[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council
of the Borough of East Stroudsburg 12-5-2000 by Ord. No. 1107, approved 12-5-2000.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Firemen's Relief Association — See Ch. 14.
Retirement system — See Ch. 45.
Social security — See Ch. 53.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also superseded
former Ch. 40, Police Pension Fund, adopted 12-19-1972 by Ord. No.
716, approved 12-19-1972. Ordinance No. 1208, adopted 8-5-2008, amended
the Stroud Area Regional Police Department Pension Plan to include
a deferred retirement option plan (DROP) and a DROP release; said
provisions are on file in the Borough offices.
Pursuant to Act 180 of 1972, as amended, there
is hereby established the Stroud Area Regional Police Department Police
Pension Plan, herein after referred to as the "plan." The provisions
of this pension plan shall be retroactive to May 1, 2000.
The plan is to be maintained by the following: a charge against all police officer employees who hold a full-time position in the Stroud Area Regional Police Department and who work an average of not less than 40 hours per week (as set forth in § 40-6B hereof); by payments made to the municipalities which are members of the Department by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the purpose of retirement or disability pensions for police employees under any present or future law providing therefor, by such appropriations thereto as may be lawfully made by the Stroud Area Regional Police Commission; by gifts, grants and bequests received by the plan; and by receipts from investment of the plan. The plan shall be under the direction of the Police Commission under such regulations as it may from time to time, by resolution, prescribe for the benefit of such police employees of the Department as shall receive an honorable discharge therefrom by reason of age and service or service disability. The pension allowed to those who are retired by reason of service-related disabilities shall be in conformity with a uniform scale.
A.
The Stroud Area Regional Police Department Police
Pension Plan shall be managed and administered by the Police Pension
Board.
(1)
The Police Pension Board shall consist of eight members.
At least two active full-time police officer/employees who are participants
of the plan shall serve on the Pension Board. All members of the Police
Pension Board shall be appointed by the Police Commission.
[Amended 1-2-2001 by Ord. No. 1110, approved
1-2-2001]
(2)
The Police Pension Board may appoint from its members
such committees with such powers as they shall determine and may adopt
such rules and regulations as may be necessary or appropriate for
the conduct of the business of the Police Pension Board, subject to
the approval thereof by the Commission.
B.
A Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of the plan shall
be appointed by the Commission and shall have primary responsibility
for the administration of the pension plan. The duties of the CAO
shall be as follows:
(1)
Supervise and direct the preparation of actuarial
reports;
(2)
Certify and file actuarial valuation reports with
the Public Employee Retirement Commission;
(3)
Make actuarial report information available to the
plan members;
(4)
Annually, determine and submit to the Commission the
financial requirements of the pension plan and minimum municipal obligation;
and
(5)
Provide the Commission with a cost estimate of the
effect of any proposed benefit plan modification.
A.
All the funds of this plan shall be held by a trustee
or trustees appointed by the Police Commission, in trust, under a
trust agreement which shall be a part of this plan for use in providing
the benefits of this plan. The trust fund to be created pursuant to
this plan is designed to be and shall be the sole source of the benefits
provided under the plan.
[Amended 11-6-2001 by Ord. No. 1119, approved
11-6-2001]
B.
The Commission Treasurer shall forthwith remit to
the trustees all funds received for the purposes of the plan or appropriated
thereto by the Commission, with memorandum as to the source thereof,
and shall secure its receipt thereof. The trustees shall receive the
same and invest any funds not currently required for disbursements
in the same manner and in the same kinds of securities as are authorized
by law for banks chartered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
C.
The trustees shall pay benefits out of the plan only
at such times, to such persons and in such amounts as may be certified
to them by the Chief Administrative Officer at direction of the Police
Pension Board. The trustees shall annually submit to the Commission
a detailed report of their administration of the plan, which reports
when so submitted shall be open to inspection by any interested party.
D.
The plan is hereby authorized to receive by gift,
grant, devise or bequest any money or other property, real, personal
or mixed, in trust for the benefit of the plan, and the care, management,
investment and disposal of such trust funds or property shall be vested
in the trustees having the management of the plan, and the trust funds
or property shall be administered in accordance with the regulations
governing the plan subject to such directions not inconsistent therewith
as the donors of such funds or property may prescribe.
E.
The trustees shall be bonded in such amounts as shall
be determined by the Commission.
