Texas 2013 - 83rd Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1413 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Deuell S.B. No. 1413
2	2	(King of Taylor)
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the administration of retirement systems for paid,
8	8	partly paid, or volunteer firefighters.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Subsections (a) and (b), Section 19, Texas Local
11	11	Fire Fighters Retirement Act (Article 6243e, Vernon's Texas Civil
12	12	Statutes), are amended to read as follows:
13	13	(a) In each municipality and other political subdivision to
14	14	which this Act applies and that has a fire department that does not
15	15	consist exclusively of volunteers, the fire fighters' retirement
16	16	system is governed by a board of trustees consisting of:
17	17	(1) in a municipality, the mayor [of the municipality]
18	18	or the mayor's designated representative; in an emergency services
19	19	district, the president of the board of emergency services
20	20	commissioners; or in another political subdivision, the chief
21	21	operating officer [of the political subdivision] or the chief
22	22	operating officer's designated representative, as applicable;
23	23	(2) the chief financial officer of the municipality or
24	24	other political subdivision or, if there is no officer denominated
25	25	as chief financial officer, the person who performs the duties of
26	26	chief financial officer or a person designated by the chief
27	27	financial officer or by the person performing the duties of chief
28	28	financial officer;
29	29	(3) three members of the retirement system elected by
30	30	participating members as provided by Subsection (b) of this
31	31	section; and
32	32	(4) two persons who reside in this state [in the
33	33	municipality or other political subdivision or within the
34	34	extraterritorial jurisdiction of the municipality], who are not
35	35	officers or employees of the municipality or other political
36	36	subdivision, and who are elected by a majority vote of the members
37	37	of the board of trustees determined as provided by Subdivisions
38	38	(1), (2), and (3) of this subsection.
39	39	(b) During each period that begins on December 1 of one year
40	40	and ends on January 31 of the following year, the participating
41	41	members of a fire fighters' retirement system in a municipality or
42	42	other political subdivision subject to this section shall elect by
43	43	secret ballot and certify to the governing body of the municipality
44	44	or other political subdivision a member to the board of trustees to
45	45	serve a term of three years. To be elected a member of a board of
46	46	trustees under this subsection, a person must be a participating
47	47	member of the retirement system and receive a majority of the votes
48	48	cast in the election, and at least 50 percent of all participating
49	49	members of the retirement system must vote in the election.
50	50	Provided, however, that if only a single person is nominated for the
51	51	board of trustees position being filled, that person may be elected
52	52	by acclamation by those participating members present for the
53	53	election meeting, without the necessity of a secret ballot.
54	54	SECTION 2. Subsection (b), Section 25, Texas Local Fire
55	55	Fighters Retirement Act (Article 6243e, Vernon's Texas Civil
56	56	Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
57	57	(b) The annual amount of payments from a fund under this
58	58	section, excluding legal and medical fees, may not exceed:
59	59	(1) 1 percent of the market [book] value of the assets
60	60	of the fund for the first $1 million in market [book] value; and
61	61	(2) 1/4 of 1 percent of the market [book] value of the
62	62	assets of the fund that exceeds $1 million.
63	63	SECTION 3. Subsections (b) and (c), Section 30, Texas Local
64	64	Fire Fighters Retirement Act (Article 6243e, Vernon's Texas Civil
65	65	Statutes), are amended to read as follows:
66	66	(b) Contributions picked up as provided by this section
67	67	shall be treated as employer contributions in determining tax
68	68	treatment of the amounts under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
69	69	[Each municipality or other political subdivision picking up
70	70	contributions shall continue, however, to compute federal income
71	71	tax withholding as if these contributions were employee wages until
72	72	the first payroll period that begins after the date the fire
73	73	fighters' pension commissioner files with the secretary of state a
74	74	notice stating that the United States Internal Revenue Service has
75	75	determined or a federal court has ruled that under Section 414(h),
76	76	Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. Section 414(h)), the
77	77	contributions are not includable in the gross income of a member
78	78	until they are distributed or made available.] Employee
79	79	contributions picked up as provided by this section shall be
80	80	deposited to the credit of the individual account of each affected
81	81	member and shall be treated for all other purposes of this Act as if
82	82	the contributions had been deducted from the compensation of
83	83	members. Picked up contributions are not includable in a
84	84	computation of contribution rates of the municipality or other
85	85	political subdivision.
86	86	(c) A pick up of employee contributions takes effect in a
87	87	municipality or other political subdivision on January 1 of the
88	88	year following the year in which:
89	89	(1) the governing body of the municipality or other
90	90	political subdivision by ordinance has adopted the pick up; and
91	91	(2) the pick up has been approved by majority vote of
92	92	the participating members of the retirement system at an election
93	93	by secret ballot at which at least 50 percent of the participating
94	94	members vote[; and
95	95	[(3) the fire fighters' pension commissioner has filed
96	96	with the secretary of state a notice stating that the United States
97	97	Internal Revenue Service has issued a determination that the plan
98	98	covering employees of the municipality or other political
99	99	subdivision is a qualified retirement plan under Section 401(a),
100	100	Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. Section 401(a)), and that
101	101	its related trust is tax exempt under Section 501(a) of that code
102	102	(26 U.S.C. Section 501(a))].
103	103	SECTION 4. Subsection (e), Section 19, Texas Local Fire
104	104	Fighters Retirement Act (Article 6243e, Vernon's Texas Civil
105	105	Statutes), is repealed.
106	106	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
107	107	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
108	108	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
109	109	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
110	110	Act takes effect September 1, 2013.