It is the intent of this article to enable any city to adopt such a retirement system as is adaptable to its size and type.

By ordinance, any city may establish a retirement system for its officers and employees and provide for the payment of retirement allowances, pensions, disability payments, and death benefits, or any of them.

Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter to the contrary, separate rates of contribution for male and female employees shall not be maintained or established, nor shall different allowances or benefits be established for male and female employees.

Before the ordinance establishing a retirement system is adopted, the city legislative body shall adopt a resolution giving notice of intention to adopt the ordinance. The resolution shall contain a summary of the major provisions of the proposed retirement system.

The ordinance shall not be adopted unless an election is first held to permit the employees proposed to be included in the system to express by secret ballot their approval or disapproval of the retirement proposal.

The ballot used at the election shall include a summary of the retirement system as set forth in the resolution.

The election shall be conducted in a manner to be prescribed by the legislative body, and permit firemen, policemen, and other city employees included in the system, as separate groups, to express their approval or disapproval. The ordinance shall not include in the system any group a majority of whose members disapproves the system. Membership in the system is compulsory for all members of each group approving the system.

The ordinance establishing a retirement system may be adopted either by a majority vote of the electorate of the city or by approval of a two-thirds majority of the legislative body of the city. The ordinance shall not be repealed except by a vote of the electorate.

The ordinance shall provide for the appointment of a retirement board and for the delegation to the board of such powers and duties in relation to the system as are deemed advisable to carry out the intent and purpose of this article.

The legislative body may maintain its own pension and retirement fund or may contract with the legislative body of any city or county in the State, or any state department, for:

All funds received by city retirement systems and not required for current disbursements shall be invested only in:

Notwithstanding Section 45308.1 funds received by city retirement systems and not required for current disbursements may be invested in real property or improvements constructed or to be constructed on real property, when such real property or such improvements are acquired for sale or lease to a city, county, school district, political subdivision, or political corporation of this State, subject to the following limitations:

Notwithstanding Section 45308.1, funds received by city retirement systems and not required for current disbursements may be invested in bonds issued pursuant to the Improvement Bond Act of 1915; provided, that an ad valorem tax on all property taxable by the public agency which authorized the issuance of such bonds, at a rate not exceeding ten cents ($0.10) for each one hundred dollars ($100) of assessed value, computed as of the date of such investment, would produce an amount equal to at least 100 percent of the principal and interest payable in any year thereafter on the issue of bonds in which such investment is made.

Notwithstanding Section 45308.1, funds received by city retirement systems and not required for current disbursements may be invested in any of the following:

Notwithstanding Section 45308.1, in addition to any other investments as are authorized by this article, city retirement systems may in their discretion under the advice of proper counsel invest the assets of the retirement fund in an amount, determined on the basis of cost, not to exceed 10 percent of the assets in the first two years after the effective date of this section, not to exceed 15 percent during the third year after the effective date of this section, and not to exceed 25 percent thereafter, in common stock or shares, and not to exceed 2 percent of the assets in the first year after the effective date of this section, not to exceed 3 percent during the second year after the effective date of this section, and not to exceed 5 percent thereafter, in preferred stock or shares, of corporations created or existing under the laws of the United States, or any state, district, or territory thereof; provided that

Notwithstanding Section 45308.1 the board may also invest in any stocks or shares of a diversified management investment company registered under the “Investment Company Act of 1940” which has total assets of at least fifty million dollars ($50,000,000); except that the total investment in such stocks and shares, together with stocks and shares of all other corporations, may not exceed 25 percent of the assets of such fund determined on the basis of the cost of the stocks or shares.

For purposes of Section 45308.5, city retirement systems shall employ investment counsel or trust companies or trust departments of banks to render service in connection with the city retirement system’s investment program.

The city retirement board, if there is one, or the city treasurer with the approval of the city council, may enter into security loan agreements with broker-dealers and with California or national banks for the purpose of prudently supplementing the income normally received from investments.

Such collateral shall be in an amount equal to at least 102 percent of the market value of the loaned securities as agreed. The lender shall monitor the market value of the loaned securities daily. The loan agreement shall provide for payment of additional collateral on a daily basis, or at such times as the value of the loaned securities increases, to agreed-upon ratios. In no event, shall the amount of the collateral be less than the market value of the loaned securities.

Among other matters, the ordinance establishing the system shall provide for:

A member of a pension or retirement system established pursuant to this chapter shall not receive credit for service or contributions for credit for service in violation of the prohibitions provided in Section 34095 or Section 50033.