[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of
Clifton Heights as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
[Adopted 9-18-1989 by Ord. No. 692 (Ch. 1, Part 6, of the
1988 Code of Ordinances); amended in its entirety 8-20-2013 by Ord. No. 839]
A.
AGE
ANNIVERSARY DATE
AVERAGE APPLICABLE COMPENSATION
BOROUGH
CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER
COMPENSATION
COUNCIL
EARLY RETIREMENT DATE
EFFECTIVE DATE
EMPLOYEE
FUND
MEMBER
NORMAL RETIREMENT DATE
PLAN
PLAN YEAR
SALARY
SERVICE
TOTAL AND PERMANENT DISABILITY
TRUSTEE
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
The age attained by the employee at his or her last birthday.
Any January 1 after the effective date.
The average monthly earnings of the member at any time of
reference computed over the last 36 months (or such shorter period
as represents the member's total period of continuous employment
by the Borough prior to such date of reference). For purposes of computing
average applicable compensation, actual monthly earnings shall include,
but not be limited to, base pay, longevity pay, shift differential
(if any) and overtime pay but shall exclude reimbursement expenses
or payment in lieu of expenses, nonsalary compensation, including,
but not limited to, fringe benefits provided by the Borough and any
other allowances paid by the Borough (i.e., uniform allowances).
The Borough of Clifton Heights, Delaware County, Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
The person who has primary responsibility for the execution
of the administrative affairs of this pension plan, or the designee
of that person.
Shall be based on earnings, including but not limited to
base pay, longevity pay, shift differential (if any) and overtime
pay but shall exclude reimbursement expenses or payment in lieu of
expenses, non-salary compensation including, but not limited to, fringe
benefits provided by the Borough and any other allowances paid by
the Borough (i.e., uniform allowances).
The Council of the Borough of Clifton Heights.
The first day following the date on which the member completes
20 years of service.
January 1, 2012.
Any sworn police officer in the full-time employ of the Borough
Police Department whose customary employment is for not less than
40 hours a week.
All assets held by the trust under the trust agreement relating
to this Police Pension Plan.
Any sworn police officer in the full-time employ of the Borough Police Department who has satisfied the eligibility requirements established in § 33-2 hereof and who is, at the time of reference, or has prior to their elimination, been making such contributions as may be required pursuant to § 33-3A hereof.
The first day following the date on which the member completes
25 years of service, and the date on which the member attains age
50.
The Police Pension Plan for the Borough of Clifton Heights,
as herein set forth and as the same may hereafter be amended.
A period of 12 consecutive months commencing on any January
1 and ending on the following December 31.
Base wage.
The aggregate of a member's total periods of employment
as a full-time employee of the Borough. If a member enters military
service, either voluntarily or by conscription, after he has been
employed for at least six months, such time spent in the armed forces
of the United States during a period of wartime of general military
conflict shall be counted as service for purposes of the plan, provided
that such member returns to police service with the Borough within
six months after his discharge or release from such active duty in
the Armed Forces of the United States. The time spent in military
service due to voluntary extension of such military service during
a period of peacetime shall not be included as service for the purposes
of this plan. Time spent on Reserve or National Guard Training shall
be included as service for purposes of this plan.
Any condition arising from service-connected illness or injury
which precludes an employee from performing the duties associated
with the normal occupational requirements of a police officer as certified
by a physician designated by the Borough.
The Council of the Borough of Clifton Heights or any other
agency or person appointed by such to serve in that capacity as set
forth in the trust agreement.
B.
Wherever applicable as used herein, unless the context specifically
provides otherwise, the singular and plural shall be interchangeable,
and the masculine and feminine pronoun shall include either sex.
A.
Contributions by members. Member shall pay into the fund at a rate
of 5% of compensation. Compensation for this purpose shall be as defined
in Section 1.06 of the plan. The Council may, on an annual basis,
by ordinance or resolution, reduce or eliminate payments into the
fund by members. Individual records of contributions by members shall
be maintained, including all interest credited to his individual account.
Interest to be credited shall be 6% compounded annually.
(1)
Interest shall be credited from the end of the plan year in which
paid to the last day of the month after which a refund becomes payable.
B.
