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not qualified for service retirement at the time they were
retired for disability were accorded a fixed percentage (66-2/3
percent) of their final compensation until the date upon which
they would have qualified for service retirement if they had
continued work uninterrupted; and (iii) on that date, such
members' retirement allowance was recomputed in conformance with
the terms of the service retirement provisions of the Charter,
treating time spent on disability as equivalent to time spent in
active service.
The taxpayer in Wiedmaier was a Detroit firefighter who was
retired for an employment-connected disability on June 6, 1977,
approximately 10 months prior to qualifying for service
retirement. Under the Detroit Charter, the taxpayer therefore
initially received payments equal to 66-2/3 percent of his final
compensation until March 30, 1978, the date on which he reached
25 years of service, treating both time actually working and time
spent on disability as equivalent service for this purpose, as
provided in the Charter. On March 30, 1978, and thereafter,
payments to the taxpayer were computed under the service
retirement provisions of the Charter, likewise treating time
working and time on disability as equivalent service, with the
result that the payments were reduced from 66-2/3 percent of
final compensation to 50 percent of average compensation during
the 5 years preceding retirement. The Court concluded that the
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