Florida Statutes
Chapter 175 - Firefighter Pensions
175.032 - Definitions.

(1) “Additional premium tax revenues” means revenues received by a municipality or special fire control district pursuant to s. 175.121 which exceed base premium tax revenues.
(2) “Average final compensation” for:
(a) A full-time firefighter means one-twelfth of the average annual compensation of the 5 best years of the last 10 years of creditable service before retirement, termination, or death, or the career average as a full-time firefighter since July 1, 1953, whichever is greater. A year is 12 consecutive months or such other consecutive period of time as is used and consistently applied.
(b) A volunteer firefighter means the average salary of the 5 best years of the last 10 best contributing years before change in status to a permanent full-time firefighter or retirement as a volunteer firefighter or the career average of a volunteer firefighter, since July 1, 1953, whichever is greater.

(3) “Base premium tax revenues” means:
(a) For a local law plan in effect on October 1, 2003, the revenues received by a municipality or special fire control district pursuant to s. 175.121 for the 2002 calendar year.
(b) For a local law plan created between October 1, 2003, and March 1, 2015, inclusive, the revenues received by a municipality or special fire control district pursuant to s. 175.121 based upon the tax collections during the second calendar year of participation.

(4) “Chapter plan” means a separate defined benefit pension plan for firefighters which incorporates by reference the provisions of this chapter and has been adopted by the governing body of a municipality or special district. Except as specifically authorized in this chapter, the provisions of a chapter plan may not differ from the plan provisions set forth in ss. 175.021-175.341 and ss. 175.361-175.401. Actuarial valuations of chapter plans shall be conducted by the division as provided by s. 175.261(1).
(5) “Compensation” or “salary” means, for noncollectively bargained service earned before July 1, 2011, or for service earned under collective bargaining agreements in place before July 1, 2011, the fixed monthly remuneration paid a firefighter. If remuneration is based on actual services rendered, as in the case of a volunteer firefighter, the term means the total cash remuneration received yearly for such services, prorated on a monthly basis. For noncollectively bargained service earned on or after July 1, 2011, or for service earned under collective bargaining agreements entered into on or after July 1, 2011, the term has the same meaning except that when calculating retirement benefits, up to 300 hours per year in overtime compensation may be included as specified in the plan or collective bargaining agreement, but payments for accrued unused sick or annual leave may not be included.
(a) Any retirement trust fund or plan that meets the requirements of this chapter does not, solely by virtue of this subsection, reduce or diminish the monthly retirement income otherwise payable to each firefighter covered by the retirement trust fund or plan.
(b) The member’s compensation or salary contributed as employee-elective salary reductions or deferrals to any salary reduction, deferred compensation, or tax-sheltered annuity program authorized under the Internal Revenue Code shall be deemed to be the compensation or salary the member would receive if he or she were not participating in such program and shall be treated as compensation for retirement purposes under this chapter.
(c) For any person who first becomes a member in any plan year beginning on or after January 1, 1996, compensation for that plan year may not include any amounts in excess of the Internal Revenue Code s. 401(a)(17) limitation, as amended by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, which limitation of $150,000 shall be adjusted as required by federal law for qualified government plans and further adjusted for changes in the cost of living in the manner provided by Internal Revenue Code s. 401(a)(17)(B). For any person who first became a member before the first plan year beginning on or after January 1, 1996, the limitation on compensation may not be less than the maximum compensation amount that was allowed to be taken into account under the plan in effect on July 1, 1993, which limitation shall be adjusted for changes in the cost of living since 1989 in the manner provided by Internal Revenue Code s. 401(a)(17)(1991).

