[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners of the Township of Lower Pottsgrove as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 10-6-1975 by Ord. No. 148; amended in its entirety 8-24-2006 by Ord. No. 264 (Ch. 1, Part 2, of the 1995 Code)]
A. 
The following persons shall be entitled to receive pension or retirement benefits as hereinafter provided:
(1) 
Each policeman employed by this Township on a full-time basis who shall have 25 years of continuous service with this Township and who shall have obtained 52 years of age and who shall have received an honorable discharge. Effective January 1, 2005, an officer may retire and receive pension benefits after providing 25 years of continuous service and obtaining age 50.
(2) 
Effective January 1, 2005, each policeman who retires after providing 20 or more years of service, regardless of the age of the policeman, pursuant to Act 24 of 1998.
(3) 
Any policeman who separates from employment after rendering 12 continuous years of service as a Township police officer.
(4) 
The surviving widow of any policeman who has fulfilled the age and service requirements for retirement and who was employed by the Township on a full-time basis at the time of his death; or the surviving widow of any policeman retired by reason of age and service or of any policeman killed in service.
(5) 
In the event that no surviving spouse exists or the surviving spouse subsequently dies, the surviving child(ren) of the officer may receive survivor's benefits until age 18, or age 23 if the child is attending college. The phrase "attending college" shall mean being enrolled in an institution of higher learning and carrying a minimum course load of seven credits per semester.
B. 
"Continuous service" shall mean full-time employment with this Township, including periods of absence which are approved by the Board of Commissioners of the Township or which arise by operation of law.
C. 
Any member of the police force who has been a regularly appointed employee of this Township for a period of at least six months and who thereafter shall enter into the military service of the United States shall have credited to his employment record for pension or retirement benefits all of the time spent by him in such military service if such person returns or has heretofore returned to his employment within six months after his separation from the service.
A. 
The assets which comprise the Police Pension Fund shall be kept separate and apart from other assets and funds of the Township; and any proper payment or distribution from the Police Pension Fund shall not be a charge on any other asset or fund of the Township.
B. 
The assets which comprise the Police Pension Fund shall be deemed to be assets which are held by the Township in trust for administration, investment, management and distribution as directed by the Township Board of Commissioners in accordance with and subject to the provisions of Act 600, as well as all other applicable Pennsylvania laws.
C. 
The Township shall employ an actuary to render the services to be provided by an actuary under the provisions of Act 600. Likewise, the Township may employ an independent auditor.
D. 
The assets of the Police Pension Fund shall be invested in such investments as are authorized by Act 600.
E. 
Although the Township may delegate to others the authority to administer, invest, manage or distribute the assets of the Police Pension Fund, the responsibility for the funding, solvency, administration, investment, management and actuarial soundness of the Police Pension Fund in all its aspects cannot be delegated, and that responsibility shall always remain with the Township and its governing body. The Township's authority with respect to the fund shall include the ability to receive gifts, grants, devises or bequests to the fund or any money, real or personal property or mixed.
F. 
In addition to any audit of the Police Pension Fund which is made by the Pennsylvania Department of the Auditor General, the independent auditor appointed by the Township to audit the accounts and records of the Police Pension Fund shall perform an audit at the same time and in the same manner as he audits the other accounts and records of the Township.
A. 
Normal retirement benefit. The amount of pension or retirement benefits payable to any policeman under this program shall be a sum equal to 1/2 of the monthly salary of the participant during the last 36 months of the officer's employment with the Township. Such retirement benefits shall be payable monthly during the balance of a participant's life following actual retirement, and the benefit for any month shall be computed as the sum of: 1) any pension benefits from pension plans heretofore established by a private organization or association for the members of the police force but only to the extent that the commonwealth or any of its municipalities shall have contributed to such pension plan monies raised by taxation; and 2) benefits from the pension fund established hereunder to the extent necessary to bring the total benefits in any month up to 1/2 of the aforesaid monthly average salary. Pension payments made under the provisions of this article shall not be a charge on any other fund in the treasury of the Township or under its control save the Police Pension Fund.
B. 
Early retirement benefit. A policeman who has rendered 20 or more years of continuous service and who terminates employment prior to satisfying the age and service requirements and who files a written application for an early retirement benefit with the Township Manager may receive an early retirement benefit. The early retirement benefit shall become effective on the date the application is filed with the Township Manager 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:
(1) 
A partial superannuation retirement benefit shall be determined by applying the percentage that the member's years of service bear to the years of service that the member would have rendered had the member continued to be employed until his superannuation retirement date to the gross pension amount calculated using the monthly average salary during the appropriate period prior to his termination of employment.
