§ 12-49. Military service.

(a)

Any member of the plan who is actively employed by the city prior to entry into military service and who takes a leave of absence, other than from a temporary position, for the purpose of entering into military service in the Armed Forces of the United States and thereafter re-enters the employ of the city, shall be entitled to receive service credit for the period of absence. The member must be entitled to re-employment under the provisions of the Uniformed Service Employment and Re-employment Rights Act and must return to his or her employment as a firefighter for the city within one (1) year from the date of release from such active service. No payment by the member is required for this service credit.

(b)

Effective with respect to deaths occurring on or after January 1, 2007, while a member is performing qualified military service (as defined in chapter 43 of title 38, United States Code), to the extent required by section 401(a)(37) of the Internal Revenue Code, survivors of a member in the plan, are entitled to any additional benefits that the plan would provide if the member had resumed employment and then died, such as accelerated vesting or survivor benefits that are contingent on the member's death while employed. In any event, a deceased member's period of qualified military service must be counted for vesting purposes.

(c)

Beginning January 1, 2009, to the extent required by section 414(u)(12) of the Internal Revenue Code, an individual receiving differential wage payments (as defined under section 3401(h)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code) from the city shall be treated as employed by the city, and the differential wage payment shall be treated as compensation for purposes of applying the limits on annual additions under section 415(c) of the Internal Revenue Code. This provision shall be applied to all similarly situated individuals in a reasonably equivalent manner.

(d)

Any member who has served on active military duty in the Armed Forces of the United States prior to entry into the plan may receive credit for maximum of two (2) years of military service time in the plan, as well as for prior services as a firefighter (as defined in F.S. § 175.032 8(a)) for another employer as long as the member is not entitled to receive a benefit for such other prior service as a firefighter. In addition, members who have ten (10) years of service as of January 1, 2009 will have until June 30, 2009 to purchase up to two (2) additional years for military service prior to employment as well as prior service as a firefighter for some other employer as long as the member is not entitled to receive a benefit for such other prior service or as a firefighter. In no event shall purchased service exceed four (4) years. For each year being purchased the member must pay to the plan the full actuarial cost of the buyback utilizing the member's current salary at the time of the buyback. Any service credit purchased pursuant to this section will not count toward plan vesting as set forth in section 12-51.

(e)

A member who is receiving, or will receive a pension benefit for military service in any other state or local government pension plan supported by public funds, may not use that service for this pension plan. However, a member may receive a military pension as well as receive credit under this article based on the same military service.

(f)

The contribution for military buy-back required of the employee may be made in one (1) lump sum or may be made by payroll deductions in installments for a period of time which shall not exceed the number of years being purchased. An employee making installment payments shall complete all required payments prior to payment of any benefit under the plan. If installment payments are not completed at the time an employee retires, the employee shall not receive military credit for the remaining period for which payments were not made. An employee making installment payments shall pay a uniform rate of interest as determined by the board.

(Ord. No. 2003-101, § 2(Art. IX), 3-4-03; Ord. No. 2008-122, § 5, 12-16-08; Ord. No. 2008-123, § 2, 1-6-09; Ord. No. 2011-111, § 5, 6-21-11; Ord. No. 2017-120, § 4, 12-6-17)