Tampa Fire and Police Pension Retirement Decisions (2026)

Updated October 8, 2026. Quick answer: A sworn City of Tampa firefighter or police officer in the Tampa Fire and Police Pension Fund earns 3.15% of average earnings per year of credited service. The default Option 1 pays for life, at least 120 payments, with 65% continuing to an eligible spouse. Options 3a, 3b, 3c and 3d continue 100%, 75%, 66 2/3% or 50% to a joint annuitant at a reduced benefit. The option cannot be changed once the first benefit is paid or accrued to DROP. DROP entry is irrevocable, and the account pays out as a rollover, a lump sum, or both. Leaving before retirement brings a refund without interest.

What this page covers and what it does not

This page covers sworn Tampa firefighters and police officers. The Summary Plan Description says “The Plan is called the City Pension Fund for Firefighters and Police Officers in the City of Tampa” and limits membership: “a sworn, fulltime police officer or firefighter employed by the City of Tampa”. Civilian City employees are a different plan, covered on Tampa general employees retirement decisions.

It works from four documents published on the City of Tampa website for the Fund: the Summary Plan Description (“prepared in December 2024”) and Pension Board policies 424 (Deferred Retirement Option Program, DROP), 501 (withdrawal of contributions) and 420 (release of benefits of a deceased pensioner). The Summary Plan Description says that if it differs from the actual provisions of the Plan, “the Plan shall govern”. The documents read do not divide members into tiers by hire date, so one set of rules is described. Every figure is the Fund’s, or is labeled as a computed example from assumed inputs. State tax questions are on Florida retirement taxes and does Florida tax pensions. One planning fact: “As a member of the Fund, neither you nor the City of Tampa pays into Social Security”.

When a pension can start

The pension formula: “The annual amount of retirement income (payable monthly) is equal to 3.15% of your average earnings multiplied by the years of credited service, not to exceed a total pension of 100% of average earnings”. A normal retirement date is the earlier of “age 46 and completion of ten (10) years of credited service OR 20 years of credited service, regardless of age”. Twenty years opens the door at any age: “you may retire and begin receiving benefits based on the above formula, regardless of your age”. With ten to twenty years, the path is different: “provided you have reached age 46 and have not completed twenty (20) years of Credited Service”. A member who leaves earlier is a deferred vested case: “You are eligible for Deferred Vested Benefits if you have at least ten (10) years of credited service but are not yet age 46”.

A computed example from assumed figures, not a Tampa Fund figure: with an assumed $90,000 of average earnings and an assumed 25 years of credited service, 3.15% of $90,000 for each of 25 years is a computed $70,875 a year, or a computed $5,906 a month before any option reduction. The total stays inside the 100% cap.

The election: the options and what each does for a survivor

The payment-form choice has a default and two alternatives. The table is built from the Summary Plan Description.

On the default, spouse eligibility is narrow: “An eligible surviving spouse is a person to whom you were married during some part of your employment with the City of Tampa and at the time of your death”. Policy 420 defines an eligible surviving spouse as someone married to the pensioner at the time of the pensioner’s death who was either “married to the pensioner during some period of the pensioner’s employment prior to retirement, including DROP entry” or “married to the pensioner when the pensioner elected the Remarriage After Retirement option”.

Option 3 lets a member “elect anyone to be your joint annuitant”. The Fund says “Your monthly benefit under option 3 will be actuarially equivalent to your Normal/Default (Option 1) benefit”, and that “Generally, the younger your joint annuitant, the greater the reduction in your monthly benefit”. It also notes “There is no remarriage penalty for your joint annuitant under Option 3”. The documents read state no size for the reduction at any age combination.

A survivor example

A computed example from assumed figures, not Tampa Fund figures: with an assumed Option 1 benefit of $5,000 a month, the 65% continuance is 65% of $5,000, a computed $3,250 a month for an eligible spouse. If an assumed reduced Option 3 benefit were $4,600 a month, the computed survivor amounts would be $4,600 under 3a (100%), $3,450 under 3b (75%) and $2,300 under 3d (50%). The $4,600 is invented, because the reduction is not published. For the general trade-off, see single-life vs joint-and-survivor pension.

What becomes irrevocable

Before retirement, “You may change your option at any time prior to your retirement, provided your election is made in writing on a form provided by the Plan and received by the pension office”. After it, “Once your first pension benefit has been paid, direct deposited, or accrued into your DROP account, the OPTION you elected may not be changed”. The one flexibility named is that “you may change your joint annuitant up to two times after you retire or enter DROP”. A divorce matters too: “a dissolution of marriage immediately invalidates all prior survivorship designations”, and the Summary Plan Description adds that “if a member is divorced on or after July 1, 2012, ALL prior beneficiary designations to the former spouse are deemed cancelled”. A floor applies to every option: “Under all of the options, benefits paid out will not be less than the contributions you paid in to the Plan, without interest”.

