The Florida Senate

185.02  Definitions.--For any municipality, chapter plan, local law municipality, or local law plan under this chapter, the following words and phrases as used in this chapter shall have the following meanings, unless a different meaning is plainly required by the context:

(1)  "Average final compensation" means one-twelfth of the average annual compensation of the 5 best years of the last 10 years of creditable service prior to retirement, termination, or death.

(2)  "Casualty insurance" means automobile public liability and property damage insurance to be applied at the place of residence of the owner, or if the subject is a commercial vehicle, to be applied at the place of business of the owner; automobile collision insurance; fidelity bonds; burglary and theft insurance; and plate glass insurance. "Multiple peril" means a combination or package policy that includes both property coverage and casualty coverage for a single premium.

(3)  "Chapter plan" means a separate defined benefit pension plan for police officers which incorporates by reference the provisions of this chapter and has been adopted by the governing body of a municipality as provided in s. 185.08 Except as may be specifically authorized in this chapter, provisions of a chapter plan may not differ from the plan provisions set forth in ss. 185.01-185.341 and 185.37-185.39. Actuarial valuations of chapter plans shall be conducted by the division as provided by s. 185.221(1)(b).

(4)  "Compensation" or "salary" means the total cash remuneration including "overtime" paid by the primary employer to a police officer for services rendered, but not including any payments for extra duty or a special detail work performed on behalf of a second party employer. However, a local law plan may limit the amount of overtime payments which can be used for retirement benefit calculation purposes, but in no event shall such overtime limit be less than 300 hours per officer per calendar year.

(a)  Any retirement trust fund or plan which now or hereafter meets the requirements of this chapter shall not, solely by virtue of this subsection, reduce or diminish the monthly retirement income otherwise payable to each police officer covered by the retirement trust fund or plan.

(b)  The member's compensation or salary contributed as employee-elective salary reductions or deferrals to any salary reduction, deferred compensation, or tax-sheltered annuity program authorized under the Internal Revenue Code shall be deemed to be the compensation or salary the member would receive if he or she were not participating in such program and shall be treated as compensation for retirement purposes under this chapter.

(c)  For any person who first becomes a member in any plan year beginning on or after January 1, 1996, compensation for any plan year shall not include any amounts in excess of the Internal Revenue Code s. 401(a)(17) limitation (as amended by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993), which limitation of $150,000 shall be adjusted as required by federal law for qualified government plans and shall be further adjusted for changes in the cost of living in the manner provided by Internal Revenue Code s. 401(a)(17)(B). For any person who first became a member prior to the first plan year beginning on or after January 1, 1996, the limitation on compensation shall be not less than the maximum compensation amount that was allowed to be taken into account under the plan as in effect on July 1, 1993, which limitation shall be adjusted for changes in the cost of living since 1989 in the manner provided by Internal Revenue Code s. 401(a)(17)(1991).

(5)  "Creditable service" or "credited service" means the aggregate number of years of service and fractional parts of years of service of any police officer, omitting intervening years and fractional parts of years when such police officer may not have been employed by the municipality subject to the following conditions:

(a)  No police officer will receive credit for years or fractional parts of years of service if he or she has withdrawn his or her contributions to the fund for those years or fractional parts of years of service, unless the police officer repays into the fund the amount he or she has withdrawn, plus interest as determined by the board. The member shall have at least 90 days after his or her reemployment to make repayment.

(b)  A police officer may voluntarily leave his or her contributions in the fund for a period of 5 years after leaving the employ of the police department, pending the possibility of his or her being rehired by the same department, without losing credit for the time he or she has participated actively as a police officer. If he or she is not reemployed as a police officer with the same department within 5 years, his or her contributions shall be returned to him or her without interest.

(c)  Credited service under this chapter shall be provided only for service as a police officer, as defined in subsection (11), or for military service and shall not include credit for any other type of service. A municipality may, by local ordinance, provide for the purchase of credit for military service occurring prior to employment as well as prior service as a police officer for some other employer as long as the police officer is not entitled to receive a benefit for such other prior service as a police officer.

