By: Gallegos S.B. No. 900
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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
1-24 more years of credited service, [and any Group A member of such
2-1 Pension System] who has attained fifty-five (55) years of age and
2-2 completed twenty (20) or more years of credited service, [and any
2-3 Group A member of the Pension System] who has attained sixty (60)
2-4 years of age and completed ten (10) or more years of credited
2-5 service, or who has attained sixty-two (62) years of age and
2-6 completed five (5) or more years of credited service shall be
2-7 eligible for a pension.
2-8 (b) The amount of the monthly pension for each [such] Group
2-9 A member shall equal the member's average monthly salary multiplied
2-10 by two percent (2%) for each of the member's first twenty (20)
2-11 years of credited service and two and three-quarters [one-half]
2-12 percent (2-3/4%) [(2-1/2%)] for each additional year of credited
2-13 service of such member. For purposes of this Subsection, such
2-14 average salary shall be computed by adding together the
2-15 seventy-eight (78) highest biweekly salaries paid to a member
2-16 during his period of credited service and dividing the sum by
2-17 thirty-six (36). Provided, however, that no Group A member's
2-18 pension shall be more than eighty percent (80%) of such average
2-19 salary; and no Group A member's pension shall be less than Eight
2-20 Dollars ($8) a month for each year of credited service, or One
2-21 Hundred Dollars ($100) a month total pension, whichever is the
2-22 greater amount.
2-23 SECTION 3. Subsection (d), Section 12, Chapter 358, Acts of
2-24 the 48th Legislature, 1943 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas Civil
2-25 Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
2-26 (d)(1) Any Group A member receiving a disability pension in
2-27 accordance with this section or any Group B member receiving a
3-1 disability pension in accordance with Section 25 of this Act shall,
3-2 each April 1, submit a sworn affidavit stating his earnings for the
3-3 previous calendar year, if any, obtained from any gainful
3-4 occupation. If the earnings together with the disability pension
3-5 being received by any member exceed the monthly salary of such
3-6 member at the time of his separation from service, as adjusted
3-7 annually by cost-of-living adjustments made in the manner provided
3-8 by Section 11(g) or Section 31 of this Act, the Pension Board shall
3-9 have authority to reduce the amount of pension. Failure to submit
3-10 an affidavit of earnings or submission of a materially false
3-11 affidavit shall be cause for suspension of the pension upon proper
3-12 action by the Pension Board.
3-13 (2) No member shall receive a disability and service
3-14 pension at the same time. If [However, in the event] a member who
3-15 is already eligible for retirement is granted a disability pension
3-16 and, thereafter, although his disability ceases to exist, he does
3-17 not return to work for the city, he shall be entitled to receive a
3-18 service pension, calculated in accordance with Section 11 for Group
3-19 A members and Section 24 for Group B members. Such service pension
3-20 shall be based on actual service up to the time of disability. If
3-21 a disability does not cease before a member becomes sixty-five (65)
3-22 years of age while continuing to receive a disability pension, the
3-23 Pension System shall reclassify the pension as a service pension,
3-24 without regard to whether the person is otherwise eligible to
3-25 receive a service pension.
3-26 (3) When any member has been retired for disability,
3-27 he shall be subject at all times to re-examination by the Pension
4-1 Board and shall submit himself to such further examination as the
4-2 Pension Board may require. If any such member shall refuse to
4-3 submit himself to any such examination, the Pension Board may,
4-4 within its discretion, order said payments stopped. If such a
4-5 member who has been retired under the provisions of this Section
4-6 should thereafter recover so that in the opinion of the Pension
4-7 Board he is able to perform the usual and customary duties formerly
4-8 handled by him for said city, and such member is reinstated or
4-9 tendered reinstatement to the position he had at the time of his
4-10 retirement, then the Pension Board shall order such pension
4-11 payments stopped.
