The LEMA Retirement Plan

The Local Emergency Management Agency (LEMA) Retirement Plan commenced January 1, 1974 and currently has 25 units subscribing to the plan, representing $3.8 million in plan assets.

Overview and Plan Administration In order to provide retirement benefits to emergency management agency (EMA) employees throughout the state, the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) established the LEMA Retirement Plan so that local EMAs could subscribe to the plan.

The retirement plan is provided through the Georgia Municipal Employees Benefit System (GMEBS) who has provided retirement benefits to municipal employees for 42 years. The GMEBS Retirement Fund is a statewide retirement system created by an act of the Georgia Legislature in 1965. The fund provides defined benefit retirement plans to more than 280 local government entities covering over 33,000 employees, retirees, and beneficiaries and has assets of nearly $1 billion.

GMEBS contracts with the Georgia Municipal Association (GMA) to administer the GMEBS Retirement Fund. GMA is a voluntary, non-profit, non-partisan corporation organized in 1933 to provide legislative advocacy, educational, employee benefit and technical consulting services to its members. GMA is the only state organization that represents municipal governments in Georgia.

The LEMA Retirement Plan
The LEMA Plan is a defined benefit retirement plan which provides a monthly retirement benefit for life after retirement. The LEMA Plan is NOT a defined contribution retirement plan in that there is no "account balance" for individual members.

LEMA Plan Features

• Retirement Age
• Normal: Age 62 with 5 years of service
• Early: Age 55 with 10 years of service
• Final Average Earnings (FAE): five consecutive years in which earnings are highest
• Normal Retirement Benefit Formula:
• The LEMA Plan utilizes a Dynamic Breakpoint benefit formula of 1.25% - 2.00%.
• The Dynamic Breakpoint is determined each year by the Social Security Administration and is $53,952 for 2008.
• The amount of FAE that falls below the break point is multiplied by the lower percentage, and the FAE that is above the break point is multiplied by the higher percentage. These two calculated amounts are added together and multiplied by the employee’s years and months of credited service to calculate the employee’s annual normal retirement benefit.
• 5-Year Vesting
• Disability Retirement Benefit: Minimum 20% of final average monthly salary
• Pre-Retirement Death Benefit
• Actuarial Reserve (after one year of service)
• Auto A for terminated vested participants
• Variable Annual Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) for retirees based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and capped at 2%
• Annual Benefit Statements Provided

Eligible Participants

• The local EMA must have a membership subscription agreement to participate in the LEMA Retirement Plan.
• The employee must be "regularly employed" with the local EMA.
• Not an independent contractor
• Not a volunteer
• The employee must regularly work at least 20 hours per week for the local EMA.
• The employee must regularly work at least 6 months per year for the local EMA.
• The employee must have completed at least one year of service with the local EMA.
• The employee must meet additional eligibility requirements (if any) specified in the local EMA’s membership subscription agreement.

Current LEMA Plan Participants

The LEMA Retirement Plan currently has a total of 66 plan participants consisting of:

• 16 active employees
• 17 terminated vested former employees
• 23 retirees
• 10 beneficiaries

Process for Enrolling LEMA Unit

• Local EMA must sign membership subscription agreement
• 2008 Unit Enrollment Period is effective through September 30
• Enrollment effective February 1, 2009 following Enrollment Period
• Actuarial cost study required for new units. Required information for study:
• Name
• Gender
• Date of birth
• Qualifying service
• Annual salary for the past 4 years
• Fee for cost studies—call for amount
• Service credit purchase availability
• LEMA may provide credit for service prior to membership subscription agreement effective date; however, LEMA and/or employee must pay lump sum before effective date to cover actuarial cost of credit for prior service
• Annual valuation process is March 1 of each year to determine new annual contribution amount.

Process for Enrolling New Participants of Current Subscribing LEMAs

• Participants may be added to the annual census for the annual valuation
• Actuarial cost study may be required for new participants of existing LEMAs

Subscribers to the LEMA Plan
Atlanta-Fulton County EMA
Bainbridge-Decatur County EMA
Barrow County EMA
Blakely-Early County EMA
Chatham EMA
Cochran-Bleckley County EMA
Evans County EMA
Gainesville-Hall County EMA
Glynn County-Brunswick EMA
Habersham County EMA
Hawkinsville-Pulaski County EMA
Hawkinsville-Pulaski EMA I
Jesup-Wayne County EMA
LaGrange-Troupe County EMA
Moultrie-Colquitt County EMA
Pembroke-Bryan County EMA
Rome-Floyd County EMA
Swainsboro-Emanuel County EMA
Tifton-Tift County EMA
Toombs County EMA
Turner County EMA
Valdosta-Lowndes County EMA
Ware County EMA
Washington County EMA
Washington Wilkes County EMA

For More Information about the LEMA Retirement Fund...

William Wright
LEMA Pension Committee Secretary
Emergency Management Coordinator
Hall County Fire & EMA
P.O. Box 907730
Gainesville, Georgia 30501
Office: 770-297-3373
Fax: 770-538-0684
wwright@hallcounty.org