2.1. The following words and phrases as used in this Article, unless a different meaning is clearly required by the context, shall have the following meanings:

2.2. "City" means the City of Phoenix, Arizona.

2.3. "Retirement Plan" or "plan" means the City of Phoenix Employees’ Retirement Plan continued in this Article.

2.4. "Retirement Board" or "board" means the Retirement Board provided in this Article.

2.5. "Employee" means any person, in the employ of the City on a full time basis, who is under the classified civil service, except as hereinafter excluded, and shall include appointive officials whose employment with the City is on a full time basis. For the purposes of this Article, "full time basis" means employment on a work schedule which consists of the number of full time hours per week designated for the class of employment for the employee’s classification, and which work schedule is intended to be continuous over a period of 12 months at the aforementioned full time hours per week. The term "employee" shall not include (1) policemen and firemen who are covered by another retirement system or pension plan to which the City makes contributions; nor (2) any person who furnishes personal services to the City on a contractual or fee basis. The definition of "employee" shall not exclude from membership in the Retirement Plan any person in the employ of the City who was a member of the former system.

2.6. "Member" means any person who is included in the membership of the Retirement Plan.

2.7. "Service" means personal service rendered to the City by an employee of the City and shall include service rendered in any function or enterprise the City may engage in as a municipal corporation or may have heretofore acquired through purchase or eminent domain, provided, however, that in the event a function or enterprise is hereafter acquired by the City through purchase or eminent domain the rights acquired by the employees thereof under this Retirement Plan shall be set forth and determined in a written agreement between the City, the Retirement Board, and a duly elected or appointed committee, recognized by the Board. authorized to represent said employees.

2.8. "Credited Service" means the number of years and months of service credited a member by the Retirement Board pursuant to the provisions of this Article.

2.9. "Retirant" means a member who retires with a pension payable by the Retirement Plan.

2.10. "Beneficiary" means any person, except a retirant, who is in receipt of, or who is designated to receive, a pension or other benefit payable by the Retirement Plan.

2.11. "Regular interest" means such rate or rates of interest per annum, compounded annually, as the Retirement Board shall from time to time adopt.

2.12. "Accumulated contributions" means the sum of all amounts deducted from the compensation of a member and credited to his individual account in the employees’ savings fund, together with regular interest therein. It shall include such other amounts as the member may deposit or have transferred to his employees’ savings fund account, including regular interest thereon, as provided in this Article.

2.13. "Compensation" means a member’s salary or wages paid him by the City for personal services rendered by him to the City. In case a member’s compensation is not all paid in money the City Council shall, upon recommendation of the City Manager, fix the value of the portion of his compensation which is not paid in money.

2.14. "Final average compensation" means:

For the purposes of determining benefits based on final average compensation, any compensation in excess of the limitations established by Section 401(a)(17) of the Internal Revenue Code (including applicable adjustments), shall be disregarded; further, for any Tier 3 Member, any annual compensation in excess of $125,000 in any one year shall be disregarded, provided that such $125,000 limitation shall be adjusted annually each January 1, commencing on January 1, 2017, by the annual unadjusted percentage increase or decrease in The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U); U.S. City Average; All items, not seasonably adjusted, 1982-1984=100 reference base, published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor (such adjustments to be cumulative and compounded) for the twelve month period ending on the immediately preceding September 30. For an individual who was a member of the retirement plan before the first plan year beginning after December 31, 1995, the limitation on compensation for eligible employees under Section 401(a)(17) of the Internal Revenue Code shall not be less than the amount which was allowed to be taken into account under the plan as in effect on July 1, 1993.

2.15. "Final compensation" means a member’s annual rate of compensation at the time his City employment last terminates.

2.16. "Retirement" means a member’s withdrawal from City employment with a pension payable by the Retirement Plan.

2.17. "Pension" means an annual amount payable by the Retirement Plan, in equal monthly installments, throughout the future life of a person, or for a temporary period, as provided in this Article.

2.18. "Pension reserve" means the present value of all payments to be made on account of any pension, and shall be computed upon the basis of such tables of experience, and regular interest, as the Retirement Board shall from time to time adopt.

2.19. "Former system" means the Phoenix City Employees’ Retirement System, created and established under Chapter XXIV of the Charter of the City of Phoenix, and repealed December 29, 1953.

2.20. "Workmen’s compensation period" means the period a person is in receipt of monthly payments of workmen’s compensation on account of a member’s disability or death arising out of and in the course of his City employment. If he is paid a single sum in lieu of future workmen’s compensation his "workmen’s compensation period" shall be the sum of (1) the period, if any, he was paid monthly payments of workmen’s compensation, plus (2) the period arrived at by dividing the said single sum by such monthly payment award.

2.21. "Nominee" means a partnership selected and authorized by a resolution of the Retirement Board to perform certain duties in connection with the buying, selling, holding and registration of securities on behalf of the board.

2.22. "Tier 1 Member" means: (A) any member hired into a position of employment with the City before July 1, 2013; and (B) any member hired into a position of employment with the City between July 1, 2013 and December 31, 2015 who prior to July 1, 2011 participated in the Arizona State Retirement System established pursuant to Title 38, Chapter 5, Articles 1, 2 and 2.1 of the Arizona Revised Statutes ("ASRS"), and is either an active member or an inactive member of the ASRS as defined by Title 38, Chapter 5, Article 2, Section 38-711 of the Arizona Revised Statutes at the time of hire by the City. Additionally, if a member is hired into a position of employment with the City on or after July 1, 2013, but was previously employed with the City prior to July 1, 2013, and the member is not eligible to be a Tier 1 Member under the terms of the preceding sentence, the member shall be a Tier 1 Member only if the member did not withdraw his or her accumulated contributions from the retirement plan as provided for in Section 26 prior to his or her most recent date of hire with the City.

2.23. "Tier 2 Member" means any member hired into a position of employment with the City between July 1, 2013 and December 31, 2015 who is not a Tier 1 Member. Additionally, if a member is hired into a position of employment with the City on or after January 1, 2016, but was previously employed with the City prior to January 1, 2016, and the member is not eligible to be a Tier 1 Member or Tier 2 Member under the terms of the preceding sentence, the member shall be a Tier 2 Member only if the member did not withdraw his or her accumulated contributions from the Retirement Plan as provided for in Section 26 prior to his or her most recent date of hire with the City.

2.24. "Tier 3 Member" means any member hired into a position of employment with the City on or after January 1, 2016 who is not a Tier 1 Member or a Tier 2 Member.