Los Angeles Municipal Code § 4.1077 Provision Required to Comply With Internal Revenue Code Section 401(a)(9)

The Retirement System will pay all benefits in accordance with a good faith interpretation of the requirements of Section 401(a)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code and the regulations in effect under that section, as applicable to a governmental plan within the meaning of Section 414(d) of the Internal Revenue Code. The Retirement System is subject to the following provisions:

Distribution must begin by the required beginning date, which is the later of the April 1 following the calendar year in which the member attains age 70 1/2, or April 1 of the year following the calendar year in which the member terminates. If a member fails to apply for retirement benefits or request a refund, as applicable, by the later of either of those dates, the Board shall begin distribution as required by this rule in the form provided in Section 4.1057 or Section 4.1054, as applicable.

(a) The member’s entire interest must be distributed over the member’s life or the lives of the member and a qualified survivor, or
over a period not extending beyond the life expectancy of the member or of the member and a designated beneficiary.

(b) The Retirement System, pursuant to a court order, may pay a portion of the member’s benefit to a nonmember.

(c) If a member dies after the required distribution of benefits has begun, the remaining portion of the member’s interest must be
distributed at least as rapidly as under the method of distribution before the member’s death.

(d) If a member dies before required distribution of the member’s benefits has begun, the member’s entire interest must be either:

(1) Distributed (in accordance with federal regulations) over the life or life expectancy of the qualified survivor, with the
distributions beginning no later than December 31 of the calendar year following the calendar year of the member’s death, or

(2) Distributed within five (5) years of the member’s death.

(e) The amount of an annuity paid to a member’s beneficiary may not exceed the maximum determined under the incidental death
benefit requirement of Section 401(a)(9)(G) of the Internal Revenue Code, and the minimum distribution incidental benefit rule under
Treasury Regulation Section 1.401(a)(9)-6, Q&A-2.

(f) The death and disability benefits provided by the retirement system are limited by the incidental benefit rule set forth in Section
401(a)(9)(G) of the Internal Revenue Code and Treasury Regulation Section 1.401-1(b)(1)(i), or any successor regulation thereto. As a
result, the total death or disability benefits payable may not exceed twenty-five percent (25%) of the cost for all of the members’
benefits received from the retirement system.

(g) Notwithstanding the other provisions of this rule or the provisions of the Treasury Regulations, benefit options may continue so
long as the option satisfies Section 401(a)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code based on a reasonable and good faith interpretation of that
section.

SECTION HISTORY

Added by Ord. No. 182,629, Eff. 7-25-13.

In order for the Retirement System to maintain its status as a qualified governmental defined benefit plan under the Internal Revenue Code, the Retirement System is additionally subject to the following provisions:

(a) In addition to any vesting protections under current provisions of the plan, in the event of a full or partial termination of, or a

complete discontinuance of employer contributions to, the plan, the accrued benefits of the affected members under the plan shall be 100% vested and nonforfeitable to the extent required by federal law.

(b) The Retirement Fund (the trust fund established for the Retirement System in Charter Section 1154) must not revert, and no

contributions shall be permitted to be returned, to the employer.

SECTION HISTORY

Added by Ord. No. 183,456, Eff. 3-4-15.