[HISTORY Adopted by the Council of the City
of New Rochelle as indicated in article histories. Other amendments
noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Fire Chief — See Section 58.01
of the Charter of the City of New Rochelle.
Administrative departments — See
Art. VII of the Charter of the City of New Rochelle.
Pension funds generally — See
Section 66 of the Charter of the City of New Rochelle.
Personnel — See Ch. 52.
Fire prevention — See Ch. 147.
[Adopted 5-20-1913 by Ord. No. 333-1913, as amended through
2-14-1962]
There shall be established and maintained in
the City of New Rochelle a Firemen's Pension Fund for the paid officers
and members of the Fire Department of the City of New Rochelle.
[Amended 6-17-1964 by Ord. No. 180-1964]
Such Firemen's Pension Fund shall consist of:
A.
A sum of money annually equal to but not greater than
5% of all excise moneys, after deducting rebates or returns, received
by the City of New Rochelle from or on account of the issuing of liquor
tax certificates permitting traffic in liquors, as defined by the
liquor tax law, and of any moneys paid for taxes upon the business
of trafficking in or selling or delivering any such liquor; such sum
to be paid upon the receipt thereof by the Commissioner of Finance
of the City of New Rochelle or other person or officer having the
legal custody thereof to the trustees of such Firemen's Pension Fund
without any action or authority of or from any other official body
or officer.[1]
B.
All fines imposed on the paid members of the Fire
Department in the City of New Rochelle by the City Manager or Fire
Chief.
C.
All moneys, pay, compensation or salary or any part
thereof deducted or withheld from any paid member or members of said
Fire Department for or on account of fines, absence or suspension
from duty, except in cases of sickness, and any other moneys that
the City of New Rochelle may from time to time pay into said funds
from any other source.
D.
All moneys which shall be deducted from the monthly
pay of each paid fireman and paid officer of such Department and from
the pay of such other employee of said Department, as may be entitled
to participate in such fund, and which shall be the sum of 6% of the
monthly pay, salary or compensation, each month from each of the said
persons, which said sum shall be deducted monthly by the Commissioner
of Finance of the City of New Rochelle from the pay, salary or compensation
of each and every paid member of said Fire Department; and said Commissioner
of Finance is hereby authorized, empowered and directed to deduct
the said 6% of the monthly paid salary or compensation aforesaid,
and pay the same forthwith to the trustees of the said paid Firemen's
Pension Fund.[2]
The Mayor, the City Manager, the Chief of the
Fire Department, the Commissioner of Finance, the City Clerk of the
City of New Rochelle and their successors in office and a retired
member of the Fire Department who is a member of the local pension
fund elected by the members of this Pension Fund to serve for a period
of two years shall constitute a Board of Trustees who shall have the
control, management and distribution of said fund. The trustees shall
determine all applications for pensions according to the provisions
of this chapter.
The trustees of the Firemen's Pension Fund created
by this article shall have power to grant and shall grant pensions,
as hereinafter provided, to any member of the Fire Department of said
City of New Rochelle as follows:
A.
To any member of the Fire Department who is permanently
disabled physically or mentally so as to be unfit for duty by reason
of any injuries received by him while in the actual performance of
duty and who the City physician and a physician appointed by the City
Manager for the purpose of examining said member shall declare, in
a certificate signed by them, is permanently disabled physically or
mentally so as to be unfit for duty by reason of any injuries received
by him while in the actual performance of duty, and who shall by order
of the City Manager of the City of New Rochelle be relieved and dismissed
from said force and service and placed on the roll of the Firemen's
Pension Fund, an annual pension, payable monthly during his lifetime,
of a sum of money equal to but not less than 1/2 of the full
amount of annual salary or compensation received by such member at
the time he may be retired; provided, however, that if said member
shall have completed 25 years of service he shall receive an annual
pension payable in the same manner of a sum equal to but not less
than 3/4 of the full amount of annual salary or compensation
received by such member at the time he may be retired. In the event
that the physician appointed by the City Manager does not agree in
his findings with the City physician, the two physicians shall appoint
a third physician satisfactory to the City Manager to examine the
member. The three physicians shall constitute a medical board and
a decision by a majority of said medical board shall be binding on
the City, and the City Manager shall continue or relieve and dismiss
said member from the force in accordance with the findings of said
medical board.
[Amended 6-13-1962 by Ord. No. 176-1962; 6-17-1964 by Ord. No. 180-1964]
B.
