DIVISION 3. POLICE AND FIREFIGHTERS RETIREMENT SYSTEM
Sec. 20-127. Definitions.
As used herein, unless otherwise defined or required by the context the following words or phrases shall have the meanings indicated:
Actuarially equivalent means a benefit of equivalent value to the benefit which would otherwise have been provided, determined using GAM '83 (with a blended rate of 80% male and 20% female) and interest of eight (8) percent per annum before and after retirement, and on the basis of other appropriate actuarial assumptions and methods used by the actuary.
Agreement means this written instrument setting forth the provisions of the retirement system.
Average Monthly Earnings means one-twelfth ( 1/12) of the arithmetic average of annual Earnings for the highest two (2) years preceding the actual retirement or termination date of a Member, or the DROP Retirement Date of a DROP Participant.
BAC-DROP means a benefit actuarially calculated deferred retirement option program under the provisions of section 20-129(b)(1.2).
Beneficiary means the person or persons entitled to receive any benefits hereunder at the death of a Member and designated in accordance with the following:
(1) Each Member may, on a form provided for that purpose, signed and filed with the Board of Trustees, designate a choice of one or more persons, named sequentially or jointly, as his or her Beneficiary (or Beneficiaries) to receive the benefit, if any, which may be payable in the event of his or her death; and each designation may be revoked by such Member by signing and filing with the Board of Trustees a new designation-of-beneficiary form.
(2) If no Beneficiary is named in the manner provided in (1) above, or if no Beneficiary designated by the Member survives him or her, the death benefit, if any, which may be payable under the Plan with respect to such deceased Member shall be paid by, in the discretion of the Board, to the estate of such deceased Member, provided that the Board, in its discretion, may direct that the commuted value of the remaining monthly income payments be paid in a lump sum.
(3) Any payment made to any person pursuant to these provisions shall operate as a complete discharge of all obligations under the Plan with regard to the deceased Member and any other persons with rights under the Plan and shall not be subject to review by anyone but shall be final, binding, and conclusive on all persons ever interested hereunder.
(4) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary, the surviving spouse of any pension participant Member killed in the line of duty shall not loose survivor retirement benefits if the spouse remarries. The surviving spouse of such deceased Member whose benefit terminated because of remarriage shall have the benefit reinstated as of July 1, 1994, at an amount that would have been payable had such benefit not been terminated.
Board of trustees or Board means the administrative board, which shall supervise, administer and manage the System herein provided.
City means the employer, the City of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Creditable Service or Credited Service means the aggregate number of years of service, and fractional parts of years of service of any Member, from the date he first entered employment as a Police Officer or Firefighter until either the date of his DROP Retirement or the date his employment shall be terminated by death, retirement, or discharge, whichever event occurs first omitting intervening years and fractional parts of years when such Member may not have been employed by the City, subject to the following conditions:
(1) No Member will receive credit for years or fractional parts of years of service if he or she has withdrawn his or her contributions to the Fund for those years or fractional parts of years of service, unless the Member repays into the Fund the amount he or she has withdrawn, plus interest determined by the Board. The Member shall have at least ninety (90) days after his or her reemployment to make repayment.
(2) A Member may voluntarily leave his or her contributions in the Fund for a period of five (5) years after leaving the employ of the City, pending the possibility of being rehired by the City, without losing credit for the time he or she has participated actively as a Firefighter or Police Officer. If the Member is not reemployed by the City as a Firefighter or Police Officer within five (5) years, then his or her contributions shall be returned.
(3) Credited Service under this Plan shall be provided only for Service as a Police Officer or Firefighter, as defined herein, or for military service, as provided for herein, and shall not include credit for any other type of Service.
(4) In determining the Creditable Service of any Member, credit for up to five (5) years of the time spent in the military service of the Armed Forces of the United States shall be added to the years of actual Service if:
a. The Member is in the active employ of the City immediately prior to such service and leaves a position, other than a temporary position, for the purpose of voluntary or involuntary service in the Armed Forces of the United States;
b. The Member is entitled to reemployment under the provisions of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act; and
c. The Member returns to his or her employment as a Firefighter or Police Officer of the City within one (1) year from the date of release from such active service.
d. To receive creditable service for such period of military service the Member is not required to make contributions.