Refund of member's contributions. Any member who for any reason
shall be ineligible to receive a pension after having made contributions
shall be entitled to a refund of his individual account balance; such
refund is payable immediately upon discontinuance of his employment
with the police force or within a reasonable time (not more than 45
days after discontinuance). If such discontinuance is due to death,
then such refund shall be paid to his designated beneficiary or, in
the absence thereof, to his estate. If the disabled or retired member
is receiving a benefit by reason of disability or retirement, then
the refund payable to the beneficiary is equal to the individual account
balance at the date of disability or retirement, less any pension
payments made to the member.
C.
Deposits. Contributions by members shall be remitted to the trustee
monthly.
D.
State aid. The portion of the payments made by the State Treasurer
to the Borough and designated by the Council to be allocated to the
Police Pension Fund from money received from taxes paid upon premiums
by foreign casualty insurance companies for purposes of pension retirement
or disability benefits for policemen shall be used as follows: to
reduce the unfunded liability, or, after such liability has been fully
funded, to apply against the annual obligation of the Borough for
future service costs, or to the extent that the payment may be in
excess of such obligations, to reduce member contributions pursuant
to § 33-3H hereof.
E.
Borough contributions. Subject to the provisions and limitations
set forth in other sections of this plan, the borough shall contribute
the amounts certified to be necessary by the fund's actuary to
provide the benefits provided by this plan.
F.
Other contributions. The fund shall be authorized to receive by gift,
grant, devise or bequest, any money or property, real, personal or
mixed, in trust for the benefit of the fund. The Trustee of the fund
shall be subject to such directions not inconsistent with this plan
as the donors of such funds and property may prescribe.
A.
Normal retirement. Each member may retire on or at any time after
his normal retirement date. Any member so retiring shall be entitled
to receive a monthly pension commencing as of the first day following
his date of actual retirement and ending with the payment made as
of the first day of the month in which his death occurs. The monthly
pension to which such retired member shall be entitled to under this
plan shall be equal to 50% of such member's average applicable
compensation.
(1)
In addition to the monthly retirement benefit described above, each
member who has completed in excess of 25 years of service shall receive
an additional monthly pension benefit equal to $8.33 for each completed
year of service up to a maximum of $100 per month.
B.
Early retirement benefit. Each member may retire on or at any time after his early retirement date. Upon termination, the member must file with the Secretary of the Borough a written notice of his intention to elect an early retirement benefit. This benefit shall become effective as of the date of the notice or the date designated in the notice, whichever is later. The amount of the early retirement benefit shall be the actuarial equivalent of a vested retirement benefit as computed in § 33-6A(1)(a). The actuarial equivalent of the vested retirement benefit shall be determined by actuarially reducing the vested retirement benefit to reflect that it will commence on the effective date of the early retirement rather than on the member's normal retirement date. The actuarial reduction shall be calculated using the actuarial assumptions reported in the last actuarial valuation report filed with the Public Employee Retirement Commission.
C.
Postponed retirement. An employee shall be allowed to continue as an employee beyond his normal retirement date. In such case, the employee shall remain a member of the plan until he actually retires or ceases to be an employee. Any contributions required pursuant to § 33-3A hereof shall continue.
D.
Disability benefit. If a member retires because of a total and permanent
disability, he shall be entitled to receive a pension benefit equal
to 70% of his salary at the time the disability was incurred, offset
by any social security disability benefits received by the member
for the same injury.
(1)
The benefit will commence on the first day of the month following
the month in which he retires. In no event, however, shall the member's
benefit exceed 100% of his total wages (including longevity, night
differential, and workers compensation) as received in the twelve-month
period preceding retirement. Council reserves the right to require
a disabled member to present evidence of total and permanent disability
and of the continuance of such condition from time to time and either
reserves the right to require members to submit to medical examinations
by practitioner(s) selected by the Council as a precondition to the
continued payment of benefits.
E.
Cost of living adjustment. There shall be a cost of living adjustment
provided to all members who have completed 15 years of retirement;
provided, however, that such cost of living increase shall not exceed
the percentage increase in the All Urban Consumers CPI for the Philadelphia
area from the year in which the police officer last worked; provided
further, that in no case shall the total Police Pension benefits exceed
75% of the salary for computing retirement benefits; provided further
that the total cost of living increase shall not exceed 30%. No cost
of living increase(s) shall be granted which would impair the actuarial
soundness of the plan. The first adjustment shall be made at the time
the member has completed 15 years of retirement and all subsequent
adjustments shall be made in January and calculated on the twelve-month
percentage change in the consumer price index as of the previous October.
A.