To any member of the Fire Department who is permanently
disabled physically or mentally so as to be unfit for duty by reason
of injuries or causes obtained while not in the actual performance
of his duty and who shall be so certified by the City physician and
who shall, by order of the City Manager, be retired from said force
and service as follows:
[Amended 6-17-1964 by Ord. No. 180-1964]
(1)
A total sum equal to one month's salary received by
such member of the Fire Department at the time of his retirement for
each year of service, if such member of the Fire Department has been
in service less than five years.
(2)
If such member shall be in service at least five years
and not more than 10 years, an annual pension payable monthly during
his lifetime of a sum of money equal to 1/4 of his salary at
the time of his retirement.
(3)
If such member shall be in service for a period of
more than 10 years at the time of his retirement, an annual pension
payable monthly during his lifetime of a sum of money equal to 1/2
of the full amount of the annual salary received by such member at
the time of retirement.
C.
Any person having served as a member of said Department
for a period of 25 years shall, upon his request, be retired from
said force, and shall thereafter receive from said fund a sum of money
monthly during his lifetime, equal to 1/2 of his monthly salary
received by him just prior to his retirement. Each member of said
Department shall retire upon reaching his 62nd birthday.
D.
Any member who shall have completed 25 years of service
in said Department and who has not reached the compulsory retirement
age of 62 years shall, upon retirement, be entitled to receive and
be paid from the fund an additional increase in pension in the amount
of $50 per year for each year not exceeding five years of performed
service in the Department beyond the 25 years of completed service.
The maximum allowable additional pension, as herein provided, shall
not exceed $250. The provisions of this subsection shall apply to
all members of the Department who have continued in service beyond
the completed 25 years of service and who are members of the Department
upon the adoption of this subsection.
E.
To any member of the Fire Department who, independent
and exclusive of all other causes, is totally and permanently disabled
so as to be prevented from performing the duties and all occupations
by reason of an accident which occurred in the actual performance
of duty and who shall, by order of the City Manager, be dismissed
from said force upon certification of such total and permanent disability
by the City physician, an annual pension payable monthly during his
lifetime while such total and permanent disability continues, of a
sum of money equal to but not less than 3/4 of the full amount
of the annual salary or compensation received by such member at the
time he may be retired. The trustees may cause to be made such additional
physical and medical examinations and investigations as they may deem
necessary to satisfy them that the disability is total, permanent
and continues and that it was due solely to an accident which occurred
in the actual performance of duty as aforesaid. The continuance of
any pension so granted shall be subject to an annual examination by
the City physician or by such other physician as the trustees may
designate to determine whether the permanent and total disability
still continues.
[Amended 6-17-1964 by Ord. No. 180-1964]
Said board of trustees shall grant pensions
out of the said Pension Fund:
A.
To the widow, if any, of any paid member of said Fire
Department or, if the deceased paid fireman leaves no widow, then
to any person dependent on such fireman who shall have been killed
while in the actual performance of duty or who shall have died before
or after retirement from the effects of any injury received in the
actual discharge of such duty, the sum of $500. To the widow of any
paid member of said Fire Department who shall have been killed in
the actual performance of his duty or who shall have died before or
after retirement from the effects of any injuries received in the
actual discharge of such duty, if there is no child or children of
such member under 18 years of age, a sum per annum equal to 1/2
of the salary received by such paid fireman prior to his death or
retirement, but if there is any child or children of such member under
the age aforesaid, then the said sum may be divided between such widow,
child or children in such proportions and in such manner as the said
trustees may direct. (The benefits provided in this subsection shall
apply to all officers and firemen who were members of the paid Fire
Department on or after July 1, 1961.)
B.
To any child or children under 18 years of age of
such member killed while in the actual performance of his duty or
dying from the effects of any injury received in the actual discharge
of such duty but leaving no widow or, if a widow, then after her death
to such child or children being under 18 years of age, a sum per annum
equal to 1/2 of the salary received by the deceased fireman prior
to his death. (The benefits provided in this subsection shall apply
to all officers and firemen who were members of the paid Fire Department
on or after July 1, 1961.)
C.
To any dependent parent or parents of such member
killed or dying as aforesaid, or a member who shall be a pensioner
dying as aforesaid, but leaving no widow or children under the age
of 18 years, a sum to be paid in such manner as the trustees may direct,
not to exceed $1,200 per annum to each such dependent parent. (The
benefits provided in this subsection shall apply to all officers and
firemen who were members of the paid Fire Department on or after July
1, 1961.)
