increased benefits police&fire

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YESNO

!PROPOSITION H

Shall the City increase retirement benefits for police and firefighters?

ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST THIS MEASURE IMMEDIATELY FOLLOW THIS PAGE. THE FULL TEXT BEGINS ON PAGE P-96.SOME OF THE WORDS USED IN THE BALLOT DIGEST ARE EXPLAINED ON PAGE P-3.

THIS MEASURE REQUIRES 50%+1 AFFIRMATIVE VOTES TO PASS.

THE WAY IT IS NOW: City police and firefighters are members ofthe City's retirement system. Generally, police and firefighters canretire at age 50. Police and firefighters who retire at age 50 receive,for each year of service, 2 percent of the salary they earned at thetime of retirement. Police and firefighters who retire at age 55receive, for each year of service, 2.7 percent of the salary theyearned at the time of retirement. The maximum retirement benefitpolice and firefighters may receive is 75 percent of their salary atthe time of retirement.

THE PROPOSAL: Proposition H is a Charter amendment thatwould change the formula for police and firefighter retirement ben-efits. Police and firefighters who retire at age 50 would receive, foreach year of service, 2.4 percent of the salary earned at the time

of retirement. Police and firefighters who retire at age 55 wouldreceive, for each year of service, 3 percent of the salary earned atthe time of retirement. The maximum retirement benefit police andfirefighters could receive would be 90 percent of the salary at thetime of retirement. Police and firefighters who retire before January1, 2003 would not be eligible for this increase.

A “YES”VOTE MEANS: If you vote "Yes," you want to make thesechanges to police and firefighter retirement benefits.

A “NO”VOTE MEANS: If you vote "No," you do not want to makethese changes to police and firefighter retirement benefits.

Police & Firefighter Retirement Benefits

by Ballot Simplification CommitteeDigest

Controller’s Statement on “H”On July 8, 2002 the Board of Supervisors voted 11 to 0 to place

Proposition H on the ballot.

The Supervisors voted as follows:Yes: Supervisors Ammiano, Daly, Gonzalez, Hall, Leno, Maxwell,McGoldrick, Newsom, Peskin, Sandoval, and Yee.

How Supervisors Voted on "H"City Controller Edward Harrington has issued the following

statement on the fiscal impact of Proposition H:

Should the proposed amendment be adopted, in my opinion, thecost to the City and County would increase, as estimated by theRetirement System Actuary, by about $28 million per year for thenext 20 years, dropping after 20 years to an ongoing cost ofapproximately $8.2 million per year.

However, no cash would be required since the City's RetirementSystem currently has a large surplus. While the cost of this pro-posal would reduce that surplus, the City nonetheless should notbe required to make employer contributions to the RetirementSystem for at least the next ten years. The Amendment also pro-vides that if the City is required to make employer contributions tothe Retirement System, the City will negotiate a cost-sharingagreement with the police officers and firefighters to cover all orpart of the cost of providing the additional retirement benefitsthrough employee contributions.

To protect San Francisco we must make sure that our very bestfirefighters, police officers and paramedics can stay right here athome.

That's why we support Proposition H to help recruit and retainthe most qualified public safety personnel.

The men and women of our public safety services risk theirlives to protect us. That's why we need to protect them with com-mon-sense measures like Proposition H. Right now, San Franciscooffers some of the lowest retirement benefits in the state to fire-fighters, police officers and paramedics. As a result, the men andwomen who protect our families face intense pressure to takeemployment elsewhere - so they can protect their own families.

Proposition H is a way to address this problem.

Because of a multi-billion dollar surplus in our pension fund,there will be no cost to taxpayers for at least ten years, and prob-ably much longer. As an added financial protection, Proposition Hrequires that if the retirement surplus is ever exhausted, the publicsafety officers would be required to enter into negotiations withthe city to pay for the added benefit themselves.

This is a fiscally sound and fair plan that will protect our city. Itmakes sure we have the best trained personnel at work.Proposition H helps bring our public safety officers up to the state-wide average of retirement benefits. It will make a difference inthe safety of our city.

Please join Senator Feinstein, Congresswoman Pelosi, andSupervisors Ammiano, Daly, Hall, Leno, Maxwell, McGoldrick,Newson, Peskin, Sandoval and Yee in voting YES on Proposition H.

Keep our very best hard at work protecting us. Vote Yes onProposition H!

Senator Dianne FeinsteinCongresswoman Nancy PelosiSupervisors Tom Ammiano, Chris Daly, Tony Hall, Mark Leno,Sophie Maxwell, Jake McGoldrick, Gavin Newsom, AaronPeskin, Gerardo Sandoval and Leland Yee

Arguments printed on this page are the opinion of the authors and have not been checked for accuracy by any official agency.

Police & Firefighter Retirement BenefitsPROPONENT’S ARGUMENT IN FAVOR OF PROPOSITION H

REBUTTAL TO PROPONENT’S ARGUMENT IN FAVOR OF PROPOSITION H

!

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NO REBUTTAL TO PROPONENT’S ARGUMENT WAS SUBMITTED


Police & Firefighter Retirement BenefitsOPPONENT’S ARGUMENT AGAINST PROPOSITION H

REBUTTAL TO OPPONENT’S ARGUMENT AGAINST PROPOSITION H

!

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NO OPPONENT’S ARGUMENT WAS SUBMITTED

NO OPPONENT’S ARGUMENT WAS SUBMITTED

PAID ARGUMENTS IN FAVOR OF PROPOSITION HThe SAN FRANCISCO DEMOCRATIC PARTY recom-

mends a YES Vote on H - Police and Fire Retirement Benefits

Jane Morrison, Chair, San Francisco Democratic PartyThe true source of funds used for the printing fee of this argumentis San Francisco Democratic Party.

The three largest contributors to the true source recipient commit-tee are: 1. Nancy Pelosi 2. Carole Migden 3. SEIU, Local 250 PAC.

Keep Our Communities Safe.Don't the men and women who risk their lives every day to pro-

tect us deserve a fair chance to protect their own families? Weneed our officers focused on keeping our communities safe, notworried about who will take care of their families. Proposition His a sensible solution to keep trained firefighters, police officers,and paramedics on the job. Please join me in voting YES on H.

Senator Dianne Feinstein The true source of funds used for the printing fee of this argumentis Yes on H, Public Safety Officers for a Better Retirement.

The two largest contributors to the true source recipient committeeare: 1. San Francisco Police Officers Association 2. San FranciscoFirefighters.

Protect Our Public Safety Officers.Our police, firefighters, and paramedics are there when we need

them. It's our duty to care for them and their families when theyneed us. Vote YES on Proposition H and give San Francisco pub-lic safety workers the pensions they deserve. It won't cost taxpay-ers a penny, but it will make our city a safer place to live.

Congresswoman Nancy PelosiThe true source of funds used for the printing fee of this argumentis Yes on H, Public Safety Officers for a Better Retirement.


Public Safety Officers Deserve a Fair Pension!Police officers, firefighters and paramedics put their lives on the

line every day to protect us. Let's make sure that these brave menand women receive the pensions they deserve. Please vote YES onProposition H. At no cost to taxpayers, Proposition H is a fiscallyresponsible measure that will improve our public safety.

State Senator John BurtonAssemblyman Kevin ShelleyAssemblywoman Carole MigdenThe true source of funds used for the printing fee of this argumentis Yes on H, Public Safety Officers for a Better Retirement.


Proposition H Keeps Our Safety Officers on the Job.I am proud of the work police officers and firefighters do to

keep our streets safe. Crime has dropped dramatically in the pastsix years and our safety officers' record of saving lives and fight-ing fires remains excellent. Proposition H will help us retain thesetrained professionals who put their lives on the line for us everyday. Please join me in support of Proposition H.

Mayor Willie L. Brown, Jr.The true source of funds used for the printing fee of this argumentis Yes on H, Public Safety Officers for a Better Retirement.


Labor Unites for Proposition H. In these troubled times, our police officers, firefighters, and

paramedics are more important than ever before. That means wecan't afford to lose our best officers to neighboring cities. Helpkeep our dedicated public safety workers on the job. Vote YES onProposition H to keep San Francisco competitive with other cities.

Larry Mazzola, President S.F.B.T.C.Gunnar Lundeberg, President Sailors Union of the PacificThe true source of funds used for the printing fee of this argumentis Yes on H, Public Safety Officers for a Better Retirement.


Police and Fire Chiefs Urge YES on H!San Francisco firefighters and police officers have some of the

lowest retirement benefits in California. As a result, San Franciscois facing a recruitment and retention crisis. Please help keep thesebrave men and women in our city by supporting pension parity for public safety officers in San Francisco. Vote YES onProposition H.Anthony D. Ribera, Retired Police ChiefFred H. Lau, Retired Police ChiefFank M. Jordan, Former MayorPrentice E. Sanders, Chief of PoliceAndrew C. Casper, Retired Chief SFFD

Police & Firefighter Retirement Benefits!

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PAID ARGUMENTS IN FAVOR OF PROPOSITION HThe true source of funds used for the printing fee of this argumentis Yes on H, Public Safety Officers for a Better Retirement.


We are members of the Retirement Board.However, we are signing this ballot argument in our individual

capacities.Members of the Retirement Board Urge YES on Proposition H.As guardians of San Francisco's retirement system, we know

Proposition H is both fair and fiscally sound.The current surplus in the retirement fund is more than enough

to pay for this vitally needed upgrade of pensions for police offi-cers, firefighters, and paramedics. As an added protection,Proposition H requires that public safety employees enter intonegotiations to pay for pension upgrades in the unlikely event thatthe surplus is no longer sufficient. This is an important new precedent in fiscal responsibility and we urge the entire city tosupport it.

Please join us in voting YES on Proposition H.

William S. Breall, San Francisco Employees Retirement BoardCommissionerHerb Meiberger, San Francisco Employees Retirement BoardCommissionerE. David Ellington, San Francisco Employees Retirement BoardCommissionerJake McGoldrick, San Francisco Employees Retirement BoardCommissionerBrenda Wright, San Francisco Employees Retirement BoardCommissioner

The true source of funds used for the printing fee of this argumentis Yes on H, Public Safety Officers for a Better Retirement.The two largest contributors to the true source recipient committeeare: 1. San Francisco Police Officers Association 2. San FranciscoFirefighters.

Republicans Urge YES on H.Proposition H will help keep our very best police, paramedics,

and firefighters where we need them: here on the streets of SanFrancisco. Proposition H is a smart solution that won't cost thetaxpayers a penny. Proposition H also establishes important newcost-saving precedents. That's why we urge all Republicans, andall cost-conscious San Franciscans, to join us in support ofProposition H.Annemarie Conroy, Former Member SF Board of SupervisorsJames Fang, BART DirectorDonald Casper, Former Chair SF Republican PartyRita O'Hara, Vice Chair SF Republican Party

Elsa Cheung, Vice Chair SF Republican PartyArthur Bruzzone, Former Chair, SF Republican PartyThe true source of funds used for the printing fee of this argumentis Yes on H, Public Safety Officers for a Better Retirement.The two largest contributors to the true source recipient committeeare: 1. San Francisco Police Officers Association 2. San FranciscoFirefighters.

Almost every major city, from Oakland, to San Jose, to SanDiego, provides a better retirement package than San Francisco.As a result of San Francisco's low retirement benefits, the policeand fire departments are facing a recruitment and retention crisis.The police department is currently in need of 100 additional offi-cers. The fire department is losing firefighters and paramedics toother jurisdictions throughout the state. At a cost of $300,000 totrain one new police officer, it's clear that retaining experiencedofficers is vital to San Francisco.

Please join me in voting YES on H and help keep our best pub-lic safety officers right here in San Francisco.

Angela Alioto, Former President, SF Board of SupervisorsThe true source of funds used for the printing fee of this argumentis Yes on H, Public Safety Officers for a Better Retirement.The two largest contributors to the true source recipient committeeare: 1. San Francisco Police Officers Association 2. San FranciscoFirefighters.

Coalition for San Francisco Neighborhoods SupportsProposition H!

The Coalition for San Francisco Neighborhoods is dedicated tokeeping our communities safe and secure. That's why we supportProposition H, pension parity for firefighters, police officers, andparamedics. A fair pension will ensure that well-trained publicsafety officers stay right here in San Francisco, where they canprotect our city.Barbara Meskunas, President, Coalition for San FranciscoNeighborhoodsThe true source of funds used for the printing fee of this argumentis Yes on H, Public Safety Officers for a Better Retirement.The two largest contributors to the true source recipient committeeare: 1. San Francisco Police Officers Association 2. San FranciscoFirefighters.

Police & Firefighter Retirement Benefits !

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PAID ARGUMENTS IN FAVOR OF PROPOSITION HLesbian and Gay Officers Support Proposition H.Lesbian and Gay San Francisco police officers, firefighters and

paramedics support Proposition H. San Francisco lags behindother California cities in providing retirement benefits to publicsafety personnel. Proposition H is our chance to change that. Amulti-billion dollar surplus in our pension fund means there willbe no cost to taxpayers for at least ten years. And if that surplusever runs out, Proposition H requires public safety officers tonegotiate with the city to pay for those benefits themselves.

Vote YES on H.Marlene Ottone, LieutenantTimothy Armour, InspectorDavid Southern, Police OfficerRichard Ernst, Police OfficerThe true source of funds used for the printing fee of this argumentis Yes on H, Public Safety Officers for a Better Retirement.


Asian Peace Officers and Asian Firefighters SupportProposition H.

Police officers, firefighters and paramedics put their lives on theline every day and ask for little in return. Now is our chance tohonor their dedication by giving them fair pensions. San Franciscohas a retirement surplus of nearly $3 billion. That means the fundsare already available to give our public safety officers the benefitsthey deserve.

Please join us in supporting San Francisco's finest and bravestby voting YES for Proposition H.

David Kamita, Police InspectorHenry Seto, SF Asian Police Officers Association TreasurerThe true source of funds used for the printing fee of this argumentis Yes on H, Public Safety Officers for a Better Retirement.


Join Latino Officers in Support of Proposition H. Proposition H offers Latino officers within the San Francisco

Police and Fire Departments a chance to protect our families andloved ones. We are proud to protect your families. Now help ustake care of ours. This measure means our families will be sup-ported if we are killed or injured in the line of duty. That's why weask you to vote YES on Proposition H.

Antonio L. Flores, Vice President, Latino Police OfficersAssociationGregory Corrales, Past President, Latino Police OfficersAssociationJames Escobar, OfficerThe true source of funds used for the printing fee of this argumentis Yes on H, Public Safety Officers for a Better Retirement.


Officers for Justice Support Proposition HSan Francisco Officers for Justice support fairness and diversi-

ty. That's why San Francisco needs Proposition H, to help recruitand retain the very best public safety officers. Proposition H willnot cost the General Fund a penny, because there is a surplus inthe retirement system that legally cannot be used for any otherpurpose. Please join us in support of Proposition H, and help makeour city safer with money that would otherwise remain untapped.

Samuel Craig, Board Member, SF Officers for Justice*Edward Geeter, Board Member, SF Officers for Justice*Kevin Whitfield, Inspector** For Identification Purposes Only

The true source of funds used for the printing fee of this argumentis Yes on H, Public Safety Officers for a Better Retirement.


Yes on HWe owe our firefighters and police officers benefits in line with

other counties in California. This measure will provide long termsecurity for those who stand watch over our public safety.

