HB 897 Summary

• Increases minimum creditable service requirement from 20 to 25 years for police officers hired after October 1, 2013, and raises normal retirement age from 55 to 50 with earliest actuarially reduced benefits available at age 45.

• Establishes new interest rate structure for members hired after October 1, 2013, based on ten-year U.S. Treasury bill rate plus one percent (not to exceed six percent), with one-time option for earlier members to switch to this rate.

• Changes employee contribution rate from seven percent to nine percent for members hired after October 1, 2013, with fifty percent lump sum return of contributions upon retirement.

• Restricts contribution refunds for members hired after October 1, 2013 with less than five years of service to percentages ranging from five percent to twenty-five percent based on service length, and limits cost-of-living adjustments to twenty-five percent total (versus thirty percent for earlier cohorts).

• Modifies DROP (Deferred Retirement Option Plan) provisions to permanently retire members hired after October 1, 2013 upon completion without reentry permission, and adds medical board definition while requiring five years of service for disability retirement eligibility.