Sacramento Municipal Code Art. IX Increase in Retirement Benefits

A. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter and subject to the provisions of this chapter, as of July 1st of each year, commencing with the year 1968, every monthly allowance payable to or on account of any person who has retired or died or who shall retire or die as a member of the retirement system and whose retirement or death occurred prior to July 1st of the preceding year, shall be increased or decreased by a percentage of the total allowance then being received which shall approximate to the nearest one-tenth of one percent, the percentage of annual increase or decrease in the cost of living during the preceding calendar year; provided, that such increase or decrease shall not exceed two percent of any allowance in any year, regardless of the percentage of change in such cost of living. As of July 1st of each year, commencing with the year 1970, the increase or decrease shall not exceed three percent of any allowance in any year regardless of the percentage of change in any such cost of living.

B. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter and subject to the provisions of this article, as of July 1st of each year, every monthly allowance payable to or on account of a member of this system whose retirement or death as a member of this system occurred on or after July 1st of the preceding year shall be increased or decreased by a percentage of the allowance then being received. For each whole month of the preceding fiscal year during which a member was retired or for each whole month of the preceding fiscal year after the member's death, such percentage shall approximate one-twelfth of the percentage of annual increase or decrease (to the nearest one-tenth of one percent), if any, in the cost of living during the whole of the preceding calendar year by reference to the current U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index for the San Francisco-Oakland area (or the Sacramento area, in the event the index is established for the Sacramento area), for the whole of the preceding calendar year; provided that such increase or decrease shall not exceed three percent of any allowance in any year, regardless of the percentage of change in cost of living; and provided further that no allowance shall be reduced below the amount payable at death or retirement. The provisions of this subsection shall apply only to members whose retirement or death occurred on or after July 2, 1979. (Prior code § 34.09.900)

Determination of the percentage of annual increase or decrease in the cost of living shall be made by the retirement system manager on or before April 1st of each year by reference to the current U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index for the San Francisco-Oakland area for the whole of the preceding calendar year. The percentage by which such index shall have increased or decreased over or below such index for the full calendar year immediately prior thereto shall be the percentage used to calculate adjustments in retirement allowances pursuant to Section 2.124.1690 of this chapter. (Prior code § 34.09.901)

The amount of any cost-of-living increase or decrease in any year which is in excess of the maximum annual allowance adjustment of three percent provided in Section 2.124.1690 of this chapter shall be accumulated from year to year and included in the computation of increases or decreases in succeeding years. The provisions of this section shall be applied to the allowance of individual beneficiaries by classes based upon the fiscal year in which the member retired or died, so that each allowance shall have applied to it only such increase or decrease as shall have accumulated during or after the fiscal year in which they retired or died. The allowances payable to or on account of any retired or deceased person whose retirement or death shall have occurred prior to July 1, 1967, shall be grouped in the first such class. (Prior code § 34.09.902)

No allowance shall be reduced by operation of this article below the amount payable at the time of retirement or July 1, 1968, whichever date last occurs. (Prior code § 34.09.903)

Except as provided in Section 2.124.1750 of this chapter, all increases in allowances payable pursuant to this article shall be funded by contributions of the members of the system and contributions of the city. The rates of contribution shall be determined as provided in former (1989) Section 379 of Article XVII of the City Charter. (Prior code § 34.09.904)

Any member of the system who is not a member of the Section 399 plan may elect in the manner provided in Section 2.124.1760 of this chapter to receive the benefits provided by former (1976) Charter Section 354 in lieu of cost-of-living adjustment provided in former (1989) Section 379 of the charter and this article. The provisions of this article shall apply to members making such election, except that the provisions of Section 2.124.1740 of this chapter shall not apply to such members. (Prior code § 34.09.905)

Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 2.124.1730 of this chapter, increases in allowances for contributing members who have made the election provided in Sections 2.124.1740 and 2.124.1760 of this chapter, shall be funded insofar as possible from moneys in the contingency reserve of the retirement system which are in excess of three percent of the total assets of the retirement system on July 1, 1968, and by such money from such contingency reserve as should be determined by the board as of June 30th of each year thereafter, to be in excess of three percent of the total assets of the retirement system as of that date. Any additional money required for such increases shall be provided by equal contributions from the contributing members and from the city, at rates fixed by said board in accordance with the provisions of former (1989) Charter Section 379, and to be designated "cost-of-living contributions." The individual member's contribution shall be graded in proportion to the member's normal contribution.

As used in this section, the term "contributing member" means any member of the retirement system who has made the election provided for in Sections 2.124.1740 and 2.124.1760 of this chapter to receive the benefits provided in former (1976) Charter Section 354. (Prior code § 34.09.906)

Any member eligible to make the election provided in Section 2.124.1740 of this chapter shall do so in the manner hereinafter provided.

The election by a member of the system who is a member of the equal shares plan on November 28, 1977, shall be irrevocably exercised not sooner than November 28, 1977, nor later than December 27, 1977, on such forms and in such manner as may be provided by the retirement system manager.

The election by a member who is a member of the system under Articles III or IV of this chapter shall be irrevocably exercised in such manner and at such time as may be provided by the manager; provided, however, that the election shall be made during a thirty (30) day period.

The effective date of such election shall be deemed to be January 1, 1977, and the member's cost-of-living contribution shall be adjusted by the manager retroactively to said date. (Prior code § 34.09.907)

Cost-of-living contributions of members shall be credited with interest and the accumulation of such contributions and interest shall be deemed a part of their accumulated contributions for the purpose of refund, and for the purpose of computing the death benefit under this chapter. Cost-of-living contributions of members shall not be refunded after retire-ment whether or not any cost-of-living increases are paid hereunder. (Prior code § 34.09.908)

A separate account shall be maintained for each member of the accumulations of such cost-of-living contributions and the interest thereon, but such accumulations shall not be included in the accumulated contributions of the member in the computation of any retirement allowance. (Prior code § 34.09.909)

All increases in pensions and retirement benefits which were granted by former (1970) Charter Sections 173.2, 173.3, and 173.4 shall continue in force and effect as provided in such former Charter provisions, and shall not in any way be altered or modified by the enactment of this chapter and this article. (Prior code § 34.09.910)