Death benefit if no surviving spouse nor dependent children. If a
member dies prior to the commencement of pension benefits, then his
designated beneficiary shall be entitled to a refund of his accumulated
member's contributions with credited interest. If no beneficiary
survives, then the refund is payable to the member's estate.
B.
Pension benefit to surviving spouse and dependent children. If a
member dies survived by a spouse or dependent children, after having
become eligible to receive a pension benefit, (i.e., he was eligible
because he was already receiving a pension, he met the age and service
requirements, but he had not yet retired), then a monthly pension
benefit shall be provided.
(1)
The amount of the monthly pension benefit shall be 50% of the pension
the member was receiving or would have been entitled to receive if
he had been retired at the time of his death.
(2)
In the event a member dies after completing 12 or more years of service but was not yet eligible for normal retirement or preretirement survivor benefits, the surviving spouse shall act on behalf of the member in selecting the alternative addressed in § 33-6A(1)(a). If a vested benefit is selected, the surviving spouse shall receive 50% of the member's vested monthly benefit commencing on the first day of the month following the member's normal retirement date.
(3)
In the event a member dies after completing 20 or more years of service but was not yet eligible for normal retirement or preretirement survivor benefits, the surviving spouse shall act on behalf of the member in selecting the alternative addressed in § 33-4B. If an early retirement benefit is selected, the surviving spouse shall receive 50% of the member's monthly early retirement benefit commencing on the first day of the month following the election of this benefit.
(4)
The monthly pension benefit is payable to the surviving spouse until
death then to surviving dependent children under the age of 18 years
or, if attending college, under or attaining the age of 23 years.
Attending college shall mean the eligible children are registered
at an accredited institution of higher learning and are carrying a
minimum course load of seven credit hours per semester. Dependent
children shall include adopted children, and any child conceived before
the time of the member's date and thereafter born to the member's
spouse.
C.
Preretirement survivor benefit. In the event a member is killed in
service, the member's family shall receive the benefits provided
for and subject to the terms of Act 51 of 2009,[1] which benefits are paid exclusively by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania with the exception of any pension benefit to which the member was entitled prior to the member's death, solely by virtue of the member's service as a Borough police officer (i.e., either a normal, early, or vested pension benefit). It is understood that family shall refer to the surviving spouse and dependent children. The benefit is payable to the surviving spouse until death, then to the surviving dependent children under the age of 18 years, or, if attending college, under or attaining the age of 23 years. The term dependent children and attending college shall be consistent with that of § 33-5B.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 891 et seq.
A.
If a member leaves the employ of the Borough or ceases to be a member whether by reason of his transfer, resignation or discharge, or by reason of disability or retirement other than after becoming eligible for benefits pursuant to § 33-4 or 33-5 of this plan, he shall be entitled to a refund of all contributions made by him and then on deposit in the fund, plus interest thereon, computed at the rate described in § 33-3A.
(1)
However, a member who has completed 12 or more years of service may elect either Subsection A(1)(a) or (b) as described below:
(a)
He may elect to leave his contributions, plus interest in the fund so as to receive a vested pension benefit to start at his normal retirement date. He must file with the Secretary of the Borough within 90 days of the date he ceases to be a full-time police officer, a written notice of his intention to vest. The amount of the vested pension benefit shall be (x) divided by (y) where (x) is the number of years of service at the date of termination and (y) is the number of years of service which the member would have had if he worked until normal retirement date, multiplied by the benefits described in § 33-4A. Years of service shall be measured in years and completed months.
(b)
He may elect to receive a refund of all contributions made by him and then on deposit in the trust fund, plus interest thereon, computed at the rate described in § 33-3A. If he elects to receive the refund of his contributions plus interest, he would forfeit the pension benefit outlined in Subsection A(1)(a).
B.
The normal form of all benefits payable hereunder shall be a pension for the life of the member commencing on the date specified and ending with a payment made on the first day of the month in which the member dies, subject, however, to the payment of a death benefit calculated pursuant to § 33-5B.
A.
It is the duty of the trustee to pay the benefits to members and their beneficiaries, as provided in §§ 33-4, 33-5, and 33-6, in accordance with the instructions received from the Council, provided, however, that the duty of the trustee to make such payments is wholly contingent upon the sufficiency of the fund for such purposes.
B.
The Council may employ an actuary, investment advisors, counsel,
or other professional consultants from time to time in connection
with the operation of the fund or of this plan. Such persons or entities
shall be compensated by the Borough at such rates as may be agreed
upon by the Council. Such compensation may be paid from the fund.
