2023 Texas Statutes › Vernon's Civil Statutes › Title 109 - Pensions › Article 6243e. Texas Local Fire Fighters Retirement Act › Section 2. Definitions

Sec. 2.  DEFINITIONS.  In this Act:
(1)  "Contribution" means an amount of money paid by a municipality or other political subdivision to a retirement system or required to be paid periodically to a retirement system by or on behalf of a member of the retirement system for the purpose of financing benefits payable by the system.
(2)  "Employee" means a person who regularly performs services for a fire department, who is a member of the retirement system that includes the fire department, and who regularly receives compensation for those services of at least $200 a month.  The term includes a person described by Subsection (d) of Section 9 of this Act who regularly receives compensation by the municipality or other political subdivision of at least $200 a month.
(3)  "Fund" means a trust fund established in conjunction with a fire fighters' retirement system for the purpose of holding assets to be used to finance benefits payable by the system.
(4)  "Participating member" means an employee who is required to make periodic contributions to a retirement system or a volunteer who meets the requirements of Subsection (b) of Section 10 of this Act.
(5)  "Regularly organized fire department" means a unit that is responsible primarily for fighting fires and responding to other emergencies each day and that has specialized equipment for use in performing those tasks.
(6)  "Retiree" means a person who receives a benefit, other than a return of contributions, from a retirement system for services the person performed as a member.
(7)  "Retirement system" means a fire fighters' retirement system established as provided by Section 4 of this Act.
(8)  "Volunteer" means a person who regularly performs services for a fire department, who is a member of the retirement system that includes the fire department, and who either receives no compensation for those services or regularly receives compensation for those services of less than $200 a month.  The term includes a person described by Subsection (d) of Section 9 of this Act who either receives no compensation for service to a municipality or other political subdivision or regularly receives compensation for that service of less than $200 a month.
(9)  "Compensation" includes amounts of workers' compensation benefits received by an employee and by which the employee's salary is reduced.
(10)  "Determination date" means:
(A)  the day before the effective date of an addition or change adopted by the board of trustees of a retirement system under Section 7 of this Act; or
(B)  the date of divorce for a member or retiree whose benefits under this Act are subject to a qualified domestic relations order.
(11)  "Vested accrued benefit" means the amount of the monthly benefit that a person is entitled to receive based on the person's service credit and compensation history as of the determination date under the benefit formula and other terms established by a retirement system, including a vested percentage where applicable, as those terms exist on the determination date.  The vested accrued benefit of a member is calculated without regard to any optional form of payment the member may select at retirement.  The term does not include cost-of-living increases that may be applied to a benefit after the determination date.