Prop. H equalizes their retirement benefits by tapping into the$3 billion surplus in the City's retirement fund. These funds areonly available for this purpose, thus will have no significant fiscalimpact on the city.

Please Vote Yes on Proposition H.

Supervisor Gavin NewsomThe true source of funds used for the printing fee of this argumentis Newsom 2002.

The three largest contributors to the true source recipient commit-tee are: 1. Ruth E. Werner 2. Anne Scherer 3. Christine Murray.

Police & Firefighter Retirement Benefits!

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PAID ARGUMENTS IN FAVOR OF PROPOSITION HYes on H. Police officers and firefighters put their lives on the

line every day. Help retain our highly trained professionals bymatching their retirement benefits with neighboring cities.

San Francisco Republican PartyMike DeNunzio, Chairman

Officers of the San Francisco Republican Party:Elsa Cheung, Vice Chairman, Political ActionRita O'Hara, Vice Chairman, Special EventsSue C. Woods, TreasurerDonald A. Casper, Immediate Past Chairman

Republican Candidates for the Congress and Assembly:G. Michael German, 8h Congressional DistrictHoward Epstein, 12th Assembly District

Members, San Francisco Republican Party:Dr. Cynthia AmelonHarold M. HoogasianAlbert ChangRodney LeongTerence FaulknerDarcy Linn

Members-Elect, San Francisco Republican Party:Mike AntoniniChristopher L. BowmanJames FullerJoel SpringerJoe Yew

Presidents, San Francisco Republican Volunteer Clubs:Raymond G. Choy, Chairman, California Chinese AmericanRepublican AssociationColin Gallagher, Log Cabin Club of San FranciscoLeo Lacayo, National Hispanic Republican Assembly, SanFrancisco ChapterThe true sources of funds used for the printing fee of this argumentare the signators and the San Francisco Republican Party.

The three largest contributors to the true source recipient commit-tee are: 1. Committee on Jobs 2. George W. Rowe 3. George F.Jewett, Jr.

San Francisco has one of the lowest crime rates in California.Yet, our police officers receive some of the leanest retirement ben-efits in the state. Prevent our well-trained, qualified police officersfrom transferring to other counties. Help us continue to recruitqualified men and women to our police force.

Maintain safety on our streets.Yes on H.

City Treasurer Susan LealThe true source of funds used for the printing fee of this argumentis Susan Leal.

Proposition H Protects our City!Please join me in support of Proposition H, and make sure San

Francisco's police officers, firefighters, and paramedics can affordto live and work in our city. By providing a fair pension for ourpublic safety personnel, Proposition H will help keep SanFrancisco safe.

Doris Ward, San Francisco Assessor-RecorderThe true source of funds used for the printing fee of this argumentis Doris Ward.

As Executive Director of the San Francisco NeighborhoodResource Center, I understand how important safety is to our com-munity. That's why I urge you to vote YES on Proposition H. Withno cost to taxpayers, this is a financially sensible way to ensurethat our firefighters, police officers, and paramedics remain wherewe need them most.

Andrew Lee, Executive Director, San Francisco NeighborhoodResource CenterThe true source of funds used for the printing fee of this argumentis Andrew Lee.

Police & Firefighter Retirement Benefits !

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Describing and setting forth a proposal to thequalified electors of the City and County of SanFrancisco to amend the Charter of said City andCounty by adding Sections A8.595 throughA8.595-14, A8.596 through A8.596-14, A8.597through A8.597-15, and A8.598 throughA8.598-15 thereto, relating to retirement bene-fits for police officers and firefighters, and byamending Sections A8.500-1 and A8.500-2 toconform to the new retirement plans.

The Board of Supervisors of the City andCounty of San Francisco hereby submits to thequalified electors of said City and County at anelection to be held therein on November 5,2002 a proposal to amend the Charter of saidCity and County by adding Sections A8.595through A8.595-14, A8.596 through A8.596-14, A8.597 through A8.597-15, and A8.598through A8.598-15, and by amending SectionsA8.500-1 and A8.500-2 to read as follows:

Note: Additions are single-underline italics.Deletions are strikethrough italics.

A8.595 MEMBERS OF THE POLICEDEPARTMENT ON JANUARY 1, 2003 WHOARE MEMBERS OF THE RETIREMENTSYSTEM UNDER CHARTER SECTIONA8.559.

Members of the police department onJanuary 1, 2003 who are members of the retire-ment system under Section A8.559 may elect tobe members of the retirement system underSection A8.595 instead of Section A8.559. Anysuch election must be exercised in writing, on aform furnished by the retirement system, andfiled at the office of said system not later thanthe close of business on December 31, 2002.

Those persons who elect to be membersunder Section A8.595 as provided in the pre-ceding paragraph, shall be members of the sys-tem subject to provisions of Sections A8.595through Section A8.595-14 (which shall applyonly to members under Section A8.595) inaddition to the provisions contained in Sections12.100 to 12.103 and Sections A8.500, A8.510and A8.520 of this charter, notwithstanding theprovisions of any other section of this charter,and shall not be subject to any of the provisionsof Section A8.559 of this charter.

The provisions of section A8.595 shall notapply to any member of the retirement systemunder section A8.559 who separated from serv-ice, retired or died before January 1, 2003, orto his or her continuant; provided, however,that the provisions of section A8.595-2 shallapply to the adjustment required in SectionsA8.559-3, A8-559-4 and A8.559-5 for a retiredmember or his or her surviving spouse or con-tinuant when the retired member would nothave completed at least twenty-five (25) yearsof service in the aggregate and attained the ageof fifty (50) years until after January 1, 2003.

A8.595-1 DEFINITIONSThe following words and phrases as used in

this section A8.595 and Sections A8.595-2through A8.595-14, unless a different meaningis plainly required by the context, shall have thefollowing meanings:

"Retirement allowance," "death allowance"or "allowance," shall mean equal monthly pay-ments, beginning to accrue upon the date ofretirement, or upon the day following the dateof death, as the case may be, and continuing forlife unless a different term of payment is defi-nitely provided by the context.

"Compensation," as distinguished from ben-efits under the Workers' CompensationInsurance and Safety Act of the State ofCalifornia, shall mean the remunerationpayable in cash, by the City and County, with-out deduction except for absence from duty, fortime during which the individual receiving suchremuneration is a member of the police depart-ment, but excluding remuneration paid forovertime.

For retirement purposes, any increase incompensation attached to a rank which isbased solely upon the possession of a POSTcertificate, compared to the equivalent rankwithout a POST certificate, shall be subject tothe following limitations:(a) for possession of the intermediate POST

certificate, no more than 4% shall beincluded in compensation,

(b) for possession of the advanced POST cer-tificate, no more than an additional 2%over the maximum provided in subsection(a), above, shall be included in compensa-tion,

These limits shall apply to any pay incre-ments which are solely attributable to the pos-session of a POST certificate, including but notlimited to premiums or special ranks which maybe established in the future and which are sole-ly attributable to the possession of a POST cer-tificate.

"Compensation earnable" shall mean thecompensation which would have been earnedhad the member received compensation withoutinterruption throughout the period under con-sideration and at the rates of remunerationattached at that time to the ranks or positionsheld by him or her during such period, it beingassumed that during any absence, he or shewas in the rank or position held by him or herat the beginning of the absence, and that priorto becoming a member of the police depart-ment, he or she was in the rank or position firstheld by him or her in such department.

"Benefit" shall include "allowance," "retire-ment allowance," "death allowance" and"death benefit."

"Final compensation" shall mean the month-ly compensation earnable by a member at thetime of his or her retirement, or death beforeretirement, as the case may be, at the rate ofremuneration attached at that time to the rankor position which said member held, providedthat said member has held said rank or positionfor at least one year immediately prior to saidretirement or death; and provided, further, that

if said member has not held said rank or posi-tion for at least one year immediately prior tosaid retirement or death, "final compensation,"as to such member, shall mean the monthlycompensation earnable by such member in therank or position next lower to the rank or posi-tion which he or she held at the time of retire-ment or death at the rate of remunerationattached at the time of said retirement or deathto said next lower rank or position; provided,however, that in the case of a member's deathbefore retirement as the result of a violent trau-matic injury received in the performance of hisor her duty, "final compensation," as to suchmember shall mean the monthly compensationearnable by such member at the rate of remu-neration attached on the date he or she receivessuch injury to the rank or position held by suchmember on that date.

For purposes of calculation of final compen-sation, any increase in pay solely attributableto possession of a POST certificate shall beincluded only if the member possesses the qual-ifying POST certificate for a period of not lessthan four (4) years prior to his or her retire-ment date; provided, however, that should amember possess the qualifying POST certifi-cate for a period of time less than four (4) yearsprior to retirement, final compensation shall becalculated based upon the monthly compensa-tion in the next lower rank not requiring pos-session of the qualifying POST certificate.

For the purpose of Sections A8.595 throughA8.595-14, the terms "member of the policedepartment," "member of the department," or"member" shall mean any officer or employeeof the police department, who was a member ofthe police department on January 1, 2003 anda member of the retirement system underSection A8.559 and who elected to be a mem-ber of Section A8.595 as provided in SectionA8.595.

Any police service performed by such mem-bers of the police department outside the limitsof the City and County and under orders of asuperior officer of any such member, shall beconsidered as City and County service, and anydisability or death incurred therein shall becovered under the provisions of the retirementsystem.

"Retirement system" or "system" shall meanSan Francisco City and County Employees'Retirement System as created in Section A8.500of the charter.

"Retirement board" shall mean "retirementboard" as created in Section 12.100 of thecharter.

"Charter" shall mean the charter of the Cityand County of San Francisco.

Words used in the masculine gender shallinclude the feminine and neuter gender, wordsused in the feminine gender shall include themasculine and neuter gender, and singular

TEXT OF PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENTPROPOSITION H

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numbers shall include the plural and the pluralthe singular.

"Interest" shall mean interest at the rateadopted by the retirement board.

A8.595-2 SERVICE RETIREMENTAny member of the police department who

completes at least twenty-five (25) years ofservice in the aggregate and attains the age offifty (50) years, said service to be computedunder Section A8.595-10, may retire for serviceat his or her option. A member retired aftermeeting the service and age requirements in thepreceding sentence, shall receive a retirementallowance equal to the percent of the final com-pensation of said member, as defined in SectionA8.595-1, set forth below opposite his or herage at retirement, taken to the preceding quar-ter year, for each year of service, as computedunder Section A8.595-10:

Percent for Each YearRetirement Age of Credited Service

50 2.40050.25 2.43050.5 2.46050.75 2.49051 2.52051.25 2.55051.5 2.58051.75 2.61052 2.64052.25 2.67052.5 2.70052.75 2.73053 2.76053.25 2.79053.5 2.82053.75 2.85054 2.88054.25 2.91054.5 2.94054.75 2.97055+ 3.000

In no event, however, shall such a retirementallowance exceed ninety (90) percent of a mem-ber's final compensation.

If, at the date of retirement for service, orretirement for disability resulting from aninjury received in the performance of duty, saidmember has no spouse, children or dependentparents, who would qualify for the continuanceof the allowance after the death of said mem-ber, or with respect to the portion of theallowance which would not be continuedregardless of dependents, or upon retirementfor disability resulting from other causes, withrespect to all of the allowance and regardless ofdependents at retirement, a member retiredunder this section, or Section A8.595-3, mayelect before the first payment of the retirementallowance is made, to receive the actuarialequivalent of his or her allowance or the por-tion which would not be continued regardlessof dependents, as the case may be, partly in a

lesser allowance to be received by him or herthroughout his or her life, and partly in otherbenefits payable after his or her death to anoth-er person or persons, provided that such elec-tion shall be subject to all the conditions pre-scribed by the board of supervisors to governsimilar election by other members of the retire-ment system, including the character andamount of such other benefits.

A8.595-3 RETIREMENT FOR INCAPACITYAny member of the police department who

becomes incapacitated for the performance ofhis or her duty by reason of any bodily injuryreceived in, or illness caused by the perform-ance of his or her duty, shall be retired. If he orshe is not qualified for service retirement, he orshe shall receive a retirement allowance in anamount which shall be equal to the same per-centage of the final compensation of said mem-ber, as defined in Section A8.595-1, as his orher percentage of disability is determined to be.The percentage of disability shall be as deter-mined by the Workers' Compensation AppealsBoard of the State of California upon referralfrom the retirement board for that purpose;provided that the retirement board may, by fiveaffirmative votes, adjust the percentage of dis-ability as determined by said appeals board;and provided, further, that such retirementallowance shall be in an amount not less than50 percent nor more than 90 percent of the finalcompensation of said member, as defined inSection A8.595-1. Said allowance shall be paidto said member until the date upon which saidmember would have qualified for service retire-ment had he or she lived and rendered servicewithout interruption in the rank held by themember at retirement, and after said date theallowance payable shall be equal to the retire-ment allowance said member would havereceived if retired for service on said datebased on the final compensation, as defined inSection A8.595-1, he or she would havereceived immediately prior to said date, had heor she lived and rendered service as assumed,but such allowance shall not be less than 55percent of such final compensation.

If, at the time of retirement because of dis-ability, he or she is qualified as to age and serv-ice for retirement under Section A8.595-2, heor she shall receive an allowance equal to theretirement allowance which he or she wouldreceive if retired under Section A8.595-2, butnot less than 55 percent of said final compen-sation. Any member of the police departmentwho becomes incapacitated for performance ofhis or her duty, by reason of a cause not includ-ed under the provisions of the immediately pre-ceding sentences, and who shall have complet-ed at least 10 years of service in the aggregate,computed as provided in Section A8.595-10,shall be retired upon an allowance of one andone-half percent of the final compensation ofsaid member as defined in Section A8.595-1 foreach year of service, provided that saidallowance shall not be less than 33-1/3 percent

of said final compensation; provided, however,that if such member has completed at least 25years of service in the aggregate, computed asprovided in Section A8.595-10, but has not yetattained the age of 50 years, he or she shallreceive an allowance equal to the retirementallowance he or she would have received if heor she had attained the age of 50 years andretired under Section A8.595-2 as of the date ofretirement for such incapacity. The question ofretiring a member under this section may bebrought before the retirement board on saidboard's own motion, by recommendation of thepolice commission, or by said member or his orher guardian. If his or her disability shallcease, his or her retirement allowance shallcease, and he or she shall be restored to theservice in the rank he or she occupied at thetime of his or her retirement.