C.
The Council may, by an instrument in writing, appoint one or more
persons as an investment manager and may delegate to an investment
manager, from time to time, the power to manage and control the investment
of any plan asset.
(2)
Each investment manager shall acknowledge in writing that it is a
fiduciary with respect to the plan. The Council shall enter into an
agreement with each investment manager specifying the duties and compensation
of such investment manager and other terms and conditions under which
such investment manager shall be retained. The Council shall not be
liable for any act or omission of any investment manager, and shall
not be liable for following the advise of any investment manager,
with respect to any duties delegated to the investment manager.
(3)
The Council shall have the power to determine the amount of fund
assets to be invested pursuant to the direction of a designated investment
manager and to set investment objectives and guidelines for the investment
manager.
D.
The trustee shall make an annual determination of the fair market
value of the fund as of the anniversary date and as of such additional
dates as the Council may direct.
(1)
The fair market value of the fund shall be reported to the actuary
who shall calculate the amount to be contributed to the fund by the
Borough with respect to each plan year in accordance with the assumptions
most recently adopted by the Council for the purpose of such computations;
provided, however, that the liability of the Borough to make such
contributions is subject to all of the conditions and limitations
set forth elsewhere in this plan.
A.
The plan shall be administered by the Council of the Borough of Clifton
Heights. The Council shall make and adopt rules and regulations for
the efficient administration of the plan.
B.
The Council shall keep all data, records and documents pertaining to the administration of the plan and shall execute all documents necessary to carry out the provision of the plan, and shall provide all such data, records and documents to the professionals whose services are employed pursuant to § 33-8B of this article.
C.
The Council shall construe the plan, shall determine any questions
or fact arising under the plan and shall make all decisions required
of it under the plan. Decisions and actions taken thereon in good
faith shall be final and conclusive. It may correct any defect or
supply any omission or reconcile any inconsistency in such manner
and to such extent as it shall be the sole judge of such expediency.
The Council shall act uniformly with respect to matters coming before
it concerning employees in similar circumstances.
D.
The members of the Council, and each of them shall be free of all
liability for any act or omission except by willful misconduct or
gross negligence, and each of them shall be fully indemnified by the
Borough against all judgments not involving findings of their respective
personal or collective willful misconduct or gross negligence and
against all cost, including counsel fees, incurred in defense of actions
brought against them.
E.
The Council shall make available to members, retired members and
terminated members and to their beneficiaries, for examination during
business hours; such records as to pertain to the person examining.
F.
To enable the Council to perform its function, the Borough Administration
shall supply full and timely information to it on all matters relating
to the pay of all members, their retirement, death, termination of
employment and such other pertinent facts as the Council may require.
G.
The Council shall enact such rules and regulations for the conduct
of its business and for the administration of the plan as it may consider
desirable, provided the same shall not be in conflict with any of
the provisions of the plan. All actions of the Council shall be taken
at meetings at which at least four members shall be present, or by
written resolutions concurred in by not less than four of its members
shall be the action of the entire Council. Written minutes shall be
kept of the meetings and action of the Council.
H.
The Secretary, acting on behalf of the Council, shall have the power
to execute all documents necessary to carry out the actions of the
Council, and any person, partnership, corporation or government agency
shall accept such documents over such signature or signatures as if
executed by the Council.
A.
It is the expectation of the Borough that it will continue this pension
plan indefinitely, and will, from time to time, contribute to the
fund such amounts as may be needed to provide the benefits set forth
in the plan.
B.
The provisions of any ordinance establishing, amending, or maintaining
the plan shall not be a charge on any other fund in the Treasury of
the Borough or under its control, save the Uniformed Employee's
Pension Fund herein provided for.
C.
Nothing contained in the plan shall be held or construed as a contract
or guarantee of employment nor to create any liability upon the Borough
to retain any person in its service. The Borough reserves the full
right to discontinue the service of any person without any liability
except for salary or wages that may be due and paid, whenever in its
judgment its best interests so require, and such discontinuance shall
be without regard to this plan.
A.