4-12 SECTION 4. Section 13, Chapter 358, Acts of the 48th
4-13 Legislature, 1943 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes),
4-14 is amended to read as follows:
4-15 Sec. 13. MONTHLY ALLOWANCE TO SURVIVING SPOUSES [WIDOWS] AND
4-16 CHILDREN. If any Group A or Group B member of the Pension System,
4-17 as herein defined, shall die from any cause whatsoever after having
4-18 completed five (5) [ten (10)] years of service with the city, or
4-19 if, while in the service of the city, any such member shall die
4-20 from any cause growing out of or in consequence of the performance
4-21 of his duty, or shall die after he has been retired on pension
4-22 because of length of service or disability and shall leave a
4-23 surviving spouse [widow or widower], or a qualifying child or
4-24 children [under the age of eighteen (18) years], or both a spouse
4-25 [such widow or widower] and a qualifying child or children, said
4-26 Board shall order paid monthly allowances as follows:
4-27 (a) To the surviving spouse of a member who dies after
5-1 having completed five (5) years of service with the city but before
5-2 beginning to receive retirement benefits or who dies from a cause
5-3 growing out of or in consequence of the performance of duty with
5-4 the city [widow or widower], provided she or he shall have married
5-5 such member before the decedent terminated employment with the city
5-6 [prior to her or his retirement], a sum equal to one-half (1/2) of
5-7 the retirement benefits that the deceased Group A member would have
5-8 been entitled to had she or he been totally disabled at the time of
5-9 her or his retirement or death, but the allowance payable to the
5-10 surviving spouse [any such widow or widower] shall not in any event
5-11 be less than Fifty Dollars ($50) a month.
5-12 (b) To the surviving spouse of a person who dies after
5-13 having begun to receive retirement benefits, a sum equal to
5-14 seventy-five percent (75%) of the retirement benefits being
5-15 received at the time of the retiree's death, if the surviving
5-16 spouse married the decedent before the decedent terminated
5-17 employment with the city.
5-18 (c) If there is a surviving spouse, each dependent child
5-19 shall receive a death benefit equal to ten percent (10%) of the
5-20 pension the member would have received if the member had been
5-21 disabled at the time of death, to a maximum of twenty percent (20%)
5-22 for all dependent children.
5-23 (d) [(c)] If there is no surviving spouse, each dependent
5-24 child shall receive a death benefit equal to twenty percent (20%)
5-25 of the pension the member would have received if the member had
5-26 been disabled at the time of death, to a maximum of forty percent
5-27 (40%) for all dependent children.
6-1 (e) [(d)] Benefits payable to each dependent child shall be
6-2 paid if [until] the child:
6-3 (1) is younger than [becomes] eighteen (18) years of
6-4 age and unmarried;
6-5 (2) is a full-time student and younger than
6-6 twenty-three (23) years of age; or
6-7 (3) is permanently and totally disabled because of
6-8 illness, injury, or retardation.
6-9 (f) Benefits for a dependent child are [or marries and shall
6-10 be] payable to the guardian of the child. The term "guardian," as
6-11 used in this subsection, means the person who has the primary
6-12 responsibility for a child's care and support, for example, the
6-13 surviving spouse, legal guardian, managing conservator, or any
6-14 other person with a similar legal relationship to the child.
6-15 SECTION 5. Section 24, Chapter 358, Acts of the 48th
6-16 Legislature, 1943 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes),
6-17 is amended to read as follows:
6-18 Sec. 24. AMOUNT OF PENSION. [(a)] The amount of the normal
6-19 pension payable to a retired Group B member shall equal the
6-20 member's average monthly salary multiplied by one and one-quarter
6-21 percent (1-1/4%) for each of the member's first ten (10) years of
6-22 credited service, one and three-fifths percent (1-3/5%) for each of
6-23 the next ten (10) years of credited service, and two [one and
6-24 three-quarters] percent (2%) [(1-3/4%)] for each additional year,
6-25 taken to the nearest twelfth (12th) of a year, in the period of
6-26 credited service. The normal pension of a retired Group B member
6-27 may not exceed eighty percent (80%) of the member's average monthly
7-1 salary computed under this section. Average monthly salary shall
7-2 be the average of the seventy-eight (78) highest biweekly salaries
7-3 during a member's period of credited service.
