Sarasota County Comprehensive Annual Financial Report 2020

Sarasota County, Florida Notes to Financial Statements September 30, 2020 NOTE 11. EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT PLANS Florida Retirement System Defined Benefit Pension Plan Background The Florida Retirement System (FRS) was created by Chapter 121, Florida Statutes, to provide a defined benefit pension plan for participating public employees. The FRS was amended in 1998 to add the Deferred Retirement Option Program under the defined benefit plan and amended in 2000 to provide a defined contribution plan alternative to the defined benefit plan for FRS members effective July 1, 2002. This integrated defined contribution pension plan is the FRS Investment Plan. Chapter 112, Florida Statutes, established the Retiree Health Insurance Subsidy (HIS) Program, a cost-sharing multiple-employer defined benefit pension plan, to assist retired members of any State-administered retirement system in paying the costs of health insurance. Essentially all regular employees of the County are eligible to enroll as members of the State-administered FRS. Provisions relating to the FRS are established by Chapters 121 and 122, Florida Statutes; Chapter 112, Part IV, Florida Statutes; Chapter 238, Florida Statutes; and FRS Rules, Chapter 60S, Florida Administrative Code; wherein eligibility, contributions, and benefits are defined and described in detail. Such provisions may be amended at any time by further action from the Florida Legislature. The FRS is a single retirement system administered by the Florida Department of Management Services, Division of Retirement, and consists of the two cost sharing, multiple employer defined benefit plans and other nonintegrated programs. A comprehensive annual financial report of the FRS, which includes its financial statements, required supplementary information, actuarial report, and other relevant information, is available from the Florida Department of Management Services’ Web site (www.dms.myflorida.com) . The County’s pension expense totaled $88,658,147 for the FRS Pension Plan, the HIS Plan and the City of Sarasota’s Firefighters pension plan for the year ended September 30, 2020. Florida Retirement System Pension Plan Plan Description The Florida Retirement System Pension Plan (the FRS Plan) is a cost-sharing multiple-employer defined benefit pension plan, with a Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP) for eligible employees. The general classes of membership are as follows: • Regular Class – Members of the FRS who do not qualify for membership in the other classes. • Elected County Officers Class – Members who hold specified elective offices in local government. • Senior Management Service Class (SMSC) – Members in senior management level positions. • Special Risk Class – Members who are special risk employees, such as law enforcement officers, meet the criteria to qualify for this class. Employees enrolled in the FRS Plan prior to July 1, 2011, vest at 6 years of creditable service and employees enrolled in the FRS Plan on or after July 1, 2011, vest at 8 years of creditable service. All vested members, enrolled prior to July 1, 2011, are eligible for normal retirement benefits at age 62 or at any age after 30 years of service, except for members classified as special risk who are eligible for normal retirement benefits at age 55 or at any age after 25 years of service. All members enrolled in the FRS Plan on or after July 1, 2011, once vested, are eligible for normal retirement benefits at age 65 or any time after 33 years of creditable service, except for members classified as special risk who are eligible for normal retirement benefits at age 60 or at any age after 30 years of service. 126