78R2754 RCJ-D
By: Thompson H.B. No. 601
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the administration of a retirement system for officers
and employees of certain municipalities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 2(c) and (j), Chapter 88, Acts of the
77th Legislature, Regular Session, 2001 (Article 6243h, Vernon's
Texas Civil Statutes), are amended to read as follows:
(c) The pension board consists of nine [11] trustees as
follows:
(1) the mayor of the city, or the director of the civil
service commission as the mayor's representative;
(2) the city treasurer or a person performing the
duties of treasurer;
(3) four municipal employees of the city who are
members of the pension system;
(4) two retirees, each of whom:
(A) has at least five years of credited service
in the pension system;
(B) receives a retirement pension from the
pension system; and
(C) is not an officer or employee of the city;
and
(5) one person who [three persons, each of whom]:
(A) [is a registered voter in the city;
[(B)] has been a resident of this state [the
city] for the three years preceding the date of initial
appointment; and
(B) [(C)] is not a city officer or employee.
(j) To serve as a trustee under Subsection (c)(5) of this
section, the [a] person must be appointed by a vote of a majority of
the elected trustees of the pension board [the governing body of the
city]. The [Each] trustee appointed under Subsection (c)(5) of
this section serves a two-year term. The appointment or
reappointment of [both] the appointed trustee [trustees] shall take
place in January of each even-numbered year. The appointed trustee
may be removed at any time by a vote of a majority of the elected
trustees of the pension board. A vacancy caused by the [an]
appointed trustee's death, resignation, or removal shall be filled
by the elected trustees of the pension board [governing body of the
city]. The appointee serves for the remainder of the unexpired term
of the replaced trustee. An appointed trustee may not serve beyond
the expiration of the two-year term other than by appointment for a
new term by the elected trustees of the pension board [governing
body of the city].
SECTION 2. Section 3, Chapter 88, Acts of the 77th
Legislature, Regular Session, 2001 (Article 6243h, Vernon's Texas
Civil Statutes), is amended by adding Subsection (n) to read as
follows:
(n) Notwithstanding any other law, the pension board may
enter into a written agreement with the city regarding pension
issues and benefits. The agreement must be approved by the pension
board and signed by the mayor and by the pension board or the
pension board's designee. The agreement is enforceable against and
binding on the city and the pension system's members, retirees,
deferred participants, beneficiaries, eligible survivors, and
alternate payees. The agreement may not alter the composition of
the pension board, reduce the amount of an earned benefit under this
article, reduce the benefit accrual rates or maximum allowable
pension under Section 10 of this article, or lengthen the schedule
for retirement eligibility under Section 10(b) of this article.
SECTION 3. The heading to Section 15, Chapter 88, Acts of
the 77th Legislature, Regular Session, 2001 (Article 6243h,
Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 15. [ANNUITY] INCREASE IN BENEFITS.
SECTION 4. Section 15, Chapter 88, Acts of the 77th
Legislature, Regular Session, 2001 (Article 6243h, Vernon's Texas
Civil Statutes), is amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as
follows:
(d) A pension benefit or allowance provided by this article
may be increased if:
(1) a qualified actuary selected by the pension board
determines that the increase cannot reasonably be considered to
jeopardize the pension system's ability to pay any existing
benefit;
(2) the increase is approved by the pension board and
the city in a written agreement as provided by Section 3(n) of this
article; and
(3) the increase does not deprive a member or retiree,
without the written consent of the member or retiree, from
receiving the immediate or deferred retirement benefit that the
member or retiree was eligible to receive under this article before
the increase.
SECTION 5. The terms of the appointed trustees serving
under Section 2(c)(5), Chapter 88, Acts of the 77th Legislature,
Regular Session, 2001 (Article 6243h, Vernon's Texas Civil
Statutes), on the effective date of this Act expire on that date.
Not later than October 1, 2003, a pension board shall appoint or
reappoint a trustee to reflect the changes made by this Act to
Section 2, Chapter 88, Acts of the 77th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2001 (Article 6243h, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), for a
term expiring in January 2004, as provided by Section 2(j), Chapter
88, Acts of the 77th Legislature, Regular Session, 2001 (Article
6243h, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), as amended by this Act.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2003.