Sec. 120.102. - Administration of the retirement system.

(a) The sole and exclusive administration of and the responsibility for the proper, effective operation of the Retirement System and for implementing the provisions of this Chapter is vested in a Board of Trustees. The powers and duties of the Board shall be set forth in this Section. (b) The Board of Trustees shall consist of nine persons who shall be selected as follows: (1) The Mayor's Chief Administrative Officer or designee. (2) The City's Chief Financial Officer or designee. (3) The City's Chief Human Resources Officer, by whatever title known. (4) Chairperson of the General Employees' Pension Advisory Committee. (5) A General Employees' Pension Plan retiree elected by the General Employees' Retired Employees' Association. (6) Chairperson of the Corrections Officers' Advisory Committee. (7) The Vice-Chairperson of the Corrections Officers' Advisory Committee until October 1, 2012; effective October 1, 2012 and continuing until October 1, 2014, a Corrections Officers' Plan retiree chosen by the Corrections Officers' Advisory Committee; and effective on and after October 1, 2014, a retired Corrections Officer elected by the Corrections Officers' Retired Employees' Association. (8) Two citizens shall be appointed by the City Council. Each citizen shall have professional experience in at least one of the following disciplines: finance, investments, economics, pension management, pension administration and/or accounting. (c) Each citizen Trustee shall serve a term of three years and the General Employees' Plan retiree Trustee shall serve a term of two years. Effective October 1, 2012, the Corrections Officers' Plan retiree Trustee shall serve a term of two years. If a vacancy shall occur prior to the expiration of a Trustee member's term, a replacement member shall be chosen in the same manner as the person who has left office. A citizen Trustee or retiree Trustee who misses three consecutive meetings without an excuse satisfactory to the Board shall be deemed to have resigned as a Trustee and the position shall be declared vacant. A replacement Trustee shall serve a full term measured from the date of replacement. All Trustees shall serve until their replacements are selected. (d) There shall be a General Employees' Plan Advisory Committee consisting of seven persons of whom shall be elected by the active, contributing general employee members as follows: (i) two of whom are employees of JEA; (ii) four of whom shall be employees of the City of Jacksonville, the Jacksonville Housing Authority, Clerk of Courts State Funded Employees and the Transportation Planning Organization (herein "City Employees"), with each of these employees casting three votes; and (iii) one retired member of the Plan who shall be elected by the Retired Employees' Association. There shall be one ballot cast by each active, contributing general employee for the General Employees' Plan Advisory Committee, with each active, contributing general employee casting up to six (6) votes per ballot for the individuals of their choice. The top two individuals with the highest votes from the JEA employee candidates shall be elected as the JEA members of the General Employees' Plan Advisory Committee and the top four individuals with the highest votes from the City Employees candidates shall be elected as the City Employees members of the General Employees' Plan Advisory Committee. The powers and duties of the Advisory Committee shall be set forth in this Section. An Advisory Committee Member who misses three consecutive meetings without an excuse satisfactory to the Committee shall be deemed to have resigned as a Member and the position shall be declared vacant. Vacancies in the General Employees' Plan Advisory Committee shall be filled in the following manner. If a seat filled by a JEA employee is vacated more than 30 days prior to a scheduled election, the JEA employee candidate with the next highest votes from the most recent election shall fill the vacancy for the remainder of the term. If a seat filled by a City Employee is vacated prior to a scheduled election, the City Employee candidate with the next highest votes from the most recent election shall fill the vacancy for the remainder of the term. In either case, if the next highest candidate has already been added to the General Employees' Plan Advisory Committee through a prior vacancy or is not willing or able to serve on the General Employees' Plan Advisory Committee, the vacancy will be filled by continuing down the list of the next highest votes from the most recent election. (e) There shall be a Corrections Officers' Plan Advisory Committee elected by the active, contributing Corrections Officer members of the Plan consisting of five persons who shall be active contributing Corrections Officer members of the Plan. The powers and duties of the Corrections Officers' Advisory Committee shall be identical to those of the General Employees' Advisory Committee as they relate solely to Corrections Officer members of the Plan. An Advisory Committee Member who misses three consecutive meetings without an excuse satisfactory to the Committee shall be deemed to have resigned as a Member and the position shall be declared vacant. (f) The Board of Trustees shall prescribe a uniform procedure for the election of the Advisory Committees. (g) All Trustees and Advisory Committee members shall serve without compensation, but they shall be reimbursed from the Fund for all necessary expenses authorized by the Board, including, but not limited to, reimbursement for leave time used for educational conferences approved by the Board. The Board shall be permitted to prescribe uniform rules for reimbursement for travel expenditures by Board members and Advisory Committee members, consistent with City travel policy. (h) The Board of Trustees shall annually select a chairperson, vice-chairperson and secretary. The chairperson shall be selected from one of the two citizen Trustees. The chair, vice chair and secretary shall each have individual authority to execute all documents on behalf of the Board. (i) The General Employees' Plan Advisory Committee shall annually select a chairperson and a vice chairperson who shall execute all documents on behalf of the Advisory Committee. The Corrections Officers' Advisory Committee shall annually select a chairperson, vice-chairperson and secretary and each shall have authority to execute all documents on behalf of the Advisory Committee. (j) A majority of the members of the Board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business and shall have full power to act under the terms of the Plan. Five concurring votes shall be required of the Board to take action. (k) A majority of the members of the General Employees' Plan Advisory Committee shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business