City of Harrisburg, PA Part IV Pension Fund

§ 2-707.51 Operation of pension fund.

A. The Board is hereby authorized to hold and supervise the investment of the assets of the fund, subject to the provisions of the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and of this plan and any amendment thereto.

B. The fund shall be used to pay benefits as provided in the plan and, to the extent not paid directly by the City, to pay the expenses of administering the plan pursuant to authorization by the Board.

C. The City intends the plan to be permanent and for the exclusive benefit of the members. It expects to make the contributions to the fund required under the plan. The City shall not be liable in any manner for any insufficiency in the fund; benefits are payable only from the fund and only to the extent that there are monies available therein.

D. The fund will consist of all funds held by the City under the plan, including contributions made pursuant to the provisions hereof and the investments, reinvestments and proceeds thereof. The fund shall be held, managed, and administered pursuant to the terms of the plan. Except as otherwise expressly provided in the plan, the Board has exclusive authority and discretion to manage and control the fund assets. The Board may, however, appoint a trustee, custodian and/or investment manager at its sole discretion.

§ 2-707.52 Powers and duties of Board.

With respect to the fund, the Board shall have the following powers, rights and duties, in addition to those vested in it elsewhere in the plan or by law, unless such duties are delegated to a named fiduciary:

A. To retain in cash so much of the fund as it deems advisable and to deposit any cash so retained in any bank or similar financial institution (including any such institution which may be appointed to serve as trustee hereunder), without liability for interest thereon.

B. To invest and reinvest the principal and income of the fund and keep said fund invested, without distinction between principal and income, in securities which are at the time legal investments for fiduciaries under the Pennsylvania Fiduciaries Investment Act, or as the same may be subsequently modified or amended.[1]

[1] Editor's Note: See 20 Pa.C.S.A. § 7301 et seq.

C. To sell property held in the fund at either public or private sale for cash or on credit at such times as it may deem appropriate, to exchange such property, and to grant options for the purchase or exchange thereof.

D. To consent to and participate in any plan of reorganization, consolidation, merger, extension or other similar plan affecting property held in the fund and to consent to any contract, lease, mortgage, purchase, sale or other action by any corporation pursuant to any such plan.

E. To exercise all conversion and subscription rights pertaining to property held in the fund.

F. To exercise all voting rights with respect to property held in the fund and in connection therewith to grant proxies, discretionary or otherwise.

G. To place money at any time in a deposit bank deemed to be appropriate for the purposes of this plan no matter where situated, including, in those cases where a bank has been appointed to serve as trustee hereunder, the savings department of its own commercial bank.

H. In addition to the foregoing powers, the Board shall also have all of the powers, rights, and privileges conferred upon trustees by the Pennsylvania Fiduciaries Investment Act, or as the same may be subsequently modified or amended, and the power to do all acts, take all proceedings and execute all rights and privileges, although not specifically mentioned herein, as the Board may deem necessary to administer the fund.

I. To maintain and invest the assets of this plan on a collective and commingled basis with the assets of other pension plans maintained by the Board and/or City, provided that the assets of each respective plan shall be accounted for and administered separately.

J. To invest the assets of the fund in any collective commingled trust fund maintained by a bank or trust company, including any bank or trust company which may act as a trustee hereunder. In this connection, the commingling of the assets of this plan with assets of other eligible, participating plans through such a medium is hereby specifically authorized. Any assets of the plan which may be so added to such collective trusts shall be subject to all of the provisions of the applicable declaration of trust, as amended from time to time, which declaration, if required by its terms or by applicable law, is hereby adopted as part of the plan, to the extent of the participation in such collective or commingled trust fund by the plan.

K. To make any payment or distribution required or advisable to carry out the provisions of the plan, provided that if a trustee is appointed by the Board, such trustee shall make such distribution only at the direction of the Board.

L. To compromise, contest, arbitrate, enforce or abandon claims and demands with respect to the plan.

M. To retain any funds or property subject to any dispute without liability for the payment of interest thereon and to decline to make payment or delivery thereof until final adjudication is made by a court of competent jurisdiction.

