The Denton Firemen's Relief and Retirement Fund, Explained

30-second answer. Denton firefighters are members of the Denton Firemen's Relief and Retirement Fund, a plan under the Texas Local Fire Fighters Retirement Act, and they also participate in Social Security. The Texas Pension Review Board's public page for the plan lists Social Security participation as Yes, 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 publishes a public page for this plan, plan 117. Read on September 25, 2026, it lists:

The fund's actuarial valuation as of December 31, 2023 reports a funded ratio of 91.1 percent.

What the formula means, in arithmetic

The formula is public, so the multiplication is too. The City of Denton's page for the fund states the benefit as 2.59 percent of the highest 36-month average salary for each year of service. The table is arithmetic on that multiplier, not a benefit estimate.

Why the contribution split matters to a candidate

The employer contribution is paid by the city into the fund, on top of salary. At the 18.50 percent rate the Pension Review Board lists, on a Step A Fire Fighter salary of $88,545.60 from the city's FY 2026-2027 Civil Service Fire Pay Plan, effective January 2, 2027 (Denton Fire Department recruiting newsletter), the city's contribution is about $16,381 a year. The member's 12.60 percent comes to about $11,157 of that salary.

What this page does not do

It does not estimate anyone's pension or describe the plan's investment strategy. The fund publishes its Summary Plan Description, actuarial studies, and audited financial statements at dentonfirepension.com.