Benefits
Benefit Summary for the Employees Retirement
System
(As of June 30, 2006)
This section provides a brief
summary of the benefits provided
by the City of Fresno Employees
Retirement System. For more
detailed information please
refer to the Summary
Plan Description;
email Retire@fresno.gov;or
call the Retirement Office
at (559) 621-7080 to speak
to a Retirement Counselor.
[click
on item for quick access]
Death | Disability | Divorce | DROP | Forms
Health & Welfare | Reciprocity | Service
Retirement | Terminating
Employment
Eligible Employees
All non-Fire and Police full
time permanent employees who
enter service after July 1,
1952, and are certified from
a civil service list are eligible
for membership in the City
of Fresno Employees Retirement
System.
Service
Retirement | Top
of Page |
All members of the Employees
Retirement System are eligible
for a service retirement if
they have at least 5 years
of service and are at least
age 55. Service retirement
benefits are based on your
years of service with the City
of Fresno, your age, and your
final average salary.
Use the benefits calculator
to estimate your retirement
benefit amount.
Final
Average Salary| Top
of Page |
Your final average salary
(FAS) is an average of your
compensation earnable over
your highest three consecutive
years using today’s pay
rather than the pay you actually
earned. That value of FAS is
used with the following formula
to calculate your benefit amount.
Benefit: Sum of (1) and (2)
times (3)
(1) 2% of FAS times years of
service, not-to-exceed 25 years
(2) 1% of FAS times years of
service in excess of 25 years
(3) Age
Factor Table (file size: 32 KB)
Or, you can try the Employee
Benefit Calculator for an estimate.
Before you retire, it is important
that you contact the Retirement
Office to make an appointment
with a retirement counselor
to discuss the options available
for retirement.
Deferred
Retirement Option Program
(DROP) – Employees Retirement
System| Top
of Page |
An employee who meets the
qualifications for a service
retirement (age 55 with 5 years
of service) may elect to participate
in the DROP program. On entering
DROP, the employee’s
accrual of retirement benefits
is frozen and his/her benefit
amount is calculated. The resulting
amount plus any retirement
COLAs and interest at an annual
rate approved by the Board,
is then deposited monthly into
the employee’s DROP account
while the employee continues
to work for a period up to
maximum of 10 years.
At retirement, when the employee
actually leaves City service,
the monthly amount being deposited
into the DROP account becomes
the employee’s monthly
retirement benefit amount and,
in addition, the employee then
makes a decision about how
to distribute the balance of
the DROP account.
Please try the DROP
Projection Calculators for an estimate
of what DROP could mean for
you.
Disability| Top
of Page |
A disability retirement is
a benefit available to a City
employee who becomes unable
to perform their duties by
reason of bodily injuries or
sickness. There are two types
of disability retirement: ordinary
(non service connected) and
service connected.
Ordinary Disability
If you become permanently
disabled and are no longer
able to perform your job duties
and the disability is not job
related, you may be eligible
for an ordinary disability
retirement. To qualify you
must have been employed by
the City for at least ten years.
If you are granted an ordinary
disability retirement, your
allowance will be the highest
of the following: (1) 33 1/3%
of your final average salary,
(2) 1.8% multiplied times your
years of service multiplied
times your final average salary,
or (3) your service retirement
allowance (if you are already
eligible for a service retirement).
Service-Connected Disability
If you become permanently
disabled to the point that
you can no longer perform your
job duties and that disability
was caused primarily by the
performance of your job, you
may be eligible to receive
a service connected disability.
If you are granted a service
connected disability retirement,
your allowance will be the
highest of the following: (1)
33 1/3% of your final average
salary, (2) 1.8% multiplied
times your years of service
multiplied times your final
average salary, or (3) your
service retirement allowance
(if you are already eligible
for a service retirement).
A portion of your service connected
disability may be eligible
for some favorable IRS tax
treatment.
Contribution
Rates| Top
of Page |
The basic provision for contribution
rates for both the City and
the Employee are outlined in
the Fresno Municipal Code and
may not be changed by the Retirement
Board. Normal or basic rates
depend upon the employee’s
age at entry into the System.
The rates are such as to provide
an average annuity, at age
55, of 1/150 of Final Average
Salary (FAS) for each of the
first 25 years of service,
plus 1/300 of FAS for each
year of service after 25. Member
cost-of-living rates are designed
to pay for one-half of the
future cost-of-living increases.
Both employer and employee
rates are recalculated by the
independent actuary as a component
of the Annual Actuarial Valuation
Study, and the results of those
calculations are reviewed and
adopted by the Employee’s
Retirement Board at a public
hearing each year.
Cost
of Living Adjustment (COLA)| Top
of Page |
The Municipal Code provides
that the Retirement staff must
research the percentage change
in Consumer Price Index (US
city-average for urban wage
earners and clerical works – all
items) and propose that percent
to the Retirement Board as
the COLA to be adopted for
the following fiscal year.
This procedure must be complete
by the end of April each year
for implementing in July. The
COLA is limited to a five percent
(5%) maximum change per year
and any excess over 5% is banked
for the retiree for use in
a year where the percent of
CPI change is less than 5%.
Death
Before Retirement| Top
of Page |
Before eligible to retire
for disability (less than 5
years):
If you should die while still
working and before you have
qualified to retire (5 years
of service and attainment of
age 55), your beneficiary will
receive the following benefit:
(1) One month’s salary
for each year of service, not-to-exceed
six months.
(2) Return of contributions
with interest.
While eligible for service
retirement:
If you should die while still
working and after you have
qualified to retire (5 years
of service and attainment of
age 55), your qualified beneficiary
(refer to Summary Plan Document)
will receive fifty percent
(50%) of the service retirement
benefit you had earned as a
monthly payment for life or
may have the option to choose
the benefit outlined above.