Each police officer employee who is holding
a full-time position in the Police Department and who works not less
than an average of 40 hours per week for a stated salary or compensation
shall become a participant of the plan, with the exception of the
Chief of Police.
A.
The Stroud Area Regional Police Commission agrees
to contribute to the plan fund an amount equal to the Act 205 aid
received by member municipalities (and remitted to the Commission)
from the moneys received from taxes paid upon premiums by foreign
casualty insurance companies for purposes of pension, retirement or
service-related disability benefits for policemen which shall be used
as follows: to reduce the unfunded liability or, after such liability
has been funded, to apply against the annual obligation of the Commission
for future service and disability reserve costs. It shall be the duty
of the Commission to apply such payments in accordance with the provisions
of this section.
B.
Participant contributions.
(1)
Participants shall contribute up to 5% of their monthly
compensation to the plan, as required.
(2)
If an actuarial study shows that the condition of
the Police Pension Fund of the Department is such that payments into
the fund by participants may be reduced below 5% or eliminated, and
that if such payments are reduced or eliminated, contributions by
the Commission will not be required to keep the fund actuarially sound,
the Commission may, on an annual basis by resolution, reduce or eliminate
payments into the fund by participants.
(3)
The monthly compensation of a participant is the amount paid as a W-2 wage subject to state and local taxes as compensation referenced in § 40-7B.
(4)
Any police officer who for any reason whatsoever shall
be unable to receive a pension after having contributed any charge
to the plan established pursuant to the provision of this chapter
shall be entitled to a refund of all such moneys paid by him into
such plan, with such interest at the rate of 5 1/2% per annum after
discontinuance of his employment in the Department. If such discontinuance
is due to death, such money shall be paid to his beneficiary or beneficiaries
or, in the absence of such designation, to his personal representative.
The police officer shall have no other claim to the accumulated assets
of the plan.
(5)
Any police officer who had ceased employment and participation in the plan or any other plan for which service is credited by Section 11 of this plan and had received a refund of employee contributions plus interest in accordance with Subsection B(4) may, upon return to plan membership, reinstate credit for prior service with the repayment of a sum equal to the total prior refund distribution plus interest calculated at the rate of 5.5% interest per annum from the date of the prior distribution refund to the date of repayment.
A.
Normal retirement date. The normal retirement date
for a participant shall be the first day of the month following his
or her 50th birthday, provided that the participant has completed
25 years of credited service, and the participant does not continue
employment with the Police Department. If a participant after normal
retirement date continues employment with the Police Department, his
retirement will commence upon his giving written notice of retirement
to the Commission. If a participant has not completed 25 years of
credited service upon attaining the age of 50, his retirement may
not commence until he has completed 25 years of credited service.
B.
Normal retirement benefit.
[Amended 11-6-2001 by Ord. No. 1119, approved
11-6-2001]
(1)
The retirement benefit of a participant shall be equal
to 1/2 of his average monthly compensation received during the last
36 months of employment, continuing for life in equal monthly payments
and ceasing in the month of death. The normal retirement benefit is
not offset by the commencement of benefits from the Social Security
Administration at age 62 or later.
(2)
"Compensation" means compensation reportable as state
and local wages on Form W-2 and excludes payments for accrued vacation,
accrued sick days, severance pay, or similar non-reoccurring compensation.
(3)
A police officer who retires with service in excess
of 25 years shall have his pension increased by $100 a month for each
full year of service in excess of 25 years. The maximum service increment
benefit for services over 25 years shall be $100 per month.
C.
Early retirement benefit.
(1)
If a member police officer with 20 or more years'
service terminates employment prior to the completion of superannuation
retirement age and service requirements, the police officer shall
be entitled to receive an early retirement benefit under the plan
as specified below by filing with the Commission a written notice
of intent to receive an actuarially reduced early retirement benefit.
The early retirement benefit shall become effective as of the date
the application is filed or the date designated on the application,
whichever is later, and shall be the actuarial equivalent of a partial
superannuation retirement benefit calculated as follows:
(2)
A partial superannuation retirement benefit shall be determined by applying the percentage that the member's years of service bears to the years of service that the member would have rendered had the member continued to be employed until this superannuation retirement date to the gross pension amount calculated in accordance with Subsection B using the monthly average compensation during the appropriate period prior to his termination of employment.