A8.595-4 DEATH ALLOWANCEIf a member of the police department shall

die before or after retirement by reason of aninjury received in, or illness caused by the per-formance of his or her duty, a death allowance,in lieu of any allowance payable under anyother section of the charter or by ordinance, onaccount of death resulting from injury receivedin or illness caused by the performance of duty,shall be paid, beginning on the date next fol-lowing the date of death, to his or her survivingspouse throughout his or her life or until his orher remarriage. If the member, at the time ofdeath, was qualified for service retirement, buthad not retired, the allowance payable shall beequal to the retirement allowance which themember would have received if he or she hadbeen retired for service on the day of death, butsuch allowance shall not be less than 55 per-cent of the final compensation earnable by saidmember immediately preceding death. If deathoccurs prior to qualification for service retire-ment, the allowance payable shall be equal tothe final compensation of said member at thedate of death, until the date upon which saidmember would have qualified for service retire-ment, had he or she lived and rendered servicewithout interruption in the rank held by themember at death, and after said date theallowance payable shall be equal to the retire-ment allowance said member would havereceived if retired for service on said date,based on the final compensation he or shewould have received immediately prior to saiddate, had he or she lived and rendered serviceas assumed, but such allowance shall not beless than 55 percent of such monthly final com-pensation. If he or she had retired prior todeath, for service or for disability resultingfrom injury received in, or illness caused by theperformance of duty, the allowance payableshall be equal to the retirement allowance ofthe member, except that if he or she was a mem-

LEGAL TEXT OF PROPOSITION H (CONTINUED)

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ber under Section 5.595 and retirement was forsuch disability, and if death occurred prior toqualification for the service retirementallowance, the allowance continued shall bereduced upon the date at which said memberwould have qualified for service retirement, inthe same manner as it would have been reducedhad the member not died. If there is no surviv-ing spouse entitled to an allowance hereunder,or if he or she dies or remarries before everychild of such deceased member attains the ageof 18 years, then the allowance which the sur-viving spouse would have received had he orshe lived and not remarried shall be paid to hisor her child or children under said age, collec-tively, to continue until every such child dies orattains said age, provided that no child shallreceive any allowance after marrying or attain-ing the age of 18 years. Should said memberleave no surviving spouse and no childrenunder the age of 18 years, but leave a child orchildren, regardless of age, dependent uponhim or her for support because partially ortotally disabled and unable to earn a livelihoodor a parent or parents dependent upon him orher for support, the child or children and theparents so dependent shall collectively receivea monthly allowance equal to that which a sur-viving spouse otherwise would have received,during such dependency. No allowance, howev-er, shall be paid under this section to a surviv-ing spouse following the death of a memberunless he or she was married to the memberprior to the date of the injury or onset of the ill-ness which results in death.

A8.595-5 PAYMENT TO SURVIVINGDEPENDENTS

Upon the death of a member of the policedepartment resulting from any cause, otherthan an injury received in, or illness caused byperformance of duty;(a) if his or her death occurred after qualifi-

cation for service retirement, underSection A8.595-2 or after retirement forservice or because of disability whichresulted from any cause other than aninjury received in, or illness caused byperformance of duty, three-fourths of hisor her retirement allowance to which themember would have been entitled if he orshe had retired for service at the time ofdeath or three-fourths of the retirementallowance as it was at his or her death, asthe case may be, shall be continuedthroughout life or until remarriage to hisor her surviving spouse; or

(b) if his or her death occurred after the com-pletion of at least 25 years of service in theaggregate but prior to the attainment ofthe age of 50 years, three-fourths of theretirement allowance to which he or shewould have been entitled under SectionA8.595-2 if he or she had attained the ageof 50 years on the date of his or her deathshall be continued throughout life or untilremarriage to his or her surviving spouse;

or(c) if his or her death occurred after retire-

ment for disability by reason of injuryreceived in, or illness caused by perform-ance of duty, his or her retirementallowance as it was at his or her deathshall be continued throughout life or untilremarriage, to his or her surviving spouse,except that, if death occurred prior toqualification for service retirementallowance, the allowance continued shallbe adjusted upon the date of which saidmember would have qualified for serviceretirement, in the same manner as it wouldhave been adjusted had the member notdied; or

(d) if his or her death occurred after comple-tion of at least 10 years of service in theaggregate, computed as provided inSection A8.595-10, an allowance in anamount equal to the retirement allowanceto which the member would have beenentitled pursuant to Section A8.595-3 if heor she had retired on the date of deathbecause of incapacity for performance ofduty resulting from a cause other thanbodily injury received in, or illness causedby performance of duty shall be paidthroughout life or until remarriage to hisor her surviving spouse.

If there is no surviving spouse entitled to anallowance hereunder, or if he or she dies orremarries before every child of such deceasedmember attains the age of 18 years, then theallowance which the surviving spouse wouldhave received had he or she lived and notremarried shall be paid to his or her child orchildren under said age, collectively, to contin-ue until every such child dies or attains saidage, provided that no child shall receive anyallowance after marrying or attaining the ageof 18 years. Should said member leave no sur-viving spouse and no children under age of 18years, but leave a child or children, regardlessof age, dependent upon him or her for supportbecause partially or totally disabled andunable to earn a livelihood or a parent or par-ents dependent upon him or her for support, thechild or children and the parents so dependentshall collectively receive a monthly allowanceequal to that which a surviving spouse other-wise would have received, during such depend-ency. No allowance, however, shall be paidunder this section to a surviving spouse unlesshe or she was married to the member prior tothe date of the injury or onset of the illnesswhich results in death if he or she had notretired, or unless he or she was married to themember at least one year prior to his or herdeath if he or she had retired.

As used in this section and Section A8.595-4,"surviving spouse" shall mean and include asurviving spouse, and shall also mean andinclude a spouse who has remarried since thedeath of the member, but whose remarriage hasbeen terminated by death, divorce or annul-ment within five years after the date of such

remarriage and who has not thereafter againremarried.

The surviving spouse, in the event of death ofthe member after qualification for but beforeservice retirement, may elect before the firstpayment of the allowance, to receive the bene-fit provided in Section A8.595-A8, in lieu of theallowance which otherwise would be continuedto him or her under this section. If there is nosurviving spouse, the guardian of the eligible child or children may make such elec-tion, and if there are no such children, thedependent parent or parents may make suchelection. "Qualified for service retirement,""Qualification for service retirement" or"Qualified as to age and service for retire-ment," as used in this section and other sec-tions to which persons who are members underSection A8.595 are subject, shall mean comple-tion of 25 years of service and attainment ofage 50, said service to be computed underSection A8.595-10.

A8.595-6 ADJUSTMENT OF ALLOWANCESEvery retirement or death allowance payable

to or on account of any member under SectionA8.595 shall be increased or decreased as ofJanuary 1, 2003, and thereafter on the effectivedate of any legislation fixing the rates of com-pensation for police officers under sectionA8.590-1 et seq. of this charter by an amountequal to 50 percent of any increase or decrease,respectively, in the rate of remunerationattached to the rank or position upon whichsuch retirement or death allowance was based;provided, however, that no allowance shall bereduced below the amount being received by amember or his or her beneficiary on January 1,2003, or on the date such member or benefici-ary began to receive the allowance, whicheveris later.

A8.595-7 ADJUSTMENT FOR COMPENSA-TION PAYMENTS

That portion of any allowance payablebecause of the death or retirement of any mem-ber of the police department which is providedby contributions of the City and County, shallbe reduced, by the amount of any benefits otherthan medical benefits, payable by the City andCounty to or on account of such person, underany workers' compensation law or any othergeneral law and because of the injury or illnessresulting in said death or retirement. Such por-tion which is paid because of death or retire-ment which resulted from injury received in orillness caused by performance of duty, shall beconsidered as in lieu of all benefits, other thanmedical benefits, payable to or on account ofsuch person under such law and shall be in sat-isfaction and discharge of the obligation of theCity and County to pay such benefits.

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A8.595-8 DEATH BENEFITIf a member of the police department shall

die, before retirement from causes other thanan injury received in or illness caused by theperformance of duty, or regardless of cause, ifno allowance shall be payable under Section8.595-4 or 8.595-5 preceding, a death benefitshall be paid to his or her estate or designatedbeneficiary, the amount of which and the con-ditions for the payment of which shall be deter-mined in the manner prescribed by the board ofsupervisors for the death benefit of other mem-bers of the retirement system. Upon the death ofa member after retirement and regardless of thecause of death, a death benefit shall be paid tohis or her estate or designated beneficiary theamount of which and the conditions for the pay-ment of which shall be determined in the man-ner prescribed by the board of supervisors forthe death benefit of other members of the retire-ment system.

A8.595-9 REFUNDS AND REDEPOSITSShould any member of the police department

cease to be employed as such a member,through any cause other than death or retire-ment or transfer to another office or depart-ment, all of his or her contributions, with inter-est credited thereon, shall be refunded to him orher subject to the conditions prescribed by theboard of supervisors to govern similar termina-tions of employment of other members of theretirement system. If he or she shall againbecome a member of the department, he or sheshall redeposit in the retirement fund, theamount refunded to him or her. Should a mem-ber of the police department become anemployee of any other office or department, hisor her accumulated contribution account shallbe adjusted by payments to or from him or heras the case may be to make the accumulatedcontributions credited to him or her at the timeof change, equal to the amount which wouldhave been credited to him or her if he or shehad been employed in said other office ordepartment at the rate of compensationreceived by him or her in the police departmentand he or she shall receive credit for service forwhich said contributions were made, accordingto the charter section under which his or hermembership in the retirement system continues.

A8.595-10 COMPUTATION OF SERVICEThe following time shall be included in the

computation of the service to be credited to amember of the police department for the pur-poses of determining whether such memberqualified for retirement and calculating bene-fits, excluding, however, any time, the contribu-tions for which were withdrawn by said mem-ber upon termination of his or her service whilehe or she was a member under any other char-ter section, and not redeposited upon reentryinto service:(a) Time during and for which said member is

entitled to receive compensation becauseof services as a member of the fire or

police department.(b) Time during which said member served

and received compensation as a jailmatron in the office of the sheriff.

(c) Time during which said member is absentfrom a status included in Subsections (a)or (b) next preceding, by reason of servicein the armed forces of the United States ofAmerica, or by reason of any other serviceincluded in Sections A8.520 and A8.521 ofthe charter, during any war in which theUnited States was or shall be engaged orduring other national emergency, and forwhich said member contributed or con-tributes to the retirement system or forwhich the City and County contributed orcontributes on his or her account.

A8.595-11 SOURCES OF FUNDSAll payments provided for members under

Section A8.595 shall be made from fundsderived from the following sources, plus inter-est earned on said funds:(a) There shall be deducted from each pay-

ment of compensation made to a memberunder Section A8.595 a sum equal toseven percent of such payment of compen-sation. The sum so deducted shall be paidforthwith to the retirement system. Saidcontribution shall be credited to the indi-vidual account of the member from whosesalary it was deducted, and the total ofsaid contributions, together with interestcredited thereon in the same manner as isprescribed by the board of supervisors forcrediting interest to contributions of othermembers of the retirement system, shall beapplied to provide part of the retirementallowance granted to, or allowance grant-ed on account of said member, or shall bepaid to said member or his or her estate orbeneficiary as provided in Section A8.595-8, A8.595-9 and A8.595-10. A member'sindividual account under Section A8.595shall include all monies previously credit-ed to the member's account under SectionA8.559 .

(b) The dependent contributions of each mem-ber under this section which shall berequired of each member throughout hisor her membership in addition to the nor-mal contributions, and in the same man-ner as normal contributions, shall be suchas, on the average for such member, willprovide, assuming service without inter-ruption under Section A8.595-2, and uponhe or she first qualifying as to age andservice for retirement under that section,one-third of the portion of his or herallowance, which is to be continued underSection A8.595-5 after his or her deathand throughout the life of a survivingspouse whose age at said death is threeyears less than the age of said member. If,at the date of retirement for service orretirement for disability resulting frominjury received in the performance of duty,

said member has no spouse who wouldqualify for the continuance of theallowance to him or her after the death ofsaid member, or upon retirement for dis-ability resulting from other causes,regardless of his or her marital condi-tions, the dependent contributions withaccumulated interest thereon, shall bepaid to him or her forthwith. The depend-ent rate of contribution, however, shall notexceed the difference between seven per-cent and the member's normal rate of con-tribution, and said dependent rate may betaken as a flat percentage of the member'snormal rate, regardless of the age of qual-ification for service retirement.

(c) The City and County shall contribute tothe retirement system such amounts asmay be necessary, when added to the con-tributions referred to in Subsection (a) ofthis Section A8.595-11, to provide the ben-efits payable to members under SectionA8.595. Such contributions of the City andCounty to provide the portion of the bene-fits hereunder shall be made in annualinstallments, and the installment to bepaid in any year shall be determined bythe application of a percentage to the totalcompensation paid during said year topersons who are members under SectionA8.595 in accordance with the provisionsof Section A8.510.

(d) To promote the stability of the retirementsystem through a joint participation in theresult of variations in the experienceunder mortality, investment and other con-tingencies, the contributions of both mem-bers and the City and County held by thesystem to provide benefits for membersunder Section A8.595, shall be a part ofthe fund in which all other assets of saidsystem are included.

(e) Any year in which, based upon the retire-ment system's annual actuarial valuation,the employer contribution rate exceeds0%, the employee organizations repre-senting safety members shall jointly meetand confer with city representatives toimplement a cost sharing arrangementbetween the city and employee organiza-tions. Such arrangement will effect amaterial reduction of the cost impact ofemployer contributions on the city's gen-eral fund.The dollar value of the cost sharingarrangement shall not exceed the totalannual cost to the retirement system ofimproving the police and fire safety retire-ment plans to the 3%@55 benefit level orthe total employer contribution requiredby the retirement system, whichever islesser. Such cost sharing arrangementshall not require an employee contribution


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in excess of the limits set elsewhere in thischarter. The meet and confer process, including allimpasse procedures under section A8.590-1 et seq., shall be concluded not later thanApril 1st except by mutual agreement ofthe parties. The cost sharing arrangementmust be finalized to permit implementa-tion effective July 1.The retirement board's authority undercharter section 12.100 and in sectionA8.510 concerning the annual setting ofthe rates of contribution are not subject tothe meet and confer process, including allimpasse procedures under section A8.590-1 et seq.

A8.595-12 RIGHT TO RETIREUpon the completion of the years of service

set forth in Section A8.595-2 as requisite toretirement, a member of the police departmentshall be entitled to retire at any time thereafterin accordance with the provisions of saidSection A8.595-2, and nothing shall deprivesaid member of said right.

A8.595-13 LIMITATION IN EMPLOYMENTDURING RETIREMENT

Except as otherwise provided in Section A8.511 of this charter, no person retired as amember under Section A 8.595 for service ordisability and entitled to receive a retirementallowance under the retirement system shallserve in any elective or appointive position inthe City and County service, including mem-bership on boards and commissions, nor shallsuch person receive any payment for servicerendered to the City and County after retire-ment, provided that service as an election offi-cer or juror, or in the preparation for, or thegiving of, testimony as an expert witness for oron behalf of the City and County of SanFrancisco before any court or legislative bodyshall not be affected by this section.

A8.595-14 VESTINGNotwithstanding any provisions of this char-

ter to the contrary, should any member of thepolice department who is a member of theRetirement System under Charter SectionA8.595 with five years of credited service,cease to be so employed, through any causeother than death or retirement, he or she shallhave the right to elect, without right of revoca-tion and within 90 days after termination ofsaid service, to allow his or her accumulatedcontributions including interest to remain in theretirement fund and to receive a retirementallowance equal to the percent set forth inSection A8.595-2 opposite his or her age atretirement, for each year of service multipliedagainst the final compensation of said member,calculated at termination, payable beginningno earlier than age 50. The provisions ofSection A8.595-14 shall not apply to any mem-bers of the retirement system under SectionA8.559 who terminated before January 1, 2003

or their continuants. No vesting retirementallowance under this section shall exceed ninety (90%) percent of the member's finalcompensation.

Any member of the police department con-victed of a crime involving moral turpitudecommitted in connection with his or her dutiesas a member of the police department shall,upon termination of his or her employment pur-suant to the provisions of this charter, forfeit allright to any benefits under this section exceptrefund of his or her accumulated contributions.

Every retirement or death allowance payableto or on account of any member under SectionA 8.595-14 shall be adjusted in accordancewith the provisions of Section A 8.595-6 pro-vided that if the member's accrued servicecredit is less than 25 years the Section A 8.595-6 adjustment will be multiplied by a fractionwhere the denominator is 25 and the numeratoris equal to the member's accrued service creditat the date of termination.

