Contractual Benefits; Miscellaneous Provisions.
Milwaukee City Charter § 36-13
in effect36-13. Contractual Benefits; Miscellaneous Provisions.
1.
LEGISLATIVE POLICY. Employees have been attracted to and have remained in the public service in cities of the first class despite the prevailing higher wages in other employments because of the deferred compensation for their services promised to them in the form of retirement annuities and death benefits in the retirement system to which they have been admitted as contributing members. The purpose of this act is to strengthen the public service in cities of the first class by establishing the security of such retirement and death benefits.
2.
CONTRACTS TO ASSURE BENEFITS. The benefits of members, whether employees in service or retired as beneficiaries, and of beneficiaries of deceased members in the retirement system created by chapter 396, laws of 1937, as amended, shall be assured by benefit contracts as herein provided
a. Every such member and beneficiary shall be deemed to have accepted the provisions of this act and shall thereby have a benefit contract in said retirement system of which he is such member or beneficiary as of July 30, 1947, unless, within period of 30 days thereafter, he files with the board administering the system a written notice electing that this subsection shall not apply to him. The annuities and all other benefits in the amounts and upon the terms and conditions and in all other respects as provided under this act and as amended shall be obligations of such benefit contract on the part of the city and of the board administering the system and each member and beneficiary having such a benefit contract shall have a vested right to such annuities and other benefits and they shall not be diminished or impaired by subsequent legislation or by any other means without his consent.
b. The board administering the system may issue to each member and beneficiary who shall have a benefit contract under this act a written or printed contract but the contract shall be in full force and effect whether or not any written or printed evidence thereof shall be so issued.
c. Any person who shall become a member of this retirement system after July 30, 1947, except persons who shall become members of this retirement system on or after March 1, 1985, as a result of being employed as firemen, and persons who shall become members of this retirement system on or after August 1, 1985, as a result of being employed as policemen, shall have a similar benefit contract and vested right in the annuities and all other benefits in the amounts and on the terms and conditions and in all other respects as provided in the law under which the retirement system was established as such law shall have been amended and be in effect at the date of commencement of his membership and as subsequently amended. Every person who shall become a member of this retirement system on or after March 1, 1985, as a result of being employed as a fireman, and every person who shall become a member of this retirement system on or after August 1, 1985, as a result of being employed as a policeman shall have a similar benefit contract and vested right in the annuities and all other benefits in the amounts and on the terms and conditions and in all other respects as provided in the law under which the retirement system was established as such law shall have been amended and be in effect at the date of the commencement of his membership. (Par. c am. Ch. Ord. 552, File #85-118-a, July 16, 1985; eff. Sept. 30, 1985. Par. c am. Ch. Ord. 565, File #86-1820, Feb. 24, 1987; eff. May 11, 1987.)
d. Contributions which are made to this fund under this act by the city or by an agency which is covered by this act, as contributions for members of this system shall not in any manner whatsoever affect, alter or impair any member's rights, benefits, or allowances, to which such member under this act is or may be entitled; neither shall the fact that such contributions are made, grant or confer upon such city or agency covered by this act, any additional rights, interest or authority in such contributions so made or in the management or supervision of this system or in the fund thereof. Contractual and vested rights, benefits or allowances which either have been or are declared and expressed in this act continue without impairment or reduction in any manner whatsoever, and such rights, benefits or allowances shall not be or are not in any manner affected, modified or diminished as a result of such contributions made by the city or an agency covered by this act; nor can such rights, benefits or allowances be altered, modified or impaired so that any diminution occurs in any member's rights, benefits or allowances. (Par. d cr. Ch. Ord. 370, File #74-239, May 24, 1971.)