D.
To the widow of any member of the Fire Department
who shall die prior to retirement by reason of age provisions and
from any cause other than from injuries received in the actual performance
of his duty, or who shall die subsequent to retirement from any cause
other than from injuries received in the actual performance of his
duty, as follows:
(1)
A total sum equal to one month's salary received by
such member of the Fire Department at the time of his death or retirement
for each year of service if such member has been in service less than
five years, but if there is no widow, then such sum shall be paid
to his child or children, if any, and if there is no child or children,
said sum shall be paid to the dependents of the said firemen or to
his estate, in the discretion of the trustees.
(2)
If such member shall have been in the service at least
five years and not more than 10 years, an annual pension of $500,
payable monthly, but if there is any child or children under 18 years
of age, then the said sum may be divided between such widow, child
or children in such proportion and in such manner as the trustees
may direct.
(3)
If such member shall have been in service for a period
of more than 10 years at the time of his death or retirement, an annual
pension payable monthly of a sum of money equal to 1/3 of the
full amount of his annual salary received by such member at the time
of his death or retirement, but if there is a child or children under
18 years of age, then the said sum may be divided between such widow,
child or children in such proportions and in such manner as the trustees
may direct.
E.
To the widow of any member of the Fire Department
who shall have retired by reason of at least 25 years of service,
if there is no child or children of such member under 18 years of
age, a sum per annum equal to 1/3 of the annual salary received
by such member just prior to his retirement and upon which his pension
was based at the time of his retirement, but if there is any child
or children of such member under 18 years of age, then the sum may
be divided between such widow, child or children in such proportions
and in such manner as the trustees may direct. If there is no widow,
then the said sum shall be payable to any child or children under
18 years of age.
[Amended 2-10-1965 by Ord. No. 79-1965]
A.
Notwithstanding the foregoing or any other provision
of this article known as the "Firemen's Pension Fund Ordinance," as
amended, the trustees of the Firemen's Pension Fund created by this
article shall pay a minimum of $1,733 annually to any retired member
of the Fire Department who is receiving a pension of less than that
sum or to the widow or dependent children of members or retired members
of the Fire Department who are receiving pensions of less than that
sum.
B.
The trustees of the Firemen's Pension Fund shall pay
annually to any local retired member of the Fire Department a supplemental
pension payment which shall not exceed $1,000 per year and to be computed
in accordance with the schedule set forth in § 192 of the
Retirement and Social Security Law, as last amended by Chapter 371
of the Laws of New York, 1964, and which, together with the pension
payment and the benefits received under federal old-age and survivors'
insurance system, shall not exceed $2,600 a year; provided, however,
that any local retired member of the Fire Department who will receive
a supplemental amount of less than $200 as a result of this amendment
shall receive an amount of not less than $200 on filing an affidavit
to the effect that he is over 65 years of age, is not receiving social
security and is not gainfully employed by virtue of ill health or
infirmity.
C.
Notwithstanding any other provisions of this article,
the supplemental retirement allowance heretofore provided for the
local retired members of the Fire Department is hereby increased pursuant
to the per centum outlined in Subdivision b of § 78 of the
Retirement and Social Security Law. Such supplemental retirement allowance
shall be computed on the basis of the first, $13,500 of such annual
retirement allowance and shall be payable commencing with the payment
for the month of July 1999 and continuing through the month of August
2000, unless Subdivision b of § 78 of the Retirement and
Social Security Law is further amended to permit such payments for
additional periods of time, and, in such event, the increase in the
supplemental retirement allowance payment provided for herein shall
continue during such extended periods.
[1]
Editor's Note: Resolution No. 343, adopted
12-13-1988, provided as follows:
"Pursuant to authority contained in Local
Law Nos. 2 and 3 of 1987, Ordinance Nos. 338 and 339 of 1987 and Chapter
8 of the Laws of 1988, the City Manager is hereby authorized to provide
for the payment of increased supplemental retirement allowances for
members and widows of deceased members of the local Policemen's and
Firemen's Pension Fund.
"Such increases shall be for the period from
September 1987 through and including the month of August 1989, and
the percentage increases thereof shall be at the rate as authorized
by Local Law No. 2 and 3 of 1987 and Ordinance Nos. 338 and 339 of
1987."
[2]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also provided
that it shall take effect and be reflected in pension payments payable
on July 1, 1999.
