Spokane Municipal Code

Title 03 Administration and Personnel

Chapter 03.05 Spokane Employees' Retirement System

1. “Accumulated contributions” means the sum of all normal contributions deducted from the compensation of a member, and in-lieu payments of employees’ contributions by the City, standing to the credit of the member’s individual account, together with contribution interest as established pursuant to SMC 4.14.070(D) (1) compounded monthly.

2. “Annuity” means payments derived from contributions made by a member as provided in SMC 3.05.190.

3. “Beneficiary” means any person in receipt of a pension, annuity, retirement allowance, disability allowance, or any other benefit provided in this chapter and chapter 4.14 SMC.

4. “Board” means “board of administration” as provided in chapter 4.14 SMC.

5. “City” means the City of Spokane.

6. “City service” means service by an employee rendered to the City for compensation and, for the purpose of this chapter and chapter 4.14 SMC, a member shall be considered as being in City service only while the member is receiving compensation for such service. City service also includes: (i) service by an employee of SREC for the limited period of time during which the employee also qualifies as a SREC Member; and (ii) service by an employee of SPFD for the limited period of time during which the employee also qualifies as a SPFD Member.

7. “Compensation” means the compensation including base pay, shift differential, overtime, holiday pay, hazardous duty pay and out-of-classification pay, payable in cash, plus the monetary value, as determined by the board, of any allowance in lieu thereof. It shall not be reduced by salary reduction contributions to the City’s cafeteria plan or Section 457 plan, or effective January 1, 2001, any qualified transportation fringe benefit plan under Internal Revenue Code section 132(f)(4). Compensation in excess of the limitations set forth in Internal Revenue Code section 401(a)(17) shall not be included in determining benefits, but this restriction does not apply to any individual who was a member prior to January 1, 1996.

8. “Contribution interest,” unless changed by the board as provided in SMC 4.14.070, means the interest rate on member contributions, which shall be set equal to the average daily interest rate for the 5-year US Treasury Note from July 1 of the previous year to June 30 of the current year, rounded to the nearest 0.25%. The new interest rate will be effective as of July 1 of the current year, beginning in 2016.

1. “Creditable service” means such City service as is evidenced by the record of normal contributions received from the employee plus prior City service if credit for same is still intact or not lost through withdrawal of accumulated contributions as provided in SMC 3.05.120. The maximum creditable service will be based on the benefit formula eligibility in SMC 3.05.025.  Creditable service includes service rendered by: (i) a SREC employee during the period of time that the SREC employee also is a SREC Member; and (ii) a SPFD employee during the period of time that the SPFD employee also is a SPFD Member.

10. “Employee” means any regularly appointed employee or elected official of the City or of the Spokane public library. Employee also includes: (i) regularly appointed employees of SREC for the limited period of time during which such employees also qualify as SREC Members; and (ii) regularly appointed employees of SPFD for the limited period of time during which such employees also qualify as SPFD Members.

11. “Final compensation” has different meanings that depend on whether the member’s benefit is calculated using Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3 or Tier 4. For benefits calculated under Tier 1 and Tier 2, “final compensation” means the annual average of the member’s compensation during the highest consecutive two-year period of service for which service credit is allowed for purposes of determining retirement benefits for members described in SMC 3.05.025(A) or (B). For benefits calculated under Tier 3, “final compensation” means the annual average of the member’s compensation during the highest consecutive three-year period of service for which service credit is allowed. For benefits calculated under Tier 4, “final compensation” means the annual average of the member’s compensation during the highest consecutive three-year period of service for which service credit is allowed; for this purpose, the portion of a member’s compensation for any year shall not include overtime in excess of twenty percent (20%) of the member’s base salary for that year. Final compensation shall not be reduced to reflect salary reduction contributions to the City’s cafeteria plan or Section 457 plan, or effective January 1, 2001, any qualified transportation fringe benefit plan under Internal Revenue Code section 132(f)(4). Compensation in excess of the limitations set forth in Internal Revenue Code section 401(a)(17) shall not be included as final compensation when determining benefits, but this restriction does not apply to any individual who was a member prior to January 1, 1996.

12. “Fiscal year” means any year commencing with January 1st and ending with December 31st next following.

13. “Member” means any person included in the membership of the retirement system as provided in SMC 3.05.030.

14. “Normal contributions” means the contributions at the rate provided for in SMC 3.05.040(A) and (B).

15. “Participation date” means the date on which an employee initially joined the retirement system from which the employee had uninterrupted deposit of contributions. If an employee who joins the system terminates and their accumulated contributions are withdrawn is subsequently rehired as a City employee, then that employee’s participation date shall be their rehire date and not the date on which the employee was originally hired, whether or not that employee redeposits their contributions as permitted under SMC 3.05.120(C). If an employee becomes subject to SMC 3.05.260 and is rehired following retirement, then any additional retirement allowance earned by that employee shall be determined as if the member’s participation date is based on the rehire date.

16. “Pension” means payments derived from contributions made by the City (and by SREC and SPFD, as applicable) as provided for in SMC 3.05.190.

17. “Regular interest,” unless changed by the board as provided in SMC 4.14.070, means the actuarial assumption rate of interest which compounded annually shall place the retirement fund on a sound actuarial basis.

18. “Retirement allowance” means any payments made to a member or successor upon retirement for service or disability.

19. “Retirement fund” means “employees’ retirement fund” as created and established in SMC 3.05.070 and SMC 7.08.601. “Retirement system” means “Spokane Employees’ Retirement System” (SERS), provided for in this chapter.

20. “SPFD” means Spokane Public Facilities District.

21. “SPFD Member” means any actively employed City employee whose employment was directly transferred to SPFD and who, at the time of such transfer, was an active member of SERS.

5. “Spouse” means an individual to whom a member is lawfully married under state law; the terms “spouse,” “husband and wife,” “husband,” and “wife,” include an individual married to another individual of the same sex if the individuals are married under state law, and the term “marriage” includes such a marriage between individuals of the same sex.  Pursuant to RCW 41.04.900, the terms spouse, marriage, marital, husband, wife, widow, widower, next of kin, and family shall be interpreted as applying equally to state registered domestic partnerships or individuals in state registered domestic partnerships as well as to marital relationships and married persons, and references to dissolution of marriage shall apply equally to state registered domestic partnerships that have been terminated, dissolved, or invalidated, to the extent that such interpretation does not conflict with federal law.

23. “SREC” means Spokane Regional Emergency Communications.

10. “SREC Member” means any actively employed City employee whose employment was directly transferred to SREC and who, at the time of such transfer, was an active member of SERS. 

25. “State registered domestic partnership” is defined consistent with the provisions of RCW 26.60.020, 26.60.025, and 26.60.030.

26. “Tier 1” means the benefit formula in SMC 3.05.160.

27. “Tier 2” means the benefit formula in SMC 3.05.165.

28. “Tier 3” means the benefit formula in SMC 3.05.166.

29. “Tier 4” means the benefit formula in SMC 3.05.167.

Date Passed: Monday, November 8, 2021

Effective Date: Wednesday, December 15, 2021

ORD C36127 Section 2