e. No rights, benefits or allowances whatsoever created under or pursuant to the provisions of the employes' retirement act or as amended heretofore or hereafter, nor creditable, nor prior service, nor credits granted, either recognized or allowed to such member, or retired member or beneficiary, nor any rights or benefits allowed or allowances granted by virtue of any minimum or maximum retirement provisions or requirements, nor any minimum or maximum retirement provisions of this act shall in any manner whatsoever, or in any form, either be altered, modified, reduced, changed, cancelled, revoked or impaired, now or hereafter to the disadvantage or loss of such member or retired member or beneficiary as to his pension rights, payments or retirement allowances, and no action shall be taken nor provision enacted which in any manner diminishes, reduces or denies to such member or retired member or beneficiary any of his or her retirement allowances, benefits or rights derived from or under any section of this act or rule promulgated by the board as authorized by this act or as heretofore provided. No application nor interpretation of the provisions of this act or rule of the board shall be either effected, instituted or promulgated retroactively or applied in such a manner as to such member, retired member or beneficiary so that it results in any form, in the diminution, loss or partial loss or reduction of any credit, benefit or retirement allowance to which such person was or is entitled because of prior interpretation or application of the provisions of this act or rule whether general or specific. The protection, safeguarding and the security of the rights, benefits and allowances expressed in this subsection are and shall be deemed fully vested, contractual and binding upon the employer and guaranteed by it. No act, action or delinquency of a member of this system shall in any manner defeat or prevent him or his beneficiary from receiving the full benefits or allowances to which he was entitled up to the time of the occurrence of such act, action or delinquency and any provision of this act which is in conflict therewith is deemed superseded and repealed and to be without force and effect. This paragraph shall not apply to persons who shall become members of this retirement system on or after March 1, 1985, as a result of being employed as firemen, or persons who become members of this retirement system on or after August 1, 1985, as a result of being employed as a policeman. (Par. e am. Ch. Ord. 552, File #85-118-a, July 16, 1985; eff. Sept. 30, 1985. Par. e am. Ch. Ord. 554, File #85-845, Oct. 1, 1985; eff. Dec. 15, 1985.)
f. Any provision of ch. 36 notwithstanding, the granting of a benefit to any member, retired member, survivor or beneficiary participating in the retirement system to the exclusion of a member, retired member, survivor or beneficiary participating in the combined fund shall not be deemed in violation of the rights of such other member, retired member, survivor or beneficiary participating in the combined fund who is not granted such benefit, even if funded by the existing assets of the retirement system and/or future earnings. (Par f. cr. File #991585, April 11, 2000; eff. Jan. 19, 2001.)
g. Every member, retired member, survivor and beneficiary who participates in the combined fund shall have a vested and contractual right to the benefits in the amount and on the terms and conditions as provided in the law on the date the combined fund is created. (Par g. cr. File #991585, April 11, 2000; eff. Jan. 19, 2001.)
h. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the contractual rights of members enrolled on or after November 23, 2011, shall be governed by this paragraph. The right of the city on its own behalf, or on behalf of a city agency, to amend or repeal all or part of this chapter by enactment of ordinance is reserved to the city and the city agency. Members shall have no right to further accrual of benefits or rights for service rendered after the effective date of any ordinance repealing or altering the ordinance that authorizes the benefit or right. Benefits accrued and rights earned by a member under this chapter for service rendered prior to the effective date of any ordinance shall be due as a contractual and vested right and shall not be abrogated or altered by any subsequent legislation. No alteration of an ordinance shall abrogate any rights or benefits earned but not exercised before the effective date of an ordinance altering or abrogating the right or benefit. This paragraph shall not apply to members of a certified collective bargaining unit with a labor contract while it is in force and in effect that contains provisions inconsistent with this paragraph. (Par. h. cr. File #110348, Sept. 20, 2011; eff. Dec. 7, 2011.)
i. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, sub. 5 shall only apply to transfers completed on or before December 31, 2023. Any person who is a member of the county or city of Milwaukee retirement system who transfers from employment in either the county or city, as the case may be, after December 31, 2023, shall not be entitled to enrollment in either the county or city of Milwaukee retirement system, but shall instead be enrolled in the Wisconsin Retirement System, subject to the eligibility requirements of ch. 40 Wis. Stats. (Par. i cr. File #230362, Sept. 19, 2023; eff. Nov. 18, 2023.)
4.