Pensions to widows shall terminate upon the
death or remarriage of the widow, and pensions to children shall terminate
when each respectively arrives at the age of 18 years, or upon the
death or marriage of the child; pensions to dependent parents shall
terminate at death.
Every person who knowingly or willfully in any
way procures the making of presentation of any false or fraudulent
affidavit or affirmation concerning any claim for pension or payment
thereof shall in every case forfeit a sum not exceeding $250, to be
sued for and recovered by and in the name of the said trustees of
said Firemen's Pension Fund, and when recovered paid over to and thereupon
become a part of said Firemen's Pension Fund.
For the purpose of this article, the board of
trustees of said Firemen's Pension Fund is hereby authorized to administer
oaths and take acknowledgments, and any person who shall willfully
swear falsely in any oath or affirmation in obtaining or procuring
any pension or payment thereof under the provisions of this article
shall be guilty of perjury.
The moneys, securities and effects of said Firemen's
Pension Fund and all pensions granted and payable from said pension
fund shall be and are exempt from execution and from all process and
proceedings to enjoin and recover the same by or on behalf of any
claim against or debt or liability of any pensioner of said fund.
The members of said Fire Department whose salaries
contribute to said pension fund shall annually select two of their
number, and the pensioners, when there shall be any, shall annually
select one of their number, and the persons so selected, together
with the Comptroller of the City of New Rochelle, shall constitute
an auditing committee and make and file with the Clerk of the City
of New Rochelle a written report.
The Board of Estimate and Apportionment of the
City of New Rochelle is hereby authorized and empowered at any time
in its discretion before January 1, 1914, to appropriate and transfer
from the contingent fund the sum of $400 to the credit of the trustees
of such Firemen's Pension Fund as a foundation thereof.
A.
It shall be the duty of the trustees each year, prior
to January 31, to prepare a full and detailed statement of the anticipated
income of said Firemen's Pension Fund for the ensuing fiscal year
and the estimated amount which will be required to pay in full all
pensions expected to be payable during such fiscal year and to certify
the same to the Board of Fire Commissioners. If such certificate shows
an anticipated deficiency of income it shall be the duty of the Board
of Fire Commissioners each year at the time of making up the departmental
estimate on or before the 31st day of January to present the said
certificate to the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, together with
a statement of the amount of money required to enable the trustees
to pay the said pensions in full, as certified to them. It shall be
the duty of said Board of Estimate and Apportionment and the Common
Council to make an appropriation sufficient to provide such deficiency
and the amount so appropriated shall be included in the annual appropriations
and in the annual tax levies, and the Comptroller shall pay over the
moneys so appropriated to the treasurer of the Fire Department Pension
Fund.
B.
In the event that the amount appropriated for deficiency
of income in any fiscal year shall prove insufficient to enable the
trustees to pay all pensions in full that shall be due and payable
during said fiscal year, the trustees shall certify such fact to the
Board of Estimate and Apportionment and the Common Council, which
shall issue certificates of indebtedness payable out of the next succeeding
tax levy for the amount of the deficiency so certified and the proceeds
thereof shall be paid to the treasurer of said Fire Department Pension
Fund by the Comptroller.
C.
In the event that the amount appropriated for deficiency
of income in any fiscal year shall prove more than sufficient to enable
the trustees to pay all pensions in full that shall be paid during
said fiscal year, the treasurer of said pension fund shall retain
such excess in the income account of said fund, and shall apply the
same as income to the payment of pensions which shall become due and
payable during the next succeeding fiscal year.
If a member of the Fire Department is still
in service after 25 years of service, he shall be entitled to receive
his pension upon applying for the same even though discharged from
the service for any reason.
The Council, however, shall not be limited to the method provided in § 37-13 in providing for the annual deficiencies mentioned in said sections but may provide for the payment of the same by such other means as it may deem advisable consistent with the state laws and the Constitution of the State of New York, provided that no additional contributions shall be required from the members of the Fire Department.
No new member of the Fire Department of the
City of New Rochelle appointed on or after the date of adoption of
this article shall be a member of this pension fund, nor shall he
be required to pay any money, salary or compensation to such pension
fund, and no such new member of the New Rochelle Fire Department appointed
on or after said date, nor his widow or relative, shall be entitled
to receive or be paid any pension allowance or money from such pension
fund. This section shall not apply, however, to those members or officers
appointed prior to the date of adoption of this article who after
ceasing to be members or officers are thereafter duly reinstated.
Such men, after being so reinstated, will be restored to their former
pension rights.