The Borough may amend this plan from time to time as is necessary
to maintain its actuarial soundness and to incorporate changes in
plan benefits or entitlements. However, no amendment shall be made
which will, in any manner, divert any part of the fund to any purpose
other than the exclusive benefit of members or their beneficiaries
(except that upon termination such diversion may be made after all
of the fixed and contingent liabilities to members and their beneficiaries
have been met); nor shall any amendment be made at any time which
will in any manner divest any benefit then vested in a member or reduce
or eliminate a benefit to which a member has been given an expectation
by virtue of pension ordinance or pension calculations for retiring
officers who retired during the member's participation in this plan.
B.
In the event of termination of this plan, the Council shall allocate
the assets then remaining in the fund as follows:
(1)
Sufficient funds shall be maintained to provide the pension benefits prescribed in § 33-3 for all members who have retired prior to termination or who are eligible for retirement at the time of the termination of this fund.
(2)
Contributions with interest at a rate established by the Council as provided in § 33-5 shall be refunded to any and all members who terminate service at the time of the termination of the fund.
(3)
Of the remaining funds, those which can be identified as municipality
contributions or contributions other than from members or from the
commonwealth allocation, shall be distributed as the Council sees
fit, provided that such distribution is in compliance with Article
VIII.
A.
No benefit under this plan shall be subject in any manner to anticipation,
alienation, sale, transfer, assignment, pledge, or encumbrance, nor
to seizure, attachment, or other legal process for the debts of any
member or member's beneficiary.
(1)
This provision shall not apply to a "qualified domestic relations
order" defined in Code Section 414(p), and those other domestic relations
orders permitted to be so treated by the Council under the provisions
of the Retirement Equity Act of 1984. The Borough shall establish
a written procedure to determine the qualified status of domestic
relations orders to administer distributions under such qualified
orders. Further, to the extent provided under a qualified domestic
relations order, a former spouse of a member shall be treated as the
spouse or surviving spouse for all purposes under this plan.
B.
Any person dealing with the Borough may rely upon a copy of this
plan and any amendments thereto certified to be true and correct by
the trustee.
C.
In no circumstances, whether upon amendment or termination of this
plan or otherwise, shall any part of the fund be used or diverted
to any purpose other than the exclusive benefit of members or their
beneficiaries until all of the actuarial obligations to such member
or member's beneficiaries have been met.
D.
If the Council deems any person incapable of receiving benefits to
which he is entitled by reason of minority, illness, infirmity, or
other incapacity, it may make payment directly for the benefit of
such person, to the guardian or trustee for said person, whose receipt
shall be complete acquittance therefore. Such payment shall, to the
extent therefore, discharge all liability of the Borough, or the fund.
E.
Should any provision of this plan be determined to be void by any
court, the plan will continue to operate and, to the extent necessary,
will be deemed not to include the provision determined to be void.
F.
Headings and captions provided herein are for convenience only and
shall not be deemed part of the plan.
G.
This plan shall be construed and applied under the laws of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania where not in conflict with federal laws which shall
prevail.
H.
This article repeals all other ordinances prior to the date of its
enactment.
[Adopted 7-21-2009 by Ord. No. 817]
For the purposes of this article, the following terms shall
have the meanings indicated:
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.
Deferred Retirement Option Plan.
Separate account created to accept a DROP participant's
monthly pension check while a DROP participant.
The police pension plan for the Borough of Clifton Heights.
Full-time police officers of the Borough of Clifton Heights.
As of the effective date of this article, police officers who
have not retired prior to the implementation of the DROP program may
enter into DROP on the first day of any month following completion
of 25 years of credited service and attaining the age of 50.
A police officer electing to participate in the DROP must complete
and file with the Borough Manager a DROP agreement prepared by the
Borough which shall evidence the member's participation in the
DROP. The form must be signed by the police officer and notarized
and submitted to the Borough prior to the date on which the police
officer wishes the DROP option to be effective. The DROP option notice
shall include an irrevocable notice to the Borough by the police officer
that the officer shall resign from employment with the Borough Police
Department effective on a specific date, which shall be known as the
"resignation date." Once the DROP application has been approved by
the Borough, it is therefore irrevocable.
A police officer shall not be required to make any contributions
to the fund during his/her DROP period.
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.
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
the Borough. 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.