7-4 SECTION 6. Subsection (a), Section 28, Chapter 358, Acts of
7-5 the 48th Legislature, 1943 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas Civil
7-6 Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
7-7 (a) The surviving spouse and/or dependent child or children
7-8 of a Group B member shall be eligible for a death benefit, if the
7-9 member died before September 1, 1997 [dies]:
7-10 (1) from any cause while in service of the city and
7-11 has five (5) years of credited service; or
7-12 (2) from any cause while in service of the city in
7-13 consequence of the performance of his duty.
7-14 SECTION 7. Subsection (a), Section 29, Chapter 358, Acts of
7-15 the 48th Legislature, 1943 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas Civil
7-16 Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
7-17 (a) A Group B member who terminated employment with the city
7-18 or the Pension System before September 1, 1997, may elect at the
7-19 time of retirement or termination of employment to have his normal
7-20 or early pension paid under one of the options provided by
7-21 Subsection (b) of this section.
7-22 SECTION 8. Chapter 358, Acts of the 48th Legislature, 1943
7-23 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by
7-24 adding Sections 31B, 31C, and 31D to read as follows:
7-25 Sec. 31B. DEFERRED RETIREMENT OPTION PLAN. (a) In this
7-26 section:
7-27 (1) "DROP" means the deferred retirement option plan
8-1 established under this Act.
8-2 (2) "DROP benefit" means a member's total DROP account
8-3 balance at the time the member terminates active service.
8-4 (3) "DROP member" means a Pension System member who is
8-5 participating in the DROP.
8-6 (b) The Board shall design and implement a deferred
8-7 retirement option plan for members of the Pension System.
8-8 (c) A member who is eligible to receive a normal retirement
8-9 pension under this Act and who remains in active service with the
8-10 city may file with the Pension System an election to participate in
8-11 the DROP and receive a DROP benefit. Except as otherwise provided
8-12 by this section, an election to participate in the DROP is
8-13 irrevocable. The effective date of a member's participation in the
8-14 DROP is the first day of the first month following the month in
8-15 which the Board approves the member's DROP election.
8-16 (d) Credits to a member's DROP account consist of:
8-17 (1) a monthly amount equal to the member's normal
8-18 accrued monthly retirement benefit on the effective date of the
8-19 member's participation in the DROP, adjusted for cost-of-living
8-20 adjustments that occur on or after the effective date of the DROP
8-21 and that otherwise would apply to the benefit;
8-22 (2) a Plan A member's regular biweekly contributions;
8-23 and
8-24 (3) interest on the member's DROP account balance
8-25 computed at a rate determined by the Board and compounded at
8-26 intervals designated by the Board, but at least once in each
8-27 thirteen-month period.
9-1 (e) Credits to a member's DROP account begin on the
9-2 effective date of the member's participation in the DROP and
9-3 continue until the DROP member terminates active service with the
9-4 city. Amounts are creditable for partial crediting periods.
9-5 Credits may not be made to a member's DROP account for a period
9-6 that occurs after the member terminates active service with the
9-7 city.
9-8 (f) A DROP member who terminates active service with the
9-9 city is entitled to receive the member's DROP benefit in a lump sum
9-10 or in periodic payments, plus a monthly retirement benefit. The
9-11 Board shall determine a reasonable time for lump-sum and periodic
9-12 DROP benefit payments and shall approve the monthly retirement
9-13 benefit. Normal retirement benefits cease to accrue on the
9-14 effective date of a member's participation in the DROP, and the
9-15 monthly retirement benefit approved by the Board for payment after
9-16 the member terminates active service is based on the member's 78
9-17 highest biweekly salaries.