(6) “Creditable service” or “credited service” means the aggregate number of years of service and fractional parts of years of service of any firefighter, omitting intervening years and fractional parts of years when such firefighter may not have been employed by the municipality or special fire control district, subject to the following conditions:
(a) A firefighter may not receive credit for years or fractional parts of years of service if he or she has withdrawn his or her contributions to the fund for those years or fractional parts of years of service, unless the firefighter repays into the fund the amount he or she has withdrawn, plus interest determined by the board. The member has at least 90 days after his or her reemployment to make repayment.
(b) A firefighter may voluntarily leave his or her contributions in the fund for 5 years after leaving the employ of the fire department, pending the possibility of being rehired by the same department, without losing credit for the time he or she has participated actively as a firefighter. If the firefighter is not reemployed as a firefighter with the same department within 5 years, his or her contributions shall be returned without interest.
(c) Credited service under this chapter shall be provided only for service as a firefighter or for military service and does not include credit for any other type of service. A municipality, by local ordinance, or a special fire control district, by resolution, may provide for the purchase of credit for military service prior to employment as well as for prior service as a firefighter for some other employer as long as a firefighter is not entitled to receive a benefit for such prior service. For purposes of determining credit for prior service as a firefighter, in addition to service as a firefighter in this state, credit may be given for federal, other state, or county service if the prior service is recognized by the Division of State Fire Marshal as provided in chapter 633, or the firefighter provides proof to the board of trustees that his or her service is equivalent to the service required to meet the definition of a firefighter.
(d) In determining the creditable service of any firefighter, credit for up to 5 years of the time spent in the military service of the Armed Forces of the United States shall be added to the years of actual service if:
1. The firefighter is in the active employ of an employer immediately before such service and leaves a position, other than a temporary position, for the purpose of voluntary or involuntary service in the Armed Forces of the United States.
2. The firefighter is entitled to reemployment under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act.
3. The firefighter returns to his or her employment as a firefighter of the municipality or special fire control district within 1 year after the date of release from such active service.

(7) “Deferred Retirement Option Plan” or “DROP” means a local law plan retirement option in which a firefighter may elect to participate. A firefighter may retire for all purposes of the plan and defer receipt of retirement benefits into a DROP account while continuing employment with his or her employer. However, a firefighter who enters the DROP and who is otherwise eligible to participate may not be precluded from participation or continued participation in a supplemental plan in existence on, or created after, March 12, 1999.
(8) “Defined contribution plan” means the component of a local law plan, as provided in s. 175.351(1), to which deposits, if any, are made to provide benefits for firefighters, or for firefighters and police officers if both are included. Such component is an element of a local law plan and exists in conjunction with the defined benefit plan component that meets minimum benefits and minimum standards. The retirement benefits, if any, of the defined contribution plan component shall be provided through individual member accounts in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Internal Revenue Code and related regulations and are limited to the contributions, if any, made into each member’s account and the actual accumulated earnings, net of expenses, earned on the member’s account.
(9) “Division” means the Division of Retirement of the Department of Management Services.
(10) “Enrolled actuary” means an actuary who is enrolled under Subtitle C of Title III of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and who is a member of the Society of Actuaries or the American Academy of Actuaries.

(11)(a) “Firefighter” means a person employed solely by a constituted fire department of any municipality or special fire control district who is certified as a firefighter as a condition of employment in accordance with s. 633.408 and whose duty it is to extinguish fires, to protect life, or to protect property. The term includes all certified, supervisory, and command personnel whose duties include, in whole or in part, the supervision, training, guidance, and management responsibilities of full-time firefighters, part-time firefighters, or auxiliary firefighters but does not include part-time firefighters or auxiliary firefighters. However, for purposes of this chapter only, the term also includes public safety officers who are responsible for performing both police and fire services, who are certified as police officers or firefighters, and who are certified by their employers to the Chief Financial Officer as participating in this chapter before October 1, 1979. Effective October 1, 1979, public safety officers who have not been certified as participating in this chapter are considered police officers for retirement purposes and are eligible to participate in chapter 185. Any plan may provide that the fire chief has an option to participate in that plan.
(b) “Volunteer firefighter” means any person whose name is carried on the active membership roll of a constituted volunteer fire department or a combination of a paid and volunteer fire department of any municipality or special fire control district and whose duty it is to extinguish fires, to protect life, and to protect property. Compensation for services rendered by a volunteer firefighter does not disqualify him or her as a volunteer. A person may not be disqualified as a volunteer firefighter solely because he or she has other gainful employment. Any person who volunteers assistance at a fire but is not an active member of a department described herein is not a volunteer firefighter within the meaning of this paragraph.

