§ 2.64.220. Repayment of contributions.

A.

Participant permanently separated after February 28, 1955. Any participant who is permanently separated from the city service after February 28, 1955, without becoming entitled to benefits under the pension system shall be entitled to repayment of all contributions made by him to the pension fund. Whenever a plan participant who is eligible or not eligible for retirement from city service under either section 2.64.200 A.1. or 2. decides to retire from service, such plan participant may take a lump sum refund of contributions.

B.

Sections 2.64.230 E. and 2.64.26 C. not repealed. Nothing herein shall repeal or affect the provisions of Section 2.64.230 E., relating to repayment of contributions in case of death, or Section 2.64.260 C., relating to repayment of the fund of withdrawn contributions after a service break.

C.

Separation before March 1, 1955 and reemployment. A participant who was separated from the city service before March 1, 1955, thereby losing the contributions made by him to the fund, and who was later reemployed by the city and again separated from the service when contributions were refundable, shall not be entitled to refund of those contributions which he made to the fund prior to March 1, 1955, unless the interval between his periods of employment was less than two years.

D.

Refund by secretary of board. When a person is entitled to refund of contributions under this section, the secretary of the board of trustees may authorize such refund without referring the matter to the board if the person's right to the refund is certified by the human resources director. The secretary may, however, if in doubt as to the person's rights, order the application for refund referred to the board.

E.

Other refunds by board. All other applications for refund shall be referred to the board.

F.

Employee who dies without leaving widow or child under nineteen. When a participant dies after the effective date of this amendment and before becoming entitled to benefits under the pension system, and does not leave a widow or any child under nineteen years of age, the executor or administrator of his estate shall be entitled, upon application therefor, to repayment of all contributions made by the participant to the pension fund. Provided, if such participant leaves a child or children under nineteen years of age, entitled to benefits under Section 2.64.230, such benefits shall be paid to the child or children, and the total amount thereof deducted from the total of his contributions, and the balance then paid to his executor or administrator. Payments made to an executor or administrator under this subsection G. shall be subject to all the limitations and other provisions applicable to refund of contributions of employees permanently separated from the city service or service with another approved employer, as set forth in the other subsections of this section.

To facilitate the repayment of contributions and avoid the expense of administration on the employee's estate, a participant may file with the human resources director a written authorization designating a person to whom his contributions shall be repaid (when repayment is authorized under this chapter) if the participant dies without leaving a widow or a child under nineteen and if within thirty days after his death no application has been filed for probate of a will or appointment of an administrator. The person so designated must be over twenty-one years of age. The participant may, by written direction filed with the human resources director, withdraw or change such designation without the consent of the person designated.

If a participant who could have filed such designation has not done so, or if the person designated cannot be found or has become non sui juris, and there is no widow or child under nineteen, surviving and no application has been made within thirty days after the participant's death for probate of a will or appointment of an administrator, the board of trustees in its discretion and upon its finding that administration on the estate would be unduly expensive in comparison with the amount to be repaid, may authorize the repayment of such contributions, or an appropriate part thereof, to any person or persons who show they have a valid claim against the estate for funeral expenses or expenses of the participant's last illness, and who agree to indemnify the fund against any claims which may be made to such refund by orders.

G.

Interest on participant contributions refunded. No interest will be paid on contributions refunded if the participant has not completed either five years of service credit for a person who was first a fund participant before September 1, 2011, or seven years of service credit for a participant who was first a fund participant on or after September 1, 2011 with the city or with another approved employer. If the participant who has completed the requisite number of years of service credit as set forth immediately above dies or is permanently separated from the service, under circumstances entitling him, his widow or children, or his estate to refund of his contributions, the refund will be increased by the applicable amount of interest compounded annually on all his contributions for the period that such contributions have remained in the fund: either five and one-half percent for persons who first became fund participants before September 1, 2011, or three percent for persons who first became fund participants or after September 1, 2011.

H.

As used in this section, the term "contributions" shall exclude any interest paid by a participant on any buy-back contribution payments made under the provisions of this Code, and under no circumstances shall a participant be entitled to a refund of such interest nor be entitled to receive any portion of the employer's contributions.

I.

Direct rollovers.

1.

A beneficiary may elect, at the time and in the manner prescribed by the board of trustees, to have any portion of an eligible rollover distribution (as defined in Treasury Regulation section 1.402(c)-2, successor statute, or other applicable sections or regulations) paid directly to an eligible retirement plan (as defined in Treasury Regulation section 1.402(c)-2 Q&A(2), successor statute, or other applicable sections and regulations) specified by the beneficiary in a direct rollover. For purposes of this subsection the relevant rules and regulations under the Internal Revenue Code and Treasury Regulations governing eligible rollover distribution shall apply, including without limitation Internal Revenue Code sections 402(c), 401(a), 408(a)—(b), 403(a), 457(b), and their successor statutes.

2.

For purposes of this section dealing with eligible rollover or distributions, a "beneficiary" shall include an employee or former employee. In addition, the employee's or former employee's surviving spouse or designated beneficiary ("Non-Spouse Designated Beneficiary") is a beneficiary, and the employee's or former employee's spouse or former spouse who is the alternate payee under a qualified domestic relations order, as defined in Internal Revenue Code Section 414(p) or successor statute, is a beneficiary with regard to the interest of the spouse or the former spouse.

(Ord. 16619 § 12, 2007; Ord. 10128, 1990; Ord. 8200, 1984; Ord. 8145 (part), 1984; prior code § 17-9)

(Ord. No. 17637, § 9, 8-30-2011; Ord. No. 18089, §§ 5, 8, 10-29-2013)