N. To pay, and to deduct from and charge against the fund, any taxes which may be imposed thereon, whether with respect to the income, property or transfer thereof, or upon or with respect to the interest of any person therein, which the fund is required to pay and to contest, in its discretion, the validity or amount of any tax, assessment, claim or demand which may be levied or made against or in respect of the fund, the income, property or transfer thereof, or in any matter or thing connected therewith.

O. To appoint any persons or firms (including but not limited to accountants, investment advisors, counsel, actuaries, physicians, appraisers, consultants, professional plan administrators and other specialists) or otherwise act to secure specialized advice or assistance, as it deems necessary or desirable in connection with the management of the fund; to the extent not prohibited by applicable law, the Board shall be entitled to rely conclusively upon and shall be fully protected in any action or omission taken by it in good faith reliance upon the advice or opinion of such persons or firms, provided such persons or firms were prudently chosen by the Board, taking into account the interests of the members and beneficiaries and with due regard to the ability of the persons or firms to perform their assigned functions.

P. To retain the services of one or more persons or firms for the management of (including the power to acquire and dispose of) all or any part of the fund assets, provided that each of such persons or firms is registered as an investment advisor under the Investment Advisors Act of 1940, is a bank (as defined in that Act), or is an insurance company qualified to manage, acquire or dispose of pension trust assets under the laws of more than one state (an "investment manager"); in such event, the employer shall follow the directions of such investment manager or managers with respect to the acquisition and disposition of fund assets but shall not be liable for the acts or omissions of such investment manager or managers, nor shall it be under any obligation to review or otherwise manage any fund assets which are subject to the management of such investment manager or managers. If the Board appoints a trustee, the trustee shall not be permitted to retain such an investment manager except with the express written consent of the Board.

§ 2-707.53 Common investments.

The Board shall not be required to make separate investments for individual members or to maintain separate investments for each member's account but may invest contributions and any profits or gains therefrom in common investments.

§ 2-707.54 Compensation and expenses of appointed trustee or custodian.

A. If a trustee and/or custodian is appointed, the trustee and/or custodian shall be entitled to such reasonable compensation as shall from time to time be agreed upon by the Board and the trustee and/or custodian, unless such compensation is prohibited by law. Such compensation, and all expenses reasonably incurred by the trustee or custodian in carrying out its functions, shall constitute a charge upon the fund, which may be executed at any time after 30 days' written notice to the Board. The Board shall be under no obligation to pay such costs and expenses, and in the event of its failure to do so, the trustee or custodian shall be entitled to pay the same, or to reimburse itself for the payment thereof, from the fund.

B. Notwithstanding the foregoing, as provided in 53 P.S. § 39301, any compensation paid to a corporate custodian, which compensation is not considered an authorized expense of the fund, shall be paid by the City and shall constitute a charge against the City, which may be executed at any time after 30 days' written notice to the City.

[Amended 3-23-2004 by Ord. No. 6-2004]

§ 2-707.55 Periodic accounting.

If a trustee or custodian is appointed, the fund shall be evaluated annually, or at more frequent intervals, by the trustee or custodian and a written accounting rendered as of each fiscal year end of the fund, and as of the effective date of any removal or resignation of the trustee or custodian, and such additional dates as requested by the Board, showing the condition of the fund and all receipts, disbursements and other transactions effected by the trustee or custodian during the period covered by the accounting, based on fair market values prevailing as of such date.

§ 2-707.56 Value of pension fund.

All determinations as to the value of the assets of the fund, and as to the amount of the liabilities thereof, shall be made by the Board or its appointed trustee, whose decisions shall be final and conclusive and binding on all parties hereto, including the members, the beneficiaries and their estates. In making any such determination, the Board or trustee shall be entitled to seek and rely upon the opinion of or any information furnished by brokers, appraisers and other experts and shall also be entitled to rely upon reports as to sales and quotations, both on security exchanges and otherwise as contained in newspapers and in financial publications.