San Antonio Fire and Police Pension: Retirement Decisions

Updated October 8, 2026. Quick answer: San Antonio firefighters and police officers share one plan, the Fire and Police Pension Fund under Article 6243o. A pension is available after 20 years of service, starting at 45.0% of Average Total Salary and capped at 87.5%. At retirement a member may elect a BackDROP, a lump sum for up to 60 months paired with a reduced annuity, and the election is made when applying. Survivor benefits are set by statute rather than by a member election. A refund of contributions, without interest, is for members under 20 years and ends every other right.

What this page covers and what it does not

This page works from two documents published by the Fire and Police Pension Fund, San Antonio (the Fund): its Summary Plan Description, marked “Effective September 1, 2023”, and its Pension Law book, the Act, marked “As Amended September 1, 2023”. Both were read on October 8, 2026. The Summary Plan Description says the Act and Board policies take priority over it. Any figure here is the Fund’s, or is labeled as a computed example from assumed inputs.

The Fund describes itself this way: “It is a statutory trust providing a defined benefit plan for retired police officers and fire fighters (and their beneficiaries)”. The Summary Plan Description says it is “governed by Article 6243o of Vernon’s Texas Civil Statutes”. Firefighters and police officers are in the same plan under the same Act, so this page covers both groups. The documents read do not split the pension by hire date or tier. The pension formula in the Act does change with the retirement date, and this page uses the one for members who retire after September 30, 2007, which is the formula the Summary Plan Description tabulates. Other systems are compared on public pension retirement decisions by system.

Members pay in and the City matches: “The employee’s contribution is 12.32% of total salary”, and “the City of San Antonio double matches this amount”.

When a pension can start and how to apply

Retirement is tied to service, not age. The Summary Plan Description says a member who “serves the minimum vesting period of twenty (20) years, the Board shall, upon application, authorize that a retirement pension be paid”. No minimum retirement age appears in the passages read.

On timing, the Summary Plan Description says a prospective retiree should “notify his or her department superiors and the Fund office well in advance of the actual retirement date (a minimum of thirty days)”. Staff will help with the choice: “Fund staff is available to review the member’s options under the Act, and provide estimated benefit payments for both straight annuity and BackDROP scenarios”. Asking for both estimates before applying matters because the BackDROP election is made at application, as described below.

A member who leaves after qualifying keeps the benefit, since “that person continues to be entitled to benefits that accrued as of the date of termination of employment”.

How the pension is figured

The pension is built from service and salary. The base is “the average of the member’s Total Salary (see below) for the highest three years of the last five years”, and the Summary Plan Description caps the result: “In no event can the annual pension exceed 87.5% of the member’s Average Total Salary as of the date of retirement”. For members retiring after September 30, 2007, the Act sets 2.25% of average salary for each of the first 20 years of service, 5% for each of the next 7 years, 2% for each of the next 3 years and 0.5% for each of the next 3 years, with “fractional years of service prorated based on full months served as a contributing member”.

Some pay is left out of Total Salary. The Summary Plan Description excludes “Overtime pay, field training officer’s pay, bomb squad pay, SWAT team pay, K-9 pay, and hostage team pay”. The Summary Plan Description also excludes “Pay for unused accrued vacation and sick leave, holiday pay, compensatory time pay, and bonus days leave, or any similar items of compensation that may be paid in the future”. Overtime, in particular, does not raise the average. Unused sick leave works differently: “all full months of unused sick leave in excess of ninety days will be included as service credit for purposes of determining the amount of the pension annuity”, but “pay for unused sick leave is not included for purposes of determining Total Salary”.

A computed example from an assumed salary, not a Fund figure: 20 years at 2.25% is 45%, the next 7 years at 5% add 35%, and 3 more years at 2% add 6%, so 30 years comes to a computed 86.00% of Average Total Salary, matching the 86.0 in the table. On an assumed Average Total Salary of $100,000, that is a computed $86,000 a year, or a computed $7,166.67 a month, before any BackDROP.

The election: straight annuity or BackDROP

The documents read describe no list of joint-and-survivor options. The choice at retirement is between the regular (straight) annuity and the BackDROP: “The BackDROP option permits a retiring member to elect a lump sum payment together with a reduced annuity payment”. Survivor protection is a separate, statutory matter, covered below; see single life vs joint and survivor pension for the general trade-off in systems that do offer options.

How the BackDROP works

Eligibility is narrow. The Act says the election “is available only to a member who takes a service retirement”, and the member must have “at least 20 years and 1 month of service in the fire or police department”. The lump sum is limited to “a number of full months of service elected by the member that does not exceed the lesser of the number of months of service credit the member has in excess of 20 years or 60 months”.

Salary is set back in time: “The BackDROP Average Total Salary is computed as if the member’s retirement date were the actual retirement date less the number of BackDROP months elected (up to 60 months)”. Service credit is cut by the same number of months, and by “service credit in excess of 34 years” (other than sick leave credit); for the lump sum, sick leave credit is cut as well. The lump sum is an annuity computed that way, “Divided by twelve”, then “Multiplied by the number of BackDROP months elected”. The monthly check that continues uses the same service credit, except that “the amount of sick leave unused on the date of actual retirement is not deducted”.