9-18 (g) The beneficiaries of a deceased DROP member may
9-19 collectively revoke the deceased member's election to participate
9-20 in the DROP.
9-21 (h) A DROP member is ineligible for disability benefits
9-22 provided by this Act, except that a DROP member who incurs an
9-23 on-duty, service-related disability may revoke the member's DROP
9-24 election.
9-25 (i) A DROP election revocation must be made at a time and in
9-26 a manner determined by the Board. After revocation, the balance in
9-27 the DROP account reverts to the Pension System, a distribution of
10-1 DROP benefits may not be made to the member or the member's
10-2 beneficiaries, and the benefits based on the member's service will
10-3 be determined as if the member's DROP election had never occurred.
10-4 (j) If an unanticipated actuarial cost occurs in
10-5 administering the DROP, the Board, on the advice of the Pension
10-6 System's actuary, may take action necessary to mitigate the
10-7 unanticipated cost, including refusal to accept additional
10-8 elections to participate in the plan, but the Pension System shall
10-9 continue to administer the plan for the members participating in
10-10 the plan before the date of the mitigating action.
10-11 Sec. 31C. MAXIMUM BENEFITS FROM THE FUND. (a) The fund
10-12 created by this Act is for the exclusive benefit of the members,
10-13 retirees, and their survivors. No part of the corpus or income of
10-14 the fund may ever be used for, or diverted to, any purpose other
10-15 than the benefit of members, retirees, and their survivors as
10-16 provided in this Act.
10-17 (b) A member, retiree, or survivor of a member or retiree of
10-18 the Pension System may not accrue a retirement pension, disability
10-19 retirement allowance, death benefit allowance, DROP benefit, or any
10-20 other benefit under this Act in excess of the benefit limits
10-21 applicable to the fund under Section 415 of the Internal Revenue
10-22 Code of 1986. The Board shall reduce the amount of any benefit
10-23 that exceeds those limits by the amount of the excess. If total
10-24 benefits under this fund and the benefits and contributions to
10-25 which any member is entitled under any other qualified plans
10-26 maintained by the city that employs the member would otherwise
10-27 exceed the applicable limits under Section 415 of the Internal
11-1 Revenue Code of 1986, the benefits the member would otherwise
11-2 receive from the fund shall be reduced to the extent necessary to
11-3 enable the benefits to comply with Section 415.
11-4 (c) Any member or survivor who receives any distribution
11-5 that is an eligible rollover distribution as defined by Section
11-6 402(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is entitled to have
11-7 that distribution transferred directly to another eligible
11-8 retirement plan of the member's or survivor's choice on providing
11-9 direction to the Pension System regarding that transfer in
11-10 accordance with procedures established by the Board.
11-11 (d) The total salary taken into account for any purpose for
11-12 any member or retiree of the Pension System may not exceed $200,000
11-13 for any year for an eligible participant, or $150,000 a year for an
11-14 ineligible participant. These dollar limits shall be adjusted from
11-15 time to time in accordance with guidelines provided by the
11-16 secretary of the treasury. For purposes of this subsection, an
11-17 eligible participant is a person who first became a member before
11-18 1996, and an ineligible participant is a member who is not an
11-19 eligible participant.
11-20 (e) Accrued benefits under this Act become 100 percent
11-21 vested for a member on the date the member has completed five (5)
11-22 years of service.
11-23 (f) Amounts representing forfeited nonvested benefits of
11-24 terminated members may not be used to increase benefits payable
11-25 from the fund but may be used to reduce contributions for future
11-26 plan years.
