Hialeah Firefighters: One Plan, Three Tiers, One Big Contradiction
Hialeah firefighters are not in a standalone fire pension fund and not in FRS. You share a single city-wide plan with general employees and police. Your benefits were cut in 2019 and partly restored by contract in 2022, which is why the tier you fall into matters so much. And there is one figure — your DROP maximum — where two official documents flatly disagree.
Reviewed October 2026. Every figure below is sourced to a named plan document with its date, listed at the end of this page.
Two official documents disagree about your DROP window
The FY2025 audited financial statements, dated April 28, 2026, say: “The maximum period of participation in the DROP is 60 months.”
The October 1, 2025 actuarial valuation, dated June 10, 2026 — six weeks later — says: “The maximum period of participation in the DROP is 36 months.”
That is a two-year difference in how long you can stay, from the same plan, in the same year. The ordinance history suggests 60 months is operative for members entering on or after February 28, 2016, with a 3-year cap for firefighters who entered after November 12, 2019 — but that is reading between the lines of a six-year-old document. Do not plan a DROP entry on either number until the Retirement Office confirms which code section controls. This is the most consequential unresolved figure for a Hialeah firefighter.
Which plan you are actually in
Your plan is the City of Hialeah Employees' Retirement System (ERS).
| Plan type | A single city-wide defined benefit plan covering general employees, police officers and firefighters together. The State carries Hialeah under one plan code for all three groups. This is unusual for a South Florida fire department. |
|---|---|
| Created by | City Ordinance No. 874, effective January 1, 1956. |
| Codified at | Hialeah City Code §§ 70-96 through 70-269. |
| Statutory framework | Intended to comply with Florida Statutes Chapter 112 and Chapters 175 and 185. The plan receives Chapter 175 state premium-tax revenue and funds a Chapter 99-1 share plan for firefighters and police. |
| Not FRS | Hialeah does not participate in the Florida Retirement System for this group. |
Tier 1 — hired before November 15, 2013
| Provision | What it says |
|---|---|
| Vesting | 100% at 10 years.Source: Oct 2025 Valuation; FY2025 Financials |
| Normal retirement | Any age, with 20 or more years of service and age plus service reaching 70 points.Source: Oct 2025 Valuation |
| Early retirement | Age 50 with 10 years, reduced 3.0% per year.Source: Oct 2025 Valuation |
| Benefit multiplier | 3.0% of final average compensation per year, capped at 25 years, if you meet the 20-year / 70-point test. Otherwise 2.0% per year up to 30 years.Source: FY2025 Financials; Oct 2025 Valuation |
| Past 25 years | An additional 1.50% of average final compensation per year beyond 25 years, to a maximum of 4.50%.Source: Oct 2025 Valuation |
| Average final compensation | Highest 3 years.Source: Oct 2025 Valuation |
| COLA | 2.0% automatic, to a maximum of 10 increases — 20% cumulative.Source: Oct 2025 Valuation |
| Member contribution | 10% total from October 1, 2021 if you were not eligible for full retirement as of November 15, 2013. 6% if you were.Source: FY2020 Financials (Ord. 2020-016) |
The later tiers
Tier A — hired on or after November 15, 2013 and before November 12, 2019
Normal retirement: 20 years of membership service and age plus service reaching 76 points.
Multiplier: 3.0% of average final compensation for credited service earned on or after November 12, 2019 — restored from 2.75% by collective bargaining.
Multiplier for service before November 12, 2019: not stated anywhere. The contract covers the later service and is silent on the earlier. Ordinance history implies a split rate. You need this number from the Retirement Office.
COLA: 1.0% on service earned on or after November 12, 2019, maximum 10 increases (10% cumulative).
Tier B — hired on or after November 12, 2019
Multiplier: 3.0% of average final compensation for service on or after November 12, 2019.
COLA: 1.0%, maximum 10 increases (10% cumulative).
