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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 13672a 2~- -r- c ~-~- -- ~ ORDINANCE NO. 3 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 2, ARTICLE VI, "RETIREMENT," OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH (1986), AS AMENDED, BY ADDING DIVISION 3, "SUPPLEMENTAL RETIREMENT ORDINANCE," TO PROVIDE A SUPPLEMENTAL RETIREMENT BENEFIT TO BE PAID TO MEMBERS OF THE EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT FUND WHOSE BENEFITS ARE LIMITED BY QUALIFIED PLAN LIMITS UNDER THE INTERNAL REVENUE CODE OF 1986, AS AMENDED, PROVIDING FOR APPROPRIATIONS, PROVIDING FOR THE CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH PAYMENT SHALL BE MADE, PROVIDING FOR THE ADMII~tISTRATION OF SUCH FUNDS, PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, AND NAMING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS SECTION I. Sec 2-232. GENERAL PROVISION A. Establishment of Supplemental Retirement Ordinance. There is hereby created and established an Ordinance designated as the City of Fort Worth Supplemental Retirement Ordinance which shall provide benefits to Members of the Employees' Retirement Fund whose benefits are limited by the qualified plan hmrts under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. B Aanropriations. ~` The City shall annually appropriate such amounts as may be necessary to provide for the payment of benefits under the Supplemental Retirement Ordinance. Such appropriations shall continue to be made from current revenues, and, m the event such current revenues are insufficient, the City shall compute, ascertain and levy an ad valorem tax sufficient to raise and produce the money required to appropriate and pay any additional sums which may become due during any such year The City shall levy a sufficient tax from year to year to provide the revenue from which such appropriations maybe made. C Purpose. The purpose of this Ordinance is to provide Members with certain benefits which, because of the Qualified Plan Limits, are not provided to such Members under the Retirement Fund. D Governing Law The Ordinance shall be construed in accordance with and governed by the laws of the State of Texas. E. Amounts Provided by the City Benefits under the Ordinance shall constitute general obligations of the City m accordance with the terms of the Ordinance. No amounts m respect of such benefits are required to be set aside or held m trust, and no recipient of any benefit hereunder shall have any right to have the benefit paid out of any particular asset of the City, except to the extent the City may establish a grantor ("rabbi") trust, which trust will not be protected from the City's creditors. Members have the status of general unsecured creditors of the City and this Ordinance constitutes the City's promise to make benefit payments as described herein. Sec 2-233 DEFINITIONS The following words, terms and phrases when used m this Ordinance, as may be amended, shall have the respective meanings set forth below, unless their context clearly indicates to the contrary The masculine pronouns, wherever used herein, shall include both male and female persons, and the singular may include the plural, and vice versa. A. "Board" shall mean the Board of Trustees of the Retirement Fund or any duly authorized committee of that Board. B "City" means the City of Fort Worth, Texas C "Code" means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended from time to time D "Effective Date" means April 1, 1999 E "Executive Director" shall mean the individual appointed by the Board, subject to the approval of the City Council, to supervise the operation of the Retirement Fund. F "Member" means an employee of the City who meets the requirements to participate m the Ordinance in accordance with the provisions of Sec 2- 234 hereof. 2 G "Ordinance" means the City of Fort Worth Supplemental Retirement Ordinance, as amended from time to time. H. "Plan Year" means the twelve (12) month period begmmng on January 1st and ending on December 31st. I. "Qualified Plan Limits" means the limitation on qualified plan benefits under Code Sections 401(a)(17) and 415 J "Retirement Fund" means the Employees' Retirement Fund of the City of Fort Worth. Sec 2-234 ELIGIBILITY AND BENEFITS A. Employees Eligible to Participate. Each employee of the City who is a member of the Retirement Fund shall be eligible to participate m the Ordinance. Each such employee whose benefits under the Retirement Fund are reduced due to the Qualified Plan Limits shall automatically participate m and be eligible to receive benefits under this Ordinance. B Benefits. 