[Adopted 2-3-1992 by Ord.
No. 4-92]
For the purposes of this article, the following definitions
shall apply:
One-half of the participant's final average monthly compensation
multiplied by the ratio of years of service to the date of determination
over potential years of service to the date of retirement.
Act 205 of 1984, the Municipal Pension Plan Funding Standard
and Recovery Act.[1]
Age at nearest birthday.
January 1 of each year.
A total and permanent disability which renders a participant
incapable of performing all normal police duties permanently. In determining
total and permanent "disability," the opinion of a physician selected
by the Borough shall be controlling. The condition of permanence shall
require a six-month waiting period, during the entire length of which
the participant shall be totally and permanently disabled. Benefits
shall commence on the first day of the month following the six-month
waiting period and the determination of total and permanent "disability"
by the selected physician.
The original effective date of the plan is October 14, 1958.
The Borough of Boyertown, Berks County, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Total monthly compensation during the last 36 months of employment
as a full-time police officer of the Borough of Boyertown including
longevity pay and night differential pay, and also including court
pay, holiday pay, overtime pay and any other remuneration, but excluding
accumulated unused sick leave payable as a lump sum.
[Amended 12-30-1998 by Ord. No. 3-98; 6-3-2002 by Ord. No. 5-02]
The Borough of Boyertown Police Pension Plan Trust Fund.
Any police officer who meets the requirements set forth in § 33-4 of this article. The masculine will include the feminine.
The Borough of Boyertown Police Pension Plan.
January 1 to December 31.
Continuous employment with the employer. All military service
shall be credited if a police officer has been employed for at least
six months before entering the military service, provided that the
officer returns to the police force within six months after the officer's
discharge.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 895.101 et seq.
This plan is to be funded and maintained by any of the following
methods, or a combination of each:
A.
Contributions by participants. All participants shall make contributions
which shall be 5% of their total compensation but no more than 8%
of their total compensation. Borough Council may, on an annual basis,
by ordinance or resolution, reduce or eliminate contributions into
the plan by participants. The Borough may, but need not, have an actuarial
study performed prior to reducing or eliminating participants' contributions
into the plan.
[Amended 12-29-2003 by Ord. No. 07-03]
B.
State aid. Funds which are received from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
pursuant to Act 205, which are directed to this plan as approved by
the Borough Council, may be used.
C.
Borough contributions. Contributions from the Borough of Boyertown,
as necessary, with appropriate approval by the Borough Council, may
be used.
D.
Gifts, grants, devises or bequests. The sums which may be received
by the Borough of Boyertown in the form of gifts, grants, devises
or bequests may, to the extent authorized by law, be contributed to
said fund with the approval of the Borough Council.
E.
Any other sums received or contributed to the Borough, to the extent
authorized by law and with prior approval of the Borough Council,
may be used.
A.
Subject to the control and direction of the Borough Council, the
handling of said Police Pension Fund is hereby committed to a committee
to be known as the "Police Pension Fund Committee." Said Committee
shall be composed of seven members; namely, a member of the Borough
Council selected by the Borough Council; the Borough Manager; a member
of the Boyertown Police Department selected by those members of the
Police Department who participate in the Police Pension Fund; and
four residents of the Borough of Boyertown, who shall be selected
by the Borough Council. Upon passage of this article, the Borough
Council shall elect the four residents who shall be members of this
Committee, one of whom shall serve for a term of one year, one for
two years, one for three years and one for four years. At the expiration
of the term of a resident member, the Borough Council shall elect
a resident member of said Committee to serve for a term of four years.
The Police Department representative shall be elected for a term of
two years. Said Committee shall be authorized to elect its own President,
Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer.
B.
The Police Pension Fund Committee shall have full responsibility
for administration of the plan and fund. The Committee shall hold,
invest, reinvest and distribute all funds and property received pursuant
hereto in trust for purposes of this article. The Committee may receive
at any time gifts, grants, devises or bequests to the Police Pension
Fund of any money or property, real or personal or mixed, to be held
by the Committee in trust for the benefit of this fund and in accordance
with the provisions hereof. The Committee shall be subject to such
rules and regulations as may from time to time be adopted by the Borough
Council through ordinance or resolution.
C.
The Police Pension Fund Committee shall have full power and authority,
either directly or through its designated representatives, to do all
acts, to 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 of the following:
(1)
To hold, invest and reinvest all funds received pursuant to this
article in such investments as may be authorized as legal investments
under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
(2)
To retain any property which may at any time become an asset of the
fund, as long as the Committee may deem it advisable.
(3)
To make distribution of the moneys in the fund in accordance with
the terms of this article.
