Espinosa v. Board of Trustees of the Fire Retirement System of City of Council Bluffs, 90-348
| Decision Date | 20 March 1991 |
| Docket Number | No. 90-348,90-348 |
| Citation | 466 N.W.2d 914 |
| Parties | Joe ESPINOSA, Appellant, v. BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE FIRE RETIREMENT SYSTEM OF the CITY OF COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa, Appellee. |
| Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
MacDonald Smith, of Smith & Smith, Sioux City, for appellant.
Richard Wade, City Atty., Council Bluffs, for appellee.
Considered by HARRIS, P.J., and SCHULTZ, LAVORATO, NEUMAN, and ANDREASEN, JJ.
This appeal requires us to interpret Iowa Code chapter 411 (1987). Specifically, we are called upon to determine whether a lump-sum payment for back pay should be included as part of a fire fighter's "average final compensation" in calculating the fire fighter's retirement benefits.
Joe Espinosa was a fire fighter for the city of Council Bluffs, Iowa (city). In February 1986, the city paid Espinosa $21,835.40 in back wages and interest. This payment was part of a stipulated settlement of a dispute between Espinosa and the city over the city's failure to promote Espinosa from captain to assistant fire chief. The payment represented the difference between what Espinosa had been paid and what he would have been paid if he had been promoted to assistant fire chief on March 12, 1983.
Thereafter, Espinosa applied for determination of his pension benefits upon retirement pursuant to Iowa Code chapter 411. Chapter 411 deals with retirement systems for police officers and fire fighters who are referred to collectively in the chapter as "members." Iowa Code § 411.1(4). Espinosa sought a service retirement allowance as provided in Iowa Code subsection 411.6(1). A service retirement allowance consists of a pension equal to one-half of the member's average final compensation. Iowa Code § 411.6(2). Average final compensation is defined as "the average earnable compensation of the member during the three years of service the member earned the member's highest salary as a ... fire fighter." Iowa Code § 411.1(13). Earnable compensation is the:
regular compensation which a member would earn during one year on the basis of the stated compensation for the member's rank or position including compensation for longevity and holidays and excluding any amount received for overtime compensation or other special additional compensation, meal and travel expenses, and uniform allowances and excluding any amount received upon termination or retirement in payment for accumulated sick leave or vacation.
Iowa Code § 411.1(11).
The board of fire trustees (board) calculated Espinosa's benefits based on the salary of an assistant fire chief for Espinosa's last three years with the department, the three years in which he was earning his highest salary. He contends, however, that for 1986, one of the three years, the board should have included the lump-sum payment of $16,643.97 he received for back wages as part of his income in determining his average final compensation. The board refused to include the back pay in its computations.
On a writ of certiorari, the district court upheld the board's decision, holding that the payment was not earned during the year in which it was paid. Accordingly, the court denied the writ.
This controversy revolves around subsection 411.1(13), "Average Final Compensation" and 411.1(11), " 'Earnable Compensation.' " As mentioned above, the average final compensation is "the average earnable compensation of the member during the three years of service the member earned the member's highest salary." Iowa Code § 411.1(13) (emphasis added). "The member" in this case, of course, is Espinosa.
Subsection 411.1(11), which defines "earnable compensation," does not refer to "the member" as does subsection 411.1(13). Rather it refers to the "regular compensation which a member would earn during one year on the basis of the stated compensation for the member's stated rank or position." Iowa Code § 411.1(11) (emphasis added). This is a clear indication that "earnable compensation" is to be determined generally, according to the salary for a particular rank, not according to the specific retiree's actual income for any given year. The $16,643.97 lump-sum payment for back wages was not part of the "regular compensation" received by an assistant fire chief in 1986. Therefore, it was not a part of Espinosa's "earnable compensation."
Espinosa relies on Golinvaux v. City of Dubuque, 439 N.W.2d 196 (Iowa 1989), to...
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