A8.596 MEMBERS OF THE FIREDEPARTMENT ON JANUARY 1, 2003 WHOARE MEMBERS OF THE RETIREMENTSYSTEM UNDER CHARTER SECTIONA8.585

Members of the fire department on January 1,2003 who are members of the retirement systemunder Section A8.585 may elect to be membersof the retirement system under Section A8.596instead of Section A8.585. Any such electionmust be exercised in writing, on a form fur-nished by the retirement system, and filed at theoffice of said system not later than the close ofbusiness on December 31, 2002.

Those persons who elect to be membersunder Section A8.596 as provided in the pre-ceding paragraph, shall be members of the sys-tem subject to provisions of Section A8.596through Section A8.596-14 (which shall applyonly to members under Section A8.596) inaddition to the provisions contained in Sections12.100 to 12.103 and Sections A8.500, A8.510and A8.520 of this charter, notwithstanding theprovisions of any other section of this charter,and shall not be subject to any of the provisionsof Section A8.585 of this charter.

The provisions of section A8.596 shall notapply to any member of the retirement systemunder section A8.585 who separated from serv-ice, retired or died before January 1, 2003, orto his or her continuant; provided, however,that the provisions of section A8.596-2 shallapply to the adjustment required in SectionsA8.585-3, A8-585-4 and A8.585-5 for a retiredmember or his or her surviving spouse or con-tinuant when the retired member would nothave completed at least twenty-five (25) yearsof service in the aggregate and attained the ageof fifty (50) years until after January 1, 2003.


this section A8.596 and Sections A8.596-2through A8.596-14, unless a different meaning

is plainly required by the context, shall have thefollowing meanings:


"Compensation," as distinguished from ben-efits under the Workers' CompensationInsurance and Safety Act of the State ofCalifornia, shall mean the remunerationpayable in cash, by the City and County, with-out deduction except for absence from duty, fortime during which the individual receiving suchremuneration is a member of the fire depart-ment, but excluding remuneration paid forovertime.

"Compensation earnable" shall mean thecompensation which would have been earnedhad the member received compensation withoutinterruption throughout the period under con-sideration and at the rates of remunerationattached at that time to the ranks or positionsheld by him or her during such period, it beingassumed that during any absence, he or shewas in the rank or position held by him or herat the beginning of the absence, and that priorto becoming a member of the fire department,he or she was in the rank or position first heldby him or her in such department.


"Final compensation" shall mean the month-ly compensation earnable by a member at thetime of his or her retirement, or death beforeretirement, as the case may be, at the rate ofremuneration attached at that time to the rankor position which said member held, providedthat said member has held said rank or positionfor at least one year immediately prior to saidretirement or death; and provided, further, thatif said member has not held said rank or posi-tion for at least one year immediately prior tosaid retirement or death, "final compensation,"as to such member, shall mean the monthlycompensation earnable by such member in therank or position next lower to the rank or posi-tion which he or she held at the time of retire-ment or death at the rate of remunerationattached at the time of said retirement or deathto said next lower rank or position; provided,however, that in the case of a member's deathbefore retirement as the result of a violent trau-matic injury received in the performance of hisor her duty, "final compensation," as to suchmember shall mean the monthly compensationearnable by such member at the rate of remu-neration attached on the date he or she receivessuch injury to the rank or position held by suchmember on that date.

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For the purpose of Sections A8.596 throughA8.596-14, the terms "member of the firedepartment," "member of the department," or"member" shall mean any officer or employeeof the fire department, who was a member ofthe fire department on January 1, 2003 and amember of the retirement system under SectionA8.585 and who elected to be a member ofSection A8.596 as provided in Section A8.596.

Any fire service performed by such membersof the fire department outside the limits of theCity and County and under orders of a superi-or officer of any such member, shall be consid-ered as City and County service, and any dis-ability or death incurred therein shall becovered under the provisions of the retirementsystem.


"Retirement board" shall mean "retirementboard" as created in Section 12.100 of thecharter.


Words used in the masculine gender shallinclude the feminine and neuter gender, wordsused in the feminine gender shall include themasculine and neuter gender, and singularnumbers shall include the plural and the pluralthe singular.


A8.596-2 SERVICE RETIREMENTAny member of the fire department who com-

pletes at least twenty-five (25) years of servicein the aggregate and attains the age of fifty (50)years, said service to be computed underSection A8.596-10, may retire for service at hisor her option. A member retired after meetingthe service and age requirements in the preced-ing sentence, shall receive a retirementallowance equal to the percent of the final com-pensation of said member, as defined in SectionA8.596-1, set forth below opposite his or herage at retirement, taken to the preceding quar-ter year, for each year of service, as computedunder Section A8.596-10:


50 2.40050.25 2.43050.5 2.46050.75 2.49051 2.52051.25 2.55051.5 2.58051.75 2.61052 2.64052.25 2.67052.5 2.70052.75 2.73053 2.760

53.25 2.79053.5 2.82053.75 2.85054 2.88054.25 2.91054.5 2.94054.75 2.97055+ 3.000


If, at the date of retirement for service, orretirement for disability resulting from aninjury received in the performance of duty, saidmember has no spouse, children or dependentparents, who would qualify for the continuanceof the allowance after the death of said mem-ber, or with respect to the portion of theallowance which would not be continuedregardless of dependents, or upon retirementfor disability resulting from other causes, withrespect to all of the allowance and regardless ofdependents at retirement, a member retiredunder this section, or Section A8.596-3, mayelect before the first payment of the retirementallowance is made, to receive the actuarialequivalent of his or her allowance or the por-tion which would not be continued regardlessof dependents, as the case may be, partly in alesser allowance to be received by him or herthroughout his or her life, and partly in otherbenefits payable after his or her death to anoth-er person or persons, provided that such elec-tion shall be subject to all the conditions pre-scribed by the board of supervisors to governsimilar election by other members of the retire-ment system, including the character andamount of such other benefits.

A8.596-3 RETIREMENT FOR INCAPACITYAny member of the fire department who

becomes incapacitated for the performance ofhis or her duty by reason of any bodily injuryreceived in, or illness caused by the perform-ance of his or her duty, shall be retired. If he orshe is not qualified for service retirement, he orshe shall receive a retirement allowance in anamount which shall be equal to the same per-centage of the final compensation of said mem-ber, as defined in Section A8.596-1, as his orher percentage of disability is determined to be.The percentage of disability shall be as deter-mined by the Workers' Compensation AppealsBoard of the State of California upon referralfrom the retirement board for that purpose;provided that the retirement board may, by fiveaffirmative votes, adjust the percentage of dis-ability as determined by said appeals board;and provided, further, that such retirementallowance shall be in an amount not less than50 percent nor more than 90 percent of the finalcompensation of said member, as defined inSection A8.596-1. Said allowance shall be paidto said member until the date upon which saidmember would have qualified for service retire-ment had he or she lived and rendered service

without interruption in the rank held by themember at retirement, and after said date theallowance payable shall be equal to the retire-ment allowance said member would havereceived if retired for service on said datebased on the final compensation, as defined inSection A8.596-1, he or she would havereceived immediately prior to said date, had heor she lived and rendered service as assumed,but such allowance shall not be less than 55percent of such final compensation.

If, at the time of retirement because of dis-ability, he or she is qualified as to age and serv-ice for retirement under Section A8.596-2, heor she shall receive an allowance equal to theretirement allowance which he or she wouldreceive if retired under Section A8.596-2, butnot less than 55 percent of said final compen-sation. Any member of the fire department whobecomes incapacitated for performance of hisor her duty, by reason of a cause not includedunder the provisions of the immediately preced-ing sentences, and who shall have completed atleast 10 years of service in the aggregate, com-puted as provided in Section A8.596-10, shallbe retired upon an allowance of one and one-half percent of the final compensation of saidmember as defined in Section A8.596-1 foreach year of service, provided that saidallowance shall not be less than 33-1/3 percentof said final compensation; provided, however,that if such member has completed at least 25years of service in the aggregate, computed asprovided in Section A8.596-10, but has not yetattained the age of 50 years, he or she shallreceive an allowance equal to the retirementallowance he or she would have received if heor she had attained the age of 50 years andretired under Section A8.596-2 as of the date ofretirement for such incapacity. The question ofretiring a member under this section may bebrought before the retirement board on saidboard's own motion, by recommendation of thefire commission, or by said member or his orher guardian. If his or her disability shallcease, his or her retirement allowance shallcease, and he or she shall be restored to theservice in the rank he or she occupied at thetime of his or her retirement.

A8.596-4 DEATH ALLOWANCEIf a member of the fire department shall die

before or after retirement by reason of an injuryreceived in, or illness caused by the perform-ance of his or her duty, a death allowance, inlieu of any allowance payable under any othersection of the charter or by ordinance, onaccount of death resulting from injury receivedin or illness caused by the performance of duty,shall be paid, beginning on the date next fol-lowing the date of death, to his or her survivingspouse throughout his or her life or until his orher remarriage. If the member, at the time of


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death, was qualified for service retirement, buthad not retired, the allowance payable shall beequal to the retirement allowance which themember would have received if he or she hadbeen retired for service on the day of death, butsuch allowance shall not be less than 55 per-cent of the final compensation earnable by saidmember immediately preceding death. If deathoccurs prior to qualification for service retire-ment, the allowance payable shall be equal tothe final compensation of said member at thedate of death, until the date upon which saidmember would have qualified for service retire-ment, had he or she lived and rendered servicewithout interruption in the rank held by themember at death, and after said date theallowance payable shall be equal to the retire-ment allowance said member would havereceived if retired for service on said date,based on the final compensation he or shewould have received immediately prior to saiddate, had he or she lived and rendered serviceas assumed, but such allowance shall not beless than 55 percent of such monthly final com-pensation. If he or she had retired prior todeath, for service or for disability resultingfrom injury received in, or illness caused by theperformance of duty, the allowance payableshall be equal to the retirement allowance ofthe member, except that if he or she was a mem-ber under Section 5.596 and retirement was forsuch disability, and if death occurred prior toqualification for the service retirementallowance, the allowance continued shall bereduced upon the date at which said memberwould have qualified for service retirement, inthe same manner as it would have been reducedhad the member not died. If there is no surviv-ing spouse entitled to an allowance hereunder,or if he or she dies or remarries before everychild of such deceased member attains the ageof 18 years, then the allowance which the sur-viving spouse would have received had he orshe lived and not remarried shall be paid to hisor her child or children under said age, collec-tively, to continue until every such child dies orattains said age, provided that no child shallreceive any allowance after marrying or attain-ing the age of 18 years. Should said memberleave no surviving spouse and no childrenunder the age of 18 years, but leave a child orchildren, regardless of age, dependent uponhim or her for support because partially ortotally disabled and unable to earn a livelihoodor a parent or parents dependent upon him orher for support, the child or children and theparents so dependent shall collectively receivea monthly allowance equal to that which a sur-viving spouse otherwise would have received,during such dependency. No allowance, howev-er, shall be paid under this section to a surviv-ing spouse following the death of a memberunless he or she was married to the memberprior to the date of the injury or onset of the ill-ness which results in death.A8.596-5 PAYMENT TO SURVIVINGDEPENDENTS

Upon the death of a member of the firedepartment resulting from any cause, otherthan an injury received in, or illness caused byperformance of duty;(a) if his or her death occurred after qualifi-

cation for service retirement, underSection A8.596-2 or after retirement forservice or because of disability whichresulted from any cause other than aninjury received in, or illness caused byperformance of duty, three-fourths of hisor her retirement allowance to which themember would have been entitled if he orshe had retired for service at the time ofdeath or three-fourths of the retirementallowance as it was at his or her death, asthe case may be, shall be continuedthroughout life or until remarriage to hisor her surviving spouse; or

(b) if his or her death occurred after the com-pletion of at least 25 years of service in theaggregate but prior to the attainment ofthe age of 50 years, three-fourths of theretirement allowance to which he or shewould have been entitled under SectionA8.596-2 if he or she had attained the ageof 50 years on the date of his or her deathshall be continued throughout life or untilremarriage to his or her surviving spouse;or

(c) if his or her death occurred after retire-ment for disability by reason of injuryreceived in, or illness caused by perform-ance of duty, his or her retirementallowance as it was at his or her deathshall be continued throughout life or untilremarriage, to his or her surviving spouse,except that, if death occurred prior toqualification for service retirementallowance, the allowance continued shallbe adjusted upon the date of which saidmember would have qualified for serviceretirement, in the same manner as it wouldhave been adjusted had the member notdied; or

(d) if his or her death occurred after comple-tion of at least 10 years of service in theaggregate, computed as provided inSection A8.596-10, an allowance in anamount equal to the retirement allowanceto which the member would have beenentitled pursuant to Section A8.596-3 if heor she had retired on the date of deathbecause of incapacity for performance ofduty resulting from a cause other thanbodily injury received in, or illness causedby performance of duty shall be paidthroughout life or until remarriage to hisor her surviving spouse.

If there is no surviving spouse entitled to anallowance hereunder, or if he or she dies orremarries before every child of such deceasedmember attains the age of 18 years, then theallowance which the surviving spouse wouldhave received had he or she lived and notremarried shall be paid to his or her child orchildren under said age, collectively, to contin-

ue until every such child dies or attains saidage, provided that no child shall receive anyallowance after marrying or attaining the ageof 18 years. Should said member leave no sur-viving spouse and no children under age of 18years, but leave a child or children, regardlessof age, dependent upon him or her for supportbecause partially or totally disabled andunable to earn a livelihood or a parent or par-ents dependent upon him or her for support, thechild or children and the parents so dependentshall collectively receive a monthly allowanceequal to that which a surviving spouse other-wise would have received, during such depend-ency. No allowance, however, shall be paidunder this section to a surviving spouse unlesshe or she was married to the member prior tothe date of the injury or onset of the illnesswhich results in death if he or she had notretired, or unless he or she was married to themember at least one year prior to his or herdeath if he or she had retired.

As used in this section and Section A8.596-4,"surviving spouse" shall mean and include asurviving spouse, and shall also mean andinclude a spouse who has remarried since thedeath of the member, but whose remarriage hasbeen terminated by death, divorce or annul-ment within five years after the date of suchremarriage and who has not thereafter againremarried.

The surviving spouse, in the event of death ofthe member after qualification for but beforeservice retirement, may elect before the firstpayment of the allowance, to receive the bene-fit provided in Section A8.596-8, in lieu of theallowance which otherwise would be continuedto him or her under this section. If there is nosurviving spouse, the guardian of the eligiblechild or children may make such election, andif there are no such children, the dependentparent or parents may make such election."Qualified for service retirement,""Qualification for service retirement" or"Qualified as to age and service for retire-ment," as used in this section and other sec-tions to which persons who are members underSection A8.596 are subject, shall mean comple-tion of 25 years of service and attainment ofage 50, said service to be computed underSection A8.596-10.


to or on account of any member under SectionA8.596 shall be increased or decreased as ofJanuary 1, 2003, and thereafter on the effectivedate of any legislation fixing the rates of com-pensation for firefighters under section A8.590-1 et seq. of this charter by an amount equal to50 percent of any increase or decrease, respec-tively, in the rate of remuneration attached tothe rank or position upon which such retire-

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ment or death allowance was based; provided,however, that no allowance shall be reducedbelow the amount being received by a memberor his or her beneficiary on January 1, 2003, oron the date such member or beneficiary beganto receive the allowance, whichever is later.