11-27 (g) Distributions of benefits must begin not later than
12-1 April 1 of the year following the calendar year during which the
12-2 member becomes 70-1/2 years of age or terminates employment with
12-3 the employer, if later, and must otherwise conform to Section
12-4 401(a)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
12-5 (h) If the amount of any benefit is to be determined on the
12-6 basis of actuarial assumptions that are not otherwise specifically
12-7 set forth for that purpose in this Act, the actuarial assumptions
12-8 to be used are those earnings and mortality assumptions being used
12-9 on the date of the determination by the fund's actuary and approved
12-10 by the Board. The actuarial assumptions being used at any
12-11 particular time shall be attached as an addendum to a copy of this
12-12 Act and treated for all purposes as a part of the Act. The
12-13 actuarial assumptions may be changed by the fund's actuary at any
12-14 time if approved by the Board, but a change in actuarial
12-15 assumptions may not result in any decrease in benefits accrued as
12-16 of the effective date of the change.
12-17 (i) To the extent permitted by law, the Board may adjust the
12-18 benefits of retirees and survivors by increasing any benefit that
12-19 was reduced because of Section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code of
12-20 1986. If Section 415 is amended to permit the payment of amounts
12-21 previously precluded under that section, the Board may adjust the
12-22 benefits of retirees and survivors, including the restoration of
12-23 benefits previously denied. Benefits paid under this subsection
12-24 are not considered as extra compensation earned after retirement
12-25 but as the delayed payment of benefits earned before retirement.
12-26 Sec. 31D. EXCESS BENEFIT PLAN. (a) A separate,
12-27 nonqualified, unfunded excess benefit plan is created outside the
13-1 fund.
13-2 (b) In this section:
13-3 (1) "Excess benefit plan" means the separate,
13-4 nonqualified, unfunded excess benefit plan created by this section
13-5 for the benefit of eligible members, as amended or restated from
13-6 time to time, that is intended to be a "qualified governmental
13-7 excess benefit arrangement" within the meaning of Section 415(m) of
13-8 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
13-9 (2) "Qualified plan" means the fund and any other plan
13-10 maintained by the city for the exclusive benefit of some or all of
13-11 the members of the fund that has been found by the Internal Revenue
13-12 Service to be qualified or has been treated by the city as a
13-13 qualified plan under Section 401 of the Internal Revenue Code of
13-14 1986.
13-15 (3) "Maximum benefit" means the retirement benefit a
13-16 retiree and the spouse or dependent child of a retiree or deceased
13-17 member or retiree are entitled to receive from all qualified plans
13-18 in any month after giving effect to Section 31C of this Act and any
13-19 similar provisions of any other qualified plans designed to conform
13-20 to Section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
13-21 (4) "Excess benefit participant" means any retiree
13-22 whose retirement benefits, as determined on the basis of all
13-23 qualified plans without regard to the limitations of Section 31C of
13-24 this Act and comparable provisions of other qualified plans, would
13-25 exceed the maximum benefit permitted under Section 415 of the
13-26 Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
13-27 (5) "Unrestricted benefit" means the monthly
14-1 retirement benefit a retiree and the surviving spouse and dependent
14-2 child of a retiree or deceased member or retiree would have
14-3 received under the terms of all qualified plans except for the
14-4 restrictions of Section 31C of this Act and any similar provisions
14-5 of any other qualified plans designed to conform to Section 415 of
14-6 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
14-7 (c) An excess benefit participant who is receiving benefits
14-8 from the fund is entitled to a monthly benefit under this excess
14-9 benefit plan in an amount equal to the lesser of:
14-10 (1) the member's unrestricted benefit less the maximum
14-11 benefit; or
14-12 (2) the amount by which the member's monthly benefit
14-13 from the fund has been reduced because of the limitations of
14-14 Section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
14-15 (d) If a surviving spouse or dependent child is entitled to
14-16 preretirement or postretirement death benefits under a qualified
14-17 plan after the death of an excess benefit participant, the
14-18 surviving spouse or dependent child is entitled to a monthly
14-19 benefit under the excess benefit plan equal to the benefit
14-20 determined in accordance with this Act, without regard to the
14-21 limitations under Section 31C of this Act or Section 415 of the
14-22 Internal Revenue Code of 1986, less the maximum benefit.
