Article 3. Second Tier Retirement—contracting Agencies of California Government Code >> Division 5. >> Title 2. >> Part 3. >> Chapter 12. >> Article 3.

(a) The governing body of a contracting agency may establish a two-tiered retirement system developed by the board .
  (b) It is the intent of the Legislature to make a two-tiered retirement system a matter for bargaining pursuant to provisions of law relating to employer-employee relations.

(a) Contracting agencies as defined in Section 20022, some or all of whose employees are miscellaneous members included in the federal system, may amend their contracts with the board to provide an alternate level of benefits pursuant to this article. The alternate level of benefits shall be provided to all local miscellaneous members of a contracting agency whose services are also covered under the federal system who first become members of this system on and after the contract amendment effective date and shall be made available by election to eligible members also covered under the federal system who were employees of the contracting agency prior to the effective date of the employer's contract amendment as specified in Section 21099.
  (b) This article shall not apply to any agency with a memorandum of understanding that precludes any changes in the retirement coverage of the employee bargaining unit subject to that agreement.

(a) The normal rate of contribution for a local miscellaneous member subject to this article shall be 2 percent of compensation paid the member. A contracting agency may pay all or a portion of the member's normal contributions, pursuant to Section 20691.
  (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a new member, as defined in Section 7522.04, shall have a contribution rate of at least 50 percent of the normal cost, pursuant to Section 7522.30.

(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), a local miscellaneous member subject to this article may be retired for service upon his or her written application to the board if he or she has attained age 55 and is credited with five years of service.
  (b) Any person who was a member of this system prior to the effective date of the employer's contract amendment to be subject to this article, and who elects to become subject to this article, may be retired for service upon his or her written application to the board if he or she has attained age 50 and is credited with five years of combined service.

(a) The service retirement allowance for a local miscellaneous member subject to this article shall be calculated in accordance with Section 21100.
  (b) "Final compensation" for purposes of determining any benefits payable under this part for any local miscellaneous member service subject to this article shall be as defined by Section 20037 and shall not be reduced by any fraction or amount due to the inclusion in the federal system.

(a) Participation in the plan afforded by this article shall be made available to any employee who was included in the federal system and who was a member of this system prior to the effective date of the employer's contract amendment to be subject to this article. The election shall be irrevocable, shall be effective on the first day of the pay period following the member's election, and shall apply to all future service rendered by the member with that agency. Each contracting agency shall ensure each eligible member receives sufficient information to permit an informed election, is counseled regarding the benefits provided by this article, and receives an election document. The election document shall be filed with the contracting agency, and the contracting agency shall report the member's irrevocable election to the board.
  (b) A member subject to this article shall be subject to all other provisions of this part. However, in the event of a conflict, this article shall supersede and prevail over other provisions contained in this part.

The employer contribution rate of a contracting agency subject to this article shall be determined by the board as otherwise provided by this part.

(a) The monthly allowances payable to members based on service subject to this article shall be annually adjusted pursuant to Section 21329.
  (b) The percentage of the amount of his or her retirement allowance as it was at his or her death payable based on service credited to him or her as a member subject to Section 21624, for a member subject to this article, shall be 25 percent.

The disability retirement pension for local miscellaneous service subject to this article shall be one of the following:
  (a) Ninety percent of the factor applicable at age 65 as set forth in Section 21094 times final compensation multiplied by the number of years of service credited to him or her.
  (b) If the disability retirement allowance computed under subdivision (a) does not exceed one-third of his or her final compensation, 90 percent of the benefit that would be payable to the member had the member continued in employment until age 65 but in that case the retirement allowance shall not exceed one-third of the final compensation. This subdivision is not applicable to members who are not entitled, at the time of retirement, to be credited with at least 10 years of service.
  (c) If the disability retirement allowance is derived from this section and Section 21423, and would otherwise exceed the maximums provided by these sections, the pension payable with respect to each section shall be reduced in the same proportion as the allowance computed as though there was no limit, so that the total of the pensions shall equal the maximum allowed.

This article shall not apply to a contracting agency nor its employees until, first, it is agreed to in a written memorandum of understanding entered into by an employer and representatives of employees and, second, the contracting agency elects to be subject to it by amendment to its contract made in the manner prescribed for approval of contracts or in the case of a new contract, by express provision of the contract. The operative date of this article with respect to a local miscellaneous member shall be the effective date of the amendment to his or her employer's contract electing to be subject to this article.

(a) The service retirement allowance for a local miscellaneous member who is subject to this article is a pension derived from the contributions of the employer sufficient, when added to the service retirement annuity that is derived from the accumulated normal contributions of the member at the date of retirement, to equal the fraction of one-hundredth of the member's final compensation set forth opposite the member's age at retirement, taken to the preceding completed quarter year in the following table, multiplied by the member's number of years of local miscellaneous service subject to this article:

Fraction 50 .......................... .5000 50 1/4 ...................... .5167 50 1/2 ...................... .5334 50 3/4 ...................... .5500 51 .......................... .5667 51 1/4 ...................... .5834 51 1/2 ...................... .6000 51 3/4 ...................... .6167 52 .......................... .6334 52 1/4 ...................... .6500 52 1/2 ...................... .6667 52 3/4 ...................... .6834 53 .......................... .7000 53 1/4 ...................... .7167 53 1/2 ...................... .7334 53 3/4 ...................... .7500 54 .......................... .7667 54 1/4 ...................... .7834 54 1/2 ...................... .8000 54 3/4 ...................... .8167 55 .......................... .8334 55 1/4 ...................... .8500 55 1/2 ...................... .8667 55 3/4 ...................... .8834 56 .......................... .9000 56 1/4 ...................... .9167 56 1/2 ...................... .9334 56 3/4 ...................... .9500 57 .......................... .9667 57 1/4 ...................... .9834 57 1/2 ...................... 1.0000 57 3/4 ...................... 1.0167 58 .......................... 1.0334 58 1/4 ...................... 1.0500 58 1/2 ...................... 1.0667 58 3/4 ...................... 1.0834 59 .......................... 1.1000 59 1/4 ...................... 1.1167 59 1/2 ...................... 1.1334 59 3/4 ...................... 1.1500 60 .......................... 1.1667 60 1/4 ...................... 1.1834 60 1/2 ...................... 1.2000 60 3/4 ...................... 1.2167 61 .......................... 1.2334 61 1/4 ...................... 1.2500 61 1/2 ...................... 1.2667 61 3/4 ...................... 1.2834 62 .......................... 1.3000 62 1/4 ...................... 1.3167 62 1/2 ...................... 1.3334 62 3/4 ...................... 1.3500 63 .......................... 1.3667 63 1/4 ...................... 1.3834 63 1/2 ...................... 1.4000 63 3/4 ...................... 1.4167 64 .......................... 1.4334 64 1/4 ...................... 1.4500 64 1/2 ...................... 1.4667 64 3/4 ...................... 1.4834 65 .......................... 1.5000

(b) The service retirement allowance for a local miscellaneous member who, pursuant to Section 21095, elects to be subject to this article shall be the sum of the allowance for service rendered subsequent to the effective date of the election computed pursuant to subdivision (a) of this section, added to the allowance for service rendered as a local miscellaneous member prior to the effective date of the election, computed pursuant to the formula specified in the employer's contract with the board.