The Denton Firemen's Relief and Retirement Fund, Explained
Denton firefighters are members of a Texas Local Fire Fighters Retirement Act plan. The state's public page lists a 12.60 percent employee and 18.50 percent city contribution, a formula of years of service times 2.59 percent times final average salary, and normal retirement at 50 with 20 years.
- Author
- Ready to Serve Editorial Team
- Published
- September 7, 2026
- Length
- 4 min read
- denton
- texas
- firefighter
- pension
- benefits
The Denton Firemen's Relief and Retirement Fund, Explained
30-second answer. Denton firefighters do not pay into Social Security through the city for their fire service; they are members of the Denton Firemen's Relief and Retirement Fund, a plan under the Texas Local Fire Fighters Retirement Act. The Texas Pension Review Board's public page for the plan lists a 12.60 percent employee contribution and an 18.50 percent city contribution, a benefit formula of years of credited service times 2.59 percent times final average salary, and normal retirement at age 50 with 20 years of credited service.
What the state publishes
The Texas Pension Review Board maintains a public page for every registered Texas plan. For this one, plan 117, the page read on September 7, 2026 lists:
| Item | As published |
|---|---|
| Plan | Denton Firemen's Relief & Retirement Fund |
| Statute | Texas Local Fire Fighters Retirement Act (TLFFRA) |
| Employee contribution | 12.60 percent of pay |
| Employer contribution | 18.50 percent of pay |
| Benefit formula | Years of Credited Service x 2.59% x Final Average Salary |
| Normal retirement | Age 50 with 20 years of credited service |
| Membership | 252 active, 107 annuitants |
| Total net assets | $182,559,953 |
The same source, read August 18, 2026, carried a funded ratio of 91.1 percent as of the December 31, 2023 actuarial valuation. The summary page does not print a single funded-ratio figure alongside the items above, so treat that number as dated to the valuation it names.
What the formula means, in arithmetic
The formula is public, so the multiplication is too. It is arithmetic on the published multiplier, not a benefit estimate, and final average salary is defined by the plan document, not by this page.
| Years of credited service | Share of final average salary |
|---|---|
| 20 | 51.8 percent |
| 25 | 64.75 percent |
| 30 | 77.7 percent |
Why the contribution split matters to a candidate
An 18.50 percent employer contribution is money the city pays into the fund on top of the salary on the pay plan. Against a Step A Fire Fighter salary of $86,028.80, the city's contribution alone is about $15,915 a year, and the member's 12.60 percent is about $10,839 withheld from pay. Neither figure appears on a pay stub as salary, and both are part of what the job pays.
What this page does not do
It does not estimate anyone's pension, describe the plan's investment strategy, or go beyond what the state's public page and the plan's registered filings print. Fund governance, benefit elections, and disability and survivor provisions are in the plan document, which the fund and the Pension Review Board publish.
Sources
- Texas Pension Review Board, plan 117, data.prb.texas.gov/plans/117.html, read September 7, 2026; funded ratio as read August 18, 2026
- City of Denton, Civil Service Fire Pay Plan FY 2025-2026, effective January 3, 2026 (Step A used for the contribution arithmetic), read September 7, 2026
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