A non-spouse joint annuitant carries a tax caution: “there may be limitations under the Internal Revenue Code and federal tax regulations which affect the starting date and the amount”.

DROP: the largest decision for a member with twenty years

The Summary Plan Description summarizes DROP this way: “If you elect to participate in DROP, you continue working but stop contributing to the Plan and cease to accrue Credited Service”. After entry, “your monthly pension benefit accrues to your DROP account, rather than being paid directly to you”, with a lump sum on separation.

Policy 424 sets eligibility: “The member must have attained at least twenty (20) years of creditable pension service but no more than thirty-three (33) years of creditable pension service on the effective date of entry into DROP”. Entry is a one-way door: “Once a member begins participation in DROP, such participation shall be irrevocable and the member may participate in DROP only once”. Paperwork is due “at least fourteen (14) calendar days prior to the member’s intended effective date”.

The benefit is frozen at entry: “the participant’s average earnings and creditable service shall be calculated and fixed as of the day before the member’s participation in or entry into the DROP”, and “DROP participants shall not be entitled to any additional improvements in pension benefits” unless a change was bargained and enacted for DROP participants. Two more limits: “A DROP participant shall not be entitled to receive a disability pension” (with an exception for a member who had already filed a complete disability application), and “A DROP participant shall not be entitled to any loan of any accumulated DROP benefits”.

A computed example from assumed figures, not Tampa Fund figures: an assumed $6,000 monthly pension accrued for 12 months a year over 8 years is a computed $576,000 of installments, before cost-of-living adjustments, 13th checks, interest and fees.

How the DROP account grows and what it costs

Policy 424 credits “Interest accumulated annually, whether positive or negative, during the DROP calculation period, less the cost of administering the DROP”. The member chooses between “a rate reflecting the Fund’s net investment performance, as determined by the Board of Trustees” and “a rate reflecting a low-risk variable rate vehicle selected annually by the Board of Trustees in its sole discretion”. Without a valid choice, “If a DROP participant fails to make a valid election upon entering the DROP, the Fund interest rate shall be applied”. Because the first method follows the Fund’s net return, a negative year reduces the balance. On cost: “each member’s accumulated DROP benefits shall be charged an annual administrative fee”, and the policy adds that “The administrative expense may be changed annually at the discretion of the Board of Trustees”. The documents read do not state the current fee.

Leaving DROP: deadlines and payout choices

The policy requires “written notice of such separation” at least two weeks before the end of participation, and encourages an Election of Distribution form “at least thirty (30) days prior”. The election can be revised “at any time prior to September 30th (9/30) coincident with or following separation from service”.

Timing: “In order to qualify for the annual distribution, which occurs in December no later than 12/31, a DROP participant must separate from service by September 30”. Payment comes “within forty-five (45) days after the Trustees determine the Fund’s annual net investment performance and low risk variable rate, which is generally at their November board meeting”. With no form on file, “the balance of the DROP participant’s accumulated DROP benefits shall remain in the plan, without any additional interest after the typical annual distribution date of 12/31, until a properly completed Election of Distribution form has been received by the pension office”.

The payout can be “Rollover of the balance to another eligible retirement plan (as permitted by law) such as an IRA, annuity from an insurance company, or such other rollover vehicle”; “A full and single lump sum distribution of the balance to the DROP participant”; or “Partial rollover to another eligible plan and partial lump sum distribution to the DROP participant”.

Rollover, lump sum and withholding

Policy 424 says “The distribution of the net accumulated DROP benefits may be subject to penalties, income tax withholdings, or other withholdings or liabilities required by law”, and that “The Board of Trustees and staff shall not advise members of the federal tax consequences of an election related to the DROP”. For the general lump sum question see pension lump sum vs monthly annuity; in Tampa the pension is a monthly benefit and a lump sum arises from DROP or a refund.

A computed example from an assumed $50,000 taxable DROP amount paid to the member, not a Tampa Fund figure: 20% of $50,000 is a computed $10,000 withheld for federal tax, leaving a computed $40,000 in cash. The final tax can be higher or lower.

Leaving before retirement: refund or leave contributions in

The Summary Plan Description says “If you terminate employment and are not yet eligible to retire or select a deferred vested pension benefit, you are entitled to a refund of contributions you made to the Plan, without interest”. The limit: “You are not eligible to receive a refund of any contributions made by the City of Tampa or the State of Florida”.

A member may also “voluntarily choose to leave your contributions in the Plan for up to five (5) years after terminating employment as a firefighter or police officer”, without losing service credit. The deadline: “If you are not employed within five (5) years of termination, the contributions you made will be returned to you, without interest”. A member with ten or more years should compare the deferred vested benefit with a refund. See pension refund versus leaving it.