14-23 (e) Any benefit to which a person is entitled under this
14-24 section shall be paid at the same time and in the same manner as
14-25 the benefit would have been paid from the fund if payment of the
14-26 benefit from the fund had not been precluded by Section 31C of this
14-27 Act. An excess benefit participant or any beneficiary may not,
15-1 under any circumstances, elect to defer the receipt of all or any
15-2 part of a payment due under this section.
15-3 (f) The Board shall administer this plan, and the executive
15-4 director also shall carry out the business of the Board with
15-5 respect to this plan. Except as otherwise provided by this
15-6 section, the rights, duties, and responsibilities of the Board and
15-7 the executive director are the same for this plan as for the fund.
15-8 (g) The consultants, independent auditors, attorneys, and
15-9 actuaries selected to perform services for the fund also shall
15-10 perform services for this plan, but their fees for their services
15-11 may not be paid by the fund. The actuary engaged to perform
15-12 services for the fund shall advise the Board of the amount of
15-13 benefits that may not be provided from the fund solely by reason of
15-14 the limitations of Section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
15-15 and the amount of employer contributions that will be made to this
15-16 plan rather than to the fund.
15-17 (h) Contributions may not be accumulated under this plan to
15-18 pay future retirement benefits. Instead, each payment of employer
15-19 contributions that would otherwise be made to the fund under
15-20 Section 8 of this Act shall be reduced by the amount determined by
15-21 the executive director as necessary to meet the requirements for
15-22 retirement benefits under this plan, including reasonable
15-23 administrative expenses, until the next payment of municipal
15-24 contributions is expected to be made to the fund. The employer
15-25 shall then pay to this plan, from the withheld contributions, not
15-26 earlier than the 30th day before the date each distribution of
15-27 monthly retirement benefits is required to be made from this plan,
16-1 the amount necessary to satisfy the obligation to pay monthly
16-2 retirement benefits from this plan. The executive director shall
16-3 satisfy the obligation of this plan to pay retirement benefits from
16-4 the employer contributions so transferred for that month.
16-5 (i) Employer contributions otherwise required to be made to
16-6 the fund under Section 8 of this Act and any other qualified plan
16-7 shall be divided into those contributions required to pay
16-8 retirement benefits under this section and those contributions paid
16-9 into and accumulated to pay the maximum benefits required under the
16-10 qualified plan. Employer contributions made to provide retirement
16-11 benefits under this section may not be commingled with the money of
16-12 the fund or any other qualified plan.
16-13 (j) Benefits under this section are exempt from execution,
16-14 attachment, garnishment, assignment, injunction, and other writ in
16-15 the same manner as retirement annuities under Section 20 of this
16-16 Act and may not be paid to any person other than the person who
16-17 would have received the benefits from the fund except for Section
16-18 31C of this Act.
16-19 SECTION 9. Subsections (b) and (g), Section 11, Chapter 358,
16-20 Acts of the 48th Legislature, 1943 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas
16-21 Civil Statutes), are amended to read as follows:
16-22 (b) Effective July 1, 1998, the amount of the monthly
16-23 pension for each Group A member shall equal the member's average
16-24 monthly salary multiplied by two and one-quarter percent (2-1/4%)
16-25 for each of the member's first twenty (20) years of credited
16-26 service and two and three-quarters percent (2-3/4%) for each
16-27 additional year of credited service of the member. From September
17-1 1, 1997, through June 30, 1998, the [The] amount of the monthly
17-2 pension for each such Group A member shall equal the member's
17-3 average monthly salary multiplied by two percent (2%) for each of
17-4 the member's first twenty (20) years of credited service and two
17-5 and one-half percent (2-1/2%) for each additional year of credited
17-6 service of such member. For purposes of this Subsection, such
17-7 average salary shall be computed by adding together the
17-8 seventy-eight (78) highest biweekly salaries paid to a member
17-9 during his period of credited service and dividing the sum by
17-10 thirty-six (36). Provided, however, that no Group A member's
17-11 pension shall be more than eighty percent (80%) of such average
17-12 salary; and no Group A member's pension shall be less than Eight
17-13 Dollars ($8) a month for each year of credited service, or One
17-14 Hundred Dollars ($100) a month total pension, whichever is the
17-15 greater amount.