(3)
The actuarial equivalent of the partial superannuation
retirement benefit shall be determined by actuarially reducing the
partial superannuation retirement benefit to reflect that it will
commence on the effective date of the early retirement rather than
on the date on which the member would have completed superannuation
age and service requirements. The actuarial reduction shall be calculated
using the actuarial assumptions reported in the last actuarial valuation
report filed with the Public Employee Retirement Commission under
the Act of December 18, 1984 (P.L. 1005, No. 205), known as the "Municipal
Pension Plan Funding Standard and Recovery Act."[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 895.101
et seq.
D.
Disability retirement benefit.
(1)
If a participant shall qualify for a permanent and
total service-related disability benefit under the provisions of the
plan, and such service-related disability is confirmed by the Police
Pension Board, such participant shall be eligible to receive a disability
benefit from the plan.
(2)
In the event of permanent service-related disability,
benefits shall become payable to an injured police officer in an amount
equal to 50% of the normal retirement benefit.
[Amended 1-2-2001 by Ord. No. 1110, approved
1-2-2001]
(3)
"Total and permanent disability" means a physical
or mental condition of a member resulting from bodily injury or disease
or mental disorder contracted, without fault or misconduct on such
officer's part, from the performance of such officer's duties in the
Police Department which renders the member incapable of continuing
in the employment as a police officer for the Department.
(4)
A determination by the Commission or its designated
agent that a participant is totally and permanently disabled shall
be required for such member to receive a disability benefit under
the plan. Before making such determination, the Commission or its
designated agent shall secure the opinion of one or more practicing
physicians licensed to practice medicine in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The Commission shall have the right to require a physical examination
and a redetermination at its opinion.
E.
Preretirement death benefit.
(1)
Nonservice-related death. If a participant dies prior to completing eligibility for retirement, the participant's named beneficiary shall be entitled to receive a refund of the participant's contribution with interest as specified in § 40-6B(4).
(2)
Service-related death. When a member is killed in
service, the police officer's spouse who has not remarried, or children
under 18 years of age, shall be entitled to receive a pension benefit.[2] The amount of pension shall be 100% of that officer's retirement benefit, calculated as if the officer had attained the age and service requirements specified in Subsection A as of the day the officer died. The pension shall cease when the spouse subsequently dies or remarries or when the children reach the age of 18.
[2]
Editor’s Note: Killed-in-service death benefits were
repealed 4-20-2010 by Ord. No. 1233.
F.
Survivor benefits.
(1)
Benefits shall accrue to widows, widowers and certain
minor children of members who are entitled to benefits by reason of
age and service or service-related disability.
(2)
The widow or widower of a member of the police force,
or a member who retired on pension having met the age and service
requirement or who has retired on disability pension, or if no widow
or widower survives, or if he or she survives and subsequently dies
or remarries, then the child or children under the age of 18 years
of such member of the police force, shall, during his or her lifetime
or so long as she or he does not remarry in the case of a widow or
widower, or until the age of 18 years in the case of a child or children,
be entitled to receive a pension calculated at the rate of 50% of
the pension the officer was receiving or would have been receiving
had the member been retired at the time of death.
G.
Accrued benefit and vested benefit.
(1)
Accrued benefit. A member's accrued benefit as of any applicable date will be equal to the product obtained by multiplying the normal retirement benefit determined in accordance with Subsection B using average monthly compensation as of the date employment terminated by a fraction, the numerator of which is the years of service to the date employment terminated and the denominator of which is the total years of service the member would have earned if the member continued to work to the normal retirement date.
(2)
Vested benefit. A member who terminates employment
with the Department prior to the member's normal retirement date shall
have a vested benefit calculated by multiplying the member's accrued
benefit by the following applicable percentage:
|
Years of Service
|
Vesting Percentage
| ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Less than 12 years
|
0%
| ||
|
12 years or more
|
100%
|
H.
Cost-of-living adjustment.
(1)
The Stroud Area Regional Police Commission shall have
the authority, upon the recommendation of the Police Pension Board,
to provide by resolution for a cost-of-living increase for those participants
in the plan receiving retirement benefits and who qualify under applicable
law. These cost-of-living increases may be granted, provided, however,
that such cost-of-living increase shall not exceed the following:
(2)
No cost-of-living increase shall be granted which
would impair the actuarial soundness of the Stroud Area Regional Police
Department Police Pension Plan. Prior to making a recommendation of
any cost-of-living increase, the Police Pension Board shall direct
the fund actuary to submit a written cost estimate of the funding
cost of such an adjustment.