That portion of any allowance payablebecause of the death or retirement of any mem-ber of the fire department which is provided bycontributions of the City and County, shall bereduced, by the amount of any benefits otherthan medical benefits, payable by the City andCounty to or on account of such person, underany workers' compensation law or any othergeneral law and because of the injury or illnessresulting in said death or retirement. Such por-tion which is paid because of death or retire-ment which resulted from injury received in orillness caused by performance of duty, shall beconsidered as in lieu of all benefits, other thanmedical benefits, payable to or on account ofsuch person under such law and shall be in sat-isfaction and discharge of the obligation of theCity and County to pay such benefits.

A8.596-8 DEATH BENEFITIf a member of the fire department shall die,

before retirement from causes other than aninjury received in or illness caused by the per-formance of duty, or regardless of cause, if noallowance shall be payable under SectionA8.596-4 or A8.596-5 preceding, a death bene-fit shall be paid to his or her estate or desig-nated beneficiary, the amount of which and theconditions for the payment of which shall bedetermined in the manner prescribed by theboard of supervisors for the death benefit ofother members of the retirement system. Uponthe death of a member after retirement andregardless of the cause of death, a death bene-fit shall be paid to his or her estate or desig-nated beneficiary the amount of which and theconditions for the payment of which shall bedetermined in the manner prescribed by theboard of supervisors for the death benefit ofother members of the retirement system.

A8.596-9 REFUNDS AND REDEPOSITSShould any member of the fire department

cease to be employed as such a member,through any cause other than death or retire-ment or transfer to another office or depart-ment, all of his or her contributions, with inter-est credited thereon, shall be refunded to him orher subject to the conditions prescribed by theboard of supervisors to govern similar termina-tions of employment of other members of theretirement system. If he or she shall againbecome a member of the department, he or sheshall redeposit in the retirement fund, theamount refunded to him or her. Should a mem-ber of the fire department become an employeeof any other office or department, his or heraccumulated contribution account shall be

adjusted by payments to or from him or her asthe case may be to make the accumulated con-tributions credited to him or her at the time ofchange, equal to the amount which would havebeen credited to him or her if he or she hadbeen employed in said other office or depart-ment at the rate of compensation received byhim or her in the fire department and he or sheshall receive credit for service for which saidcontributions were made, according to thecharter section under which his or her mem-bership in the retirement system continues.


computation of the service to be credited to amember of the fire department for the purposesof determining whether such member qualifiedfor retirement and calculating benefits, exclud-ing, however, any time, the contributions forwhich were withdrawn by said member upontermination of his or her service while he orshe was a member under any other charter sec-tion, and not redeposited upon reentry intoservice:(a) Time during and for which said member is

entitled to receive compensation becauseof services as a member of the police orfire department.

(b) Time during which said member is absentfrom a status included in Subsection (a)next preceding, by reason of service in thearmed forces of the United States ofAmerica, or by reason of any other serviceincluded in Sections A8.520 and A8.521 ofthe charter, during any war in which theUnited States was or shall be engaged orduring other national emergency, and forwhich said member contributed or con-tributes to the retirement system or forwhich the City and County contributed orcontributes on his or her account.



ment of compensation made to a memberunder Section A8.596 a sum equal toseven percent of such payment of compen-sation. The sum so deducted shall be paidforthwith to the retirement system. Saidcontribution shall be credited to the indi-vidual account of the member from whosesalary it was deducted, and the total ofsaid contributions, together with interestcredited thereon in the same manner as isprescribed by the board of supervisors forcrediting interest to contributions of othermembers of the retirement system, shall beapplied to provide part of the retirementallowance granted to, or allowance grant-ed on account of said member, or shall bepaid to said member or his or her estate orbeneficiary as provided in Section A8.596-

8, A8.596-9 and A8.596-10. A member'sindividual account under Section A8.596shall include all monies previously credit-ed to the member's account under SectionA8.585.

(b) The dependent contributions of each mem-ber under this section which shall berequired of each member throughout hisor her membership in addition to the nor-mal contributions, and in the same man-ner as normal contributions, shall be suchas, on the average for such member, willprovide, assuming service without inter-ruption under Section A8.596-2, and uponhe or she first qualifying as to age andservice for retirement under that section,one-third of the portion of his or herallowance, which is to be continued underSection A8.596-5 after his or her deathand throughout the life of a survivingspouse whose age at said death is threeyears less than the age of said member. If,at the date of retirement for service orretirement for disability resulting frominjury received in the performance of duty,said member has no spouse who wouldqualify for the continuance of theallowance to him or her after the death ofsaid member, or upon retirement for dis-ability resulting from other causes,regardless of his or her marital condi-tions, the dependent contributions withaccumulated interest thereon, shall bepaid to him or her forthwith. The depend-ent rate of contribution, however, shall notexceed the difference between seven per-cent and the member's normal rate of con-tribution, and said dependent rate may betaken as a flat percentage of the member'snormal rate, regardless of the age of qual-ification for service retirement.

(c) The City and County shall contribute tothe retirement system such amounts asmay be necessary, when added to the con-tributions referred to in Subsection (a) ofthis Section A8.596-11, to provide the ben-efits payable to members under SectionA8.596. Such contributions of the City andCounty to provide the portion of the bene-fits hereunder shall be made in annualinstallments, and the installment to bepaid in any year shall be determined bythe application of a percentage to the totalcompensation paid during said year topersons who are members under SectionA8.596 in accordance with the provisionsof Section A8.510.

(d) To promote the stability of the retirementsystem through a joint participation in theresult of variations in the experienceunder mortality, investment and other con-tingencies, the contributions of both mem-bers and the City and County held by the


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system to provide benefits for membersunder Section A8.596, shall be a part ofthe fund in which all other assets of saidsystem are included.

(e) Any year in which, based upon the retire-ment system's annual actuarial valuation,the employer contribution rate exceeds0%, the employee organizations repre-senting safety members shall jointly meetand confer with city representatives toimplement a cost sharing arrangementbetween the city and employee organiza-tions. Such arrangement will effect amaterial reduction of the cost impact ofemployer contributions on the city's gen-eral fund.

The dollar value of the cost sharing arrange-ment shall not exceed the total annual cost tothe retirement system of improving the policeand fire safety retirement plans to the 3%@55benefit level or the total employer contributionrequired by the retirement system, whichever islesser. Such cost sharing arrangement shall notrequire an employee contribution in excess ofthe limits set elsewhere in this charter.

The meet and confer process, including allimpasse procedures under section A8.590-1 etseq., shall be concluded not later than April 1stexcept by mutual agreement of the parties. Thecost sharing arrangement must be finalized topermit implementation effective July 1.

The retirement board's authority under char-ter section 12.100 and in section A8.510 con-cerning the annual setting of the rates of con-tribution are not subject to the meet and conferprocess, including all impasse proceduresunder section A8.590-1 et seq.


set forth in Section A8.596-2 as requisite toretirement, a member of the fire departmentshall be entitled to retire at any time thereafterin accordance with the provisions of saidSection A8.596-2, and nothing shall deprivesaid member of said right.

A8.596-13 LIMITATION IN EMPLOYMENTDURING RETIREMENT

Except as otherwise provided in Section A8.511 of this charter, no person retired as amember under Section A8.596 for service ordisability and entitled to receive a retirementallowance under the retirement system shallserve in any elective or appointive position inthe City and County service, including mem-bership on boards and commissions, nor shallsuch person receive any payment for servicerendered to the City and County after retire-ment, provided that service as an election offi-cer or juror, or in the preparation for, or thegiving of, testimony as an expert witness for oron behalf of the City and County of SanFrancisco before any court or legislative bodyshall not be affected by this section.

A8.596-14 VESTING

Notwithstanding any provisions of this char-ter to the contrary, should any member of thefire department who is a member of theRetirement System under Charter SectionA8.596 with five years of credited service,cease to be so employed, through any causeother than death or retirement, he or she shallhave the right to elect, without right of revoca-tion and within 90 days after termination ofsaid service, to allow his or her accumulatedcontributions including interest to remain in theretirement fund and to receive a retirementallowance equal to the percent set forth inSection A8.596-2 opposite his or her age atretirement, for each year of service multipliedagainst the final compensation of said member,calculated at termination, payable beginningno earlier than age 50. The provisions ofSection A8.596-14 shall not apply to any mem-bers of the retirement system under SectionA8.585 who terminated before January 1, 2003or their continuants. No vesting retirementallowance under this section shall exceed nine-ty (90%) percent of the member's final compen-sation.

Any member of the fire department convictedof a crime involving moral turpitude committedin connection with his or her duties as a mem-ber of the fire department shall, upon termina-tion of his or her employment pursuant to theprovisions of this charter, forfeit all right to anybenefits under this section except refund of hisor her accumulated contributions.

Every retirement or death allowance payableto or on account of any member under SectionA8.596-14 shall be adjusted in accordance withthe provisions of Section A8.596-6 providedthat if the member's accrued service credit isless than 25 years the Section A8.596-6 adjust-ment will be multiplied by a fraction where thedenominator is 25 and the numerator is equalto the member's accrued service credit at thedate of termination.

A8.597 MEMBERS OF THE POLICEDEPARTMENT ON JANUARY 1, 2003 WHOARE MEMBERS OF THE RETIREMENTSYSTEM UNDER CHARTER SECTIONA8.586, AND MEMBERS OF THE POLICEDEPARTMENT AFTER JANUARY 1, 2003.

Members of the police department onJanuary 1, 2003 who are members of the retire-ment system under Section A8.586, and personswho become members of the police department,as defined in Section A8.597-1, after January 1,2003, shall be members of the retirement sys-tem subject to the provisions of Sections A8.597through A8.597-15 (which shall apply only tomembers under Section A8.597) in addition tothe provisions contained in Sections 12.100 to12.103 and Sections 8.500, 8.510, 8.520 and8.526 of this charter, notwithstanding the pro-visions of any other section of this charter, andshall not be subject to any of the provisions ofSections A8.586 of this charter.

The provisions of section A8.597 shall notapply to any member of the retirement system

under section A8.586 who separated from serv-ice, retired or died before January 1, 2003, orto his or her continuant; provided, however,that the provisions of section A8.597-2 shallapply to the adjustment required in SectionsA8.586-3, A8.586-4 and A8.586-5 for a retiredmember or his or her surviving spouse or con-tinuant when the retired member would nothave completed at least twenty-five (25) yearsof service in the aggregate and attained the ageof fifty (50) years until after January 1, 2003.


this Section, Section A8.597 and SectionA8.597-2 through A8.597-14, unless a differentmeaning is plainly required by the context,shall have the following meanings:


"Compensation," as distinguished from ben-efits under the Workers' CompensationInsurance and Safety Act of the State ofCalifornia, shall mean the remunerationpayable in cash, by the City and County, with-out deduction except for absence from duty, fortime during which the individual receiving suchremuneration is a member of the police depart-ment, but excluding remuneration paid forovertime.

Subject to the requirement that it be payablein cash and that overtime be excluded, "com-pensation" for pension purposes may bedefined in a collective bargaining agreement.Provided, however, that for retirement purpos-es, any increase in compensation attached to arank which is based solely upon the possessionof a POST certificate, compared to the equiva-lent rank without a POST certificate, shall besubject to the following limitations:(a) for possession of the intermediate POST

certificate, no more than 4% shall beincluded in compensation,

(b) for possession of the advanced POST cer-tificate, no more than an additional 2%over the maximum provided in subsection(a), above, shall be included in compensa-tion, These limits shall apply to any payincrements which are solely attributable tothe possession of a POST certificate,including but not limited to premiums orspecial ranks which may be established inthe future and which are solely attributa-ble to the possession of a POST certificate.

"Compensation earnable" shall mean thecompensation which would have been earnedhad the member received compensation withoutinterruption throughout the period under con-

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sideration and at the rates of remunerationattached at that time to the ranks or positionsheld by him or her during such period, it beingassumed that during any absence, he or shewas in the rank or position held by him or herat the beginning of the absence, and that priorto becoming a member of the police depart-ment, he or she was in the rank or position firstheld by him or her in such department.


"Final compensation" shall mean the aver-age monthly compensation earnable by a mem-ber during any one year of credited service inwhich his or her average compensation is thehighest.

For purposes of calculation of final compen-sation, any increase in pay solely attributableto possession of a POST certificate shall beincluded only if the member possesses the qual-ifying POST certificate for a period of not lessthan four (4) years prior to his or her retire-ment date; provided, however, that should amember possess the qualifying POST certifi-cate for a period of time less than four (4) yearsprior to retirement, final compensation shall becalculated based upon the monthly compensa-tion in the next lower rank not requiring pos-session of the qualifying POST certificate.

For the purpose of Section A8.597 throughA8.597-14, the terms "member of the policedepartment," "member of the department," or"member" shall mean any member of the policedepartment on January 1, 2003 who was anactive member of the retirement system underSection A8.586, and any officer or employee ofthe police department employed after January1, 2003 who was or shall be subject to the char-ter provisions governing entrance requirementsof members of the uniformed force of saiddepartment and said terms shall further meanpersons employed after January 1, 2003 at anage not greater than the maximum age thenprescribed for entrance into employment insaid uniformed force, to perform duties nowperformed under the titles of criminologist,photographer, police woman or jail matron;provided, however, that said terms shall notinclude any person who has not satisfactorilycompleted such course of training as may berequired by the police department prior toassignment to active duty with said department.


"Retirement board" shall mean "retirementboard" as created in Section 3.670 of the charter.




A8.597-2 SERVICE RETIREMENTAny member of the police department who

completes at least five years of service in theaggregate and attains the age of fifty (50)years, said service to be computed underSection A8.597-10, may retire for service at hisor her option. A member retired after meetingthe service and age requirements in the preced-ing sentence, shall receive a retirementallowance equal to the percent of final com-pensation (as defined in Section A8.597-1) setforth below opposite his or her age at retire-ment, taken to the preceding completed quarteryear, for each year of service, as computedunder Section A8.597-10:


50 2.40050.25 2.43050.5 2.46050.75 2.49051 2.52051.25 2.55051.5 2.58051.75 2.61052 2.64052.25 2.67052.5 2.70052.75 2.73053 2.76053.25 2.79053.5 2.82053.75 2.85054 2.88054.25 2.91054.5 2.94054.75 2.97055+ 3.000


A8.597-3 RETIREMENT FOR INCAPACITYAny member of the police department who

becomes incapacitated for the performance ofhis or her duty by reason of any bodily injuryreceived in, or illness caused by the perform-ance of his or her duty, shall be retired. If he orshe is not qualified for service retirement, he orshe shall receive a retirement allowance in anamount which shall be equal to the same per-centage of the final compensation of said mem-ber, as defined in Section A8.597-1, as his orher percentage of disability is determined to be.The percentage of disability shall be as deter-mined by the Workers' Compensation AppealsBoard of the State of California upon referralfrom the retirement board for that purpose;provided that the retirement board may, by fiveaffirmative votes, adjust the percentage of dis-ability as determined by said appeals board;

and provided, further, that such retirementallowance shall be in an amount not less than50 percent nor more than 90 percent of the finalcompensation of said member, as defined inSection A8.597-1. Said allowance shall be paidto him or her until the date upon which saidmember would have completed at least twenty-five (25) years of service in the aggregate andattained the age of fifty (50) years had he or shelived and rendered service without interruptionin the rank held by him or her at retirement,and after said date the allowance payable shallbe equal to the retirement allowance said mem-ber would have received if retired for serviceon said date based on the final compensation,as defined in Section A8.597-1, he or she wouldhave received immediately prior to said date,had he or she lived and rendered service asassumed, but such allowance shall not be lessthan 50 percent of such final compensation.