17-16 (g) Pensions [Effective January 1, 1992, pensions] for all
17-17 Group A members or their survivors shall be adjusted annually
17-18 upward by three and one-half percent (3-1/2%), not compounded [or
17-19 downward in accordance with the percentage change in the Consumer
17-20 Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI) for the preceding year as
17-21 determined by the United States Department of Labor. The adjusted
17-22 pension may never be less than the basic pension that the retired
17-23 member or survivor would otherwise be entitled to receive without
17-24 regard to changes in the CPI. The adjusted pension may never be
17-25 greater than the basic pension plus increases of not to exceed four
17-26 percent (4%) annually, not compounded, notwithstanding a greater
17-27 increase in the CPI].
18-1 SECTION 10. Effective July 1, 1998, Section 13, Chapter 358,
18-2 Acts of the 48th Legislature, Regular Session, 1943 (Article 6243g,
18-3 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
18-4 Sec. 13. MONTHLY ALLOWANCE TO SURVIVING SPOUSES [WIDOWS] AND
18-5 CHILDREN. If any Group A or Group B member of the Pension System,
18-6 as herein defined, shall die from any cause whatsoever after having
18-7 completed five (5) [ten (10)] years of service with the city, or
18-8 if, while in the service of the city, any such member shall die
18-9 from any cause growing out of or in consequence of the performance
18-10 of his duty, or shall die after he has been retired on pension
18-11 because of length of service or disability and shall leave a
18-12 surviving spouse [widow or widower], or a qualifying child or
18-13 children [under the age of eighteen (18) years], or both a
18-14 surviving spouse [such widow or widower] and a qualifying child or
18-15 children, said Board shall order paid monthly allowances as
18-16 follows:
18-17 (a) To the surviving spouse of a member who dies after
18-18 having completed five (5) years of active service with the city but
18-19 before beginning to receive retirement benefits [widow or widower],
18-20 provided she or he shall have married such member before the
18-21 decedent terminated employment with the city [prior to her or his
18-22 retirement], a sum equal to one-half (1/2) of the retirement
18-23 benefits that the deceased [Group A] member would have been
18-24 entitled to had she or he been totally disabled at the time of her
18-25 or his retirement or death, but the allowance payable to the
18-26 surviving spouse [any such widow or widower] shall not in any event
18-27 be less than Fifty Dollars ($50) a month.
19-1 (b) To the surviving spouse of a member who dies from a
19-2 cause growing out of or in consequence of the performance of duty
19-3 with the city, a sum equal to eighty percent (80%) of the deceased
19-4 member's final average salary.
19-5 (c) To the surviving spouse of a member who dies after
19-6 having begun to receive retirement benefits, a sum equal to
19-7 seventy-five percent (75%) of the retirement benefits being
19-8 received at the time of the retiree's death, if the surviving
19-9 spouse married the decedent before the decedent terminated
19-10 employment with the city.
19-11 (d) If there is a surviving spouse, each dependent child
19-12 shall receive a death benefit equal to ten percent (10%) of the
19-13 pension the member would have received if the member had been
19-14 disabled at the time of death, to a maximum of twenty percent (20%)
19-15 for all dependent children.
19-16 (e) [(c)] If there is no surviving spouse, each dependent
19-17 child shall receive a death benefit equal to twenty percent (20%)
19-18 of the pension the member would have received if the member had
19-19 been disabled at the time of death, to a maximum of forty percent
19-20 (40%) for all dependent children.
