§ 1504. DEFINITIONS.

(a)

"Compensation", as distinguished from benefits under the Workmen's Compensation laws of the State of California, shall mean the remuneration prescribed by the City in cash, without deduction except for absence from duty, for time during which the member, as herein defined, receiving such remuneration is in the employ of the City. Compensation based on overtime put in by a member shall be excluded from all computations in which compensation is a factor.

(b)

"Service" shall mean time during which a member is employed by City for compensation excluding compensated time prior to becoming a member. Absence from duty without compensation due to any cause other than disability retirement as hereinafter provided, shall not be deemed service for the City. The legislative body, however, may fix the number of months per year to be required for a year of service and proportionate parts thereof, but not more than one year shall be credited for all service in any year.

(c)

"Compensation earnable" shall mean the compensation as determined by the Retirement Board, which would have been earned had the member received compensation without interruption throughout the period under consideration and at the rates attached to the ranks or position held by a member during such period. The computation for any absence of a member shall be based on the compensation earnable in the rank or position held by the member at the beginning of the absence and that for the time prior to becoming a member of the Fire or Police Department, shall be based on the compensation earnable by the member in the rank or position first held by the member in such Department.

(d)

"Retirement allowance", "death allowance", or "allowance" shall mean equal monthly payments for life unless a different term of payment is provided by the context, provided that any person to whom or on whose account benefits are payable, may elect to have the actuarial equivalent of the portion of such benefits which is not continued automatically to the member's surviving spouse or children, paid in different form, all subject to such restrictions, regulations and conditions as may be prescribed by the legislative body, but the action of the legislative body shall not prevent such benefits when elected by a member, from taking the form of cash refund annuities, as applied to the member's accumulated contributions only, or reversionary annuities, these terms to have the meaning commonly accepted in standard life insurance practice.

(e)

"Annuity" shall mean equal monthly payments for life, unless a different term of payment is provided by the context, derived from contributions made by the member.

(f)

"Final compensation" shall mean the highest average monthly compensation earnable by a member during any period of 12 consecutive months. In the calculation of "final compensation", periods of service separated by breaks in service may be aggregated to constitute a period of 12 consecutive months, if the periods of service are consecutive except for such breaks. If a break in service did not exceed 6 months in duration, time included in the break and compensation earnable during such time shall be included in the computation of final compensation. If a break in service exceeded 6 months in duration, only the first 6 months thereof and the compensation earnable during those 6 months shall be included in the computation of final compensation. For the purposes of this paragraph, absence from duty without compensation, because of disability retirement, is not a break in service.

(g)

"Employee" shall mean "officer or employee".

(h)

"Member" shall mean a member of the Retirement System unless clearly indicated otherwise.

(i)

"Interest" shall mean interest at the rate adopted by the Retirement Board.

(j)

The disability referred to herein as a basis for retirement shall mean disability of permanent duration, except disabilities determined by the Retirement Board, predicated upon best medical opinion, to be of an extended and indefinite duration.

(k)

For the purposes of the Retirement System, ages of members used in the calculation of allowances shall be taken to the next lower completed quarter year.

(l)

Any fire or police service performed outside the limits of the City by a member of the Retirement System under the orders of a superior officer of any such member, shall be considered as performed within the scope of a member's employment, and any disability or death incurred therein shall be covered under the provisions of the Retirement System.

(m)

For the purposes of the Retirement System, "member of the Fire Department" or "member of the Police Department", shall include any officer or employee of either of such departments whose principal duties are to prevent and extinguish fire or to preserve the peace, prevent injury to life and property, or to suppress crime or disorder, and shall exclude persons whose principal duties are those of civilian personnel such as, but not limited to, administrative analyst, training coordinator, technical specialist, housing inspector, telephone operator, clerk or stenographer, machinist or mechanic, or other similar duties clearly not falling within the foregoing regular fire or police duties, even though such persons may be called upon occasionally to perform such regular fire or police duties; provided that the foregoing exclusions shall not apply to members of the System who are reassigned to perform any of the excluded duties or transferred to another City department. After the effective date hereof, the maximum age at which any person, except a person employed as Chief of the Fire Department or Chief of the Police Department may become or reenter as a member of either the Fire or Police Department, shall be thirty-four years notwithstanding any of the other provisions of this Charter.

(n)

"Spouse" shall mean a male or female person legally married to a member and otherwise entitled to benefits as further provided herein.

(o)

"Handicapped dependent child" shall mean an unmarried natural child or an unmarried legally adopted child of a member who is physically or mentally handicapped as determined by standards established by ordinance, and who prior to reaching 21 years of age was so handicapped. Provided, that in order to be eligible for any benefits herein, an adopted handicapped dependent child must have been legally adopted by the member not less than 12 months preceding the retirement of the member or be legally adopted by the member at the time of his or her death occurring prior to retirement.

(Sec. 1504 amended by vote of the people 4-17-1973, effective July 1, 1973.)