By: Deuell S.B. No. 1413
(In the Senate - Filed March 7, 2013; March 18, 2013, read
first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
April 22, 2013, reported favorably by the following vote:
Yeas 9, Nays 0; April 22, 2013, sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the administration of retirement systems for paid,
partly paid, or volunteer firefighters.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsections (a) and (b), Section 19, Texas Local
Fire Fighters Retirement Act (Article 6243e, Vernon's Texas Civil
Statutes), are amended to read as follows:
(a) In each municipality and other political subdivision to
which this Act applies and that has a fire department that does not
consist exclusively of volunteers, the fire fighters' retirement
system is governed by a board of trustees consisting of:
(1) in a municipality, the mayor [of the municipality]
or the mayor's designated representative; in an emergency services
district, the president of the board of emergency services
commissioners; or in another political subdivision, the chief
operating officer [of the political subdivision] or the chief
operating officer's designated representative, as applicable;
(2) the chief financial officer of the municipality or
other political subdivision or, if there is no officer denominated
as chief financial officer, the person who performs the duties of
chief financial officer or a person designated by the chief
financial officer or by the person performing the duties of chief
financial officer;
(3) three members of the retirement system elected by
participating members as provided by Subsection (b) of this
section; and
(4) two persons who reside in this state [in the
municipality or other political subdivision or within the
extraterritorial jurisdiction of the municipality], who are not
officers or employees of the municipality or other political
subdivision, and who are elected by a majority vote of the members
of the board of trustees determined as provided by Subdivisions
(1), (2), and (3) of this subsection.
(b) During each period that begins on December 1 of one year
and ends on January 31 of the following year, the participating
members of a fire fighters' retirement system in a municipality or
other political subdivision subject to this section shall elect by
secret ballot and certify to the governing body of the municipality
or other political subdivision a member to the board of trustees to
serve a term of three years. To be elected a member of a board of
trustees under this subsection, a person must be a participating
member of the retirement system and receive a majority of the votes
cast in the election, and at least 50 percent of all participating
members of the retirement system must vote in the election.
Provided, however, that if only a single person is nominated for the
board of trustees position being filled, that person may be elected
by acclamation by those participating members present for the
election meeting, without the necessity of a secret ballot.
SECTION 2. Subsection (b), Section 25, Texas Local Fire
Fighters Retirement Act (Article 6243e, Vernon's Texas Civil
Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
(b) The annual amount of payments from a fund under this
section, excluding legal and medical fees, may not exceed:
(1) 1 percent of the market [book] value of the assets
of the fund for the first $1 million in market [book] value; and
(2) 1/4 of 1 percent of the market [book] value of the
assets of the fund that exceeds $1 million.
SECTION 3. Subsections (b) and (c), Section 30, Texas Local
Fire Fighters Retirement Act (Article 6243e, Vernon's Texas Civil
Statutes), are amended to read as follows:
(b) Contributions picked up as provided by this section
shall be treated as employer contributions in determining tax
treatment of the amounts under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
[Each municipality or other political subdivision picking up
contributions shall continue, however, to compute federal income
tax withholding as if these contributions were employee wages until
the first payroll period that begins after the date the fire
fighters' pension commissioner files with the secretary of state a
notice stating that the United States Internal Revenue Service has
determined or a federal court has ruled that under Section 414(h),
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. Section 414(h)), the
contributions are not includable in the gross income of a member
until they are distributed or made available.] Employee
contributions picked up as provided by this section shall be
deposited to the credit of the individual account of each affected
member and shall be treated for all other purposes of this Act as if
the contributions had been deducted from the compensation of
members. Picked up contributions are not includable in a
computation of contribution rates of the municipality or other
political subdivision.
(c) A pick up of employee contributions takes effect in a
municipality or other political subdivision on January 1 of the
year following the year in which:
(1) the governing body of the municipality or other
political subdivision by ordinance has adopted the pick up; and
(2) the pick up has been approved by majority vote of
the participating members of the retirement system at an election
by secret ballot at which at least 50 percent of the participating
members vote[; and
[(3) the fire fighters' pension commissioner has filed
with the secretary of state a notice stating that the United States
Internal Revenue Service has issued a determination that the plan
covering employees of the municipality or other political
subdivision is a qualified retirement plan under Section 401(a),
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. Section 401(a)), and that
its related trust is tax exempt under Section 501(a) of that code
(26 U.S.C. Section 501(a))].
SECTION 4. Subsection (e), Section 19, Texas Local Fire
Fighters Retirement Act (Article 6243e, Vernon's Texas Civil
Statutes), is repealed.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
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