(d)  In determining the creditable service of any police officer, credit for up to 5 years of the time spent in the military service of the Armed Forces of the United States shall be added to the years of actual service, if:

1.  The police officer is in the active employ of the municipality prior to such service and leaves a position, other than a temporary position, for the purpose of voluntary or involuntary service in the Armed Forces of the United States.

2.  The police officer is entitled to reemployment under the provisions of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act.

3.  The police officer returns to his or her employment as a police officer of the municipality within 1 year from the date of his or her release from such active service.

(6)  "Deferred Retirement Option Plan" or "DROP" means a local law plan retirement option in which a police officer may elect to participate. A police officer may retire for all purposes of the plan and defer receipt of retirement benefits into a DROP account while continuing employment with his or her employer. However, a police officer who enters the DROP and who is otherwise eligible to participate shall not thereby be precluded from participating, or continuing to participate, in a supplemental plan in existence on, or created after, the effective date of this act.

(7)  "Division" means the Division of Retirement of the Department of Management Services.

(8)  "Enrolled actuary" means an actuary who is enrolled under Subtitle C of Title III of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and who is a member of the Society of Actuaries or the American Academy of Actuaries.

(9)  "Local law municipality" is any municipality in which there exists a local law plan.

(10)  "Local law plan" means a defined benefit pension plan for police officers or for police officers and firefighters, where included, as described in s. 185.35, established by municipal ordinance or special act of the Legislature, which enactment sets forth all plan provisions. Local law plan provisions may vary from the provisions of this chapter, provided that required minimum benefits and minimum standards are met. Any such variance shall provide a greater benefit for police officers. Actuarial valuations of local law plans shall be conducted by an enrolled actuary as provided in s. 185.221(2)(b).

(11)  "Police officer" means any person who is elected, appointed, or employed full time by any municipality, who is certified or required to be certified as a law enforcement officer in compliance with s. 943.1395, who is vested with authority to bear arms and make arrests, and whose primary responsibility is the prevention and detection of crime or the enforcement of the penal, criminal, traffic, or highway laws of the state. This definition includes all certified supervisory and command personnel whose duties include, in whole or in part, the supervision, training, guidance, and management responsibilities of full-time law enforcement officers, part-time law enforcement officers, or auxiliary law enforcement officers, but does not include part-time law enforcement officers or auxiliary law enforcement officers as the same are defined in s. 943.10(6) and (8), respectively. For the purposes of this chapter only, "police officer" also shall include a public safety officer who is responsible for performing both police and fire services. Any plan may provide that the police chief shall have an option to participate, or not, in that plan.

(12)  "Police Officers' Retirement Trust Fund" means a trust fund, by whatever name known, as provided under s. 185.03 for the purpose of assisting municipalities in establishing and maintaining a retirement plan for police officers.

(13)  "Retiree" or "retired police officer" means a police officer who has entered retirement status. For the purposes of a plan that includes a Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP), a police officer who enters the DROP shall be considered a retiree for all purposes of the plan. However, a police officer who enters the DROP and who is otherwise eligible to participate shall not thereby be precluded from participating, or continuing to participate, in a supplemental plan in existence on, or created after, the effective date of this act.

(14)  "Retirement" means a police officer's separation from city employment as a police officer with immediate eligibility for receipt of benefits under the plan. For purposes of a plan that includes a Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP), "retirement" means the date a police officer enters the DROP.

(15)  "Supplemental plan" means a plan to which deposits of the premium tax moneys as provided in s. 185.08 are made to provide extra benefits to police officers, or police officers and firefighters where included, under this chapter. Such a plan is an element of a local law plan and exists in conjunction with a defined benefit plan that meets the minimum benefits and minimum standards of this chapter.

(16)  "Supplemental plan municipality" means any local law municipality in which there existed a supplemental plan as of December 1, 2000.

History.--s. 11, ch. 28230, 1953; s. 1, ch. 29825, 1955; s. 1, ch. 59-320; s. 1, ch. 61-85; s. 7, ch. 79-380; s. 2, ch. 79-388; s. 2, ch. 86-42; s. 43, ch. 91-45; s. 40, ch. 93-193; s. 939, ch. 95-147; s. 14, ch. 95-154; s. 42, ch. 99-1; s. 28, ch. 2000-151; s. 3, ch. 2000-159; s. 2, ch. 2002-66.