1 Amount of Benefits. If the benefits payable to a Member from the Retirement Fund are limited by the Qualified Plan Limits, the amount by which such benefits are so limited shall be paid to such Member under this Ordinance. For purposes of this Ordinance, death and disability benefits under the Retirement Ordinance which are limited by the Qualified Plan Limits shall be provided hereunder 2. Payment of Benefits. Payment of a Member's benefits calculated under Sec 2-234.B 1 hereof shall be made to such Member, after termination of employment with the City Payment shall be made at the same time and in the same form as the Member's benefits under the Retirement Fund. If a Member's (or his or her beneficiary's) death or disability benefits under the Retirement Fund are reduced by the Qualified Plan Limits, such reduced benefits shall be paid under this Ordinance at the same time, m the same form, and to the same person(s) who receive the Retirement Fund benefits. 3 z Sec. 2-235 ADMINISTRATION AND MISCELLANEOUS A. General. The Ordinance shall be administered by the Board. B Powers and Duties. The Board shall have such powers as may be necessary to discharge its duties hereunder, mcludmg without hmrtation, the complete discretion to construe and interpret the Ordinance, determine eligibility to participate, compute any benefits payable, grant or deny any benefit claims, review any claim denials and to give directions to the trustee under any grantor trust referred to in Sec 2-232.E hereof. The Board may delegate its duties hereunder as it deems appropriate, mcludmg to any committee rt may appoint or to the Executive Director C Amendment. Termination, Etc. The City may, m its absolute discretion, from time to time, amend, suspend, or terminate m whole or m part, and if terminated reinstate, any or all of the provisions of the Ordinance. D Nonguarantee of Employment. Nothing contained m this Ordinance shall be construed as a contract of employment between the City and any employee, or as providing a right of any employee to be continued m the employment of the City, or as a limitation of the right of the City to discharge any of its employees, with or without cause E. Nonalienation of Benefits. ~ .--~ To the extent permitted by law, benefits payable under this Ordinance shall not be subject m any manner to anticipation, alienation, sale, transfer, assignment, pledge, encumbrance, charge, garnishment, execution, or levy of any kind, either voluntary or involuntary Any unauthorized attempt to anticipate, alienate, sell, transfer, assign, pledge, encumber, charge or otherwise dispose of any right to benefits payable hereunder shall be void. No part of the assets of the City shall be subject to seizure by legal process resulting from any attempt by creditors of or claimants against any Member (or beneficiary), or any person claiming under or through the foregoing, to attach his interest under the Ordinance. 4 F Liability No member of the Board shall be liable for any act or action, whether of omission or commission, taken by any other member, or by any officer, agent, or employee of the City or of any such body, nor, except in circumstances involving his bad faith, for anything done or omitted to be done by himself. SECTION II. If any provision, section, part, sub-section, sentence, clause, phrase or paragraph of this Ordinance shall be declared mvahd or unconstitutional, the same shall not affect any other portion or provision hereof, and all other provisions shall remain valid and unaffected by any mvahd portion, if any, and the City Council now says that if it had known at the time of the passage of this Ordinance that any portion of said Ordinance was invalid, it would not have adopted such an invalid part. SECTION III. The City Council finds that all acts, conditions and things required by provisions of the Constitution of Texas and the Charter and Ordinances of the City of Fort Worth precedent to and m the adoption of this Ordinance have been done, have happened and have been performed m proper and lawful time SECTION IV This Ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after April 1, 1999 and is so ordained. APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY ~~~~~~ Y G~ CITY ATTORNEY DATE /- 6 " ~ 9 ADOPTED /~,S V EDALOI :BOA485/58000/54343.1 5 City of Fort Worth, Texas M'Ayor and Council CommunicAtion DATE REFERENCE NUMBER LOG NAME PAGE 1/5/99 G-12426 13RETIRE-1 1 of 1 SUBJECT ADOPTION OF SUPPLEMENTAL RETIREMENT ORDINANCE RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that the City Council adopt the attached Supplemental Retirement Ordinance. DISCUSSION The Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, limits certain benefits that can be provided under qualified retirement plans such as the Employees' Retirement Fund The attached ordinance provides that in the event that these limitations reduce a member's benefits under the Employees' Retirement Fund, the benefits that would otherwise be provided under the Employees' Retirement Fund will be provided under the Supplemental Retirement Ordinance. FISCAL INFORMATION/CERTIFICATION The Finance Director certifies that no additional expenditures of City funds are required for this action CBj Submitted for City Manager's FUND ACCOUNT CENTER AMOUNT CITY SECRETARY Office by: (to) ~~PR Charles Boswell 8511 OUNC~t TY Originating Department Head. ~ CI Jim Keyes 8517 (from) JAN 5 Additional Information Contact: ~ `~`r"^""i1 City Secretary of the € Fort jNoTth, Texas George Nicolaides 536-6790 City o ®~~et~ f~~tq~tt ~_ .._.~