19-21 (f) [(d)] Benefits payable to each dependent child shall be
19-22 paid if [until] the child:
19-23 (1) is younger than [becomes] eighteen (18) years of
19-24 age and unmarried;
19-25 (2) is a full-time student and younger than
19-26 twenty-three (23) years of age; or
19-27 (3) is permanently and totally disabled because of
20-1 illness, injury, or retardation.
20-2 (g) Benefits for a dependent child are [or marries and shall
20-3 be] payable to the guardian of the child. The term "guardian," as
20-4 used in this subsection, means the person who has the primary
20-5 responsibility for a child's care and support, for example, the
20-6 surviving spouse, legal guardian, managing conservator, or any
20-7 other person with a similar legal relationship to the child.
20-8 SECTION 11. Effective July 1, 1998, Section 24, Chapter 358,
20-9 Acts of the 48th Legislature, 1943 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas
20-10 Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
20-11 Sec. 24. AMOUNT OF PENSION. [(a)] The amount of the normal
20-12 pension payable to a retired Group B member shall equal the
20-13 member's average monthly salary multiplied by one and one-half
20-14 [one-quarter] percent (1-1/2%) [(1-1/4%)] for each of the member's
20-15 first ten (10) years of credited service, one and three-quarters
20-16 [three-fifths] percent (1-3/4%) [(1-3/5%)] for each of the next ten
20-17 (10) years of credited service, and two [one and three-quarters]
20-18 percent (2%) [(1-3/4%)] for each additional year, taken to the
20-19 nearest twelfth (12th) of a year, in the period of credited
20-20 service. The normal pension of a retired Group B member may not
20-21 exceed eighty percent (80%) of the member's average monthly salary
20-22 computed under this section. Average monthly salary shall be the
20-23 average of the seventy-eight (78) highest biweekly salaries during
20-24 a member's period of credited service.
20-25 SECTION 12. Section 31, Chapter 358, Acts of the 48th
20-26 Legislature, 1943 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes),
20-27 is amended to read as follows:
21-1 Sec. 31. POSTRETIREMENT ADJUSTMENTS. Pensions for all Group
21-2 B members or their survivors [All pensions] shall be adjusted
21-3 annually upward by three and one-half percent (3-1/2%), not
21-4 compounded [or downward in accordance with the percentage change in
21-5 the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI) for the
21-6 preceding year as determined by the United States Department of
21-7 Labor. The adjusted pension shall never be less than the basic
21-8 pension which the retired member or survivor would otherwise be
21-9 entitled to receive without regard to changes in the CPI. The
21-10 adjusted pension shall never be greater than the basic pension plus
21-11 increases of not to exceed four percent (4%) annually, not
21-12 compounded, notwithstanding a greater increase in the CPI].
21-13 SECTION 13. Section 23, Chapter 358, Acts of the 48th
21-14 Legislature, 1943 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes),
21-15 is repealed.
21-16 SECTION 14. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of
21-17 this section or as expressly provided in the changes in law made by
21-18 this Act, the changes in the benefits payable under Chapter 358,
21-19 Acts of the 48th Legislature, 1943 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas
21-20 Civil Statutes), apply only to retirements or deaths, as
21-21 applicable, that occur on or after the effective dates of the
21-22 changes.
21-23 (b) Section 13, Chapter 358, Acts of the 48th Legislature,
21-24 1943 (Article 6243g, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), as amended by
21-25 Section 4 of this Act, applies to deaths that occur on or after the
21-26 effective date of that section, without regard to the date of a
21-27 retiree's retirement.
22-1 (c) Except as otherwise provided by this Act, this Act takes
22-2 effect September 1, 1997.
22-3 SECTION 15. The importance of this legislation and the
22-4 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
22-5 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
22-6 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
22-7 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.