Pension Description
2022 Proposed Budget
Pension Description
Present and retired employees of the City are covered under two statewide public employee retirement (including disability retirement) systems. The Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund (OP&F) covers uniformed members of the police and fire departments. All other eligible City employees are covered by the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS).
OPERS and OP&F are two of five statewide public employee retirement systems created by and operating pursuant to Ohio law, all of which currently have unfunded actuarial accrued liabilities. The General Assembly has the power to amend the format of those systems and to revise rates and methods of contributions to be made by public employers and their employees and eligibility criteria, benefits or benefit levels for employee members. In 2012, the General Assembly passed five separate pension reform measures intended to assist each of the five retirement systems in addressing its unfunded actuarial accrued liabilities. The reform legislation passed with respect to OPERS and OP&F provided for (i) no change in the City contribution rates with respect to its employees’ earnable salaries, (ii) no change in OPERS employee contribution rate, and (iii) an increase in the OP&F employee contribution rate from 10% to 12.25% in annual increments of 0.75% that began on July 2, 2013. With certain transition provisions applicable to certain current employees, the reform legislation has, among other changes, increased minimum age and service requirements for retirement and disability benefits, revised the calculation of an employee’s final average salary on which pension benefits are based to include the five highest years (rather than the three highest years), provided for OPERS pension benefits to be calculated on a lower, fixed formula, changed provisions with respect to future cost-of-living adjustments to limit those adjustments to the lesser of any increase in the Consumer Price Index or three percent. The OP&F reform legislation also authorizes the OP&F board to further adjust member contribution rates or further adjust age and service requirements after November 1, 2017, if, after an actuarial investigation, the board determines that an adjustment is appropriate.
Plan Description – Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS)
City employees, other than full-time police and firefighters, participate in the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS). OPERS administers three separate pension plans. The Traditional Pension Plan is a cost-sharing, multiple-employer defined benefit pension plan. The Member-Directed Plan is a defined contribution plan and the Combined Plan is a cost-sharing, multiple-employer defined benefit pension plan with defined contribution features. While members (e.g., City employees) may elect the Member-Directed Plan and the Combined Plan, substantially all employee members are in OPERS’ Traditional Pension Plan.
Plan Description – Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund (OP&F)
City full-time police and firefighters participate in Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund (OP&F), a cost- sharing, multiple-employer defined benefit pension plan administered by OP&F. OP&F provides retirement and disability pension benefits, annual cost-of-living adjustments, and death benefits to plan members and beneficiaries. Benefit provisions are established by the Ohio State Legislature and are codified in Chapter 742 of the Ohio Revised Code. OP&F issues a publicly available financial report that includes financial information and required supplementary information and detailed information about OP&F fiduciary net position.