Creditable Service of any Member shall not be deemed to be interrupted by:
(5) Any authorized leave of absence, vacation or period of suspension, provided that all Members similarly situated in similar circumstances shall be treated alike pursuant to uniform, nondiscriminatory rules.
(6) Any period of disability as approved by the Board.
(7) Unless otherwise specifically permitted, no Credited Service for any purpose under the Plan shall be allowed for any period of time which a Member fails to make his required contribution as specified in the System.
(8) Periods of absence from City employment, where at the Member's written option, City employment prior to such absence is desired to be calculated for Credited Service. In such cases, the actuarial equivalent of the benefit for such Credited Service must be fully purchased in advance by the Member so electing.
DROP means a Deferred Retirement Option Program under section 20-129(b.1).
DROP Account means the account established for each DROP Participant. The DROP Account shall be part of the Fund. Monies in the DROP Account may be commingled with other assets of the Fund and may be invested by the Board in the same manner as other Fund assets.
DROP Earnings means the earnings that accrue to the DROP Account during the DROP Period, and includes earnings which accrue during an extended period as provided in section 20-129(b.1)(5)a.
DROP Participant means a Member who meets the DROP eligibility requirements and meets the conditions set forth in section 20-129(b.1) and actually commences participation in the DROP. Except for the death of a Member while a DROP participant, a Member who is a DROP Participant is a retired Member in DROP Retirement and the DROP Retirement shall convert to a normal retirement at the conclusion of the DROP period.
DROP Period means the period of time commencing when an eligible Member commences his DROP Retirement after attaining his DROP Retirement Date I or DROP Retirement Date II, whichever is applicable, and concluding upon the earliest of (i) a DROP Participant's death during DROP Retirement, (ii) conversion of a DROP Retirement into a normal retirement, which such conversion shall occur no later than sixty (60) months after the eligible Member becomes a DROP Participant after attaining DROP Retirement Date I or DROP Retirement Date II, or as except as may otherwise be expressly provided herein, (iii) for those who first become Members of the Plan on or after October 15, 1996, the date such Member would have achieved his Maximum Accrual Date had such Member not elected DROP Retirement, or (iv) termination of employment prior to either (i), (ii), or (iii) above, to the extent applicable, it being the intent that the limitation in (iii) above is not applicable to those who were Members of the Plan prior to October 15, 1996.
DROP Retirement means the status of a Member who meets the DROP eligibility requirements set forth in section 20-129(b.1), elects normal retirement and elects to have receipt of normal monthly retirement benefits under section 20-129(b) deferred and transferred into a DROP Account, but who does not terminate his employment with the City until the end of the DROP Period.
DROP Retirement Date means the date on which a Member first completes twenty (20) years of Creditable Service, without regard to age.
Early Retirement Date means the first day of any calendar month which is prior to the Member's Normal Retirement Date but subsequent to the date as of which he or she has both attained the age of fifty (50) years and has been a Member of this Plan for ten (10) years of Creditable Service, but early retirement is contingent upon obtaining the consent of the City which such consent may be given by the City Manager on behalf of the City.
