Below, in alphabetical order, you can find definitions to some terms used to
describe how the System works.
Accumulated Contributions
All members contribute a percentage of their pay to the System. Your "accumulated
contributions" are the total of your contributions and the interest earned
on them. Each year, the Board of Trustees determines the rate of interest your
contributions will earn.
Average Final Compensation
Most allowances and benefits are based in part on your average final compensation.
If you earn any creditable service on or after October 1, 2001 and you
were not participating in the DROP on or before October 1, 2001, your
average final compensation
is the average of your earnable compensation during your last two years
of
service as a Police Officer. If you have fewer than two years of service,
your average
final compensation is the average of your earnable compensation during
all your years of service.
If you earn any creditable service on or after October 1, 2001, your
average final compensation for purposes of calculating the death benefit
payable
to your surviving spouse or surviving dependent child is the average
of your earnable
compensation during your last two years of service as a Police Officer.
If you have fewer than two years of service, your average final compensation
is the
average of your earnable compensation during all your years of service.
If you were participating in the DROP on or before October 1, 2001,
and you earn any creditable service on or after October 1, 2001,
special rules apply.
See
page 18.
If you did not earn any service on or after October 1, 2001, your
average final compensation is the average of your earnable compensation
during
your last three
years of service as a Police Officer. If you have fewer than three
years of service, your average final compensation is the average
of your earnable
compensation
during all your years of service.
Under no circumstances will compensation earned while you are not
an active participant in the System – including periods of participation in the
DROP -- be used to determine average final compensation.
Board of Trustees
A Board of Trustees administers and operates The Police Retirement
System of St. Louis. The members of the Board include the President
of the Board
of Police
Commissioners or another Board Member designated by the Police
Board President, the Comptroller of the City of St. Louis or his
or her
deputy, three members
appointed by the mayor for two year terms, three active members
elected by their fellow Police Officers for three year terms, and
two retired
Police Officers
elected by their fellow retirees for three year terms. In addition,
Mr. Stephen
G. Olish acts as the Administrative Director for the System.
For more information about the Board of Trustees and the Board's
roles and responsibilities, see Sections 86.300 through 86.363.
The current members of the Board of Trustees are:
P.O. Thomas G. Neske, Chairman
Leslie F. Bond, Sr., M.D., Trustee
Sgt. John T. Gaffigan, Trustee
Hon. Darlene Green, Trustee
Ms. Sheryl Y. Johnson, Trustee
Sgt. James H. Long, Trustee
Col. Mary E. Nelson, Trustee
P.O. Joseph E. Ponder (Retired), Trustee
Mr. Thomas P. Stoff, Trustee
Sgt. James R. Wurm (Retired), Trustee
Break in Service
A “break in service” is a temporary, unpaid leave of absence from
your job. If your break in service is more than one month, you will not receive
credit during your absence. For example, if you are absent without pay for
three months and then return to service, you will not earn any service for
the entire
three-month period. If you are absent without pay for 29 or fewer days and
then return to service, you will earn service for the entire period of absence.
Dependent Children
Under some circumstances, the System provides monthly benefits
for dependent children of members who become disabled or die.
The System
defines dependent
children as unmarried children who are:
- under age 18, or under age 23, if enrolled as a full-time
student, or
- totally and permanently disabled and unable to care for themselves. (Except
in the case of a member's ordinary disability allowance,
a disabled child must have
become disabled before age 18 and must not be a resident
of a public-supported institution.)
Earnable Compensation
Earnable compensation is defined as the regular pay someone in your rank or
position would earn in one year and includes base pay, educational incentive
and shift differential, but NOT overtime or court time.
Prior Service
If you leave employment as a Police Officer and later return, your prior creditable
service will be reinstated if you left your contributions in the System during
your absence or if you repaid them (with interest) when you returned to police
duty (see “How to Reinstate or Purchase Creditable Service” on
page 11).
Surviving Spouse
The spouse to whom you are legally married at your death.
Years of Service (Creditable Service)
Your years of service are used to determine your eligibility for benefits from
the System and to calculate the amount of benefit to which you are entitled.
In this overview, “years of service” is the same as “creditable
service.”
As soon as you become a member in the System, you begin earning years of service.
Each month you work as a Police Officer with pay, except months of participation
in the DROP or months after your DROP participation has ended but prior to
October 1, 2001, counts towards your years of service. Generally, one full
or partial month of service counts as one month of service. Therefore, 12 months
of service equals one year of service.
Consider Alice who became a member on July 1, 1976. If she continues her employment
as a Police Officer, as of September 18, 2004, she will have earned 28 years
and 3 months of service, calculated as follows:
1976 through 2004 = 28 years
July + August + September = 3 months
Total Years of Service: 28 years and 3 months
However, if Alice began participation in the DROP on August 1, 1996 and then
reentered the System as an active participant on October 1, 2001 after her
DROP participation ended on August 1, 2001, she will have earned 20 years and
1 month of service, calculated as follows:
1976 through 1996 = 20 years
July = 1 month
Total pre-DROP Service = 20 years and 1 month
Plus
2001 through 2004 = 3 years
No months
Total Post-DROP Service = 3 years and 0 months
Equals
20 years and 1 month
Plus
3 years and 0 months
Total Years of Service = 23 years and 1 month
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