GUARANTY AND SUPERVISION.
a. The creation and maintenance of reserves in the retirement fund, the maintenance of annuity reserves and pension reserves as provided for, and regular interest creditable as provided for to the various funds, shall be mandatory and shall be obligations of the city and city agencies whose employees are under this act. (Par. a am. Ch. Ord. 382, File #71-2300, Mar. 21, 1972.)
b. The payment of all pensions, annuities, retirement allowances, refunds and other benefits granted under the provisions of this act shall be deemed deferred pay of such member, and the payment of all pensions, annuities, retirement allowances, refunds and other benefits granted under the provisions of this act and all expenses in connection with the administration and operation of the retirement system are made obligations of the city and city agencies.
c. The legal title to the funds created by this act shall be in the retirement system and shall be held by it in trust for the purposes for which they were contributed under this act and no amendment to the act shall reduce the benefits of any member below those which can be provided by the reserves of the system held in his account, nor shall the reserves held in his account, nor shall the reserves held on account of any member be diluted by the addition of new members or annuitants receiving benefits of any members.
d. The various funds of the employes' retirement system shall be subject to periodic audit examination, and each 5 years there shall be valuation of the system by the board's actuary as provided in s. 36-15-14. (Par. d am. Ch. Ord. 372, File #71-797, July 30, 1971. Par. d am. File #100788, Nov. 23, 2010; eff. Feb. 10, 2011.)
5.
TRANSFER AND CREDITS.
a. Creditable Service. Any person who is a member of either the county or city of Milwaukee retirement system who within 60 days after termination of employment transfers from employment in either the county or city, as the case may be, without receiving any withdrawal benefits from either the city or county retirement system, shall be entitled to receive a service retirement allowance which shall be computed in the following manner, except as otherwise noted in pars. b and c: (Par. a-0 am. Ch. Ord. 553, File #85-643, July 30, 1985; eff. Oct. 15, 1985. Par. a-0 am. Ch. Ord. 560, File #86-807, Sept. 23, 1986; eff. Dec. 18, 1986. Par. a-0 am. File #892334, April 9, 1990; eff. June 26, 1990.)
a-1. The formula of the retirement system to which he has transferred in effect at the time of his retirement shall be used.
a-2. The final average salary of such person in the retirement system to which he has transferred shall be the base to which is applied the formula.
a-3. The aggregate creditable service including all service credit shall be the number of years or fraction of years of such service allowable under the respective provisions of both the county or city retirement system, as the case may be, together with the years of service or part thereof in the retirement system to which such person transferred.
a-4. The retirement system from which such person transferred shall contribute toward the service retirement allowance computed as hereinbefore set forth as follows: Such contribution shall be prorated on the basis of the total service earned by virtue of the service in the system from which the member transferred to the total service as provided for in subd. 3. (Subd. 4 am. Ch. Ord. 560, File #86-807, Sept. 23, 1986; eff. Dec. 8, 1986.)
a-5. In the event an entire department or a substantial number of employees in a department are transferred from city to county, or vice versa, then under such circumstances the method of contribution by the retirement system from which such employee transferred shall be handled at the time of transfer on a basis satisfactory to both systems and the method of contribution by the respective pension systems may be altered in that event, but this shall not affect the other provisions hereof.
b. Transfer From County. Any person who is transferred from the county system to the city system under this section and whose retirement occurs within 5 years of the date of transfer shall receive an allowance on account of his service prior to the date of transfer which shall not be greater than the allowance he would have received on account of his service to the date of transfer if he had remained a member of the system from which he transferred. He shall also be entitled to and receive an allowance on account of his service subsequent to such transfer. (Par. b am. Ch. Ord. 375, File #71-1754, Dec. 7, 1971.)
c. Transfer To County. When any person who has been a member of the city system transfers to the county system and at the time of such transfer to that system, such member has less than one year of creditable service, his membership in the city system shall be terminated as of the date of transfer, and there shall be refunded to such person all sums contributed by him to the fund during the period of time he was in active city service.
d. Payments and Accounts. The liability of the city system for such credits and payments because of former members of the city system who shall have become members of the county system shall be taken into account by the board in its valuations and determinations of contributions to be made to the funds of the city system.
e. Transfer of Credits. Whenever any city employee who is a member of this system or any other system to which the city is a contributor desires to change his city employment, and such city employment is approved by the proper city officers, the credits which such person has accrued from the pension system from which he is transferring shall be transferred in full to this system, and such person shall be granted under this system credits in the same manner as if he had been a member of this system from the inception of his city service. An actuarial determination shall be made of any deficiency of credits, and the city and the employee shall be required to contribute to this system any difference in amount which shall be found by the actuarial determination to be required in order to make such person's account actuarially sound.
