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Council raises pension benefit caps, adds service‑purchase option for general plan
Summary
On Oct. 20 the City Council approved two ordinances amending retirement plans: one for general employees (adding a service‑purchase option and increasing the annual benefit cap) and one for police officers (raising the cap). Both ordinances also raise the interest rate used to calculate deferred (backdrop) benefits.
The Jacksonville Beach City Council approved two pension ordinance amendments on Oct. 20 that increase annual benefit caps and raise the interest rate used to calculate backdrop benefits.
Deputy City Manager Karen Nelson presented the ordinances and said both measures increase the annual benefit cap for covered retirees: to $110,000 effective Oct. 1, 2025; $111,000 effective Oct. 1, 2026; and $112,000 effective Oct. 1, 2027. Nelson also said the ordinances raise the interest rate used for backdrop calculations from 3.0% to 3.5%.
The ordinance amending the general employees retirement system additionally adds a service‑purchase option that allows eligible members to purchase up to three years of credited service for prior government or military employment; Nelson said the change is intended as a recruitment and retention tool and carries no direct cost to the city.
Both ordinance amendments were considered on second reading. No members of the public spoke in favor or opposed the pension amendments during the hearing. Council voted to adopt both ordinances on second reading.
Text of the adopted ordinances appears in the city code as amendments to chapter 2, article 5, divisions 5 and 6: the general employees retirement system and the police officers retirement system.