(2) 
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" or "Act 205," 53 P.S. § 895.101 et seq.
C. 
Vested benefit.
(1) 
If a policeman, before meeting both the service and age requirements prescribed by Subsection A above but after having completed 12 years or more of total consecutive service in the Township Police Department, ceases for any reason to be employed as a policeman in the Township Police Department, he shall be entitled to vest his monthly retirement pension benefit by filing with the Township Secretary (within 90 days after the date on which the policeman ceased to be employed as a policeman) a written notice that his monthly retirement pension benefit is to be deemed to have vested.
(2) 
Upon reaching the date when both the service and age requirements prescribed by Subsection A above would have been met if he had continued to be employed as a policeman, he shall receive a partial monthly retirement pension benefit determined as: 1/2 of the "average monthly salary," as that term is utilized in this article, that he was paid during the last 36 months of his service in the Police Department prior to his cessation of employment multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which shall be the number of consecutive years he served in the Police Department prior to his cessation of employment and the denominator of which shall be the number of consecutive years he served in the Police Department prior to his cessation of employment plus the number of years remaining to the date when both the service and age requirements prescribed by Subsection A would have been met if he had continued to be employed as a policeman. In no event shall the numerator of the fraction be less than 12 years, nor shall the denominator of the fraction be less than 25 years. A policeman who elects to vest his pension shall not be eligible to receive a normal retirement benefit or a refund of contributions.
D. 
Disability benefit. A policeman who is injured in the line of duty with the Police Department, and who then becomes, in the opinion of a physician selected by the Township, so disabled as a result of that injury as to be incapable of continuing to perform his normal police duties permanently, shall be honorably discharged from the Police Department with a monthly disability pension benefit. The amount of this monthly benefit shall be 66 2/3% of the policeman's monthly salary until the policeman reaches age 65, pursuant to and in accordance with the disability insurance policy purchased by the Township. A member who receives benefits for the same injuries under the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. § 301 et seq.) shall have his/her disability benefits offset or reduced by the amount of such benefits as mandated by law.
[Amended 3-7-2011 by Ord. No. 264-A]
E. 
Survivor benefits.
(1) 
A widow eligible to receive benefits by reason of survivorship of a policeman shall receive a pension calculated at the rate of 50% of the pension or retirement benefit the policeman was receiving or would have been receiving from the Police Pension Fund had he been retired.
(2) 
In the event that no widow exists, or that the widow exists and subsequently dies, a child eligible to receive benefits by reason of survivorship of a policeman shall receive a pension calculated in the same manner as the widow's benefit in this subsection; provided, however, that where more than one child of a policeman is eligible to receive benefits, the aggregate pension payable to said children shall not exceed 50% of the pension or retirement benefits used as a basis for calculation of such children's benefits. The benefit provided hereunder shall be payable to the child until the child reaches age 18, or age 23 if attending college. The phrase "attending college" shall mean being enrolled in an institution of higher learning and carrying a minimum course load of seven credits per semester.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Subsection F, Killed-in-service benefit, which immediately followed this subsection, was repealed 3-7-2011 by Ord. No. 264-A.
A. 
Every policeman shall pay into the fund a monthly contribution equal to not less than 5% nor more than 8% of his total monthly salary. The Township's Board of Commissioners may, on an annual basis, by ordinance or resolution, reduce or eliminate payments into the fund by policemen. Reduction or elimination of member contributions shall not permit the return of contributions or any interest or fund earnings to be made to members while actively employed as a Township police officer.
B. 
Any payments made by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to the Township for police pension purposes shall be used as follows:
(1) 
To reduce the unfunded liability of the Township on account of pensions payable hereunder, and after such liability has been funded.
(2) 
To apply against the annual obligation of the Township for future service cost or to the extent that the payment may be in excess of such obligation.
(3) 
To reduce participants' contributions.
The Board of Commissioners of this Township hereby establishes and agrees to pay length-of-service increments equal to 2% of the final the 36 months' average salary of such member per month for each completed year of service in excess of 25 years; however, in no event will the total of all such monthly length-of-service increments exceed $100. Such length-of-service increments will be paid in addition to other monthly pension or retirement allowances.
A. 
The Township shall be the owner of all monies or property paid into the fund or annuities or policies purchased from insurance companies hereunder and the owner of any insurance and retirement income contracts acquired hereunder, and no participant, prior to retirement, shall have any right or interest in any portion of said monies or property; provided, however, that each participant shall be entitled to designate a beneficiary. In the event of termination or discontinuance of his employment with the Township for reasons other than retirement or death, each participant shall be entitled to have returned to him the total amount of all such monies paid by him into the pension fund, with interest at the rate of 4 1/2% per annum. If such termination or discontinuance of employment is due to death, such refund or money shall be paid to the participant's designated beneficiary or, in the absence thereof, to his estate.