The establishment of the plan shall not be construed
as conferring any legal rights upon any police employee or other person
to a continuation of employment, nor shall it interfere with the rights
of the Commission to discharge any police employee or to treat him
or her without regard to the effect which such treatment might have
upon him or her as a member of the plan.
Except insofar as may otherwise be required
by law, no benefit under the plan shall be subject in any manner to
anticipation, alienation, sale, transfer, assignment, pledge, encumbrance
or charge, and any attempt so to do shall be voided, except as specifically
provided in the plan, nor shall any such benefits be in any manner
liable for or subject to garnishment, attachment, execution, levy
or other legal process for the collection of debts or liable for or
subject to the debts, contract, liabilities, engagements or torts
of the person entitled to such benefit.
A.
Intervening military service. Any member of the police
force of the Stroud Area Regional Police Department who has been a
regularly appointed employee of the Department for a period of six
months and who thereafter shall enter into the military service of
the United States shall have credited to his or her employment record
for pension or disability benefits all of the time spent by him or
her in such service of the United States military if such person returns
or has heretofore returned to his employment within six months after
his or her separation from the service.
B.
Nonintervening military service.
(1)
A police officer may purchase military service time
to be applied to his or her pension pursuant to the terms and conditions
of 53 P.S. § 770. Every member of the Police Pension Plan
and of the Stroud Area Regional Police Department who has not served
in such employment prior to entering the military service of the United
States of America shall be entitled to full service credit for each
year of military service or a fraction thereof, not to exceed five
years upon purchasing of credit, for such nonintervening military
service to be computed by applying the average normal cost rate for
Borough and Township Police Pension Plans as certified by the Public
Employee Retirement Commission, but not to exceed 10%, to the member's
averaged annual rate of compensation over the first three years of
municipal service and multiplying the result by the number of years
and fractional part of a year of creditable nonintervening military
service being purchased together with interest at the rate of 4 3/4%
compounded annually from the date of initial entry into municipal
service to the date of payment.
(2)
Members of the Police Pension Plan shall be eligible
to receive military service credit as provided in this section, provided
that he or she is not entitled to receive, eligible to receive now
or in the future or is receiving retirement benefits for such service
under a retirement system administered and wholly or partially paid
for by any other governmental agency, with the exception of a member
eligible to receive or receiving military retirement pay earned by
a combination of active duty and nonactive duty with a reserve or
national guard component of the armed forces, which retirement pay
is payable only upon the attainment of a specified age and period
of service under 10 U.S.C. § 67 (related to retired pay
for nonregular service).
Any member of the police force of the Stroud Area Regional Police Department who was a member of the Borough of Stroudsburg, the Borough of East Stroudsburg or the Township of Stroud Police Department on the day preceding his commencement of employment with the Stroud Area Regional Police Department shall have credited to his employment record for pension or disability benefits all of the time spent by him or her in the employ of the Borough of Stroudsburg, the Borough of East Stroudsburg and the Township of Stroud Police Department, provided that he/she has repaid to the plan fund any prior refund distribution with interest, as provided for in § 40-6B(5).
Notwithstanding any information that is made
available by the Stroud Area Regional Police Commission, the Police
Pension Board or the trustees to members of the plan through the distribution
of descriptive booklets, bulletin board notices, payroll notices or
oral announcement, any member of the plan may examine the plan and
all amendments thereto at the main office of the Stroud Area Regional
Police Department at such mutually convenient time as is arranged
by the members and a representative of the Commission and/or the Board
of Trustees.
A.
Administrative expenses. The expenses of administration
of the plan established by this chapter, including the compensation
of the actuary and the bond for the trustees of the plan, exclusive
of the payment of retirement or disability benefits, may be paid from
plan assets.
B.
Amendment of chapter. Insofar as the provisions of
this chapter are the same as statutory provisions, they shall be subject
to change or repeal to comply with any future statutory provisions,
and the provisions of this chapter may be amended or repealed if statutory
authority be granted therefor or if statutory restrictions or mandates
are eliminated and discretion vested in the Commission.
C.
Transfers of assets and liabilities of prior fund.
All assets and liabilities of the active police officers in the Police
Pension Funds created under the Borough of Stroudsburg, the Borough
of East Stroudsburg and the Township of Stroud shall be immediately
transferred to the plan established pursuant to the provisions of
this chapter. The transfer of the assets of the preexisting Police
Pension Plan shall be subject to all rights and benefits of the police
officers who are members of and participants in said preexisting pension
plans established as aforesaid.
