Fort Walton Beach Ordinance — 2193--Ordinance Amending COO Section 2.06.03 Firefighters' Pension Trust Fund — reading text

ING DATE Q 12nd 0 ORDINANCE 2193 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT WALTON BEACH, FLORIDA, AMENDING THE CITY OF FORT WALTON BEACH MUNICIPAL FIREFIGHTERS' PENSION TRUST FUND; AMENDING SECTION 2. 06. 03( A) DEFINITIONS; REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT HEREWITH AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. WHEREAS, a Board of Trustees administers the Municipal Firefighters' Pension Trust Fund; WHEREAS, Chapter 175, Florida Statutes, permits a limited amount of overtime to be included in a Firefighters' pensionable salary; WHEREAS, changes to the definition of salary in Chapter 175, Florida Statutes, occurred in 2011; WHEREAS, these changes were inadvertently not incorporated into the definition of salary in the Plan at that time; WHEREAS, the Plan is already being funded on an actuarial basis to account for these amounts of pensionable salary; WHEREAS, the Members and the City have determined that this Ordinance is in the best interest of all parties to eliminate any ambiguity; WHEREAS, the Board of Trustees has determined that this Ordinance is in the best interest of the Plan Members and their Beneficiaries; WHEREAS, the Board of Trustees has determined that this Ordinance is also in the best interest of the City and the Municipal Fire Department; WHEREAS, the City of Fort Walton Beach City Council finds that it would be in the best interest of the citizens of the City and the Members and Beneficiaries of the Municipal Firefighters' Pension Trust Fund to amend the Plan as set forth below. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT WALTON BEACH, FLORIDA: SECTION 1: Authority and Intent. The authority for enactment of this ordinance is pursuant to the powers vested in the City by Home Rule Authority of Section 166. 021( 1) of the Florida Statutes, the provisions of Chapter 162 of the Florida Statutes, and the City Charter. SECTION 2: Section 2. 06. 03( a), Code of Ordinances, titled Firefighters' Pension Trust Fund, is hereby amended as follows, with additions bolded and underlined:  Salary means the total cash compensation for services rendered to the City as a Firefighter, reportable on the member's W-2, including amounts " picked up" by the City pursuant to §414(h) of the Code and any other tax deferred, tax exempt or tax exempt items of income derived from elective employee payroll deductions or salary reductions, but excluding unused accumulated sick leave pay and vacation pay received as a lump sum payment upon termination of employment. For service earned on or after July 1, 2011, salary shall not include more than three hundred( 300) hours of unscheduled overtime per calendar year ( unscheduled overtime means overtime worked in addition to the normal work assignment per calendar year). Provided however, in any event, payments for overtime in excess of three hundred (300) hours per year accrued as of July 1, 2011, and attributable to service earned prior to the July 1, 2011., may still be included in salary for pension purposes even if the payment is not actually made until on or after July 1, 2011. Compensation in excess of the limitations set forth in Section 401( a)( 17) of the Code as of the first day of the plan year shall be disregarded for any purpose, including employee contributions or any benefit calculations. The annual compensation of each member taken into account in determining benefits or employee contributions for any plan year beginning on or after January 1, 2002, may not exceed two hundred thousand ($ 200, 000. 00), as adjusted for cost-of-living increases in accordance with Code Section 401( a)( 17)( B). Compensation means compensation during the fiscal year. The cost-of-living adjustment in effect for a calendar year applies to annual compensation for the determination period that begins with or within such calendar year. If the determination period consists of fewer than twelve ( 12) months, the annual compensation limit is an amount equal to the otherwise applicable annual compensation limit multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the number of months in the short determination period, and the denominator of which is twelve ( 12). If the compensation for any prior determination period is taken into account in determining a member's contributions or benefits for the current plan year, the compensation for such prior determination period is subject to the applicable annual compensation limit in effect for that prior period. The limitation on compensation for an " eligible employee" shall not be less than the amount which was allowed to be taken into account hereunder as in effect on July 1, 1993. " Eligible employee" is an individual who was a member before the first plan year beginning after December 31, 1995. SECTION 3: Specific authority is hereby granted to codify and incorporate this Ordinance in the existing Code of Ordinances of the City of Fort Walton Beach. SECTION 4: All Ordinances or parts of Ordinances in co, ict herewith beand i e same are hereby repealed. Adopted: • r.. • w.4 - of // s. c All- o, Mayor Attest: o oved as ti legal form .. d sufficiency ife e City • ' Fo/ : lto . : each, only. Kim M. arnes, City Clerk ffrey L. • rn , Ci ( ' rney Addit' ins are underlined; . - ':• I  FOSTER & FOSTER 1: 001 ACTUARIES ANL ANTS September 17, 2025 VIA EMAIL Board of Trustees City of Fort Walton Beach Firefighters' Pension Board Re: City of Fort Walton Beach Municipal Firefighters' Pension Trust Fund Dear Board: In response to Sean Sendra' s email dated September 10, 2025, we have reviewed Ordinance 2193 amending Section 2. 06.03( a) to modify the definition of salary for pension purposes. We have determined that the adoption of this change will have no impact on the assumptions and provisions used in determining the funding requirements of the program. Because the above changes do not result in an immediate change in the valuation results, it is our opinion that a formal Actuarial Impact Statement is not required in support of its adoption. However, since the Division of Retirement must be aware of the current provisions of all public pension programs, it is recommended that you send a copy of this letter and a copy of the fully executed Ordinance to each of the following offices: Mr. Keith Brinkman Mr. Steve Bardin Bureau of Local Retirement Systems Municipal Police and Fire Division of Retirement Pension Trust Funds P. O. Box 9000 Division of Retirement Tallahassee, FL 32315- 9000 P. O. Box 3010 Tallahassee, FL 32315- 3010 If you have any questions, please let me know. Sincerely, 9hk, Jo Griffin, ASA, EA, MAAA cc: Sean Sendra, Board Attorney 13420 Parker Commons Blvd., Suite 104 Fort Myers, FL 33912•( 239) 433- 5500 Fax( 239) 481- 0634 www. foster-foster.com