B. 
No payment in refund of a policeman's contributions shall be made under this section to a retiring policeman who is to receive a normal, early vested or disability pension.
A. 
The Police Pension Fund shall be under the direction of the Board of Commissioners of this Township or such committee or persons as the Board of Commissioners of this Township may, from time to time, designate by resolution, who shall act as trustees of the pension fund, and such trustees shall have full responsibility for the administration of the program established hereunder and shall hold, invest and reinvest and distribute all funds or other property received pursuant hereto in trust for the purposes of this article. The trustees may receive at any time and from time to time gifts, grants, devises or bequests to the pension fund of any money or property, real, personal or mixed, to be held by them in trust for the benefit of this fund and in accordance with the provisions hereof. The trustees shall be subject to such rules and regulations as may from time to time be adopted by the Board of Commissioners of this Township by ordinance or resolution.
B. 
The trustees shall have full power and authority by a majority action of their members, either directly or through their designated representatives, to do all acts, execute, acknowledge and deliver all instruments, and to exercise for the sole benefit of the participants hereunder any and all powers and discretions necessary to implement and effectuate the purposes of this article, including, for purposes of illustration but not limited to, any and all of the following:
(1) 
To hold, invest and reinvest all funds received pursuant to this article in such legal investments as may be authorized as legal investments under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
(2) 
To enter into contracts or deposit agreements on behalf of this Township with one or more insurance companies in order to provide the pension and other benefits herein set forth, and to pay the premiums and deposits required by the purchase of said contracts.
(3) 
To retain or purchase as an investment any form of annuity or contracts of similar nature, and to exercise with respect thereto any right or incident of ownership.
(4) 
To retain any property which may at any time become an asset of the fund, as long as said trustees may deem it advisable.
(5) 
To make distribution of the monies in the fund in accordance with the terms of this article.
The expense of administering this Police Pension Fund Program, including, but not limited to, compensation of an actuary, any custodian of the fund and any other charges or expenses related thereto, exclusive of the payment of pension benefits, at the sole discretion of the Board of Commissioners, may be paid from the fund established under this article or may be paid by appropriations made by the Board of Commissioners of the Township.
All contracts, agreements or funds held by the Township for the purpose of providing pensions, annuities or retirement income, or any of them, of any policeman who shall be a participant in the program herein established shall be and hereby are transferred and assigned to the fund herein created. After such transfer, the Police Pension Fund shall assume the liability, if any, of continuing the payment of pensions to members of the police force retired prior to such transfer in accordance with the laws and regulations under which such members were retired.
A. 
The pension payments herein provided for shall not be subject to attachment, execution, levy, garnishment or other legal process, and shall be payable only to the participant or his designated beneficiary. No participant or his beneficiary shall have any right to alienate, encumber or assign any assets of the fund held by the trustees on his behalf or any of the benefits or payments or proceeds of any contract or agreement purchased or acquired by the Township hereunder.
B. 
Any contract or agreement purchased or acquired pursuant to this article upon the life of such participant shall contain a provision, in substance, that, to the extent permitted by law, none of the benefits or payments or proceeds of such contract or agreement shall be subject to any legal process by any creditor of such participant or beneficiary of such participant.
A policeman or a beneficiary who alleges that an official, officer, employee, agent or representative of the Township has made a requirement, order or decision which incorrectly interprets, administers, applies or enforces a provision of this article or a provision of Act 600 shall have the right to appeal the matter to the Township Board of Commissioners or its designee for a decision and shall have the right to have the Township Board of Commissioners or its designee hear the appeal pursuant to the provisions of the Pennsylvania Local Agency Law, 2 Pa.C.S.A. § 101 et seq.
A. 
To the extent that a provision of this article is the same as or consistent with a provision of Act 600 and was mandated by the Act, it shall be subject to amendment or repeal by the Board in order to comply with amendments or repeals of provisions of Act 600. In addition, a provision of this article may be amended or repealed by the Board if statutory authority is granted therefor or if restrictions or mandates imposed by Act 600 are removed or alleviated.
B. 
Despite anything implied to the contrary in and pursuant to Section 8 of Act 600, 53 P.S. § 774, a change in an eligibility requirement or a change in the method of determining a benefit under this article shall not in any way diminish the rights which a policeman serving in the Police Department prior to the effective date of the change expected to have under the requirement or expected to have in the benefit.