If, at the time of retirement because of dis-ability, he or she is qualified as to age and serv-ice for retirement under Section A8.597-2, heor she shall receive an allowance equal to theretirement allowance which he or she wouldreceive if retired under Section A8.597-2, butnot less than 50 percent of said final compen-sation. Any member of the police departmentwho becomes incapacitated for performance ofhis or her duty by reason of a cause not includ-ed under the provisions of the immediately pre-ceding sentences, and who shall have complet-ed at least 10 years of service in the aggregate,computed as provided in Section A8.597-10,shall be retired upon an allowance of 1-1/2percent of the final compensation of said mem-ber as defined in Section A8.597-1 for eachyear of service, provided that said allowanceshall not be less than 33-1/3 percent of saidfinal compensation. The question of retiring amember under this section may be broughtbefore the retirement board on said board'sown motion, by recommendation of the policecommission or by said member or his or herguardian. If his or her disability shall cease, hisor her retirement allowance shall cease and heor she shall be restored to the service in therank he or she occupied at the time of his or herretirement.

A8.597-4 DEATH ALLOWANCEIf a member of the police department shall

die before or after retirement by reason of aninjury received in, or illness caused by the per-formance of his or her duty, a death allowance,in lieu of any allowance, payable under anyother section of the charter or by ordinance, onaccount of death resulting from injury receivedin or illness caused by the performance of duty,shall be paid, beginning on the date next fol-lowing the date of death, to his or her survivingspouse throughout his or her life or until his orher remarriage. If the member, at the time of


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death, was qualified for service retirement, buthe or she had not retired, the allowancepayable shall be equal to three-fourths of theretirement allowance which the member wouldhave received if he or she had been retired forservice on the date of death, but such allowanceshall not be less than 50 percent of the finalcompensation earnable by said member imme-diately preceding death. If death occurs priorto qualification for service retirement, theallowance payable shall be equal to the com-pensation of said member at the date of death,until the date upon which said member wouldhave completed at least twenty-five (25) yearsof service in the aggregate and attained the ageof fifty (50) years, had he or she lived and ren-dered service without interruption in the rankheld by him or her at death, and after said datethe allowance payable shall be equal to three-fourths of the retirement allowance said mem-ber would have received if retired for serviceon said date, based on the final compensationhe or she would have received prior to saiddate, had he or she lived and rendered serviceas assumed, but such allowance shall not beless than 50 percent of such final compensa-tion. If he or she had retired prior to death, forservice or for disability resulting from injuryreceived in, or illness caused by the perform-ance of duty, the allowance payable shall beequal to three-fourths of the retirementallowance of the member, except that if he orshe was a member under Section A8.597 andretirement was for such disability, and if deathoccurred prior to qualification for the serviceretirement allowance, the allowance continuedshall be adjusted upon the date at which saidmember would have completed at least twenty-five (25) years of service in the aggregate andattained the age of fifty (50) years, in the samemanner as it would have been adjusted had themember not died.

If there is no surviving spouse entitled to anallowance hereunder, or if he or she dies orremarries before every child of such deceasedmember attains the age of 18 years, then theallowance which the surviving spouse wouldhave received had he or she lived and notremarried shall be paid to his or her child orchildren under said age, collectively, untilevery such child dies or attains said age, pro-vided that no child shall receive any allowanceafter marrying or attaining the age of 18 years.Should said member leave no surviving spouseand no children under the age of 18 years, butleave a child or children, regardless of age,dependent upon him or her for support becausepartially or totally disabled and unable to earna livelihood or a parent or parents dependentupon him or her for support, the child or chil-dren and the parents so dependent shall collec-tively receive a monthly allowance equal to thatwhich a surviving spouse otherwise would havereceived, during such dependency. Noallowance, however, shall be paid under thissection to a surviving spouse following thedeath of a member unless he or she was mar-

ried to the member prior to the date of theinjury or onset of the illness which results indeath.


Upon the death of a member of the policedepartment resulting from any cause other thanan injury received in, or illness caused by per-formance of duty,(a) if the death occurred after qualification

for service retirement under SectionA8.597-2, or after retirement service orbecause of disability which result from anycause other than an injury received in, orillness caused by performance of dutyone-half of the retirement allowance towhich the member would have been enti-tled if he or she had retired for service atthe date of death or one-half of the retire-ment allowance as it was at his or herdeath, as the case may be, shall be contin-ued throughout his or her life or untilremarriage to his or her surviving spouse,or

(b) if his or her death occurred after the com-pletion of at least 25 years of service in theaggregate but prior to the attainment ofthe age of 50 years, one-half of the retire-ment allowance to which he or she wouldhave been entitled under Section A8.597-2if he or she had attained the age of 50years on the date of his or her death shallbe continued throughout life or untilremarriage to his or her surviving spouse,or

(c) if his or her death occurred after retire-ment for disability by reason of injuryreceived in or illness caused by perform-ance of duty, three-fourths of his or herretirement allowance as it was at his orher death shall be continued throughoutlife or until remarriage to his or her sur-viving spouse, except that, if deathoccurred prior to qualification for serviceretirement allowance, the allowance con-tinued shall be adjusted upon the date onwhich said member would have completedat least twenty-five (25) years of service inthe aggregate and attained the age of fifty(50) years, in the same manner as it wouldhave been adjusted had the member notdied, or

(d) if his or her death occurred after comple-tion of at least 10 years of service in theaggregate, computed as provided inSection A8.597-10, an allowance in anamount equal to the retirement allowanceto which the member would have beenentitled pursuant to Section A8.597-3 if heor she had retired on the date of deathbecause of incapacity for performance ofduty shall be paid throughout life or untilremarriage to his or her surviving spouse.If there is no surviving spouse entitled toan allowance hereunder, or if he or shedies or remarries before every child of

such deceased member attains the age of18 years, then the allowance which thesurviving spouse would have received hadhe or she lived and not remarried shall bepaid to his or her child or children undersaid age, collectively, to continue untilevery such child dies or attains said age,provided that no child shall receive anyallowance after marrying or attaining theage of 18 years. Should said member leaveno surviving spouse and no children,under age of 18 years, but leave a child orchildren, regardless of age, dependentupon him or her for support because par-tially or totally disabled and unable toearn a livelihood or a parent or parentsdependent upon him or her for support,the child or children and the parents sodependent shall collectively receive amonthly allowance equal to that which asurviving spouse otherwise would havereceived, during such dependency. Noallowance, however shall be paid underthis section to a surviving spouse unlesshe or she was married to the memberprior to the date of the injury or onset ofthe illness which results in death if he orshe had not retired, or unless he or shewas married to the member at least oneyear prior to his or her retirement if he orshe had retired.

As used in this section and Section A8.597-4"surviving spouse" shall mean and include asurviving spouse, and shall also mean andinclude a spouse who has remarried since thedeath of the member, but whose remarriage hasbeen terminated by death, divorce or annul-ment within five years after the date of suchremarriage and who has not thereafter againremarried.

The surviving spouse, in the event of death ofthe member after qualification for, but beforeservice retirement, may elect before the firstpayment of the allowance, to receive the bene-fit provided in Section A8.597-8, in lieu of theallowance which otherwise would be continuedto him or her under this section. If there is nosurviving spouse, the guardian of the eligiblechild or children may make such election, andif there are no such children, the dependentparent or parents may make such election."Qualified for service retirement," "qualifica-tion for service retirement" or "qualified as toage and service for retirement," as used in thissection and other sections to which personswho are members under Section A8.597 aresubject, shall mean completion of 25 years ofservice and attainment of age 50, said serviceto be computed under Section A8.597-10.


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to or on account of any member under SectionA8.597 shall be adjusted in accordance withthe provisions of Subsection (b) of SectionA8.526 of this charter.


That portion of any allowance payablebecause of the death or retirement of any mem-ber of the police department which is providedby contributions of the City and County, shallbe reduced, by the amount of any benefits otherthan medical benefits, payable by the City andCounty to or on account of such person, underany workers' compensation law or any othergeneral law and because of the injury or illnessresulting in said death or retirement. Such por-tion which is paid because of death or retire-ment which resulted from injury received in, orillness caused by performance of duty, shall beconsidered as in lieu of all benefits, other thanmedical benefits, payable to or on account ofsuch person under such law and shall be in sat-isfaction and discharge of the obligation of theCity and County to pay such benefits.

A8.597-8 DEATH BENEFITIf a member of the police department shall

die, before retirement from causes other thanan injury received in, or illness caused by theperformance of duty, or regardless of cause ifno allowance shall be payable under SectionA8.597-4 or A8.597-5 preceding, a death bene-fit shall be paid to his or her estate or desig-nated beneficiary, the amount of which and theconditions for the payment of which shall bedetermined in the manner prescribed by theboard of supervisors for the death benefit ofother members of the retirement system. Uponthe death of a member after retirement andregardless of the cause of death, a death bene-fit shall be paid to his or her estate or desig-nated beneficiary the amount of which and theconditions for the payment of which shall bedetermined in the manner prescribed by theboard of supervisors for the death benefit ofother members of the retirement system.

A8.597-9 REFUNDS AND REDEPOSITSShould any member of the police department

cease to be employed as such a member,through any cause other than death or retire-ment or transfer to another office or depart-ment, all of his or her contributions, with inter-est credited thereon, shall be refunded to him orher subject to the conditions prescribed by theboard of supervisors to govern similar termina-tions of employment of other members of theretirement system. If he or she shall againbecome a member of the department, he or sheshall redeposit in the retirement fund theamount refunded to him or her. Should a mem-ber of the police department become anemployee of any other office or department, hisor her accumulated contribution account shallbe adjusted by payments to or from him or heras the case may be to make the accumulated

contributions credited to him or her at the timeof change equal to the amount which wouldhave been credited to him or her if he or shehad been employed in said other office ordepartment at the rate of compensationreceived by him or her in the police departmentand he or she shall receive credit for service forwhich said contributions were made, accordingto the charter section under which his or hermembership in the retirement system continues.


computation of the service to be credited to amember of the police department for the pur-poses of determining whether such memberqualified for retirement and calculating bene-fits, excluding, however, any time, the contribu-tions for which were withdrawn by said mem-ber upon termination of his or her service whilehe or she was a member under any other char-ter section, and not redeposited upon re-entryinto service:(a) Time during and for which said member is


(b) Time prior to January 1, 2003, duringwhich said member was entitled to receivecompensation while a member of thepolice or fire department under any othersection of the charter, provided that accu-mulated contributions on account of suchservice previously refunded are redeposit-ed with interest from the date of refund tothe date of redeposit, at times and in themanner fixed by the retirement board; andsolely for the purpose of determiningqualification for retirement under SectionA8.597-3 for disability not resulting frominjury received in or illness caused by per-formance of duty, time during which saidmember serves and receives compensationbecause of services rendered in otheroffices and departments.

(c) Time during which said member is absentfrom a status included in Subsection (a)next preceding, by reason of service in thearmed forces of the United States ofAmerica, or by reason of any other serviceincluded in Sections A8.520 and A8.521 ofthe charter, during any war in which theUnited States was or shall be engaged orduring other national emergency, and forwhich said member contributed or con-tributes to the retirement system or forwhich the City and County contributed orcontributes on his or her account.



ment of compensation made to a memberunder Section A8.597 a sum equal to

seven percent of such payment of compen-sation. The sum so deducted shall be paidforthwith to the retirement system. Saidcontribution shall be credited to the indi-vidual account of the member from whosesalary it was deducted, and the total ofsaid contributions, together with interestcredited thereon in the same manner as isprescribed by the board of supervisors forcrediting interest to contributions of othermembers of the retirement system, shall beapplied to provide part of the retirementallowance granted to, or allowance grant-ed on account of said member, or shall bepaid to said member or his or her estate orbeneficiary as provided in Section A8.597-8, A8.597-9 and A8.597-10. A member'sindividual account under Section A8.597shall include all monies previously credit-ed to the member's account under SectionA8.586.

(b) The City and County shall contribute tothe retirement system such amounts asmay be necessary, when added to the con-tributions referred to in Subsection (a) ofthis Section A8.597-11, to provide the ben-efits payable to members under SectionA8.597. Such contributions of the City andCounty to provide the portion of the bene-fits hereunder shall be made in annualinstallments, and the installment to bepaid in any year shall be determined bythe application of a percentage to the totalcompensation paid during said year topersons who are members under SectionA8.597 in accordance with the provisionsof Section A8.510.

(c) To promote the stability of the retirementsystem through a joint participation in theresult of variations in the experienceunder mortality, investment and other con-tingencies, the contributions of both mem-bers and the City and County held by thesystem to provide benefits for membersunder Section A8.597, shall be a part ofthe fund in which all other assets of saidsystem are included.

(d) Any year in which, based upon the retire-ment system's annual actuarial valuation,the employer contribution rate exceeds0%, the employee organizations repre-senting safety members shall jointly meetand confer with city representatives toimplement a cost sharing arrangementbetween the city and employee organiza-tions. Such arrangement will effect amaterial reduction of the cost impact ofemployer contributions on the city's gen-eral fund.

The dollar value of the cost sharing arrange-ment shall not exceed the total annual cost tothe retirement system of improving the policeand fire safety retirement plans to the 3%@55


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benefit level or the total employer contributionrequired by the retirement system, whichever islesser. Such cost sharing arrangement shall notrequire an employee contribution in excess ofthe limits set elsewhere in this charter.




set forth in Section A8.597-2 as requisite toretirement, a member of the police departmentshall be entitled to retire at any time thereafterin accordance with the provisions of saidSection A8.597-2, and, except as provided inthe following paragraph, nothing shall deprivesaid member of said right.

Any member of the police department con-victed of a crime involving moral turpitudecommitted in connection with his or her dutiesas a member of the police department shall,upon termination of his or her employment pur-suant to the provisions of this charter, forfeit allrights to any benefits under the retirement sys-tem except refund of his or her accumulatedcontributions; provided, however, that if suchmember is qualified for service retirement byreason of service and age under the provisionsof Section A8.597-2, he or she shall have theright to elect, without right of revocation andwithin 90 days of the termination of his or heremployment, whether to withdraw all of his orher accumulated contributions or to receive ashis or her sole benefit under the retirement sys-tem an annuity which shall be the actuarialequivalent of his or her accumulated contribu-tions at the time of such termination of employ-ment.

A8.597-13 LIMITATION ON EMPLOY-MENT DURING RETIREMENT(a) Except as provided in Section A8.511 of

this charter and in Subsection (b) of thissection, no person retired as a memberunder Section A8.597 for service or dis-ability and entitled to receive a retirementallowance under the retirement systemshall be employed in any capacity by theCity and County, nor shall such personreceive any payment for services renderedto the City and County after retirement.

(b)(1) Service as an election officer or juror,or in the preparation for, or giving tes-timony as an expert witness for or onbehalf of the City and County beforeany court or legislative body shall beaffected by the provisions of Subsection

(a) of this section.(2) The provisions of Subsection (a) shall

not prevent such retired person fromserving on any board or commission ofthe City and County and receiving thecompensation for such office, providedsaid compensation does not exceed$100 per month.

