18 children [under the age of eighteen (18) years], or both a
19-19 surviving spouse [such widow or widower] and a qualifying child or
19-20 children, said Board shall order paid monthly allowances as
19-21 follows:
19-22 (a) To the surviving spouse of a member who dies after
19-23 having completed five (5) years of active service with the city but
19-24 before beginning to receive retirement benefits [widow or widower],
19-25 provided she or he shall have married such member before the
20-1 decedent terminated employment with the city [prior to her or his
20-2 retirement], a sum equal to one-half (1/2) of the retirement
20-3 benefits that the deceased [Group A] member would have been
20-4 entitled to had she or he been totally disabled at the time of her
20-5 or his retirement or death, but the allowance payable to the
20-6 surviving spouse [any such widow or widower] shall not in any event
20-7 be less than Fifty Dollars ($50) a month.
20-8 (b) To the surviving spouse of a member who dies from a
20-9 cause growing out of or in consequence of the performance of duty
20-10 with the city, a sum equal to eighty percent (80%) of the deceased
20-11 member's final average salary.
20-12 (c) To the surviving spouse of a member who dies after
20-13 having begun to receive retirement benefits, a sum equal to
20-14 seventy-five percent (75%) of the retirement benefits being
20-15 received at the time of the retiree's death, if the surviving
20-16 spouse married the decedent before the decedent terminated
20-17 employment with the city.
20-18 (d) If there is a surviving spouse, each dependent child
20-19 shall receive a death benefit equal to ten percent (10%) of the
20-20 pension the member would have received if the member had been
20-21 disabled at the time of death, to a maximum of twenty percent (20%)
20-22 for all dependent children.
20-23 (e) [(c)] If there is no surviving spouse, each dependent
20-24 child shall receive a death benefit equal to twenty percent (20%)
20-25 of the pension the member would have received if the member had
21-1 been disabled at the time of death, to a maximum of forty percent
21-2 (40%) for all dependent children.
21-3 (f) [(d)] Benefits payable to each dependent child shall be
21-4 paid if [until] the child:
21-5 (1) is younger than [becomes] eighteen (18) years of
21-6 age and unmarried;
21-7 (2) is a full-time student and younger than
21-8 twenty-three (23) years of age; or
21-9 (3) is permanently and totally disabled because of
21-10 illness, injury, or retardation.
21-11 (g) Benefits for a dependent child are [or marries and shall
21-12 be] payable to the guardian of the child. The term "guardian," as
21-13 used in this subsection, means the person who has the primary
21-14 responsibility for a child's care and support, for example, the
21-15 surviving spouse, legal guardian, managing conservator, or any
21-16 other person with a similar legal relationship to the child.
21-17 SECTION 12. Effective July 1, 1998, Section 24, Chapter 358,
21-18 Acts of the 48th Legislature, 1943 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas
21-19 Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
21-20 Sec. 24. AMOUNT OF PENSION. [(a)] The amount of the normal
21-21 pension payable to a retired Group B member shall equal the
21-22 member's average monthly salary multiplied by one and one-half
21-23 [one-quarter] percent (1-1/2%) [(1-1/4%)] for each of the member's
21-24 first ten (10) years of credited service, one and three-quarters
21-25 [three-fifths] percent (1-3/4%) [(1-3/5%)] for each of the next ten
22-1 (10) years of credited service, and two [one and three-quarters]
22-2 percent (2%) [(1-3/4%)] for each additional year, taken to the
22-3 nearest twelfth (12th) of a year, in the period of credited
22-4 service. The normal pension of a retired Group B member may not
22-5 exceed eighty percent (80%) of the member's average monthly salary
22-6 computed under this section. Average monthly salary shall be the
22-7 average of the seventy-eight (78) highest biweekly salaries during
22-8 a member's period of credited service.
22-9 SECTION 13. Section 31, Chapter 358, Acts of the 48th
22-10 Legislature, 1943 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes),
22-11 is amended to read as follows:
22-12 Sec. 31. POSTRETIREMENT ADJUSTMENTS. Pensions for all Group
22-13 B members or their survivors [All pensions] shall be adjusted
22-14 annually upward by three and one-half percent (3-1/2%), not
22-15 compounded [or downward in accordance with the percentage change in
22-16 the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI) for the
22-17 preceding year as determined by the United States Department of
22-18 Labor. The adjusted pension shall never be less than the basic
22-19 pension which the retired member or survivor would otherwise be
22-20 entitled to receive without regard to changes in the CPI. The
22-21 adjusted pension shall never be greater than the basic pension plus
22-22 increases of not to exceed four percent (4%) annually, not
22-23 compounded, notwithstanding a greater increase in the CPI].
22-24 SECTION 14. Section 23, Chapter 358, Acts of the 48th
22-25 Legislature, 1943 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes),
23-1 is repealed.
23-2 SECTION 15. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of
23-3 this section or as expressly provided in the changes in law made by
23-4 this Act, the changes in the benefits payable under Chapter 358,
23-5 Acts of the 48th Legislature, 1943 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas
23-6 Civil Statutes), apply only to retirements or deaths, as
23-7 applicable, that occur on or after the effective dates of the
23-8 changes.
23-9 (b) Section 13, Chapter 358, Acts of the 48th Legislature,
23-10 1943 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), as amended by
23-11 Section 4 of this Act, applies to deaths that occur on or after the
23-12 effective date of that section, without regard to the date of a
23-13 retiree's retirement.
23-14 (c) Except as otherwise provided by this Act, this Act takes
23-15 effect September 1, 1997.
23-16 SECTION 16. The importance of this legislation and the
23-17 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
23-18 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
23-19 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
23-20 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
S.B. No. 900
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 900 passed the Senate on
April 28, 1997, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that
the Senate concurred in House amendment on May 8, 1997, by a
viva-voce vote.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 900 passed the House, with
amendment, on May 6, 1997, by a non-record vote.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
_______________________________
Date
_______________________________
Governor