§ 3-302. ALTERNATIVE DEFINITION OF AVERAGE COMPENSATION. ELECTION OF MEMBER. ADJUSTMENT OF ALLOWANCES.
(a)
This section applies only to members who commenced service prior to August 27, 1990.
(b)
"Average compensation" shall mean, in the event election is made pursuant to this section, the average monthly compensation earnable by a member during the last three years of the member's employment in the Fire Department, Police Department, or the Airport Public Safety Division.
(c)
Any member, prior to retirement on or after January 1, 1973, or, if a member shall die on or after January 1, 1973, but before retirement, and with no election by the member in effect at the member's death, then the person or persons first entitled to any continuation allowance payable under the System on account of the member's death while a member of the System, or any such person's guardian, may elect, by written designation duly executed and filed with the Retirement Administrator, that the allowance payable to or on account of such member shall be based upon average compensation of the member determined in accordance with the definition set forth in subsection (b) hereof instead of the definition provided in Section 3-301.
(d)
Other provisions of this section to the contrary notwithstanding, any former member who attained age sixty and was mandatorily retired under Section 3-332(1) on or after January 1, 1972, and prior to January 1, 1973, or, if such former member shall die prior to January 1, 1973, with no election by the member in effect at the member's death, then the person or persons first entitled to any continuation allowance payable under the System on account of the member's death after retirement, or any such person's guardian, may elect, by written designation duly executed and filed with the Retirement Administrator prior to January 1, 1973, that the allowance payable to or on account of such former member shall be based, from and after the effective date of the member's retirement, upon average compensation determined in accordance with the definition set forth in subsection (b) hereof. An election made by a former member pursuant to this subsection shall be irrevocable as to the member's retirement allowance and any continuation allowance payable on account of the member's membership in the System. An election made by a person or persons first entitled to a continuation allowance on account of a former member's death before January 1, 1973, with no election by the member in effect at the member's death, shall be irrevocable as to any continuation allowance thereafter paid on account of such member's membership in the System. Nothing contained in this section shall be deemed to entitle any other former member or person claiming under the member to any of the benefits of this section.
(e)
An election made by a member before retirement pursuant to this section shall be irrevocable as to the member's retirement allowance and any continuation allowance payable on account of the member's membership in the System, unless revoked by written revocation duly executed by the member and filed with the Retirement Administrator prior to the effective date of the member's retirement. An election made by a person or persons first entitled to a continuation allowance on account of any such member's death before retirement with no election by the member in effect at the member's death shall be irrevocable as to any continuation allowance thereafter paid on account of such member's membership in the System, unless such election is revoked by written revocation duly executed by such person or persons, or the guardian of any such person, prior to the date of the first payment of such continuation allowance.
(f)
Monthly allowances based upon average compensation as defined in subsection (b) shall be adjusted from time to time solely in accordance with this section. As of July 1 of each year, commencing with the year 1973, every such monthly allowance shall be increased by a percentage (which shall be not less than zero) of the total allowance then being received which shall approximate, to the nearest one-tenth of one percent,
(1)
if the allowance is payable to or on account of a person who prior to the person's retirement or death was a member employed in the Fire Department, the percentage by which the weighted mean average monthly compensation attached to all ranks of members employed in the Fire Department during the current fiscal year shall have changed from that of the preceding fiscal year, or
(2)
if the allowance is payable to or on account of a person who prior to the persons's retirement or death was a member employed in the Police Department or employed as a public safety officer/supervisor, the percentage by which the weighted mean average monthly compensation attached to all ranks of members employed in the Police Department and employed as a public safety officer/supervisor during the current fiscal year shall have changed from that of the preceding fiscal year;
provided, that such increase shall not exceed five percent of any monthly allowance in any year, regardless of the percentage of change in such weighted mean average monthly compensation.
(g)
Determination of the percentage of change in the weighted mean average monthly compensation shall be made annually after the compensation of the ranks of firefighters, police officers, and public safety officers/supervisors in the respective departments has been fixed for the current fiscal year, and upon such determination the monthly allowances governed by this section shall be adjusted retroactively to July 1 of such year. In determining the weighted mean average monthly compensation for any fiscal year the following shall be used:
(1)
The number of positions authorized in each of the ranks as contained in the annual budgets for the respective departments contained in the annual city budget for such fiscal year as originally adopted by the Council pursuant to Charter Section 1205, disregarding changes in any amendments of or supplements to such departmental budgets thereafter made.
(2)
The compensation of each of the ranks, at the highest step, as fixed by the Council in the original salary resolution or other action of the Council establishing the rate of compensation for each of the ranks in the respective departments for such fiscal year. For any increases in compensation in such fiscal year that are effective on a date other than July 1st, such increases shall be recalculated and converted to an equivalent annualized increase by rank at the highest step and included in the weighted mean average monthly compensation calculation.
For the purposes of this section "fiscal year" shall mean the period July 1 to June 30, inclusive, and "current fiscal year" shall mean the fiscal year as of July 1 of which the adjustment of monthly allowances is made.
(h)
The amount of any percentage of change in the weighted mean average monthly compensation which is in excess of the maximum annual allowable adjustment of five percent provided in subsection (f) shall be accumulated from year to year and included in the computation of increases in succeeding years. The provisions of this subsection shall be applied to individual beneficiaries by groups based upon the fiscal year in which the member retired or died, so that each allowance shall have applied to it only such increase as shall have accumulated after the fiscal year in which the member retired or died.
(i)
The adjustment provisions of this section shall not operate to reduce the retirement allowance payable to any former member or the continuation allowance payable to any beneficiary on account of a member's death before retirement below the amount payable to such former member or beneficiary on the date of first entitlement thereto; nor shall such provisions operate to reduce the continuation allowance payable to any person on account of a former member's death after retirement, or on account of the death of the member's spouse after the member's retirement and death, below the amount which such person would have received had such former member died on the date of the former member's retirement.
(Added Ord. 72-142, 1973; Am. Ord. 96-54, §§ 3, 4, eff. 9-20-96; Am. Ord. 98-35, § 2, eff. 6-27-98; Am. Ord. 98-98, §§ 7—9, 1-9-99; Am. Ord. 2000-4, § 1, eff. 2-10-00; Am. Ord. 2006-120, § 1, eff. 10-6-06).