(3) If such retired person is elected orappointed to a position or office whichsubjects him or her to membership inthe retirement system under SectionA8.597, he or she shall re-enter mem-bership under Section A8.597 and hisor her retirement allowance shall becancelled immediately upon his or herre-entry. The provisions of Subsection(a) of this section shall not prevent suchperson from receiving the compensationfor such position or office. The rate ofcontributions of such member shall bethe same as that for other membersunder Section A8.597. Such member'sindividual account shall be creditedwith an amount which is the actuarialequivalent of his or her annuity at thetime of his or her re-entry, but theamount thereof shall not exceed theamount of his or her accumulated con-tributions at the time of his or herretirement. Such member shall alsoreceive credit for his or her service as itwas at the time of his or her retirement.

(c) Notwithstanding any provision of thischarter to the contrary, should any personretired for disability engage in a gainfuloccupation prior to attaining the age of 55years, the retirement board shall reducethat part of his or her monthly retirementallowance which is provided by contribu-tions of the City and County to an amountwhich, when added to the amount of thecompensation earnable, at the time he orshe engages in the gainful occupation, bysuch person if he or she held the positionwhich he or she held at the time of his orher retirement, or, if that position has beenabolished, the compensation earnable bythe member if he or she held the positionfrom which he or she was retired immedi-ately prior to its abolishment.

A8.597-14 CONFLICTING CHARTER PRO-VISIONS

Any section or part of any section in this char-ter, insofar as it should conflict with the provi-sions of Section A8.597 through A8.597-15 orwith any part thereof, shall be superseded by thecontents of said sections. In the event that anyword, phrase, clause or section of said sectionsshall be adjudged unconstitutional, the remain-der thereof shall remain in full force and effect.


ter to the contrary, should any member of thepolice department who is a member of the

Retirement System under Charter SectionA8.597 with five years of credited service,cease to be so employed, through any causeother than death or retirement, he or she shallhave the right to elect, without right of revoca-tion and within 90 days after termination ofsaid service, to allow his or her accumulatedcontributions including interest to remain in theretirement fund and to receive a retirementallowance equal to the percent set forth inSection A8.597-2 opposite his or her age atretirement, for each year of service multipliedagainst the final compensation of said member,calculated at termination, payable beginningno earlier than age 50. No vesting retirementallowance under this section shall exceed ninety (90%) percent of the member's finalcompensation. The provisions of SectionA8.597-15 shall not apply to any members of the retirement system under Section A8.586who terminated before January 1, 2003 or their continuants.

A8.598 MEMBERS OF THE FIREDEPARTMENT ON JANUARY 1, 2003 WHOARE MEMBERS OF THE RETIREMENTSYSTEM UNDER CHARTER SECTIONA8.588, AND MEMBERS OF THE FIREDEPARTMENT AFTER JANUARY 1, 2003.

Members of the fire department on January1, 2003 who are members of the retirement sys-tem under Section A8.588, and persons whobecome members of the fire department, asdefined in Section A8.598-1, after January 1,2003, shall be members of the retirement sys-tem subject to the provisions of Sections A8.598through A8.598-15 (which shall apply only tomembers under Section A8.598) in addition tothe provisions contained in Sections 12.100 to12.103 and Sections 8.500, 8.510, 8.520 and8.526 of this charter, notwithstanding the pro-visions of any other section of this charter, andshall not be subject to any of the provisions ofSections A8.588 of this charter.

The provisions of section A8.598 shall notapply to any member of the retirement systemunder section A8.588 who separated from serv-ice, retired or died before January 1, 2003, orto his or her continuant; provided, however,that the provisions of section A8.598-2 shallapply to the adjustment required in SectionsA8.588-3, A8.588-4 and A8.588-5 for a retiredmember or his or her surviving spouse or con-tinuant when the retired member would nothave completed at least twenty-five (25) yearsof service in the aggregate and attained the ageof fifty (50) years until after January 1, 2003.


this Section, Section A8.598 and SectionA8.598-2 through A8.598-14, unless a differentmeaning is plainly required by the context,

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shall have the following meanings:"Retirement allowance," "death allowance"

or "allowance," shall mean equal monthly pay-ments, beginning to accrue upon the date ofretirement, or upon the day following the dateof death, as the case may be, and continuing forlife unless a different term of payment is defi-nitely provided by the context.

"Compensation," as distinguished from ben-efits under the Workers' CompensationInsurance and Safety Act of the State ofCalifornia, shall mean the remunerationpayable in cash, by the City and County, with-out deduction except for absence from duty, fortime during which the individual receiving suchremuneration is a member of the fire depart-ment, but excluding remuneration paid forovertime. Subject to the requirement that it bepayable in cash and that overtime be excluded,"compensation" for pension purposes may bedefined in a collective bargaining agreement.

"Compensation earnable" shall mean thecompensation which would have been earnedhad the member received compensation with-out interruption throughout the period underconsideration and at the rates of remunerationattached at that time to the ranks or positionsheld by him or her during such period, it beingassumed that during any absence, he or shewas in the rank or position held by him or herat the beginning of the absence, and that priorto becoming a member of the fire department,he or she was in the rank or position first heldby him or her in such department.


"Final compensation" shall mean the aver-age monthly compensation earnable by a mem-ber during any one year of credited service inwhich his or her average compensation is thehighest.

For the purpose of Section A8.598 throughA8.598-14, the terms "member of the firedepartment," "member of the department," or"member" shall mean any member of the firedepartment on January 1, 2003 who was anactive member of the retirement system underSection A8.588, and any officer or employee ofthe fire department employed after January 1,2003 who was or shall be subject to the charterprovisions governing entrance requirements ofmembers of the uniformed force of said depart-ment and said terms shall further mean personsemployed after January 1, 2003 at an age notgreater than the maximum age then prescribedfor entrance into employment in said uniformedforce, to perform duties now performed underthe titles of pilot of fireboats, or marine engi-neer of fireboats; provided, however, that saidterms shall not include any person who has notsatisfactorily completed such course of trainingas may be required by the fire department priorto assignment to active duty with said depart-ment.

"Retirement system" or "system" shall meanSan Francisco City and County Employees'

Retirement System as created in Section A8.500of the charter.

"Retirement board" shall mean "retirementboard" as created in Section 3.670 of the char-ter.




A8.598-2 SERVICE RETIREMENTAny member of the fire department who com-

pletes at least five years of service in the aggre-gate and attains the age of fifty (50) years, saidservice to be computed under Section A8.598-10, may retire for service at his or her option.A member retired after meeting the service andage requirements in the preceding sentence,shall receive a retirement allowance equal tothe percent of final compensation (as defined inSection A8.598-1) set forth below opposite hisor her age at retirement, taken to the precedingcompleted quarter year, for each year of serv-ice, as computed under Section A8.598-10:


50 2.40050.25 2.43050.5 2.46050.75 2.49051 2.52051.25 2.55051.5 2.58051.75 2.61052 2.64052.25 2.67052.5 2.70052.75 2.73053 2.76053.25 2.79053.5 2.82053.75 2.85054 2.88054.25 2.91054.5 2.94054.75 2.97055+ 3.000


A8.598-3 RETIREMENT FOR INCAPACITYAny member of the fire department who

becomes incapacitated for the performance ofhis or her duty by reason of any bodily injuryreceived in, or illness caused by the perform-ance of his or her duty, shall be retired. If he orshe is not qualified for service retirement, he or

she shall receive a retirement allowance in anamount which shall be equal to the same per-centage of the final compensation of said mem-ber, as defined in Section A8.598-1, as his orher percentage of disability is determined to be.The percentage of disability shall be as deter-mined by the Workers' Compensation AppealsBoard of the State of California upon referralfrom the retirement board for that purpose;provided that the retirement board may, by fiveaffirmative votes, adjust the percentage of dis-ability as determined by said appeals board;and provided, further, that such retirementallowance shall be in an amount not less than50 percent nor more than 90 percent of the finalcompensation of said member, as defined inSection A8.598-1. Said allowance shall be paidto him or her until the date upon which saidmember would have completed at least twenty-five (25) years of service in the aggregate andattained the age of fifty (50) years had he or shelived and rendered service without interruptionin the rank held by him or her at retirement,and after said date the allowance payable shallbe equal to the retirement allowance said mem-ber would have received if retired for serviceon said date based on the final compensation,as defined in Section A8.598-1, he or she wouldhave received immediately prior to said date,had he or she lived and rendered service asassumed, but such allowance shall not be lessthan 50 percent of such final compensation.

If, at the time of retirement because of dis-ability, he or she is qualified as to age and serv-ice for retirement under Section A8.598-2, heor she shall receive an allowance equal to theretirement allowance which he or she wouldreceive if retired under Section A8.598-2, butnot less than 50 percent of said final compen-sation. Any member of the fire department whobecomes incapacitated for performance of hisor her duty by reason of a cause not includedunder the provisions of the immediately preced-ing sentences, and who shall have completed atleast 10 years of service in the aggregate, com-puted as provided in Section A8.598-10, shallbe retired upon an allowance of 1-1/2 percentof the final compensation of said member asdefined in Section A8.598-1 for each year ofservice, provided that said allowance shall notbe less than 33-1/3 percent of said final com-pensation. The question of retiring a memberunder this section may be brought before theretirement board on said board's own motion,by recommendation of the fire commission orby said member or his or her guardian. If his orher disability shall cease, his or her retirementallowance shall cease and he or she shall berestored to the service in the rank he or sheoccupied at the time of his or her retirement.

A8.598-4 DEATH ALLOWANCEIf a member of the fire department shall die


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before or after retirement by reason of an injuryreceived in, or illness caused by the perform-ance of his or her duty, a death allowance, inlieu of any allowance, payable under any othersection of the charter or by ordinance, onaccount of death resulting from injury receivedin or illness caused by the performance of duty,shall be paid, beginning on the date next fol-lowing the date of death, to his or her survivingspouse throughout his or her life or until his orher remarriage. If the member, at the time ofdeath, was qualified for service retirement, buthe or she had not retired, the allowancepayable shall be equal to three-fourths of theretirement allowance which the member wouldhave received if he or she had been retired forservice on the date of death, but such allowanceshall not be less than 50 percent of the finalcompensation earnable by said member imme-diately preceding death. If death occurs priorto qualification for service retirement, theallowance payable shall be equal to the com-pensation of said member at the date of death,until the date upon which said member wouldhave completed at least twenty-five (25) yearsof service in the aggregate and attained the ageof fifty (50) years, had he or she lived and ren-dered service without interruption in the rankheld by him or her at death, and after said datethe allowance payable shall be equal to three-fourths of the retirement allowance said mem-ber would have received if retired for serviceon said date, based on the final compensationhe or she would have received prior to saiddate, had he or she lived and rendered serviceas assumed, but such allowance shall not beless than 50 percent of such final compensa-tion. If he or she had retired prior to death, forservice or for disability resulting from injuryreceived in, or illness caused by the perform-ance of duty, the allowance payable shall beequal to three-fourths of the retirementallowance of the member, except that if he orshe was a member under Section A8.598 andretirement was for such disability, and if deathoccurred prior to qualification for the serviceretirement allowance, the allowance continuedshall be adjusted upon the date at which saidmember would have completed at least twenty-five (25) years of service in the aggregate andattained the age of fifty (50) years, in the samemanner as it would have been adjusted had themember not died.

If there is no surviving spouse entitled to anallowance hereunder, or if he or she dies orremarries before every child of such deceasedmember attains the age of 18 years, then theallowance which the surviving spouse wouldhave received had he or she lived and notremarried shall be paid to his or her child orchildren under said age, collectively, untilevery such child dies or attains said age, pro-vided that no child shall receive any allowanceafter marrying or attaining the age of 18 years.Should said member leave no surviving spouseand no children under the age of 18 years, butleave a child or children, regardless of age,

dependent upon him or her for support becausepartially or totally disabled and unable to earna livelihood or a parent or parents dependentupon him or her for support, the child or chil-dren and the parents so dependent shall collec-tively receive a monthly allowance equal to thatwhich a surviving spouse otherwise would havereceived, during such dependency. Noallowance, however, shall be paid under thissection to a surviving spouse following thedeath of a member unless he or she was mar-ried to the member prior to the date of theinjury or onset of the illness which results indeath.


Upon the death of a member of the firedepartment resulting from any cause other thanan injury received in, or illness caused by per-formance of duty,(a) if the death occurred after qualification

for service retirement under SectionA8.598-2, or after retirement service orbecause of disability which result from anycause other than an injury received in, orillness caused by performance of dutyone-half of the retirement allowance towhich the member would have been enti-tled if he or she had retired for service atthe date of death or one-half of the retire-ment allowance as it was at his or herdeath, as the case may be, shall be contin-ued throughout his or her life or untilremarriage to his or her surviving spouse,or

(b) if his or her death occurred after the com-pletion of at least 25 years of service in theaggregate but prior to the attainment ofthe age of 50 years, one-half of the retire-ment allowance to which he or she wouldhave been entitled under Section A8.598-2if he or she had attained the age of 50years on the date of his or her death shallbe continued throughout life or untilremarriage to his or her surviving spouse,or

(c) if his or her death occurred after retire-ment for disability by reason of injuryreceived in or illness caused by perform-ance of duty, three-fourths of his or herretirement allowance as it was at his orher death shall be continued throughoutlife or until remarriage to his or her sur-viving spouse, except that, if deathoccurred prior to qualification for serviceretirement allowance, the allowance con-tinued shall be adjusted upon the date onwhich said member would have completedat least twenty-five (25) years of service inthe aggregate and attained the age of fifty(50) years, in the same manner as it wouldhave been adjusted had the member notdied, or

(d) if his or her death occurred after comple-tion of at least 10 years of service in theaggregate, computed as provided in

Section A8.598-10, an allowance in anamount equal to the retirement allowanceto which the member would have beenentitled pursuant to Section A8.598-3 if heor she had retired on the date of deathbecause of incapacity for performance ofduty shall be paid throughout life or untilremarriage to his or her surviving spouse.If there is no surviving spouse entitled toan allowance hereunder, or if he or shedies or remarries before every child ofsuch deceased member attains the age of18 years, then the allowance which thesurviving spouse would have received hadhe or she lived and not remarried shall bepaid to his or her child or children undersaid age, collectively, to continue untilevery such child dies or attains said age,provided that no child shall receive anyallowance after marrying or attaining theage of 18 years. Should said member leaveno surviving spouse and no children,under age of 18 years, but leave a child orchildren, regardless of age, dependentupon him or her for support because par-tially or totally disabled and unable toearn a livelihood or a parent or parentsdependent upon him or her for support,the child or children and the parents sodependent shall collectively receive amonthly allowance equal to that which asurviving spouse otherwise would havereceived, during such dependency. Noallowance, however shall be paid underthis section to a surviving spouse unlesshe or she was married to the memberprior to the date of the injury or onset ofthe illness which results in death if he orshe had not retired, or unless he or shewas married to the member at least oneyear prior to his or her retirement if he orshe had retired.

As used in this section and Section A8.598-4"surviving spouse" shall mean and include asurviving spouse, and shall also mean andinclude a spouse who has remarried since thedeath of the member, but whose remarriage hasbeen terminated by death, divorce or annul-ment within five years after the date of suchremarriage and who has not thereafter againremarried.