(4)
To appoint a trustee or custodian to hold, invest and reinvest plan
funds in accordance with this article. Such trustee or custodian may
be removed or resign by giving 60 days' written notice to the other
party. The Committee shall maintain the authority to oversee and review
the performance of the trustee or custodian both on an investment
and administrative basis. Plan funds may be invested in pooled funds
designated for employee benefit trust funds.
D.
Any administrative expense which is an allowable administrative expense
under Act 205 of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will be payable
from the assets of the fund. If administrative expenses are not or
cannot be paid from the fund, the expense will be paid by the Borough
of Boyertown.
Each police officer of the Borough of Boyertown will be eligible
to participate upon becoming a full-time police officer.
A.
Every full-time police officer of the Borough of Boyertown who shall
have served as such for an aggregate of 25 years in the Borough of
Boyertown and shall have attained the age of 50 years may retire from
active duty at any time thereafter. Upon such retirement, such officer
shall be paid out of the fund a monthly pension which shall equal
1/2 of the final average monthly compensation of such officer.
B.
An early retirement benefit shall be provided to a participant with
20 or more years of service who terminates employment prior to the
completion of superannuation retirement age and service requirements
and who files a written application for an early retirement benefit
with the Borough Council. The early retirement shall become effective
as of the date the application is filed with the Borough Council 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 participant's years of service bear
to the years of service that the participant would have rendered had
the participant continued to be employed until his superannuation
retirement date to the gross pension amount calculated using the monthly
average compensation during the thirty-six-month period prior to his
termination of employment.
(2)
The actuarial equivalent of 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 participant
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.
[Amended 10-2-1995 by Ord. No. 13-95; 12-29-2003 by Ord. No. 07-03]
Every participant who shall receive an honorable discharge from
the police force of the Borough of Boyertown by reason of his or her
service-related disability shall, upon such discharge (following the
required six-month waiting period), be paid out of the plan a monthly
pension which shall be calculated at a rate of 50% of the participant's
salary at the time the disability was incurred; provided, however
that any participant who receives benefits for the same injuries under
the Social Security Act, 49 Stat. 620, 42 U.S.C. § 301 et
seq., shall have his or her disability benefits received under this
section offset or reduced by the amount of such Social Security Act
benefits.
[Amended 4-5-1993 by Ord.
No. 1-93; 12-29-2003 by Ord. No. 07-03; 12-3-2012 by Ord. No. 08-2012]
In the event of the death of a participant or a participant
who retires or is honorably discharged on pension, the surviving spouse,
or if no spouse survives or if he or she survives and subsequently
dies, then the child(ren) under the age of 18 or, if then attending
college, under or reaching the age of 23, shall, during his or her
lifetime in the case of a surviving spouse, or, in the case of a child(ren),
until reaching the age of 18 or, if then attending college, under
or reaching the age of 23, be entitled to receive a pension calculated
at 50% of the pension the participant was receiving or would have
been receiving had he or she been retired or honorably discharged
on pension at the time of his or her death. For the purposes of this
section, the phrase "attending college" shall mean the eligible child(ren)
is registered at an accredited institution of higher learning and
is carrying a minimum course load of seven credit hours per semester.
A.
Any full-time police officer shall be one-hundred-percent vested
after 12 years of service in the accrued benefit to the date of termination.
B.
Any member of the police force who, for any reason whatsoever, shall
be ineligible to receive a pension after having contributed any moneys
to the fund established pursuant to this article and/or to a police
pension fund of the Borough existing prior to the effective date of
this article shall be entitled to a refund of all such moneys paid
by him or her into such police pension fund, plus interest earned
on such moneys calculated at the rate to be determined annually by
the Police Pension Fund Committee. If any former police officer who
received said refund is again employed by the Borough as a full-time
police officer, he or she shall be reinstated as a participating member
of the fund and receive credit for past service upon contributing
to the fund the amount of the refund and interest, if any, received
by him or her when employed.
C.
The surviving spouse of any participant who dies before his or her pension has vested or if no spouse survives or if he or she survives and subsequently dies, the child(ren) under the age of 18 or, if attending college, under or reaching the age of 23, of the participant shall be entitled to receive repayment of all money which the participant invested in the pension fund plus interest or other increases in value of the participant's investment in the pension fund unless the participant has designated another beneficiary for this purpose. For the purposes of this section, the phrase "attending college" shall have the same meaning as described in § 33-7 hereof. The benefits available to surviving spouses under this section do not apply to surviving spouses whose spouse died on or before April 17, 2002, and who were not remarried as of said date.
[Added 12-29-2003 by Ord.
No. 07-03]
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 or her designated
beneficiary. No participant or his or her beneficiary shall have any
right to alienate, encumber or assign any assets of the fund held
by the Police Pension Fund Committee on his or her behalf or any of
the benefits or payments or proceeds of any contract or agreement
purchased or acquired by the Borough hereunder.