Normal retirement and vesting: not expressly stated for this tier. The contract states the 20-year / 76-point rule for members “hired on or after November 15, 2013,” which on its face includes you — but it does not say so for Tier B specifically, and that is worth confirming rather than assuming.
There is also a group of 49 members hired on August 23, 2004 or April 4, 2005 with 16 or fewer years of service, or under 66 points, as of November 12, 2019. Their multiplier went back up from 2.75% to 3.00% for benefits accrued on and after November 12, 2019, their specialty pay is no longer capped at 5% of base, and they get a 2.0% COLA on that later service. If those dates describe your hire, ask whether you are in this group.
Your DROP
| Exists since | March 1, 2007 for police officers and firefighters. |
|---|---|
| Eligibility | 25 years of membership service credit and age plus service reaching 70 points. |
| Maximum period | Unresolved — see the contradiction above. 60 months per the FY2025 audit, 36 months per the later actuarial valuation. |
| Contributions | Your member contributions stop when you enter. |
| Disability | You become ineligible for disability benefits during the DROP. |
| Buying service to qualify | Not permitted. You cannot purchase service to reach DROP eligibility. |
| Distribution | A cash lump sum on termination of employment or death. No rollover, installment or annuity option appears in any document — which is unusual and worth asking about directly, because the tax consequences of a forced lump sum are serious. |
Where your own plan documents disagree
This is the part no other page will tell you. In researching this plan I read the Summary Plan Description, the audited financial statements, the actuarial valuation and the collective bargaining agreement side by side. On the following points they do not say the same thing, or they say nothing at all.
I am not going to guess at a number that decides when you can retire or how much you will have. Here is exactly what is unresolved, and exactly what to ask.
The DROP maximum: 36 or 60 months
Covered in full above. Two primary sources, six weeks apart, two different answers. This is the single most dangerous figure to assume.
Nobody states the DROP interest rate
Every source says your DROP account is credited “at the same rate credited to the annuity savings account” — and no source anywhere states what that rate is, or whether it is fixed, declared annually by the board, or linked to investment returns. Ask for the rate and for the last several years of credited rates, so you can see whether it moves.
Only a lump sum is documented
The absence of any documented rollover option is genuinely unusual for a governmental DROP. If a direct rollover to an IRA or to the Nationwide 457(b) is in fact available, you want that in writing before you separate — a forced lump sum can push a large amount of income into a single tax year.
Tier A's pre-2019 multiplier is undocumented
If you were hired between November 15, 2013 and November 12, 2019, the rate that applies to your service before November 12, 2019 does not appear in any source. That is years of accrual with no published rate.
The Summary Plan Description is an image-only scan
The city posts an SPD, but the file contains no machine-readable text — it is a picture of a document. That is the one document that would settle most of the questions on this page in a single pass. Ask the Retirement Office for a text version, or for the current Code sections.
Resolution No. 2025-049 is cited as the latest amendment, with no description
The October 2025 valuation names it as the most recent plan amendment of record. What it changed is described nowhere I could reach. Ask.
Your 457(b)
Nationwide is the sole 457(b) provider named, under a five-member oversight committee that includes an IAFF nominee. The city page carries no date, so confirm Nationwide is still the record keeper and ask whether more than one vendor is approved.
Worth knowing: Hialeah's 401(a) defined contribution plan, with a 7% city and 7% employee contribution, applies only to non-public-safety employees hired after April 1, 2012. Firefighters are not in it, and the defined benefit plan remains open to new firefighters.
Your 457(b) is separate from your pension and separate from your DROP. A governmental 457(b) has one feature worth knowing: distributions after you separate from service are not subject to the 10% early distribution penalty, regardless of your age. That is unusual, it does not apply to a 401(k) or an IRA in the same way, and it can matter a great deal to a firefighter who retires in their forties or fifties. More on governmental 457(b) rules.
What to ask, and who to ask
Contact the City of Hialeah Retirement Office:
- Phone: 305-883-5872
Questions worth asking in writing
Ask for answers by email rather than over the phone. You want a record, and whoever helps you plan later will want to read it.