The monthly retirement benefits, along with applicable cost-of-living
adjustments, that would have been payable had the police officer elected
to cease employment and receive a normal retirement benefit shall,
upon the police officer commencing participation in DROP, be paid
into the separate account established to receive the participating
police officer's monthly pension payments. This account shall
be designated the "DROP account." An individual officer's DROP
account shall be a self-directed investment of his/her DROP account
monies. The Borough accepts no responsibility and makes no guarantee
for the performance of any investments made by the police officer,
nor shall the Borough guarantee or be required to guarantee that a
police officer's DROP account generate a specific amount of earnings
or income or any earnings or income at all. Any investment losses
occurring in a police officer's DROP account shall be solely
the responsibility of the police officer, and the Borough assumes
no liability or responsibility for the same. All investment and administrative
costs shall be charged against the participating police officer's
DROP account. Likewise, the Borough's establishment of a DROP
shall not be construed to endorse any retirement vehicle, investment
manager, nor shall the DROP be construed as providing tax advice or
other information to retirees. By entering into the DROP, each participating
police officer holds the Borough harmless for any tax, financial,
or other consequences of the DROP program or the police officer's
participation therein.
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.
The maximum period of participation in the DROP is 36 months.
Once the maximum participation has been achieved, the participating
police officer must terminate employment and separate from service.
Upon reaching the resignation date set forth in the police officer's
DROP agreement or such date as the Borough separates the police officer
from employment, the retirement benefits payable to the police officer
or the police officer's designated beneficiary, if applicable,
shall be paid to the police officer or beneficiary and shall no longer
be paid to the police officer's DROP account. Within 30 days
following termination of a police officer's employment pursuant
to their participating in the DROP program, the balance in the police
officer's DROP account shall be paid to the police officer in
a single lump-sum payment or at the police officer's option,
in any manner permitted by law. By participating in the DROP, each
officer agrees to hold the Borough harmless for any tax or other consequences
flowing from the participating police officer's disposition of
the payout under this section.
A.
Unless legislation pertaining to DROP, or a court decision (defined
as either a trial court decision acceptable to both parties or, if
not acceptable, an Appellate Court decision) or a legal determination
of the Auditor General shall otherwise require, a DROP participant
who becomes permanently disabled during the DROP participation period
and leaves service due to a disability shall receive a pension in
the amount as calculated as of the date of entry into the DROP and
begin to receive directly those pension payments which were being
deposited into his/her DROP investment account and shall have access
to distributions from his/her individual DROP investment account.
Should a DROP participant become disabled and become unable to perform
the full duties of a police officer for 90 days, the participant,
solely for the purposes of the DROP agreement, shall be presumed to
be permanently disabled. The Borough shall have the right to hold
a hearing and terminate heart and lung benefits and declare the injured
officer permanently disabled if the evidence supports the presumption
of permanent disability. If the Borough terminates heart and lung
benefits and declares an officer permanently disabled, the officer
shall revert to his/her normal age and service pension calculated
as of the date of entry into the DROP. The disabled participant will
begin to receive directly those pension payments which were being
deposited into his/her DROP investment account and shall have access
to distributions from his/her individual DROP investment account.
Any appeal from the Borough's heart and lung termination and
permanent disability determination shall be to AAA arbitration. The
presumption of permanent disability shall extend to an AAA appeal
of the Borough's decision.
B.
Should a DROP participant be killed in service during the DROP participation
period, the DROP participant shall revert to his/her normal age and
service pension calculated as of the date of entry into the DROP and
shall be paid all distributions from the DROP investment account.
Any and all survivors shall receive all applicable monthly survivors'
benefits provided by the pension plan (and not the increased killed-in-service
benefit provided by Act 30. However, should there be a legal determination
by the Pennsylvania Auditor General, a court decision (defined as
either a trial court decision acceptable to both parties or, if not
acceptable, an Appellate Court decision), or legislation requiring
that the survivors of the DROP participant receive the Act 30 benefit
payable by the pension plan, then the survivor of the deceased DROP
participant shall receive such benefit pursuant to the requirements
of Act 30, and all DROP monies (including all DROP investment returns)
shall be paid back to the pension plan.
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 the Pennsylvania's
Pension Forfeiture Act, 43 P.S. §§ 1311 to 1314, and
interpreted thereunder, shall forfeit his/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,
with interest.
Any amendments to this article shall be consistent with the
provisions covering DROP set forth in any applicable collective bargaining
agreement and shall be binding upon all future DROP participants who
have balances in their deferred retirement option accounts. The DROP
plan may only be amended by a written instrument, not by an oral agreement
or past practice.
A police officer's election to participate in the DROP
program shall in no way be construed as a limitation on the Borough'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/her duties.
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 not have the right to bargain in accordance with Act 111 over
deletion of this benefit.