A computed example from assumed figures, not Fund figures: take 30 years of service, an assumed 36 BackDROP months (3 years), and no unused sick leave or service beyond 34 years. Service credit for the computation is a computed 27 years, which gives a computed 80.00% under the formula. Assume Average Total Salary measured 36 months earlier is $95,000. The reduced annuity is 80% of $95,000, a computed $76,000 a year or $6,333.33 a month. The lump sum is that monthly pension times 36, a computed $228,000. Against the straight annuity of $7,166.67 a month in the earlier example, the monthly check is lower by a computed $833.33. Dividing the lump sum by that monthly gap gives a computed 22.8 years of the lower check, ignoring investment growth, cost-of-living increases and tax. That is one framing, not a recommendation; Fund staff can run the actual straight and BackDROP scenarios.

What is irrevocable and the deadlines

The Act fixes the moment of choice: the BackDROP election “must be made at the time of application for retirement”. The pages read do not say whether an election, once made, can be changed or cancelled, so confirm that with the Fund before assuming it can.

The one flexible date is payment. “Payment of the lump sum may be deferred for up to twelve months following the date of actual retirement”, and “Interest may not be paid on the deferred amount at the time of distribution”. Waiting a year therefore does not add earnings to the lump sum.

Taking the lump sum: rollover and tax

The Summary Plan Description says the lump sum can usually be rolled over into a qualified retirement account “without creating a taxable event”. It also warns: “The lump-sum payment may also be paid to the member directly, in which event the payment may be taxable”. The Summary Plan Description adds: “Members should consult their tax advisors prior to electing how the lump-sum payment is to be made”.

A computed example from an assumed taxable lump sum of $100,000, not a Fund figure: if it is paid to the member rather than rolled over directly, the IRS rule described below withholds 20%, a computed $20,000. See 20% withholding on a pension lump sum and pension lump sum vs monthly annuity break-even for how that and the monthly comparison work.

What a survivor receives

The Fund does not let a member choose a survivor option. It says “Members of the Fund cannot designate any beneficiary for the purpose of receiving death benefits”, and “Such beneficiaries are determined exclusively under the provisions of the Act”. For a retiree who is not on a regular disability pension, the Summary Plan Description sets the amount: “the aggregate death benefit is equal to the lesser of (i) the retirement annuity a retiring member would receive who had the same Average Total Salary as the deceased retiree and 27 years of service credit, or (ii) the retirement annuity the deceased retiree was receiving at the time of his or her death”.

The split is also fixed. With a spouse and children, “the benefit is awarded 75% to the surviving spouse and 25% to the dependent children”. With no dependent children, the spouse receives the whole benefit. For a regular disability retiree, the benefit is “equal to 50 percent of the retiree’s Average Total Salary at the date of retirement”.

A computed example from an assumed salary, not a Fund figure: with an assumed Average Total Salary of $100,000, a 27-year annuity is 80% of that, a computed $80,000 a year. If the retiree was receiving $86,000 a year, the lesser figure is $80,000, so a spouse with children would share $80,000: 75% to the spouse, a computed $60,000, and 25% to the children, a computed $20,000. With no children, the spouse would receive all $80,000. If the annuity being received were the reduced BackDROP annuity of $76,000, the lesser figure would be $76,000. That last step is a reading of the Act’s test applied to a reduced annuity; the documents read do not work an example, so confirm it with the Fund.

Marriage, children and the estate benefit

Marriage after retirement is treated narrowly. A spouse who was not married to the retiree at retirement but was “married to the retiree for at least five consecutive years preceding the retiree’s death” receives the full spouse benefit, “provided that the surviving spouse is at least 55 years old”. A shorter marriage gets less; such a spouse “is entitled to receive a lump sum death benefit of $15,000”, with an exception when a dependent child is entitled to a death benefit. On children, the Summary Plan Description says “A child who is adopted after the date of the member’s retirement is not entitled to a death benefit pension”.

If a retiree dies leaving no surviving beneficiaries, the estate gets “ten times the amount of the annual annuity awarded by the Board effective on the retiree’s date of retirement, less any retirement or disability payments and any lump-sum BackDROP payment which was paid to the retiree”.

Leaving before 20 years: refund or leave contributions

A refund is an exit from the plan, not a retirement option. The Summary Plan Description says a member who “has contributed to the Fund for less than twenty years” and leaves may apply for a refund. “Contributions will be refunded without interest”. It warns: “A person’s acceptance of a refund pursuant to the Act precludes that person from obtaining any other right or benefit under the Act”. “A person who has vested, or who terminates employment to obtain a disability pension from the Fund, is not entitled to a refund of contributions”.

The Act words the test differently: a member who “terminates employment before the member’s right to benefits under the fund has vested is entitled to a refund of the member’s contributions that were picked up by the municipality”. On vesting, the Act makes accrued benefits 100 percent vested on the earlier of three events, the first being “the date the member attains normal retirement age”.