[Added 4-3-2017 by Ord. No. 334]
A. 
Definitions. For purposes of this section only, the words and phrases used in this section shall have meaning ascribed below:
BENEFICIARY
The individual identified by a police officer to receive the contents of an officer's DROP account in the event of the death of an officer during the period in which the officer is participating in the DROP, but before the officer separates from employment.
DROP
The Deferred Retirement Option Plan pursuant to the Municipal Pension Plan Funding Standard and Recovery Act, Act 205 of 1984, as amended by Act 44 of 2009, and subject to the terms and conditions of this section.
DROP ACCOUNT
The separate account created to accept DROP participants' monthly pension check while a DROP participant.
DROP PARTICIPANT
A retired police officer who is eligible to participate in a DROP under this section and who has elected to participate in a DROP under the terms of this section.
DROP PARTICIPANT ACCOUNT
A pension trust fund ledger account established under the terms of this section. A DROP participation account shall be established as an interest-bearing ledger account of the fund of the plan. The account balance shall be accounted for separately but need not be physically segregated from other pension trust fund assets.
FUND or PLAN
The Police Pension Plan for Lower Pottsgrove Township.
POLICE OFFICER
The police officers of Lower Pottsgrove Township.
B. 
Eligibility. As of the effective date of this section, police officers who have not retired prior to the implementation of the DROP program may enter into the DROP on the first day of any month following completion of 25 years of credited service and attaining the age of 50.
C. 
Written election. A police officer electing to participate in the DROP must complete and execute a DROP option form prepared by the Township, which shall evidence the member's participation in the DROP. The form must be signed by the member and notarized and submitted to the Township prior to the date on which the member wishes the DROP option to be effective. The DROP option notice shall include an irrevocable notice to the Township, by the member, that the member shall resign from employment with the Lower Pottsgrove Township Police Department effective on a specific date (the "resignation date"). In no event shall the resignation date be longer than 24 months from the execution of the DROP option form. A DROP participant may change the resignation date to an earlier date without penalty. An officer shall cease to work as a police officer on the officer's resignation date, unless the Township terminates or honorably discharges the officer prior to the resignation date. In addition, all retirement documents required by the Police Pension Plan Administrator must be filed and presented to the Township for approval of retirement and payment of pension. Once a retirement application has been approved by the Township, it is irrevocable.
D. 
Pension contributions. A police officer shall not be required to make any contributions to the fund during his or her DROP period.
E. 
Limitation on pension accrual. After the effective date of the DROP option, the police officer shall no longer earn or accrue additional years of continuous service for pension purposes.
F. 
Benefit calculation. For all retirement fund purposes, continuous service of a police officer participating in the DROP shall remain as it existed on the effective date of commencement of participation in the DROP. Service thereafter shall not be recognized or used for the calculation or determination of any benefits payable by the Police Pension Plan of Lower Pottsgrove Township. The average monthly compensation of the police officer for pension calculation purposes shall remain as it existed on the effective date of commencement of participation in the DROP. Earnings or increases in earnings thereafter shall not be recognized or used for the calculation or determination of any benefits payable by the Pension Plan.
G. 
Payments to DROP participation account. The monthly retirement benefits that would have been payable had the DROP participant elected to cease employment and receive a normal retirement benefit and interest thereon shall, upon the police officer commencing participation in DROP, be paid into the DROP participation account. The DROP participation account shall earn interest at the same rate as the Police Pension Plan, provided that the minimum interest earnings shall be 0% and the maximum interest earnings shall be 4 1/2%.
H. 
Accrual of nonpension benefits. After a police officer elects to participate in the DROP program, all other contractual benefits shall continue to accrue with the exception of those provisions relating to the Police Pension Plan, and the DROP participant shall forgo active membership in the Police Pension Plan.
I. 
Payout.
(1) 
Upon the resignation date set forth in the police officer's DROP option notice, early termination date, or such date as the Township separates the member from employment, the retirement benefits payable to the DROP participant or the DROP participant's designated beneficiary, if applicable, shall no longer be paid to the DROP participant account. At the option of the DROP participant or the DROP participant's beneficiary, the balance in the DROP participation account accrued by the DROP participant shall be:
(a) 
Paid within 45 days of the separation of employment to the DROP participant or the DROP participant's beneficiary after withholding taxes to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS); or
(b) 
Paid within 45 days directly to the custodian of an eligible retirement plan as defined by the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) or, in the case of an eligible rollover distribution to the surviving spouse of a deceased DROP participant, an eligible retirement plan that is an individual retirement account of an individual retirement account as defined in the IRC.