Death
After Retirement| Top
of Page |
If you die after retirement
and leave a qualified beneficiary,
that beneficiary will receive
a benefit which depends upon
the option you have chosen
at your retirement. Please
refer to the Summary Plan Document
for an explanation of your
retirement options or call
the Retirement Office (559-621-7080)
for an appointment with a Retirement
Counselor who will explain
the options and show you calculations
of what each one would mean
for you.
Health
and Welfare| Top
of Page |
The Retirement
Office is only involved
with the
health care
plans as a conduit to deduct
the Health care premiums from
the retiree’s monthly
benefit amount and forward
those premiums to the respective
health plan on the retiree’s
behalf.
The City of Fresno provides
active employees with health
care coverage through one of
two health care plans: the
City of Fresno Health and Welfare
Trust which covers all City
of Fresno employees including
those blue collar workers who
choose to participate and a
Blue Collar plan provided through
the union for blue collar workers.
The City does not fund health
coverage for retirees; however,
employees are given the option
of continuing in one of the
City health plans after retirement
at their own expense. At age
65, the City’s health
plan becomes secondary to Medicare
for those who are Medicare
eligible. Premium levels become
more expensive at age 65 for
those who are not eligible
for Medicare.
Health premiums are set by
the Health and Welfare Board
for the Health and Welfare
Trust Plan and by the provider
selected for the Blue Collar
Plan. The health premiums may be viewed on the
following linked pages:
HEALTHCOMP
(HEALTH & WELFARE
TRUST) | PACIFICARE
(BLUE COLLAR PLAN)
Post
Retirement Supplemental Benefit
(PRSB)
| Top
of Page |
On August 27, 1998, the City
Council adopted the Post Retirement
Supplemental Benefit (PRSB)
Program which is an arrangement
among the City, the active
employees, and the retirees
to share any surplus earnings
of the System. Annually, after
an actuarial study has been
performed, the Retirement Board
will review the availability
of surplus earnings in the
System and determine whether
a benefit can be paid to eligible
PRSB recipients. If a surplus
is declared by the Board, PRSB
benefit payments will be calculated
for eligible recipients and
payments for the following
calendar year will begin in
January.
Reciprocity| Top
of Page |
Reciprocity is an agreement
between the City of Fresno
and the California Public Employees’ Retirement
System (PERS) which provides
certain benefits to members
who move between one or more
systems that have reciprocity
with PERS. Over 1,200 governmental
agencies in California have
reciprocal agreements with
PERS. If you have eligible
service in a reciprocal system,
your CFRS contribution rate,
creditable service required
to “vest,” and
benefit amount could be more
favorable if you elect to use
reciprocity.
Under current law, you must
begin employment with the new
reciprocal agency within 180
days after terminating employment
with the prior agency to be
eligible for reciprocity. In
addition, you must leave your
contributions on deposit with
the prior agency’s system
until you retire. (Separate
accounts are maintained by
each individual retirement
system.)
You must retire from all systems
simultaneously, at which time
you will receive benefits separately
from each system based on that
system’s formula, but
all systems will confer and
will use your highest final
average salary from any of
the systems. If you worked for a PERS-covered
employer in the past and
withdrew your PERS contributions,
you
may be eligible to redeposit
your contributions and restore
your PERS service credit.
If you would like additional
information
regarding PERS-covered employment,
contact PERS at (800) 352-2238
or visit their website at:
http://www.calpers.ca.gov.
For more detailed information:
Reciprocity
Handbook | Reciprocity Coordination
with Other Public
Retirement Systems
Divorce/Termination
of Registered Domestic
Partnership| Top
of Page |
California is a community
property state and retirement
benefits earned while married
or in a registered domestic
partnership are considered
assets that are divisible in
a divorce action or the dissolving
of a registered domestic partnership.
If you are considering one
of these actions please read
the Community
Property Guidelines and be sure to address your
retirement benefits in your
settlement agreement. Have
the Retirement Office review
any proposed domestic relations
order before it is submitted
to the court to insure it is
written in a manner which the
Retirement Office can administer.
Please refer to the sample
domestic relations orders (DRO) on this website for examples
of orders which comply with
the requirements of the Retirement
Office.
Terminating
Employment| Top
of Page |
Withdrawal of Contributions
When you terminate employment
for any reason (other than
a retirement for service
or disabililty), you may
request a refund of the retirement
contributions you contributed
to the System and any interest
earned.
Contributions and Interest
Rollover
As an alternative to receiving
a refund of contributions,
you may rollover the pre-tax
portion of your account balance
to an IRA or another employer’s
qualified plan. Post-tax contributions
cannot be rolled over and will
be paid to you as a separate
check.
Reciprocal Systems
If you terminate employment
from the City of Fresno
and begin employment within
180
days at another government
agency within California,
you may be eligible for
Reciprocity.
Refer to the Reciprocity
section above for more
detailed information.
Deferred Retirement (Vesting)
You are eligible for a
deferred retirement
if you have at
least five years of
service with
the City of Fresno.
Upon termination, Deferred
Retirement eligibility
allows you to leave
your
contributions on account
with CFRS and qualify
for benefits on the
date you become age-eligible.
Review
the vesting section
of
your retirement handbook
for further
details.
When you apply for
retirement benefits
at a later date,
you are entitled
to receive the
benefits based on
your actual years of City
service and
the salary in effect
at your retirement
date for the position
you held at the City.
If
you are terminating employment,
please
contact the Retirement
Office at (559)
621-7080 for an appointment
with
a benefits
counselor. During
this appointment
you will
have an opportunity
to discuss the
rollover
payment method
and its advantages,
as well as receive
the required rollover
forms.
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