(12) “Firefighters’ Pension Trust Fund” means a trust fund, by whatever name known, as provided under s. 175.041, for the purpose of assisting municipalities and special fire control districts in establishing and maintaining a retirement plan for firefighters.
(13) “Local law municipality” means any municipality in which a local law plan exists.
(14) “Local law plan” means a retirement plan that includes both a defined benefit plan component and a defined contribution plan component for firefighters, or for firefighters and police officers if both are included, as described in s. 175.351, established by municipal ordinance, special district resolution, or special act of the Legislature, which enactment sets forth all plan provisions. Local law plan provisions may vary from the provisions of this chapter if minimum benefits and minimum standards are met. However, any such variance must provide a greater benefit for firefighters. Actuarial valuations of local law plans shall be conducted by an enrolled actuary as provided in s. 175.261(2).
(15) “Local law special fire control district” means any special fire control district in which a local law plan exists.
(16) “Minimum benefits” means the benefits specified in ss. 175.021-175.341 and ss. 175.361-175.401.
(17) “Minimum standards” means the standards specified in ss. 175.021-175.401.
(18) “Property insurance” means property insurance as defined in s. 624.604 and covers real and personal property within the corporate limits of a municipality, or within the boundaries of a special fire control district, within the state. The term “multiple peril” means a combination or package policy that includes both property and casualty coverage for a single premium.
(19) “Retiree” or “retired firefighter” means a firefighter who has entered retirement status. For the purposes of a plan that includes a Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP), a firefighter who enters the DROP is considered a retiree for all purposes of the plan. However, a firefighter who enters the DROP and who is otherwise eligible to participate may not be precluded from participation or continued participation in a supplemental plan in existence on, or created after, March 12, 1999.
(20) “Retirement” means a firefighter’s separation from municipal or fire district employment as a firefighter with immediate eligibility for benefits under the plan. For purposes of a plan that includes a Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP), “retirement” means the date a firefighter enters the DROP.
(21) “Special act plan” means a plan subject to the provisions of this chapter which was created by an act of the Legislature and continues to require an act of the Legislature to alter plan benefits.
(22) “Special benefits” means benefits provided in a defined contribution plan for firefighters.
(23) “Special fire control district” means a special district, as defined in s. 189.012, established for the purposes of extinguishing fires, protecting life, and protecting property within the incorporated or unincorporated portions of a county or combination of counties, or within any combination of incorporated and unincorporated portions of a county or combination of counties. The term does not include any dependent or independent special district, as those terms are defined in s. 189.012, the employees of which are members of the Florida Retirement System pursuant to s. 121.051(1) or (2).
(24) “Supplemental plan” means a plan to which deposits are made to provide special benefits for firefighters, or for firefighters and police officers if both are included. Such a plan is an element of a local law plan and exists in conjunction with a defined benefit plan component that meets minimum benefits and minimum standards. Any supplemental plan in existence on March 1, 2015, shall be deemed to be a defined contribution plan in compliance with s. 175.351(6).
(25) “Supplemental plan municipality” means a local law municipality in which any supplemental plan existed as of December 1, 2000.
History.—s. 1, ch. 63-249; s. 2, ch. 79-380; s. 1, ch. 79-388; s. 1, ch. 81-168; s. 2, ch. 86-41; s. 13, ch. 93-193; s. 918, ch. 95-147; s. 13, ch. 95-154; s. 2, ch. 99-1; s. 1, ch. 2000-159; s. 1, ch. 2002-66; s. 160, ch. 2003-261; s. 3, ch. 2009-97; s. 4, ch. 2011-216; s. 126, ch. 2013-183; s. 68, ch. 2014-22; s. 2, ch. 2015-39.