and shall have full power to act under the terms of the Plan. Four concurring votes shall be required of the Committee to take action. A majority of the members of the Corrections Officers' Advisory Committee shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business and shall have the full power to act under the terms of the Plan on matters relating solely to Corrections Officers. Three concurring votes shall be required for the Committee to take action. (l) The Board shall keep minutes of all meetings and a record of any action taken by the Board shall be kept in written form and maintained by the Board. (m) The Advisory Committees shall keep minutes of all meetings and a record of any action taken shall be kept in written form and maintained by the Advisory Committees. (n) The Board of Trustees shall have the authority to make such uniform rules and regulations and to take such action as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of the Plan and all decisions of the Board of Trustees, made in good faith, shall be final, binding and conclusive on all parties. (o) The Board of Trustees shall be deemed the named fiduciary of the Plan and shall discharge its responsibilities solely in the interest of the members and beneficiaries of the Plan for the exclusive purpose of providing benefits to the members and their beneficiaries and to defray the reasonable expenses of the Plan. The Trustees shall exercise those fiduciary responsibilities with the care, skill, prudence and diligence under the circumstances then prevailing that a prudent person acting in a like capacity and familiar with such matters would use in the conduct of an enterprise of a similar character and with similar aims. This Section shall not relieve any other person of fiduciary responsibility who has otherwise been made a fiduciary pursuant to F.S. § 112.656 or by contract. (p) The Board of Trustees shall have the following administrative duties: (1) To maintain such records as are necessary for calculating and distributing retirement benefits. (2) To maintain such records as are necessary for financial accounting and reporting of funds of the respective Plans comprising the System; (3) To maintain such records as are necessary for actuarial evaluation of the Retirement Plans comprising the System, including investigations into the mortality, service and compensation experience of its members and beneficiaries; (4) To compile such other administrative or investment information as is necessary for the management of the Retirement System; (5) To process, certify and/or respond to all correspondence, bills and statements received by the Retirement System, as well as all applications submitted to the Board for retirement benefits; (6) To establish and maintain communication with City departments and other agencies of government as is necessary for the management of the Retirement System, including preparing, filing and distributing such reports and information as are required by law to be prepared, filed or distributed on behalf of the Retirement Plans comprising the System; (7) To determine all questions relating to all applications for eligibility, participation and benefits; (8) To distribute at regular intervals to employees, a comprehensive Summary Plan Description and periodic reports regarding the financial and actuarial status of the Plans comprising the System; (9) To retain and compensate such professional and technical experience as is necessary to fulfill its fiduciary responsibilities; (10) To make recommendations to the City Council regarding changes in the provisions of any Plan within the System; (11) To assure the prompt deposit of all member contributions, City contributions, and investment earnings; (12) To establish a uniform set of rules and regulations for the management of the Trust; (13) To take such other action as the Trustees shall deem, in their sole and exclusive discretion, as being necessary for the efficient management of the System. (q) The Board shall have the authority to retain its own legal counsel, accountants, actuaries and other professional advisors to assist the Board in the performance of its duties. The Board may act without independent investigation upon the professional advice of the advisors so retained. (r) The Board is authorized to prosecute or defend actions, claims or proceedings of any nature or kind for the protection of the Fund assets or for the protection of the Board in the performance of its duties. (s) The Advisory Committees shall have the following administrative duties with regard to their respective memberships: (1) Review and recommend action to the Board on all applications for membership and benefits; (2) Conduct inquiry into disability applications and recommend final action to the Board; (3) Recommend to the Board amendments to the System documents; (4) No benefit or allowance shall be paid from the Plan without first being reviewed by the Advisory Committee. (5) Such other duties as may be prescribed by the City Charter or Ordinance Code. (t) Neither the Board nor any of its individual members nor the Advisory Committees and any of their individual members shall have any personal liability for any action taken in good faith. The Trustees and Advisory Committee members individually and the Board and the Advisory Committee as a whole shall be entitled to the protections in F.S. § 768.28. The Trustees shall also be authorized to purchase from the assets of the Fund, errors and omission insurance to protect the Trustees and the Advisory Committee members in the performance of their duties. Such insurance shall not provide protection against a Trustee's or Advisory Committee member's fraud, intentional misrepresentation, willful misconduct or gross negligence. (u) No Trustee or Advisory Committee member shall be responsible, at his or her own expense, to take legal action to correct the misconduct of any other member of the Board of Trustees or of the Advisory Committees. A Trustee or Advisory Committee member shall have an affirmative obligation, however, to publicly reveal any misfeasance, malfeasance or nonfeasance by a co-Trustee or co-Advisory Committee member, and upon making such revelation in a public meeting, shall be relieved of further individual responsibility of the actions of that co-Trustee or co-Advisory Committee member. (v) No proposed legislation affecting any Plan in the System shall be adopted prior to its presentation to the appropriate Pension Advisory Committee and the Board of Trustees for its comment. The City Council shall consider those comments but shall not be bound by them. No legislation shall be adopted on final reading before an actuarial impact statement is filed with the State Division of Retirement as provided by State law. (Ord. 2005-432-E, § 2; Ord. 2008-369-E, § 1; Ord. 2014-375-E, § 1)