Frequently Asked Questions

The Retirement Plan does not allow members to take loans or hardship distributions from the Plan while working. Employees must leave their employment at the City of East Point or retire to receive a benefit from the Retirement Plan.

The Resource Centers, a Board hired service provider, processes all benefits on behalf of the Pension Board. You can submit an application for benefits directly to the Resource Centers. All pension benefit applications received by the City HR Department will be forwarded to the Resource Centers as well. The Resource Centers has a Client Service Team available during normal business hours to assist you with your application for pension benefits

You should submit your application as soon as possible once you know that you are leaving your employment at the City of East Point. The Resource Centers will begin to process your application once your final pay and contribution information is received following your separation from employment at the City of East Point. You will not automatically receive a refund of your contributions to the Retirement Plan until you submit an application for benefits.

The Pension Board has up to 90 days to process all benefits, although sometimes benefit applications take less time to process. You will receive emails from the Client Service Team at the Resource Centers to keep you updated on the progress of your application.

The Pension Board processes all benefits at one time each month, so applications received by the third week of any month are often processed the following month. Once the Pension Board administratively approves your benefit for payment, US Bank pays all benefits for the Plan at the end of the month.

You can rollover your refund of contributions or lump sum distribution from the Retirement Plan to an IRA Account or transfer the money to another eligible retirement plan. Rollover and transfer distributions do not have any income tax consequences. You can also take a taxable distribution from the Plan that may result in income tax consequences and penalties for early distributions. If you do not rollover or transfer your distribution, then the Retirement Plan must automatically withhold 20% from your payment for federal income taxes that you may owe. You can receive a check or direct deposit to a checking account for the net amount of your distribution after any tax withholding, if you do not rollover or transfer your distribution. You will receive a required Special Tax Notice from the Plan with further details when you submit your application for benefits. You should, of course, always seek the advice of your own qualified tax and financial counsel when making these important decisions.

Congratulations! Hopefully you planned carefully for your retirement, and you know already how much money you will need each month during your retirement. Remember that the City of East Point is a Social Security opt-out city, so you will receive a pension benefit from the Retirement Plan instead of a current or future benefit from Social Security for the time that you worked at the City. You may still be eligible to receive a benefit from Social Security if you worked long enough for another employer. You must contact Social Security directly for information regarding any Social Security benefits that you may be due.

You must be at least age 55 with 10 years of service, or age 50 for public safety employees, before you can retire from the City of East Point. Periods of leave without pay or breaks in your employment at the City may affect your eligibility to retire. your eligibility to retire before you leave your job or submit your application for retirement benefits.

You should submit your retirement application to the Resource Centers at least 30 days before the date that you plan to retire. You should also separately notify the City of East Point or your supervisor at the City of East Point of your intent to retire in writing. The Resource Centers will process your pension benefit due from the Retirement Plan. You must coordinate other details related to your retirement, including the continuation of any insurance benefits that you plan to keep, with the City HR Department. The Resource Centers will not automatically notify the City of East Point of your retirement on your behalf.

Benefits from the Retirement Plan increase each year on your birthday up to age 65. You will receive a larger pension benefit if you work for the City of East Point longer and retire at a later age.

Unused hours of sick leave that you have accumulated will add to the service used to calculate your pension benefit in whole month increments. Each 173-1/3 hours that you have remaining count as a whole month of service, but additional leftover hours of accumulated sick leave do not count as credit for partial months. You may want to donate any leftover sick leave hours that you cannot use before you retire that will not count toward the calculation of your pension benefit. You may receive a payment for any unused vacation hours from the City of East Point that you have remaining at the time that you retire.

The Class 5 pension benefit allows members to take up to 25% of the value of your monthly pension benefit as a partial lump sum at the time that you retire in 5% increments. Each 5% of your monthly pension benefit that you receive as a lump sum will reduce your lifetime monthly pension benefit by 5%, but will not reduce the amount of any benefits payable to your spouse surviving at retirement. The Retirement Plan must withhold at least 20% from all lump sum payments from the Plan for federal income taxes that you may owe in the year that you receive your money. As always, you should seek the advice of your qualified tax and financial counsel when making these important decisions about your pension benefits.

As previously noted, your benefits increase each year on your birthday up to age 65, so you may want to wait until after your next birthday to retire. The Retirement Plan also counts your service at the City of East Point in whole month increments, so you may want to wait to retire until after the day of the month when you were originally hired by the City.

The Retirement Plan pays benefits at the end of each month. If you retire on or before the first day of the month, you will be due a pension benefit for that month. If you retire after the first day of the month, you will not receive your first pension check until the end of the following month. To reduce the amount of time to receive the first monthly pension check, many employees at the City of East Point choose to retire close to or on the first day of the month.

You will always receive a lifetime monthly pension benefit from the Plan if you retire from the City of East Point.

Class 2 and 3 Retirement Plan members can choose to receive either a Class 2 or 3 pension or a Class 5 pension benefit. The Class 2 or 3 pension benefit generally has a higher multiplier before age 55 and includes an automatic cost of living adjustment each year, but the Class 2 and 3 pension benefits do not provide a spousal benefit if married or allow members to take a partial lump sum distribution at retirement. The Class 5 pension benefit generally has a higher benefit for members retiring after age 55, includes a 75% benefit to the surviving spouse of a member married at retirement, and allows for members to take up to a 25% partial lump sum distribution. The Class 5 benefit does not include an automatic cost of living adjustment each year.

You should keep your contact information and payment information current with the Retirement Plan after you retire. The Retirement Plan will send you an annual verification letter each year after you retire. If you fail to respond to the annual verification letter, your monthly pension benefit will stop until you respond.