§ 203-63. Optional Allowances.

(a)

Any Member may elect to receive the Service Retirement Allowance in the form of an allowance payable through life, or may elect to receive the actuarial equivalent, at the time of Retirement, of such allowances in any one of the four following ways:

Option 1. A reduced allowance for life and upon death, such reduced allowance to an Optionee for life.

Option 2. A reduced allowance and upon death, one-half of such reduced allowance to an Optionee for life.

Option 3. A reduced allowance to the Member during the period the Member and the Member's Optionee are both alive, and upon the death of either of them, two-thirds of such reduced allowance to the survivor for life.

Option 4. A reduced allowance to the Member during the period the Member and the Member's Optionee are both alive and upon the death of either of them, 80 percent of such reduced allowance to the survivor for life.

(b)

A surviving spouse who was designated as the sole primary Beneficiary of a Member who either dies in service while eligible for Retirement or dies in service with twenty or more years of Creditable Service, and the surviving spouse of a Deferred Vested Member whose Service Retirement Allowance payments had not begun as of the date of the Member's death, may elect to receive either:

(i)

The death benefits, if any, provided by Section 203-45, or

(ii)

A reduced allowance for the life of the surviving spouse only, calculated under Option 1.

(c)

The optional allowance to the surviving spouse of a Member who dies in service while eligible for Retirement shall become effective as of the first day of the month following the date of the Member's death.

(d)

The optional allowance to the surviving spouse of a Member who is not eligible for Retirement and dies in service with twenty or more years of Creditable Service, shall become effective as follows:

(i)

If the deceased Member was an Active Member on or after January 1, 2002, payments shall begin as of the first day of the month following the earliest date on which normal Service Retirement Allowance payments to the Member would have become effective had the Member lived and continued to be employed in service as an Employee.

(e)

The optional allowance to the surviving spouse of a Deferred Vested Member who dies shall become effective on the date on which Service Retirement Allowance payments to the Member would have become effective had the Member lived.

(f)

In the event that by reason of the death of any Member who selected an option under this section and the death of the Optionee, the payments made to the Member and the Optionee in the aggregate do not equal the amount of contributions standing to the Member's credit at the time of Retirement, there shall be paid to a Beneficiary, in accordance with Section 203-47, the amount of the contributions less the aggregate of the following amounts:

(i)

All Service Retirement Allowance payments to the Member and to the Optionee, and

(ii)

Any payments made by reason of the Member's death pursuant to any other applicable Section of this Chapter.

If the Member has failed to designate a Beneficiary, then payment shall be made to the person(s) and in the manner specified in Sections 203-47(b) and 203-47(c).

(g)

In the event of any overpayment made to a Member, Optionee or Beneficiary, such overpayment shall be deducted from the next allowance payment or payments payable to the Member, Optionee or Beneficiary in such manner as to recover such overpayment as quickly as possible.

(h)

Any Member who has elected an option under this section may change such election at any time prior to Retirement. No election of options shall be changed after Retirement, except that any Retiree who has elected to receive an option shall have the right to cancel that option in the event that such Retiree has become divorced, legally separated, obtained a dissolution of marriage or annulment from the Optionee and has provided the Board with a signed release from the Member's Optionee waiving all rights to the option or a certified copy of a court order stating that the Optionee is not entitled to any portion of the benefit. Upon application for cancellation of the option and filing with the Board a certified copy of the decree of divorce, dissolution, annulment or written separation agreement or a written waiver of all rights by the Optionee, the Board shall order the option previously elected to be cancelled, and the Retiree shall receive retirement benefits thereafter in the amount to which the Retiree would be entitled if an option had not been elected.

(C.O. 203-29; a. Ord. No. 455-1957, eff. Jan. 1, 1958; a. Ord. No. 227-1960, eff. June 22, 1960; a. Ord. No. 167-1962, eff. June 8, 1962; a. Ord. No. 472-1962, eff. Jan. 11, 1963; a. Ord. No. 16-1966, eff. Feb. 18, 1966; a. Ord. No. 176-1968, eff. May 17, 1968; a. Ord. No. 125-1970, eff. May 29, 1970; a. Ord. No. 460-1971, eff. Dec. 22, 1971; renumbered to C.M.C. 203-63 in 1971, eff. Jan. 1, 1972; a. Ord. No. 65-1977, eff. Mar. 9, 1977; a. Ord. No. 300-1979, eff. Aug. 4, 1979; a. Ord. No. 545-1983, eff. Dec. 23, 1983; a. Ord. No. 50-1985, eff. Mar. 8, 1985; a. Ord. No. 485-1985, eff. Nov. 8, 1985; a. Ord. No. 404-1997, eff. Dec. 17, 1997; Emer. Ord. No. 318-2002, § 1, eff. Oct. 2, 2002; a. Ord. No. 336-2016, § 1, eff. Nov. 26, 2016; Emer. Ord. No. 357-2017, § 2, eff. Dec. 20, 2017)