Earnings means the fixed monthly remuneration, assignment pay and regular longevity bonuses paid to a Member, including contributions "picked-up" by the City pursuant to section 20-130(a). A Member's Earnings, compensation or salary contributed as employee-elective salary reductions or deferrals to any salary reduction, deferred compensation, or tax-sheltered annuity program authorized under the Internal Revenue Code shall also be deemed to be the Earnings the Member would receive if he or she were not participating in such program and shall be treated as Earnings for retirement purposes. For any person who first becomes a Member in any Plan year beginning on or after January 1, 1996, Earnings for any Plan year shall not include any amounts in excess of the Internal Revenue Code Section 401(a)(17) limitation [as amended by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993], which limitation of one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000.00) shall be adjusted as required by federal law for qualified government plans and shall be further adjusted for changes in the cost of living in the manner provided by Internal Revenue Code Section 401(a)(17)(B). For any person who first became a Member prior to the first Plan year beginning on or after January 1, 1996, the limitation on Earnings shall be not less than the maximum compensation amount that was allowed to be taken into account under the Plan as in effect on July 1, 1993, which limitation shall be adjusted for changes in the cost of living since 1989 in the manner provided by Internal Revenue Code Section 401(a)(17)(1991). In addition to the foregoing, Earnings for a Police Officer shall include the total cash remuneration, including "overtime" paid by the City to a Police Officer for services rendered, but shall not include any payments for extra duty or a special detail work performed on behalf of a second party employer. However, "overtime" shall be limited to 300 hours per Police Officer per calendar year after December 31, 1999.
Employee shall mean all regular employees of the City classified as Police Officers or Firefighters who have received their State Certification.
Firefighter means any person employed by the City in the Fire Department and who is certified as a Firefighter as a condition of employment in accordance with the provisions of Sec. 633.35, Fla. Stat. and whose duty it is to extinguish fires, to protect life, or to protect property.
Fund or Plan means the trust fund originally established and contained hereunder as part of the retirement plan.
Investment advisor shall mean any person or entity designated to serve as investment agent and investment advisor for the fund.
Maximum Accrual Date means the date on which a Firefighter attains maximum benefit accrual under Section 20-129(b)(1)b. or b.i. or the date on which a Police Officer attains maximum benefit accrual under Section 20-129(b)(1)c. or d.
Member means an Employee who fulfills the prescribed participation requirements.
Normal Retirement Date means either: (i) the date on which a Member completes twenty (20) years of Creditable Service, or the date on which a former Police officer or Firefighter would have attained fifty (50) years of age and twenty (20) years of Creditable Service if employment had not been terminated; or (ii) the first day of the month coincident with or next following the date on which a Member has completed ten (10) or more years of Creditable Service and attained fifty-five (55) years of age, whichever (i) or (ii) above shall first occur. Certain Members on approved disability shall have the option to elect treatment under a later Normal Retirement Date as set forth in section 20-129(a)(2).
Plan means the City of Fort Lauderdale Police and Firefighters' Retirement System as contained herein and all amendments thereto.
Police Officer means any person who is appointed or employed full time by any municipality, who is certified or required to be certified as a law enforcement officer in compliance with Sec. 943.1395, Florida Statutes, who is vested with authority to bear arms and make arrests, and whose primary responsibility is the prevention and detection of crime or the enforcement of the penal, criminal, traffic or highway laws of the state. This definition includes all certified supervisory and command personnel whose duties include, in whole or in part, the supervision, training, guidance, and management responsibilities of full-time law enforcement officers, part-time law enforcement officers, or auxiliary law enforcement officers as the same are defined in Sec. 943.10(6) and (8) respectively.
Preexisting condition means:
(1) Any condition, disease or ailment which existed on or before the date a Member became eligible for membership in this retirement system; or
(2) Any condition, disease or ailment for which a Member received medical or surgical treatment or advice within five (5) years prior to the date such a Member became eligible for membership in this retirement system; or
(3) Any complication of such condition, disease or ailment.
Retirement means a Member's separation from City employment as a Police Officer or Firefighter with immediate eligibility for receipt of benefits under the Plan. Retirement shall also mean the date a Member enters the DROP.
Spouse means the lawfully wedded wife or husband of a Member at the time of his death.
State Certification shall mean certification from the State of Florida (i) pursuant to Section 943.1395, Florida Statutes, for Police Officers or (ii) pursuant to Section 633.35, Florida Statutes, for Firefighters.
System or Plan means the City of Fort Lauderdale Police and Firefighters' Retirement System as contained herein and all amendments thereto.
Plan Documents 