(2) 
If the DROP participant or beneficiary fails to elect a method of payment within 60 days of the police officer's date of resignation, the Township shall pay the balance in a lump sum, as provided in Subsection I(1)(a) of this section.
(3) 
The form of payment selected by the DROP participant or beneficiary shall comply with the minimum distribution requirements of the IRC.
J. 
Disability during DROP. If a police officer becomes temporarily incapacitated during his participation in DROP, that police officer shall continue to participate in the DROP program as if fully employed. The police officer shall receive disability pay in the same amount as disabled police officers who are not participating in DROP. In no event shall a police officer on temporary disability have the ability to draw from his DROP account. However, notwithstanding any other provision in this subsection, if a police officer is disabled and has not returned to work as of his required resignation date, then such resignation shall take precedence over all other provisions herein, and said officer shall be required to resign. If a police officer becomes permanently disabled during the DROP period, the officer shall be honorably discharged from employment; on such date, the police officer shall obtain the contents of his DROP account and, thereafter, commence receiving his normal pension benefit.
K. 
Death. A DROP participant's eligibility to participate in the DROP terminates upon the death of the DROP participant. If a DROP participant dies before the DROP account balances are paid, the DROP participant's designated beneficiary shall have the same rights as the police officer to withdraw the account balance.
(1) 
The monthly plan benefit accrued in the DROP participant's DROP participant account during the month of a DROP participant's death shall be the final monthly retirement system benefit credited for DROP participation.
(2) 
If the DROP participant dies on or after the effective date of participation in the DROP but before the plan benefit of the DROP participant accruable for the month has accrued in the DROP participant account, the Township shall pay the monthly plan benefit as though the police officer had not elected to participate in DROP and had died after the police officer's effective date of retirement.
(3) 
In the event of the death of a DROP participant prior to the resignation date, the DROP participant's survivor or beneficiary shall only be eligible to receive plan benefits, if any, normally payable in the event of the death of a retired employee.
L. 
Forfeiture of benefits. Notwithstanding a police officer's participation in the DROP plan, a police officer who is convicted or pleads guilty to engaging in criminal misconduct which constitutes a "crime related to public office or public employment," as that phrase is defined in Pennsylvania's Pension Forfeiture Act, 43 P.S. §§ 1311 through 1314 and interpreted thereunder, shall forfeit his or her right to receive a pension, including any amounts currently deposited in the DROP account. In such a case, the police officer shall only be entitled to receive the contributions, if any, made by the police officer to the fund, without interest.
M. 
Reenrollment. After the expiration of the DROP participation period, a former DROP participant shall under no circumstances be permitted to reenroll or elect to participate in the DROP.
N. 
Amendment. Any amendments to the DROP plan shall be consistent with the provisions covering DROP plans as set forth in the applicable state law and/or the collective bargaining agreement and shall be binding upon all future DROP participants and upon all DROP participants who have balances in their DROP accounts. The DROP plan may only be amended by a written instrument, not by any oral agreement or past practice.
O. 
Construal of provisions. A police officer's election to participate in the DROP program shall in no way be construed as a limitation on the Township's right to suspend or to terminate a police officer for just cause or to grant the police officer an honorable discharge based upon a physical or mental inability to perform his or her duties.
P. 
Administration and audit. The administration of the Lower Pottsgrove Township DROP and audits of the DROP shall be in accordance with the Municipal Pension Plan Funding Standard and Recovery Act, Act 205 of 1984, as amended by Act 44 of 2009.
Q. 
Severability. The provisions of this section shall be severable, and if any of its provisions shall be held to be unconstitutional or illegal, the validity of any of the remaining provisions of the section shall not be affected thereby. It is hereby expressly declared as the intent of the Township that this section would have been adopted had such unconstitutional or illegal provision or provisions not been included herein. In the event that the DROP provision is declared invalid or illegal by a court of competent jurisdiction or through an administrative determination of the Office of the Auditor General, the police officers shall have the right to bargain in accordance with Act 111 over deletion of this benefit. It is expressly understood that any such bargaining shall not involve bargaining over a replacement provision.
[Adopted 6-22-2006 by Ord. No. 263; amended in its entirety 7-7-2014 by Ord. No. 313]
The following document, entitled "Lower Pottsgrove Township Nonuniformed Employees' Pension Plan," shall be the governing document for the nonuniformed plan, setting forth the benefits available to current and future nonuniformed Township employees.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: The Lower Pottsgrove Township Nonuniformed Employees Pension Plan, as amended and restated, is on file in the Township offices.