The surviving spouse, in the event of death ofthe member after qualification for, but beforeservice retirement, may elect before the firstpayment of the allowance, to receive the bene-fit provided in Section A8.598-8, in lieu of theallowance which otherwise would be continuedto him or her under this section. If there is nosurviving spouse, the guardian of the eligiblechild or children may make such election, andif there are no such children, the dependentparent or parents may make such election."Qualified for service retirement," "qualifica-

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tion for service retirement" or "qualified as toage and service for retirement," as used in thissection and other sections to which personswho are members under Section A8.598 aresubject, shall mean completion of 25 years ofservice and attainment of age 50, said serviceto be computed under Section A8.598-10.


to or on account of any member under SectionA8.598 shall be adjusted in accordance withthe provisions of Subsection (b) of SectionA8.526 of this charter.


That portion of any allowance payablebecause of the death or retirement of any mem-ber of the fire department which is provided bycontributions of the City and County, shall bereduced, by the amount of any benefits otherthan medical benefits, payable by the City andCounty to or on account of such person, underany workers' compensation law or any othergeneral law and because of the injury or illnessresulting in said death or retirement. Such por-tion which is paid because of death or retire-ment which resulted from injury received in, orillness caused by performance of duty, shall beconsidered as in lieu of all benefits, other thanmedical benefits, payable to or on account ofsuch person under such law and shall be in sat-isfaction and discharge of the obligation of theCity and County to pay such benefits.

A8.598-8 DEATH BENEFITIf a member of the fire department shall die,

before retirement from causes other than aninjury received in, or illness caused by the per-formance of duty, or regardless of cause if noallowance shall be payable under SectionA8.598-4 or A8.598-5 preceding, a death bene-fit shall be paid to his or her estate or desig-nated beneficiary, the amount of which and theconditions for the payment of which shall bedetermined in the manner prescribed by theboard of supervisors for the death benefit ofother members of the retirement system. Uponthe death of a member after retirement andregardless of the cause of death, a death bene-fit shall be paid to his or her estate or desig-nated beneficiary the amount of which and theconditions for the payment of which shall bedetermined in the manner prescribed by theboard of supervisors for the death benefit ofother members of the retirement system.

A8.598-9 REFUNDS AND REDEPOSITSShould any member of the fire department

cease to be employed as such a member,through any cause other than death or retire-ment or transfer to another office or depart-ment, all of his or her contributions, with inter-est credited thereon, shall be refunded to him orher subject to the conditions prescribed by theboard of supervisors to govern similar termina-

tions of employment of other members of theretirement system. If he or she shall againbecome a member of the department, he or sheshall redeposit in the retirement fund theamount refunded to him or her. Should a mem-ber of the fire department become an employeeof any other office or department, his or heraccumulated contribution account shall beadjusted by payments to or from him or her asthe case may be to make the accumulated con-tributions credited to him or her at the time ofchange equal to the amount which would havebeen credited to him or her if he or she hadbeen employed in said other office or depart-ment at the rate of compensation received byhim or her in the fire department and he or sheshall receive credit for service for which saidcontributions were made, according to thecharter section under which his or her mem-bership in the retirement system continues.


computation of the service to be credited to amember of the fire department for the purposesof determining whether such member qualifiedfor retirement and calculating benefits, exclud-ing, however, any time, the contributions forwhich were withdrawn by said member upontermination of his or her service while he orshe was a member under any other charter sec-tion, and not redeposited upon re-entry intoservice:(a) Time during and for which said member is


(b) Time prior to January 1, 2003, duringwhich said member was entitled to receivecompensation while a member of thepolice or fire department under any othersection of the charter, provided that accu-mulated contributions on account of suchservice previously refunded are redeposit-ed with interest from the date of refund tothe date of redeposit, at times and in themanner fixed by the retirement board; andsolely for the purpose of determiningqualification for retirement under SectionA8.598-3 for disability not resulting frominjury received in or illness caused by per-formance of duty, time during which saidmember serves and receives compensationbecause of services rendered in otheroffices and departments.

(c) Time during which said member earnedcompensation as a paramedic with the firedepartment or department of publichealth, provided that the accumulatedcontributions on account of such serviceare transferred to his or her SectionA8.598 account or, if previously refunded,are redeposited with interest from the dateof refund to the date of redeposit, at timesand in the manner fixed by the retirementboard. The retirement board shall requirethat said member execute a waiver so that

any paramedic service covered by SectionA8.598 is not also covered by other pen-sion provisions in this charter. Members ofthe fire department on January 1, 2003,who are members of the retirement systemunder Section A8.598, shall execute andfile said waiver on or before June 30,2003. Persons who become members ofthe fire department, as defined in SectionA8.598-1, after January 1, 2003, shallexecute and file said waiver within 90days after their effective date of member-ship. Failure to file a timely waiver shallbar any application to have such para-medic service treated as safety serviceunder this subsection.

(d) Time during which said member is absentfrom a status included in Subsection (a)next preceding, by reason of service in thearmed forces of the United States ofAmerica, or by reason of any other serviceincluded in Sections A8.520 and A8.521 ofthe charter, during any war in which theUnited States was or shall be engaged orduring other national emergency, and forwhich said member contributed or con-tributes to the retirement system or forwhich the City and County contributed orcontributes on his or her account.



ment of compensation made to a memberunder Section A8.598 a sum equal toseven percent of such payment of compen-sation. The sum so deducted shall be paidforthwith to the retirement system. Saidcontribution shall be credited to the indi-vidual account of the member from whosesalary it was deducted, and the total ofsaid contributions, together with interestcredited thereon in the same manner as isprescribed by the board of supervisors forcrediting interest to contributions of othermembers of the retirement system, shall beapplied to provide part of the retirementallowance granted to, or allowance grant-ed on account of said member, or shall bepaid to said member or his or her estate orbeneficiary as provided in Section A8.598-8, A8.598-9 and A8.598-10. A member'sindividual account under Section A8.598shall include all monies previously credit-ed to the member's account under SectionA8.588.

(b) The City and County shall contribute tothe retirement system such amounts asmay be necessary, when added to the con-tributions referred to in Subsection (a) of


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this Section A8.598-11, to provide the ben-efits payable to members under SectionA8.598. Such contributions of the City andCounty to provide the portion of the bene-fits hereunder shall be made in annualinstallments, and the installment to bepaid in any year shall be determined bythe application of a percentage to the totalcompensation paid during said year topersons who are members under SectionA8.598 in accordance with the provisionsof Section A8.510.

(c) To promote the stability of the retirementsystem through a joint participation in theresult of variations in the experienceunder mortality, investment and other con-tingencies, the contributions of both mem-bers and the City and County held by thesystem to provide benefits for membersunder Section A8.598, shall be a part ofthe fund in which all other assets of saidsystem are included.

(d) Any year in which, based upon the retire-ment system's annual actuarial valuation,the employer contribution rate exceeds0%, the employee organizations repre-senting safety members shall jointly meetand confer with city representatives toimplement a cost sharing arrangementbetween the city and employee organiza-tions. Such arrangement will effect amaterial reduction of the cost impact ofemployer contributions on the city's gen-eral fund.

The dollar value of the cost sharing arrange-ment shall not exceed the total annual cost tothe retirement system of improving the policeand fire safety retirement plans to the 3%@55benefit level or the total employer contributionrequired by the retirement system, whichever islesser. Such cost sharing arrangement shall notrequire an employee contribution in excess ofthe limits set elsewhere in this charter.




set forth in Section A8.598-2 as requisite toretirement, a member of the fire departmentshall be entitled to retire at any time thereafterin accordance with the provisions of saidSection A8.598-2, and, except as provided inthe following paragraph, nothing shall deprivesaid member of said right.

Any member of the fire department convictedof a crime involving moral turpitude committed

in connection with his or her duties as a mem-ber of the fire department shall, upon termina-tion of his or her employment pursuant to theprovisions of this charter, forfeit all rights toany benefits under the retirement system exceptrefund of his or her accumulated contributions;provided, however, that if such member is qual-ified for service retirement by reason of serviceand age under the provisions of SectionA8.598-2, he or she shall have the right toelect, without right of revocation and within 90days of the termination of his or her employ-ment, whether to withdraw all of his or heraccumulated contributions or to receive as hisor her sole benefit under the retirement systeman annuity which shall be the actuarial equiva-lent of his or her accumulated contributions atthe time of such termination of employment.

A8.598-13 LIMITATION ON EMPLOY-MENT DURING RETIREMENT(a) Except as provided in Section A8.511 of

this charter and in Subsection (b) of thissection, no person retired as a memberunder Section A8.598 for service or dis-ability and entitled to receive a retirementallowance under the retirement systemshall be employed in any capacity by theCity and County, nor shall such personreceive any payment for services renderedto the City and County after retirement.

(b)(1) Service as an election officer or juror, orin the preparation for, or giving testi-mony as an expert witness for or onbehalf of the City and County beforeany court or legislative body shall beaffected by the provisions of Subsection(a) of this section.

(2) The provisions of Subsection (a) shallnot prevent such retired person fromserving on any board or commission ofthe City and County and receiving thecompensation for such office, provided said compensation does not exceed$100 per month.

(3) If such retired person is elected orappointed to a position or office whichsubjects him or her to membership inthe retirement system under SectionA8.598, he or she shall re-enter mem-bership under Section A8.598 and hisor her retirement allowance shall becancelled immediately upon his or herre-entry. The provisions of Subsection(a) of this section shall not prevent suchperson from receiving the compensationfor such position or office. The rate ofcontributions of such member shall bethe same as that for other membersunder Section A8.598. Such member'sindividual account shall be creditedwith an amount which is the actuarialequivalent of his or her annuity at thetime of his or her re-entry, but theamount thereof shall not exceed theamount of his or her accumulated con-tributions at the time of his or her

retirement. Such member shall alsoreceive credit for his or her service as itwas at the time of his or her retirement.

(c) Notwithstanding any provision of thischarter to the contrary, should any personretired for disability engage in a gainfuloccupation prior to attaining the age of 55years, the retirement board shall reducethat part of his or her monthly retirementallowance which is provided by contribu-tions of the City and County to an amountwhich, when added to the amount of thecompensation earnable, at the time he orshe engages in the gainful occupation, bysuch person if he or she held the positionwhich he or she held at the time of his orher retirement, or, if that position has beenabolished, the compensation earnable bythe member if he or she held the positionfrom which he or she was retired immedi-ately prior to its abolishment.

A8.598-14 CONFLICTING CHARTER PRO-VISIONS

Any section or part of any section in thischarter, insofar as it should conflict with theprovisions of Section A8.598 through A8.598-15 or with any part thereof, shall be supersed-ed by the contents of said sections. In the eventthat any word, phrase, clause or section of saidsections shall be adjudged unconstitutional,the remainder thereof shall remain in full forceand effect.


ter to the contrary, should any member of thefire department who is a member of theRetirement System under Charter SectionA8.598 with five years of credited service,cease to be so employed, through any causeother than death or retirement, he or she shallhave the right to elect, without right of revoca-tion and within 90 days after termination ofsaid service, to allow his or her accumulatedcontributions including interest to remain in theretirement fund and to receive a retirementallowance equal to the percent set forth inSection A8.598-2 opposite his or her age atretirement, for each year of service multipliedagainst the final compensation of said member,calculated at termination, payable beginningno earlier than age 50. No vesting retirementallowance under this section shall exceed ninety (90%) percent of the member's finalcompensation. The provisions of SectionA8.598-15 shall not apply to any members ofthe retirement system under Section A8.588who terminated before January 1, 2003 or their continuants.

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A8.500-1 RECIPROCAL PENSION BENE-FITS WITHIN THE RETIREMENT SYS-TEM AND WITH OTHER PUBLIC PEN-SION PLANS

Subject to the provisions of Section 8.500,the board of supervisors shall have the power toenact ordinances to establish reciprocal agree-ments with the Public Employees' RetirementSystem and other public agencies maintainingindependent retirement systems for the purposeof extending reciprocal benefits to members ofsuch systems as provided by state law. Theboard of supervisors and the retirement boardshall have the power to perform all acts necessary to carry out the terms and purposesof such agreements.

Subject to the provisions of Section 8.500,the board of supervisors is further empoweredto enact ordinances necessary to extend recip-rocal rights to members who transfer betweenretirement plans established by this CharterSections 8.509, 8.559, 8.584, 8.585, 8.586,8.588 provided that service under any plan formiscellaneous members Sections 8.509 and8.584 shall be used for qualification purposesonly and not to calculate benefits under anyretirement plan for members of the police orfire departments Sections 8.559, 8.585, 8.586and 8.588. With the exception of those mem-bers who transferred pursuant to CharterSections A8.559-14 and A8.585-14, no ordi-nance enacted under this section shall extendreciprocal rights to any member who trans-ferred from Charter section A8.559 or A8.585to Charter section A8.509, A8.584, A8.586 orA8.588, before April 1, 1993. No ordinanceenacted under this section shall extend recipro-cal rights to any person who terminated his orher membership in the retirement system orretired before April 1, 1993. Subject to theabove, reciprocal benefits under this paragraphshall be consistent with interpretations thathave been made relative to the reciprocal bene-fit provisions of the Public Employees'Retirement System and 1937 CountyEmployees' Retirement Act which this para-graph is intended to implement. The reciprocalbenefits under this section will be limited bySection 415 of the Internal Revenue Code of1986, as amended from time to time, and noreciprocal benefits will be effective if they havean adverse impact on the tax qualified status ofthe retirement system under Section 401 of theInternal Revenue Code of 1986, as amendedfrom time to time. (Amended November 2002)

A8.500-2 DOMESTIC PARTNER BENEFITS

As used in Charter sections A8.428, A8.509,A8.559, A8.584, A8.585, A8.586, A8.587, andA8.588, A8.595, A8.596, A8.597 and A8.598,"surviving wife" shall also mean and include a"surviving spouse." As used in these sections,the phrases "surviving wife" and "survivingspouse" shall also mean and include a domesticpartner, provided that:(a) there is no surviving spouse, and

(b) the member has designated his or herdomestic partner as beneficiary with theretirement system, and

(c) the domestic partnership was establishedaccording to those provisions of Chapter62 of the San Francisco AdministrativeCode which require the filing of a signedDeclaration of Domestic Partnership withthe County Clerk. In addition, theCertificate showing that the Declaration ofDomestic Partnership was filed with theCounty Clerk must be filed with theRetirement System at least one full yearimmediately prior to the effective date ofthe member's retirement or the member'sdeath if the member should die beforeretirement; provided, however, that begin-ning March 5, 2002, the requirement offiling a Certificate of DomesticPartnership with the Retirement Systemshall not apply to members who wereretired on or before November 8,19941995 and who had filed a signedDeclaration of Domestic Partnership withthe County Clerk at least one full yearprior to the effective date of his or herretirement; and provided further that, as toany such member who was retired on orbefore November 8, 1995, no adjustmentto a retirement allowance and no paymentsto a qualified surviving domestic partnershall begin before the effective date of thisamendment or before the first day of themonth in which an application is made tothe Retirement System, which ever occurslater.

A monthly allowance equal to what wouldotherwise be payable to a surviving spouseshall be paid to the said surviving domesticpartner, until he or she dies, marries or estab-lishes a new domestic partnership. The domes-tic partner benefits under this section will belimited by Section 415 of the Internal RevenueCode of 1986, as amended from time to time.No domestic partner benefits will be effective ifthey have an adverse impact on the tax quali-fied status of the retirement system underSection 401 of the Internal Revenue Code of1986, as amended from time to time.(Amended November 2002)


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increased benefits police&fire

Economy & Finance

total employer

effect amaterial

united states

monies previously

jointly meetand

collective

annual actuarial

employee organizations