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18. FLORIDA RETIREMENT SYSTEM
General Information about the Florida Retirement System (FRS)
The FRS was created in 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 (DROP) 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 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 District 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 District’s FRS and HIS pension expense totaled $48,580,120 for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2021.