Policy 501 requires paperwork, and “All required forms, documents, and paperwork must be received by the pension office before a refund can be issued”. A member contesting a discharge “is not eligible to receive a refund of his/her contributions until the conclusion of those proceedings and only if he/she is not reinstated”.

Buying service credit, COLA and the 13th check

The plan allows purchases of earlier service: “purchase up to five (5) years of prior police officer, firefighter, or active military service”, if no pension is payable on it (military service excepted). The cost rule: “The member will be charged the full actuarial cost of the benefit”. The documents read give no price table. See the pension buyback calculator.

On cost-of-living adjustments: “benefit payments of all recipients will be increased or decreased according to the net change in the average cost of living index from the previous year, provided that 1) adjustments may not be increased beyond what the Post-Retirement Adjustment Account (PRAA) will support, as determined by the Actuary”. Also, “adjustments may not be decreased below the level at which they were first determined (base benefits)”. Eligibility: “you must be off the City’s payroll as an employee or have entered DROP by September 30th of the previous year”. A 13th check is not promised: “If you are eligible, you will receive a 13th Check the following June, if one is approved by the Board of Trustees”. The documents read do not state a COLA percentage or 13th check amount.

If the member dies

Policy 420 covers payment when no eligible spouse or joint annuitant is entitled to benefits. For Option 1 it releases “the balance of a ten-year-certain (10YC) benefit payable for a pensioner who elected or was otherwise covered by Option 1”. For Options 2, 3a, 3b, 3c and 3d it counts the difference between the member’s contributions (without interest) and “the total amount of pension benefits, including cost-of-living adjustments and 13th checks, received by a pensioner who died while retired”. For a member who dies in DROP, the named beneficiaries on the DROP Beneficiary form are entitled to the accumulated DROP benefits, but “a surviving spouse who was not married to the member during some period of the member’s employment as a firefighter or police officer prior to the date of the member’s entry into DROP shall not be entitled to Section 9 benefits”. See also survivor benefit with a government pension.

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 Tampa 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”. Policy 424 lists a rollover to an IRA among the payout choices. 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.

Where the documents disagree

The DROP time limit differs. The Summary Plan Description, dated December 2024, says “You may participate in DROP for up to 5 years or until you reach thirty (30) years of Credited Service, whichever occurs first”. Policy 424, last revised 06/27/25, says “A member may participate in the DROP no more than eight (8) years from entry into DROP but not after attaining thirty-three (33) years of creditable pension service as a firefighter or police officer with the City of Tampa, whichever comes first”. The gap is 3 years. Policy 424 is the newer document, and the Fund should confirm which limit applies to a given entry date.

What this page could not settle

• The documents read do not state the reduction in the monthly benefit for Options 2, 3a, 3b, 3c or 3d at any age combination.
• The documents read do not state the current DROP administrative fee, the interest rate credited in any year, or the COLA and 13th check amounts.
• The Summary Plan Description and Policy 424 differ on how long DROP participation can last (5 years or 30 years of service versus 8 years or 33 years of service); the page does not decide which applies.
• The documents read do not state a price for buying service credit.
• The documents read do not say whether different rules apply to members hired at different dates.
• Disability pensions, child survivor benefits and line-of-duty death benefits were not worked through.
• The Pension Contract, the special act and the individual election forms were not read.

Common mistakes

• Treating the benefit option as changeable after retirement; the Fund says it may not be changed once the first benefit is paid or accrued into DROP.
• Entering DROP expecting to reverse it; the policy says participation is irrevocable and allowed only once.
• Assuming the pension keeps growing in DROP; average earnings and service are fixed as of the day before entry.
• Missing the September 30 separation date for the December distribution, or failing to file a distribution election.
• Expecting interest on a contribution refund; the Fund returns contributions without interest.
• Forgetting to update beneficiary and joint annuitant forms after a divorce.

Related on this site: public pension retirement decisions, Florida retirement taxes, does Florida tax pensions, Tampa general employees retirement decisions, single-life vs joint-and-survivor pension and pension lump sum vs monthly annuity.

Sources

• City Pension Fund for Firefighters and Police Officers in the City of Tampa, Summary Plan Description (December 2024): https://www.tampa.gov/sites/default/files/document/2025/spd-2024.pdf
• Firefighters and Police Officers Pension Fund of the City of Tampa, Pension Board Policy 424, Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP) (last effective date 06/27/25): https://www.tampa.gov/sites/default/files/document/2025/424-drop-06.27.25.pdf
• Firefighters and Police Officers Pension Fund of the City of Tampa, Pension Board Policy 501, Withdrawal of Pension Contributions (last effective date 12/13/23): https://www.tampa.gov/sites/default/files/document/2025/501-12.13.23.pdf
• Firefighters and Police Officers Pension Fund of the City of Tampa, Pension Board Policy 420, Release of Pension Benefits of Deceased Pensioner (last effective date 06/24/26): https://www.tampa.gov/sites/default/files/document/2026/420-06.24.26.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.