Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 58 - RETIREMENT › Part V - Firefighters' Pension and Relief Fund for the City of New Orleans and Vicinity › Chapter 13 - Service Credit › Section V-1301 - Reciprocal Recognition of Credited Service-Reciprocal Benefit

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A. In accordance
				with
				R.S.
				11:142, an employee shall combine his
				credited service accrued under a public retirement system with his credited
				service accrued under the Firefighters' Pension and Relief Fund for the City of
				New Orleans (fund) to receive a reciprocal benefit from the public retirement
				system and this fund, provided the provisions under
				R.S.
				11:142 and these rules and regulations are
				satisfied.
1. Definitions
Employee
- a firefighter eligible under the
				  Firefighters' Pension and Relief Fund for the City of New Orleans.
Fund
- the Firefighters' Pension and Relief
				  Fund for the City of New Orleans.
Public Retirement System
- any state,
				  municipal, or parochial retirement or pension system, fund, or program offered
				  within the state of Louisiana, other than this fund, that offers regular
				  retirement, disability retirement, or death and survivor benefits.
Reciprocal Benefit
- the prorated retirement,
				  disability, death, or survivor benefit from this fund and a public retirement
				  system, based on the employee's membership service credit actually accrued and
				  credited under each respective retirement system equal to the full benefit
				  payable from each system had the employee satisfied the minimum eligibility
				  conditions under each system for such benefit. The terms and conditions of each
				  retirement system shall apply to determine the employee's reciprocal
				  benefit.
Reciprocal Benefit Application
- the
				  application form approved by the board of trustees of this fund. The
				  application form may be obtained from the fund office.
2. Eligibility
a. In order to file a reciprocal benefit
				application with the board of trustees of this fund, the employee must be an
				active member of this fund currently making contributions to this fund. A
				former employee of this fund may file a reciprocal benefit application with
				this fund provided he is not actively contributing to this fund or to any
				public retirement system at the time of the filing of the application, and that
				this fund is the last system to which he contributed. However, an employee
				shall not be eligible to receive any reciprocal benefit from this fund or from
				a public retirement system so long as the employee continues to contribute to
				this fund or another public retirement system.
b. To receive a reciprocal benefit, the
				employee must satisfy the following conditions.
i. The employee must satisfy the eligibility
				requirements of the public retirement system.
ii. The employee must satisfy the eligibility
				requirements of this fund and must accumulate at least six months of credited
				service under this fund.
iii. The
				employee must not have previously received a refund of his employee
				contributions from this fund or any public retirement system. If an employee
				has received a refund of his employee contributions, he may repay his employee
				contributions plus compounded interest at the actuarial rate approved by the
				board of trustees, from the date of the refund of his employee contributions
				until the date of repayment.
iv.
				The employee must file a reciprocal benefit application with the board of
				trustees of this fund. Any other application form or document shall be
				unacceptable and void. An employee may rescind, cancel, or withdraw his
				reciprocal benefit application any time by notifying the board of trustees, in
				writing, of his rescission, cancellation, or withdrawal of his
				application.
3. Calculation of Reciprocal Benefit
a. The employee's reciprocal benefit from the
				public retirement system and from this fund shall be calculated as follows.
i. The terms and conditions of this fund and
				the public retirement system shall apply as of the date of the employee's date
				of retirement, disability, or death.
ii. The benefit formula used to calculate the
				employee's reciprocal benefit from each system shall be the benefit formula in
				effect under this fund and under the public retirement system on the employee's
				date of retirement, disability, or death.
iii. The employee's compensation earned and
				accrued under this fund shall be used to calculate his reciprocal benefit from
				this fund. The employee's compensation earned and accrued under the public
				retirement system shall be used to calculate his reciprocal benefit from the
				public retirement system.
iv. The
				employee's years of service credit accrued and earned under this fund shall be
				used to calculate his reciprocal benefit from this fund. The employee's years
				of service credit accrued and earned under the public retirement system shall
				be used to calculate his reciprocal benefit from the public retirement system.
				The following shall apply to determine the years of service credit:
(a). years of service credit shall not be
				duplicated;
(b). an employee shall
				not receive more than one year of service credit during a single calendar or
				fiscal year; and
(c). an employee
				shall not accrue more than four years of military credit as service credit
				under this fund and no more than five years of military credit as service
				credit under both this fund and the public retirement system.
v. If the employee fails to
				accumulate the required minimum years of service under either this fund or the
				public retirement system, the employee's reciprocal benefit paid by that system
				shall be prorated accordingly. The prorated reciprocal benefit shall be
				calculated based on the employee's years of service actually accrued under that
				system, divided by the minimum years of service required under that system to
				receive a benefit.
b.
				The amount of the employee's reciprocal benefit from both this fund and the
				public retirement system shall not exceed:
i.
				100 percent of the highest average compensation on which the benefit is based
				under both plans; and
ii. the
				highest benefit under either this fund or the public retirement system, if all
				years of service credit accrued under both systems were considered in
				calculating such benefit under each respective system.
c. If the reciprocal benefit exceeds the
				above limitation under §1301. A.3.b.i or ii., then this fund or the public
				retirement system, if applicable, shall reduce the reciprocal benefit in
				proportion to the total reciprocal benefit paid from both systems.
4. Coordination of Reciprocal
				Benefit between This Fund and Other Public Retirement Systems
a. The trustees' approval of an application
				submitted to this fund for payment of a reciprocal benefit shall be in
				compliance with
				R.S.
				11:142 and these rules and regulations. Upon
				approval of the reciprocal benefit application by the trustees, the trustees
				shall forward the approved application to the appropriate public retirement
				system in question. The trustees shall coordinate the payment of the reciprocal
				benefit with the public retirement system in which the employee has accumulated
				service credit and shall notify the public retirement system when the covered
				member ceases to be an active member under this fund and is thus entitled to
				receive a reciprocal benefit due to retirement, disability, or death. The
				trustees of this fund shall notify all public retirement systems of the amount
				of the reciprocal benefit payable from this fund and the calculation of such
				benefit.
b. The trustees of this
				fund, in their sole and absolute discretion, may agree with the trustees of the
				public retirement system that the payment of the total reciprocal benefit shall
				be made by one system and that the other system shall make appropriate
				reimbursement to the system making the total reciprocal benefit
				payment.
c. If the reciprocal
				benefit is payable from both this fund and the public retirement system in a
				lump sum form of payment, the additional lump sum benefit shall be paid in
				proportion to the years of credited service accrued under each system that
				represents the total years of credited service under both this fund and the
				public retirement system. The total lump sum benefit under both systems shall
				not be less than the greatest lump sum benefit payable under either this fund
				or the public retirement system. If the total lump sum benefit is less than the
				greatest lump sum benefit payable, the system having the greatest lump sum
				benefit shall pay the difference.