79R9083 HLT-F
By: Rose H.B. No. 2821
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the administration of certain local firefighters'
retirement systems; providing a penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 18(d) and (g), Texas Local Fire
Fighters Retirement Act (Article 6243e, Vernon's Texas Civil
Statutes), are amended to read as follows:
(d) A board established under this Act shall keep accurate
minutes and records of its proceedings and a record of all claims,
receipts, and disbursements relating to the fund. A board shall
maintain in its records all files, documents, and studies relating
to the fund or members of the retirement system. An order of a board
must be made by vote recorded in the minutes of its proceedings.
(g) A board of trustees established under this Act shall[,
not later than February 28 of each year,] file with the Pension
Review Board [fire fighters' pension commissioner] a detailed and
itemized report of all receipts and disbursements with respect to
its fund during the fund's preceding fiscal year, together with a
list of the members of the board. [A board shall file such
additional information as is required or requested from time to
time by the fire fighters' pension commissioner.]
SECTION 2. Section 22, Texas Local Fire Fighters Retirement
Act (Article 6243e, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 22. (a) A person aggrieved by a decision of a board of
trustees relating to eligibility for or amount of benefits payable
by a retirement system may appeal the decision to an arbitrator as
provided by this section [to the fire fighters' pension
commissioner].
(b) An appeal under this section is begun by delivering a
notice of appeal with the chairman, secretary, or
secretary-treasurer of the board of trustees that made the
decision. The notice must be delivered not later than the 20th day
after the date of the decision and contain a brief description of
the reasons or grounds for appeal. [The aggrieved person must file
a copy of the notice with the fire fighters' pension commissioner.]
(c) If the aggrieved person decides to appeal the decision
of the board of trustees to an arbitrator, the person and the
chairman of the board of trustees, or their designees, shall
attempt to agree on an arbitrator. If the parties do not agree on an
arbitrator before the 11th calendar day after the date the notice of
appeal is filed under Subsection (b), the chairman shall
immediately request a list of seven qualified neutral arbitrators
from the American Arbitration Association or the Federal Mediation
and Conciliation Service, or their successor organizations. If the
person and the chairman, or their designees, do not agree on one of
the seven arbitrators on the list before the sixth business day
after the date the person and the chairman receive the list, each
party or the party's designee shall alternately strike a name from
the list of arbitrators until one name remains. The arbitrator
remaining on the list is the arbitrator for the appeal.
(d) After the arbitrator is selected, the parties or their
designees shall agree on a date for a hearing on the appeal. The
hearing shall be conducted in the municipality of which the board is
a part.
(e) At a hearing conducted under this section, the
arbitrator has the authority to administer oaths and issue
subpoenas to compel the attendance of witnesses and subpoenas duces
tecum to compel the production of documents. An oath administered
by an arbitrator under this subsection has the same force and effect
as an oath administered by a magistrate, and a subpoena issued by an
arbitrator under this subsection has the same force and effect as a
subpoena issued by a magistrate.
(f) A person who fails to respond to a subpoena issued by an
arbitrator under Subsection (e) commits an offense. An offense
under this section is punishable by a fine of not more than $500.
(g) The aggrieved person and the board of trustees shall pay
equal shares of the fees and expenses of an arbitrator who conducts
a hearing as provided by this section. The party who subpoenas a
witness shall pay any costs associated with the appearance of the
witness at the hearing.
(h) The aggrieved person or the board of trustees may appeal
the decision of an arbitrator to a district court that has
jurisdiction over the municipality of which the board is a part by
filing a petition in district court not later than the 10th calendar
day after the later of the date the board of trustees or the
aggrieved person receives, by certified mail, the decision of the
arbitrator.
(i) The substantial evidence rule applies to an appeal to a
district court under this section.
(j) A party who prevails in an appeal to district court is
entitled to court costs and reasonable attorney's fees. [An appeal
under this section to the fire fighters' pension commissioner is
held in Austin and is a contested case under the Administrative
Procedure and Texas Register Act (Article 6252-13a, Vernon's Texas
Civil Statutes) conducted as a de novo hearing by the State Office
of Administrative Hearings.]
SECTION 3. Section 22A, Texas Local Fire Fighters
Retirement Act (Article 6243e, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 22A. A board of trustees may employ an attorney to
represent the board in one or all legal matters, including a hearing
on appeal to an arbitrator or in a district or appellate court [the
fire fighters' pension commissioner]. At the request of a board of
trustees, the city attorney of the municipality of which the board
is a part shall, without additional compensation, represent the
board in one or all legal matters.
SECTION 4. Section 27(d), Texas Local Fire Fighters
Retirement Act (Article 6243e, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is
amended to read as follows:
(d) A board of trustees established under this Act shall
adopt formal investment policies that emphasize safety and
diversity as well as liquidity for benefit payments. In developing
those policies, the board of trustees shall give special
consideration to the preferred investment practices of the
Government Financial Officers Association. Each [Not later than
December 31 of each] year, the board of trustees shall submit to the
Pension Review Board [fire fighters' pension commissioner] a copy
of the investment policies adopted by the board.
SECTION 5. Sections 30(b) and (c), Texas Local Fire
Fighters Retirement Act (Article 6243e, Vernon's Texas Civil
Statutes), are amended to read as follows:
(b) Contributions picked up as provided by this section
shall be treated as employer contributions in determining tax
treatment of the amounts under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
Each municipality or other political subdivision picking up
contributions shall continue, however, to compute federal income
tax withholding as if these contributions were employee wages until
the first payroll period that begins after the date the board of
trustees of the retirement system [fire fighters' pension
commissioner] files with the secretary of state a notice stating
that the United States Internal Revenue Service has determined or a
federal court has ruled that under Section 414(h), Internal Revenue
Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. Section 414(h)), the contributions are not
includable in the gross income of a member until they are
distributed or made available. Employee contributions picked up as
provided by this section shall be deposited to the credit of the
individual account of each affected member and shall be treated for
all other purposes of this Act as if the contributions had been
deducted from the compensation of members. Picked up contributions
are not includable in a computation of contribution rates of the
municipality or other political subdivision.
(c) A pick up of employee contributions takes effect in a
municipality or other political subdivision on January 1 of the
year following the year in which:
(1) the governing body of the municipality or other
political subdivision by ordinance has adopted the pick up;
(2) the pick up has been approved by majority vote of
the participating members of the retirement system at an election
by secret ballot at which at least 50 percent of the participating
members vote; and
(3) the board of trustees of the retirement system
[fire fighters' pension commissioner] has filed with the secretary
of state a notice stating that the United States Internal Revenue
Service has issued a determination that the plan covering employees
of the municipality or other political subdivision is a qualified
retirement plan under Section 401(a), Internal Revenue Code of 1986
(26 U.S.C. Section 401(a)), and that its related trust is tax exempt
under Section 501(a) of that code (26 U.S.C. Section 501(a)).
SECTION 6. Sections 18A, 21, 21A, and 31(c), Texas Local
Fire Fighters Retirement Act (Article 6243e, Vernon's Texas Civil
Statutes), are repealed.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.