- Is my DROP maximum 36 months or 60 months, and which code section controls? Does it depend on my DROP entry date?
- What rate is credited to the annuity savings account, and therefore to my DROP? What has it been for the last several years?
- Is a direct rollover from my DROP to an IRA or to the Nationwide 457(b) administratively available, or is a cash lump sum the only option?
- If I was hired between November 15, 2013 and November 12, 2019: what multiplier applies to my service before November 12, 2019?
- If I was hired on or after November 12, 2019: what is my normal retirement rule and my vesting period?
- Am I in the group of 49 members whose multiplier was restored to 3.00%?
- What did Resolution No. 2025-049 change?
- Can I get the Summary Plan Description as a text document rather than a scan?
Common questions
Are Hialeah firefighters in the Florida Retirement System?
No. Hialeah firefighters are in the City of Hialeah Employees' Retirement System, a city-wide plan created by ordinance in 1956 that covers general employees, police officers and firefighters together. It is not a standalone fire pension fund and it is not FRS.
How long can a Hialeah firefighter stay in the DROP?
This is genuinely unresolved. The FY2025 audited financial statements say the maximum is 60 months. The October 2025 actuarial valuation, issued six weeks later, says 36 months. Confirm with the Retirement Office at 305-883-5872 before planning a DROP entry.
What is the Hialeah firefighter pension multiplier?
For Tier 1 members hired before November 15, 2013 who meet the 20-year and 70-point test, 3.0% of final average compensation per year, capped at 25 years, plus 1.50% per year beyond 25 years to a maximum of 4.50%. Later tiers accrue 3.0% for service on or after November 12, 2019, after a cut to 2.75% in 2019 that collective bargaining later reversed.
What is the 70-point rule in Hialeah?
A normal retirement test for Tier 1 firefighters: you need 20 or more years of service and your age plus your service must total at least 70 points. Members hired on or after November 15, 2013 face a 76-point version of the same test.
Can I roll my Hialeah DROP account into an IRA?
No public plan document says so. Every source describes only a cash lump sum paid on termination or death. The absence of a documented rollover option is unusual for a governmental plan, so ask the Retirement Office directly before you separate.
Who is the Hialeah 457(b) provider?
Nationwide is the only provider named, overseen by a five-member committee that includes an IAFF nominee. The city page carries no date, so confirm it is current.
Sources
Every figure on this page traces to one of the following. Where two of them disagree, the page says so rather than picking one.
- Hialeah ERS Financial Statements, FY2025 — FYE September 30, 2025; auditor's report April 28, 2026
- Hialeah Actuarial Valuation Report as of October 1, 2025 — report dated June 10, 2026
- IAFF Local 1102 Collective Bargaining Agreement 2025–2026 — term October 1, 2025 – September 30, 2026
- Hialeah ERS Financial Statements, FY2020 — the only source describing Ordinances 2019-090 and 2020-016 — FYE September 30, 2020 — historical context only
- Florida Department of Management Services, 2024 Local Government Retirement Systems Annual Report — data as of September 30, 2024
- City of Hialeah — Deferred Compensation 457(b) — undated
This material is for general educational and informational purposes only. It is not individualized investment, insurance, legal, tax or pension advice, and it is not a recommendation.
Pension plan provisions, city ordinances, collective bargaining agreements, Florida law and federal tax law all change. Figures on this page are drawn from the plan documents listed above as of their stated dates and may not reflect the current terms of your plan.
Members should verify their own plan provisions, tier, eligibility, benefit calculation, DROP terms and deadlines directly with the City of Hialeah Retirement Office before acting on anything.
Mark Buckley is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of the Hialeah municipal government, City of Hialeah Employees' Retirement System (ERS), or any of its administrators or boards.
Tax consequences vary by individual circumstances. Consult an appropriate tax professional regarding individual tax matters.
Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal.