[Adopted as Art. 143 of the 1965 Codified Ordinances]
A. 
There is established a retirement system for officers and employees of the City in the manner and under the conditions and subject to the qualifications provided by the Act of 1945, May 23, (P.L. 903), as amended,[1] and subject to future amendment; such retirement system to be subject to all the definitions as set forth in the aforesaid Act of Assembly, and to provide for the payment of pension benefits as set forth in the aforesaid act, subject to the amendments and additions thereto as set forth in this article, including but not limited to the membership limitations as set forth in § 110-31.
[Amended 9-28-1983 by Ord. No. 2725]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 39371 et seq.
B. 
Every officer or employee covered by the retirement system established by Subsection A hereof and by the Act of 1945, May 23, P.L. 903, excepting those persons covered by the Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement Law set forth in § 110-31, of the age of 55 and upwards and who shall have so served as an officer or employee for a period of 20 years or more shall, upon application to the Easton Officers' and Employees' Retirement Board, be retired from service and shall, during the remainder of their lives, receive the compensation fixed by this act, subject to such other qualifications as may be set forth in the Act of Assembly and elsewhere in this article.
[Amended 7-28-1982 by Ord. No. 2665]
[Amended 8-23-1995 by Ord. No. 3380; 3-23-2011 by Ord. No. 5303]
There is established a board to be known as the Easton Officers’ and Employees' Retirement Board, composed as provided by the Act of 1945, May 23 (P.L. 903), and with the powers and duties therein provided, except that the Chairman of the Finance Committee of City Council, or his designee from City Council, shall serve as a member of the Board.
[Amended 9-24-1964 by Ord. No. 1837]
The retirement system herein created and adopted shall be effective as of January 1, 1948, as to all officers and employees of the City who are not protected by pensions authorized by ordinance in force as of December 31, 1947.
[Amended 9-24-1964 by Ord. No. 1837]
The two employee members of the Easton Officers' and Employees' Retirement Board required by the Act of 1945, May 23 (P.L. 903), to be chosen by employees contributing to the retirement fund shall be chosen and shall serve on such Board as follows:
A. 
Terms. Employee memberships on the Board shall be for a six-year term, beginning on the first Monday of February 2012. Board membership shall be held until the successors are elected and enter upon their duties.
[Amended 3-23-2011 by Ord. No. 5303]
B. 
Elections. The full membership of the Board shall conduct elections for each vacancy during the January immediately preceding the expiration of any term. Not less than 14 days prior to the last day available for such election, the Board shall conduct a meeting, at a time and place convenient to employees contributing to the retirement fund, for the purpose of receiving nominations to the employee membership on the Board. At such meeting, the Board shall determine and announce the date and hours for the receiving of election ballots. The Board shall promptly, upon conclusion of the nomination meeting, post notices in conspicuous places in City Hall stating the date and hours fixed for election and the names of all employees placed in nomination at such meeting. The Chairman or Acting Chairman of the Board shall assign tellers for the election.
C. 
Vacancy. Any employee membership on the Board which becomes vacant for any reason shall be filled for the unexpired term by an election to be conducted promptly by the Board, consistent with the provisions for regular elections herein stated.
[Amended 9-24-1964 by Ord. No. 1837]
A. 
Members of the Board shall serve without compensation but shall be reimbursed for necessary expenses.
B. 
No person shall suffer loss of salary or wages by reason of service on the Board.
C. 
The Board shall keep a record of its proceedings, which shall be open to public inspection.
D. 
All property and money contributed to or otherwise acquired by the Board shall be kept in its name on deposit or in bank vaults in such banks as are used by the City for its own funds.
E. 
All property and accounts of the Board shall be subject to annual or special audits in the same manner as City property and accounts are subject to audit.
[Amended 9-24-1964 by Ord. No. 1837; 3-23-2011 by Ord. No. 5303]
The proper officers of the City are authorized and directed to deduct from salary and wages of officers and employees participating in the retirement system, at each payroll period, the amount as may from time to time be provided by law as the contribution required of such officers and employees. Amounts so deducted shall be immediately deposited in the Board treasury, and the Director of Finance shall transmit to the Board, monthly, a detailed statement of all amounts so deducted and deposited.
A. 
The widow or widower of an officer or employee of the City who retires on pension or being eligible for pension but is still employed full time and dies or is killed in the service on or after January 1, 1960, shall, during his or her lifetime or so long as he or she does not remarry, be entitled to receive a pension calculated at the rate of 50% of the pension the officer or employee was receiving or would have been receiving had he or she been retired at the time of his or her death.
[Amended 4-9-1970 by Ord. No. 2063]
B. 
The widow or widower of an officer or employee who, having died on or after January 1, 1960, while still in the full-time employment of the City after having served for 12 years or more, regardless of the age of such officer or employee at the time of his or her death, shall during the remainder of such widow or widower's life, so long as he or she does not remarry, be entitled to receive 50% of the portion of compensation as the period of service up to the date of death of the officer or employee bears to the full twenty-year period of service. This Subsection B shall have retroactive effect so as to provide compensation as above provided to widows and widowers of officers and employees within the above category dying after January 1, 1960, except that, where refunds of contributions have been made, such refunded amount shall be deducted from the compensation to be paid and, further, that such retroactive compensation shall be payable without interest.
[Amended 7-27-1977 by Ord. No. 2417]
C. 
Each officer and employee of the City shall pay an additional contribution of 1% of his or her salary or wages to the Easton Officers' and Employees' Retirement Fund to provide sufficient funds for payment to widows and widowers of members retired on pension or killed in the service of the City. Council shall set aside and appropriate an additional amount, if deemed necessary, to provide sufficient funds for payments to widows or widowers of members retired on pension or killed in the service of the City.
[Amended 5-22-1969 by Ord. No. 2037]
D. 
The widow or widower of an officer or employee of the City who is retired on disability pension shall, during his or her lifetime or so long as he or she does not remarry, be entitled to receive a pension calculated at the rate of 50% of the pension the officer or employee was receiving at the time of his or her death. This Subsection D shall have retroactive effect to January 1, 1960.
[Amended 10-12-1977 by Ord. No. 2428]
Every contributor to the Easton Officers' and Employees' Retirement Fund, in addition to the retirement allowance which is authorized under the provisions of the Act of 1945, May 23 (P.L. 903), may be entitled to the payment of a service increment in accordance with and subject to the conditions hereinafter set forth.
A. 
Service increment shall be the sum obtained by computing the number of whole years after having served 20 years, required by this article, during which a contributor has been employed by such City and paid out of the City treasury and multiplying the number of years, and fraction of year, so computed by an amount equal to 1/40 of the retirement allowance which has become payable to such contributor in accordance with the provisions of this article. In computing the service increment, no employment after the contributor has reached the age of 65 years shall be included.
[Amended 1-12-2011 by Ord. No. 5299]
B. 
Each contributor who so chooses to become entitled to the service increments provided by this article shall, from and after the effective date of this subsection, pay into the retirement fund a monthly sum in addition to his or her retirement contribution which shall be equal to 1/2 of 1% of his or her salary, provided that such service increment contribution shall not be paid after a contributor has reached the age of 65 years.
C. 
Persons who are contributors on the effective date of this subsection who have already reached the age of 65 years shall have his or her service increment computed on the years and fraction of year of employment, prior to the date of reaching his or her 65th birthday.
[Amended 1-12-2011 by Ord. No. 5299]
D. 
Service increment contributions shall be paid at the same time and in the same manner as retirement contributions and may be withdrawn in full, without interest, by persons who leave the employment of the City, subject to the same conditions by which retirement contributions may be withdrawn, or by persons who retire before becoming entitled to any service increment.
[Amended 3-28-1973 by Ord. No. 2203]
A. 
As of the effective date of this section, membership in the Officers' and Employees' Retirement Pension System shall be closed and all officers and employees not members as of that date shall be ineligible for membership. Officers and employees hired on or after the effective date of this section shall be bound by the provisions of the Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement Law, as set forth hereafter.[1]
[Amended 12-13-1978 by Ord. No. 2474]
[1]
Editor's Note: For the City's most recent amendment to and restatement of its pension plan in accordance with the Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement Law, see Art. IIIA, Nonuniform Pension Plan, of this chapter.
B. 
Easton City (the City), being member municipality of the Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement System (the System), hereby elects to amend its Municipal Pension Plan administered by the System in accordance with Article IV of the Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement Law, 53 P.S. § 881.101 et seq. (Retirement Law), and does hereby agree to be bound by all the requirements and provisions of the Retirement Law and the Municipal Pension Plan Funding Standard and Recovery Act, 53 P.S. § 895.010 et seq., and to assume all obligations, financial and otherwise, placed upon member municipalities.
[Amended 10-10-2012 by Ord. No. 5376[2]]
[2]
Editor’s Note: This ordinance, which provided an effective date of 1-1-2013, also repealed Ord. No. 3280, adopted 10-13-1993.
C. 
As part of this section, the City agrees that the System shall administer and provide the benefits set forth in the amended Municipal Pension Plan Contract entered into between the Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement Board and the City, effective January 1, 2013 (the Contract).[3]
[Amended 10-10-2012 by Ord. No. 5376]
(1) 
The City Administrator, or his/her designee, shall serve as the Chief Administrative Officer of the Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement System Pension Plan.
[Added 9-11-2013 by Ord. No. 5430]
[3]
Editor's Note: Original Sec. 143.09(d), which previously followed this subsection, was repealed 9-23-1987 by Ord. No. 2908.
D. 
The passage and adoption of this section by the City is an official acceptance of the Contract and the financial obligations resulting from the administration of the Contract.
[Amended 10-10-2012 by Ord. No. 5376]
E. 
Payment for any obligation established by the adoption of this section and the Contract shall be made by the City in accordance with the Retirement Law and the Municipal Pension Plan Funding Standard and Recovery Act. The City hereby assumes all liability for any unfundedness created due to the benefit structure set forth in the Contract.
[Amended 10-10-2012 by Ord. No. 5376]
[Amended 6-27-1979 by Ord. No. 2505]
Should an officer or employee become so permanently disabled as to render him unable to perform the duties of his position or office after 12 years of service but prior to 15 years of service, regardless of the age of such officer or employee, he shall be entitled to receive such portion of the full compensation as the period of his service up to the date of its termination bears to the full fifteen-year period of service.
[Amended 7-28-1982 by Ord. No. 2665]
The provisions of the Act of 1945, May 23 (P.L. 903) notwithstanding, where an officer or employee shall have served for 12 years or more and his tenure of office or employment shall be terminated for any reason before the expiration of 20 years of service, he shall, in such event, during the remainder of his life after attaining the age of 55 years, be entitled to receive such portion of the full compensation as the period of his service up to the date of its termination bears to the full twenty-year period of service, provided that such officer or employee has continued his contributions into the Easton Officers' and Employees' Retirement Fund at the same rate as when his employment was terminated until he attains age 55.
[Amended 9-28-1983 by Ord. No. 2725]
A. 
Any member of the Officers' and Employees' Retirement Fund who is a contributor, and who served in the armed forces of the United States subsequent to September 1, 1940, and who was not a member of the Officers' and Employees' Retirement Fund prior to such military service, shall be entitled to have full credit for each service year or fraction thereof, not to exceed five years of service, upon his payment to the Officers' and Employees' Retirement Fund of an amount equal to that which he would have paid had he been a member during the period for which he desires credit and his payment to such fund of an additional amount as the equivalent of the contributions of the City on account of such military service.
B. 
Requirements of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA).
[Added 10-26-2011 by Ord. No. 5331]
(1) 
The rights of any returning veteran who resumes employment with the City on or after December 12, 1994, shall be modified as set forth in this subsection. Notwithstanding the foregoing, this subsection shall not apply if the returning veteran is not entitled to benefits under this plan but is instead entitled to benefits under the Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement System.
(2) 
The following definitions shall apply for purposes of this subsection:
QUALIFIED MILITARY SERVICE
Any service (either voluntary or involuntary) by an individual in the uniformed services if such individual is entitled to reemployment rights with the City with respect to such service. An individual's qualified military service shall include any absence from employment necessitated by service in the uniformed services, including absences required to prepare for service or to recuperate from injuries sustained in active duty.
RETURNING VETERAN
A former employee of the City who on or after December 12, 1994, returns from qualified military service to employment by the City within the period of time during which his/her reemployment rights are protected by law.
UNIFORMED SERVICES
The armed forces, the Army National Guard and Air National Guard (when engaged in active duty for training, inactive duty training, or full-time National Guard duty), the Commissioned Corps of Public Health Service, and any other category of persons designated by the President of the United States in time of war or emergency.
(3) 
A returning veteran who was participating in the plan immediately prior to his/her qualified military service shall be deemed to have continued participating in the plan throughout his/her qualified military service. A returning veteran who would have become eligible to participate in the plan during the period of his/her qualified military service, but for the resulting absence from employment, shall be deemed to have commenced participation in the plan as of the date he/she would have commenced participation in the plan if he/she had not entered into qualified military service.
(4) 
A returning veteran shall receive credit for "years of service" for the period of his/her qualified military service and will receive service increments under § 110-30, provided he/she makes the contributions required under Subsection B(5) below.
(5) 
A returning veteran's benefit under the plan will be increased to reflect his/her period of qualified military service once he/she has made the contributions required under §§ 110-28, 110-29C, and 110-36 in an amount equal to those which he/she would have made during his/her period of qualified military service.
(a) 
Such contributions must be made during a period starting with the date of reemployment with the City and ending with:
[1] 
The expiration of a period of five years; or
[2] 
If shorter, a period of three times the period of qualified military service.
(b) 
Such contributions may only be made while the returning veteran is an employee of the City and shall not include interest.
(6) 
For purposes of determining the amount of a participant's compensation, and for applying the limits of § 110-33, a participant's compensation during any period of qualified military service shall be deemed to equal either:
(a) 
The compensation he/she would have received but for such qualified military service, based on the rate of pay he/she would have received from the City; or
(b) 
If the amount described in Subsection B(6)(a) above is not reasonably certain, his/her average compensation from the City during the twelve-month period immediately preceding the qualified military service (or, if shorter, the period of employment immediately preceding the qualified military service). Such amount shall be adjusted as necessary to reflect the length of the participant's qualified military service.
(7) 
If a returning veteran received a distribution of all or a portion of his/her benefit as a result of his/her qualified military service, he/she shall be permitted to repay the amount of such distribution, plus interest. Such repayment shall be made during the period that begins with his/her reemployment with the City and ends with the expiration of a period of five years, or, if shorter, a period of three times the period of qualified military service, and may only be made while the returning veteran is an employee of the City.
(8) 
The City shall establish such rules and procedures as it deems necessary or desirable to implement the provisions of this article, provided that they are not in violation of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994, any regulations thereunder, or any other applicable law.
C. 
Effective January 1, 2007, notwithstanding any provision of the plan to the contrary, in the case of a participant who dies while performing qualified military service, the survivors of the participant are entitled to any additional benefits (other than benefit accruals relating to the period of qualified military service) provided under the plan had the participant resumed then terminated employment on account of death. This provision shall be applied in accordance with guidance issued under Section 401(a)(37) of the Internal Revenue Code.
[Amended 3-11-1992 by Ord. No. 3201]
The Board of the Officers' and Employees' Pension Fund shall administer the timely payment of moneys due from vested members. Payments shall be on a quarterly basis or may be paid in advance. Failure to make payments as billed shall be treated as an election to withdraw from the pension fund, resulting in Board action to return contributions and to terminate the right to receive pension benefits.
[Amended 1-5-2004 by Ord. No. 4452]
A. 
The Board of Officers' and Employees' Pension Fund shall permit any contributing officer or employee to receive pension compensation without the reduction as provided in Subsection C, Section 4 of the Act of 1945, May 23 (P.L. 903) where such an officer or employee has agreed to pay to the fund 1/5% of salary or wages. In order to prevent the reduction of the pension payment by 40%, the election must be made by the time of retirement, and payment for any deficiency must be paid no later than the latter of the following: at the time of retirement or on the date of receipt by the employee of his/her final paycheck. "Paycheck" would include payment of salary, accumulated, accrued and unused vacation, longevity or terminal leave payments, but not pension payments. Retirement commences the first day after the last day of employment.
B. 
A member of the pension who has more then 30 years of service and is at least 50 years of age may purchase the years of service needed for the normal minimum age of 55 years for drawing a pension. The pension will be based on current salary at the age of retirement plus years of service worked.
[Added 1-12-2011 by Ord. No. 5299]