§ 54-102. Prior fire service.

Unless otherwise prohibited by law, and except as provided for in the definition of "credited service" in section 54-77, the years or fractional parts of years that a member previously served as a firefighter with the city during a period of previous employment and for which period accumulated contributions were withdrawn from the fund, or the years and fractional parts of years that a member served as a full-time firefighter for any other municipal, county or special district fire department in the state shall be added to his years of credited service provided that:

(1)

The member contributes to the fund the sum that he would have contributed based on his salary and the member contribution rate in effect at the time that the credited service is requested, had he been a member of the system for the years or fractional parts of years for which he is requesting credit plus amounts actuarially determined such that the crediting of service does not result in any cost to the fund plus payment of costs for all professional services rendered to the board in connection with the purchase of years of credited service.

(2)

Multiple requests to purchase credited service pursuant to this section may be made at any time prior to retirement.

(3)

Payment by the member of the required amount shall be made within six months of his request for credit , but not later than the retirement date, and shall be made in one lump sum payment upon receipt of which credited service shall be given or the member may elect to make payment for the requested credited service over a period of time as provided for in subsection (5).

(4)

In no event, however, may credited service be purchased pursuant to this section for prior service with any other municipal, county or special district fire department, if such prior service forms or will form the basis of a retirement benefit or pension from a different employer's retirement system or plan as set forth in subsection 54-91(l)(2).

(5)

In lieu of the lump sum payment provided for in subsection (3), a member may elect to make payments over a period of time in order to fully pay the amount provided for in subsection (1). The member shall be required to notify the board, in writing, of his election to make payments in the manner provided for in this paragraph. The payment plan provided for in this paragraph shall be subject to the following terms:

a.

The principal amount to be paid shall be determined as set forth in subsection (1).

b.

The original principal amount shall be amortized over the period beginning with the first payment and ending no later than 24 months from the date of the first payment and shall be reamortized annually to reflect changes in the interest rate provided for in subsection c. below.

c.

Payments shall consist of principal, interest and a one percent per annum administrative fee, with interest adjusted annually to be equal to the fund's rate of investment return for the prior year, or eight percent per annum simple interest, whichever is less.

d.

Payments shall be made by payroll deduction from each paycheck on an after-tax basis.

e.

In the event that a member dies, retires (including entry into the deferred retirement option plan (DROP)) or otherwise terminates his employment, without having made full payment of the principal amount necessary to receive all credited service requested, the member shall receive so much of the credited service requested, determined using procedures established by the actuary, which could be purchased with the amount of principal paid by the member to the date of his death or termination of employment.

f.

In the event that the member's employment is terminated for any reason and he is not entitled to any benefit from the plan other than the return of the amounts he has had deducted from his paycheck as his normal contribution to the plan, the amounts which the member has paid pursuant to this subsection to purchase additional credited service, shall be returned to him, less all interest paid and less the one percent administrative fee.

(6)

The maximum credit under this section for service other than with the city shall be five years of credited service and shall count for all purposes, except vesting and eligibility for not-in-line of duty disability benefits. There shall be no maximum purchase of credit for prior service with the city and such credit shall count for all purposes, including vesting.

(Ord. No. 2007-29, § 1, 9-18-07; Ord. No. 2010-26, § 1, 9-28-10; Ord. No. 2015-7 , § 3, 6-2-2015)