The decision is whether to take contributions now or leave them as a claim to a deferred pension. The Summary Plan Description says a member who qualified and then left keeps accrued benefits, but what a member who leaves before 20 years keeps, other than the refund, is not described in the passages read. A returning member can undo a refund at a price: the Act says the member “may reestablish service credit for that prior period of employment by paying to the fund a lump sum equal to the amount of the refund the member received under Section 4.07 of this Act, plus interest on the amount at the actuarial assumed rate of return”. The payment window “may not exceed five years”. The general framework is on pension refund vs leaving it.

Cost-of-living adjustments and the 13th and 14th checks

The Summary Plan Description says that after each calendar year “the Board increases all annuities based on the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers”. For retirements on or after October 1, 1999, the Summary Plan Description says “member or beneficiary will receive 75% of the CPI increase”. Its own example: “For example, assume that the CPI increase for calendar year 2023 is 4.5%. If you retired in 2010, effective January 1, 2024 you will receive a COLA equal to 75% of 4.5%, or 3.4%”. Extra pension checks are not guaranteed: “Authorization of a 13th or 14th check for any year is subject to the discretion of the Board”.

Tax on the pension and on divorce

The Fund says “Under most circumstances, a retirement pension is taxable income”. For state tax questions see Texas retirement taxes and does Texas tax pensions.

What the IRS adds on tax

A refund or lump sum from a public pension is a distribution, so the IRS rules apply on top of the Fund’s own. On withholding, the IRS says that a taxable eligible rollover distribution paid to you “is subject to mandatory income tax withholding (generally at a rate of 20%), even if you intend to roll it over later”, and that if you roll it over yourself “you’ll have to add funds from other sources equal to the amount withheld”. The Summary Plan Description describes the same split, rolling over versus taking the lump sum directly, and the Act allows a direct rollover of any portion. The rollover clock, if the money is paid to you: “you have 60 days from the date you receive it to roll it over to another eligible retirement plan”.

On early distributions the IRS says “the law imposes a 10% additional tax on certain early distributions from certain retirement plans”. Its list of exceptions includes “Distributions made to you after you separated from service with your employer after attainment of age 55” and “Distributions made to a qualified public safety employee from a governmental plan” if the employee separated from service during or after the year they attained age 50 or 25 years of service under the plan, whichever is earlier. Whether an exception fits a particular refund depends on your own plan and facts, so confirm it with a tax preparer before you take one.

What this page could not settle

• The pages read do not say whether a retirement election, including a BackDROP, can be changed after the application is filed.
• The pages read do not work an example of how a BackDROP changes a survivor’s death benefit; the page treats it as a reading of the Act’s ‘annuity the retiree was receiving’ test.
• The pages read do not state a minimum retirement age; they tie retirement to 20 years of service.
• The Summary Plan Description limits refunds to members with under twenty years, while the Act limits them to members whose rights have not vested and ties full vesting to normal retirement age; the Summary Plan Description does state that a pension is authorized after a minimum vesting period of twenty years.
• The pages read do not say what a member who leaves before 20 years keeps other than a refund.
• Formulas for members who retired before October 2007, disability pensions, the excess benefit plan, retiree insurance and the Fund’s benefit calculator were not worked through.
• This page does not say which choice is better for any individual.

Common mistakes

• Expecting a survivor option at retirement; the Fund says members cannot designate a beneficiary for death benefits and the Act decides who is paid.
• Assuming the BackDROP can be elected after applying; the Act says the election must be made at the time of application for retirement.
• Taking a refund without weighing what it ends; acceptance precludes any other right or benefit under the Act, and no interest is paid.
• Expecting a late marriage to protect a spouse automatically; a spouse married less than five years before the retiree’s death receives only a lump sum of $15,000.

Related on this site: public pension retirement decisions by system, Texas retirement taxes, does Texas tax pensions, Dallas ERF retirement decisions, pension refund vs leaving it and single life vs joint and survivor pension.

Sources

• Fire and Police Pension Fund, San Antonio, Summary Plan Description (effective September 1, 2023): https://www.safppf.org/Documents/Legal%20Information/Summary%20Plan/2023SummaryPlanDescription.pdf
• Fire and Police Pension Fund, San Antonio, Pension Law, Article 6243o, Vernon’s Texas Civil Statutes (as amended September 1, 2023): https://www.safppf.org/Documents/Legal%20Information/Pension%20Law/2023FInalPensionLawBook.pdf
• IRS, Topic no. 413, Rollovers from retirement plans (irs.gov): https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc413
• IRS, Topic no. 558, Additional tax on early distributions from retirement plans other than IRAs (irs.gov): https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc558

Sources: the primary documents linked above, read on October 8, 2026. General information from each system’s own published materials, not legal, tax or financial advice. Your own member statement and the system’s current rules decide your benefit, and a pension counsellor at the system or a fee-only adviser is the right place to confirm anything consequential.