Could Leesville enroll fire department personnel in the municipal employees' retirement system?

Plain-English summary

In December 2013, the Louisiana Attorney General concluded that Leesville could not generally enroll its fire department personnel in the Municipal Employees Retirement System of Louisiana (MERS) while they remained eligible for the Firemen's Retirement System (FRS). The city had passed an ordinance exempting it from mandatory FRS participation, but the AG said that did not make its personnel ineligible for FRS. Leesville had also continued to offer FRS participation.

The opinion identified a possible different result if Leesville stopped offering FRS participation or stopped paying the employer contribution; then personnel would not be eligible for FRS and could be eligible for MERS. A footnote also acknowledged exceptions to FRS eligibility. The AG's conclusion therefore depended on the eligibility facts supplied.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2013. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Did the city's opt-out ordinance remove firefighters' FRS eligibility?

The AG said no. It distinguished exemption from mandatory participation from eligibility to participate, and noted that Leesville had offered FRS after passing the ordinance.

Why did FRS eligibility matter to MERS membership?

The AG said MERS excluded employees eligible for another publicly financed retirement fund. On the described facts, FRS eligibility was the reason Leesville fire personnel generally could not join MERS.

Could the answer change if the city stopped offering FRS?

The opinion said firefighters would become ineligible for FRS, and eligible for MERS, if Leesville ceased offering participation or paying its employer contribution. It also noted unspecified exceptions to FRS eligibility.

Background and statutory framework

Mayor C. Robert Rose asked whether Leesville could offer MERS to fire department personnel. The AG compared the FRS provisions under La. R.S. 11:2251 and 11:2253 with the MERS eligibility exclusion in La. R.S. 11:1752, while considering the city's 1979 ordinance and its later FRS practice.

Citations

• La. R.S. 11:2253 (municipal exemption from mandatory FRS participation discussed in the opinion).
• La. R.S. 11:1752 (MERS exclusion for people eligible for another publicly funded system discussed in the opinion).

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/13-0176

Original opinion text

~tate of lllouisiana
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
P.O. BOX 94005
BATON ROUGE

JAMES D. "BUDDY" CALDWELL
70804-9005
ATIORNEY GENERAL

DEC 0 3 2013
OPINION 13-0176

92-A-2(d) RETIREMENT-Municipal Employees 92-A-2(m) RETIREMENT-Firefighters

La. R.S. 11:1731 et seq.
Honorable C. Robert Rose
La. R.S. 11 :2251 et seq..
Mayor, City of Leesville
The City of Leesville may not offer participation in the Municipal
101 West Lee Street
Employees Retirement System of Louisiana to Fire Department
Leesville, Louisiana 71446
personnel.

Dear Mayor Rose:

Our office received your request for an opinion regarding whether the City of Leesville may offer participation in the Municipal Employees Retirement System of Louisiana ("MERS") to Fire Department personnel.

According to the information in your request, in July of 1979, the City of Leesville ("Leesville") enacted an ordinance, pursuant to La. R.S. 11 :2253, exempting Leesville from mandatory participation in the Firemen's Retirement System ("FRS"). However, according to the information obtained by this office from FRS, Leesville Fire Department personnel are still eligible for membership and participation in FRS and Leesville has offered participation in FRS subsequent to enacting the ordinance exempting it from mandatory participation.

You indicated in your request that Leesville requested that Fire Department personnel be enrolled in MERS and MERS has determined that Leesville Fire Department personnel are not eligible for membership in their system unless they are deemed ineligible for participation in FRS.

As background, FRS was created by Acts 1979, No. 434, §1, with an establishment date of January 1, 1980. See La. R.S. 11 :2251 et seq. La. R.S. 11 :2253 allows a municipality to be exempted from mandatory employee membership in FRS. An employee, for the purposes of membership in FRS, is defined as any full-time firefighter or any person in a position as defined in the municipal fire and police civil service system who is employed by a fire department of any municipality, parish, or fire protection district of the state of Louisiana, excepting Orleans and Lafayette Parishes, and, who is earning at least three hundred seventy-five dollars per month excluding state supplemental pay. See La. R.S. 11 :2252(1 0).

Page 2

OPINION 13-0176
Mayor Rose
Page 2

MERS was established on January 1, 1955. See La. R.S. 11:1731 et seq. An employee's eligibility for participation in IVIERS is dependant on several factors. For purposes of this opinion, the determining factor for eligibility for participation in IVIERS is whether the employee is eligible for membership in any other retirement system. Persons who are members of any fund or who are eligible for membership in any fund financed wholly or partly by public funds for the retirement of employees by the state of Louisiana or by a city, parish, village or other political subdivision in the state of Louisiana, are specifically excluded from membership in MERS. See La. R.S. 11 :1752.

Although Leesville has enacted an ordinance exempting Leesville from mandatory participation in FRS, there does not appear to be any prohibition against Leesville offering participation in FRS to Fire Department personnel. As stated above, Leesville has offered participation in FRS to Fire Department personnel subsequent to enacting the ordinance exempting Leesville from mandatory participation in FRS. In a similar factual situation, this office opined that an employee (fireman) may join FRS even though the city had passed an ordinance exempting itself from mandatory participation in FRS. See La. Atty. Gen. Op. No. 80-212.

In the event that Leesville does not continue to offer participation in FRS to Fire Department Personnel or Leesville does not pay the employer's contribution to FRS, Fire Department Personnel would not be eligible for participation in FRS and would be eligible for participation in MERS.

Leesville's Fire Department personnel are, generally, not eligible for participation in MERS because they are, generally eligible for participation in FRS. 1 Therefore, it is the opinion of this office that the City of Leesville may not offer participation in the Municipal Employees Retirement System of Louisiana to Fire Department personnel.

We hope that this opinion adequately addresses the legal issues you have raised. If our office can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

With best regards,

JAMES D. "BUDDY" CALDWELL
ATIORNEY GENERAL
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BY: 0.a~0'0·-'--~
Madeline S. Carbonette .
Assistant Attorney General

"IDC: MSC

1 There are some exceptions to eligibility in FRS.