f. Termination of Membership. Any time after December 1, 1961, when an employee of the city, who is also a member of this system, transfers to employment in the county or becomes a member of the employes' retirement system of Milwaukee county because of court reorganization as provided for by state act, he may withdraw his contributions from this system provided that such member shall execute a waiver and release and such other forms as shall be determined by the board, and, following the return of contributions to such employee, his membership shall be terminated and such employee shall have no right or interest whatsoever in any pension, annuity or benefit of the system nor any other right or privilege whatsoever as a result of his membership in this system. Such election shall also terminate any right or interest of such member to any transfer by the city or by this system of accruals, credits, rights or benefits to any other retirement system, and such employee shall be deemed to waive any rights as to membership or restoration thereof in this system for the period of time prior to refund of his contributions.
g. Any member of the city or county employes' retirement system, who separated from service after having elected deferred retirement benefits, who thereafter became a member under the other system within 60 days of separation from the first system and who separated from the other system without having first received benefits from the first system, shall have service under both systems included for purposes of determining final average salary for retirement allowance purposes under each system and shall have creditable service under the first system included in determining whether the vesting requirements for retirement purposes of the other system have been met. This paragraph shall be the exclusive reciprocity for all members separating from the first system on or after June 1, 1991. (Par. g cr. File #911897, passed Feb. 11, 1992. This file provided that par. g would become effective when Milwaukee county passed an ordinance identical in all respects to par. g. On June 27, 1995, the common council passed File #950326, effective Sept. 13, 1995, which repealed the contingency placed on par. g with respect to Milwaukee county action.)
h. When Member of State Retirement System. Whenever the state of Wisconsin retirement system certifies that a member of this retirement system has service credit as a member of the retirement system of the State of Wisconsin, he shall receive credit therefor in computing his retirement allowance at a specific rate of 1.6% of his final average salary for each year or part thereof. The retirement allowance upon his retirement under the provisions of this act shall be reduced by the maximum amount which such member is entitled to receive as a retirement allowance from the state retirement system. If the member is not entitled to receive a retirement allowance from the state retirement system because of an election he has made on or after March 11, 1977, his retirement allowance shall nevertheless be reduced by the maximum amount to which he would have been entitled from the state retirement system had such election not been made. (Par. g am. Ch. Ord. 439, File #76-164, Dec. 23, 1976. Par. g rn. to h, File #911897, Feb. 11, 1992; eff. Apr. 13, 1992.)
i. Applicability. The board shall adopt rules for the application of par. g respecting treatment of interrupted service, computation of offset and service credit not in excess of creditable service in this system. (Par. h cr. Ch. Ord. 361, File #69-990, Nov. 11, 1969. Par. h rn. to i, File #911897, Feb. 11, 1992; eff. Apr. 13, 1992.)
6.
GUARDIAN FOR MEMBER. Whenever a guardian has been appointed for a member by a court of record and a certified copy of the order appointing the guardian has been filed with the secretary of the board, such guardian may file an application for retirement and also elect the option and may designate the beneficiary when authorized by such court so to do.
7.
DEATH BENEFIT PAYMENTS TO BENEFICIARIES RESIDING IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. In the event that a member designates a beneficiary who is both a resident and a citizen of a foreign country to receive a death benefit and contributions made by such member, the board shall determine whether such benefit shall be paid to the beneficiary or instead be made payable to the estate of such deceased member. No death benefit shall be payable on account of the death of such member and only the member's contributions shall be paid to the beneficiary or the estate of the member, unless the board shall determine otherwise. (am. Ch. Ord. 332, File #67-355-a, July 25, 1967.)
Source: City of Milwaukee Legislative Reference Bureau, Milwaukee City Charter and Code of Ordinances (city.milwaukee.gov master PDFs)URL: https://city.milwaukee.gov/ImageLibrary/Groups/ccClerk/Ordinances/City-Charter/CH36.pdf#page=68Fetched: 10/26/2026