In the discretion of the Director of Public
Safety, members partially disabled by reason of injuries sustained
in or induced by performance of duty may be continued in service and
assigned to such work as the City physician may certify they are capable
of performing.
All medical examinations required by or made
pursuant to the provisions of this article shall be conducted by the
City physician or some other physician duly authorized by the Director
of Public Safety; provided, however, that any member within 30 days
after receipt of the decision of such physician, in writing, may request
that the decision of such physician be reviewed by a special medical
board which shall consist of one doctor appointed by the Director
of Public Safety other than the doctor who made the physical examinations
and a doctor selected and compensated by such member. The decision
of such special board shall supersede the decision of the examining
physician. In the event that the two doctors of the special board
shall disagree, a recognized specialist on the condition, disease
or injury for which such member has been examined or for which disability
is claimed shall be selected by such doctors to be a third member
of the special board. The decision of a majority of the three members
of such special board shall supersede the decision of the examining
physician. The specialist selected by the two doctors of the special
board shall be compensated by the City. Such compensation shall be
fixed by the City Manager and shall be subject to his audit.
This Pension Fund may be consolidated with the
Police Pension Fund by a local law, which local law, if enacted, shall
contain no less than the benefits provided for in nor impose greater
obligations upon the members of the Fire Department than the ordinance
creating the Firemen's Pension Fund, as amended to date, and the board
of trustees under the new law shall consist of all the trustees of
the Firemen's Pension Fund and of the Police Pension Fund.
[Added 7-2-1974 by Ord. No. 212-1974]
A.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this article,
the trustees of the Firemen's Pension Fund shall pay to the widow
of any member who his heretofore died or who shall hereafter die an
annual pension benefit not less than $2,400, payable in equal monthly
installments.
B.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this article,
the widows of deceased pensioners who have retired prior to March
31, 1969, are hereby granted 1/2 of the monthly supplemental
retirement allowance which the pensioner would have received if living
and shall commence upon the death of the pensioner. Such amount shall
be payable commencing with a payment for the month of September 1978
and continued through the month of June 1979. Such payment shall cease
upon the payment to be made for the month of June 1979, unless Section
h of Paragraph 2 of § 78 of the Retirement and Social Security
Law is further amended to extend such payments for additional periods
of time and, in such event, the payment provided for herein shall
continue during such extended periods.
[Added 1-16-1979 by Ord. No. 13-1979]
C.
Notwithstanding any other provisions of this article,
the supplemental retirement allowance heretofore provided for the
widows of local retired members of the Fire Department is hereby increased
pursuant to the per centum outlined in Subdivision b of § 78
of the Retirement and Social Security Law. Such supplemental retirement
allowance shall be computed on the basis of the first $13,500 of such
annual retirement allowance and shall be payable commencing with the
payment for the month of July 1999 and continuing through the month
of August 2000, unless Subdivision b of § 78 of the Retirement
and Social Security Law is further amended to permit such payments
for additional periods of time, and, in such event, the increase in
the supplemental retirement allowance payment provided for herein
shall continue during such extended periods.
[1]
Editor's Note: Resolution No. 343, adopted
12-13-1988, provided as follows:
"Pursuant to authority contained in Local
Law Nos. 2 and 3 of 1987, Ordinance Nos. 338 and 339 of 1987 and Chapter
8 of the Laws of 1988, the City Manager is hereby authorized to provide
for the payment of increased supplemental retirement allowances for
members and widows of deceased members of the local Policemen's and
Firemen's Pension Fund.
"Such increases shall be for the period from
September 1987 through and including the month of August 1989, and
the percentage increase thereof shall be at the rate as authorized
by Local Law Nos. 2 and 3 of 1987 and Ordinance Nos. 338 and 339 of
1987."
[2]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also provided
that it shall take effect and be reflected in pension payments payable
on July 1, 1999.
D.
Notwithstanding any other provisions of this article,
the City of New Rochelle hereby extends the supplemental retirement
allowance increases benefits provided under § 78-a of the
New York State Retirement and Social Security Law to its local retirement
system fire widows, effective September 1, 2000.
[Added 12-11-2001 by L.L. No. 11-2001]
[Adopted 3-10-1965 by Ord. No. 122-1965]
The provisions of the rules and regulations
of the Fire Department of the City of New Rochelle requiring paid
members and paid officers of the Fire Department to reside within
the City of New Rochelle shall not apply to paid members and/or paid
officers of the Fire Department of the City of New Rochelle who reside
within the geographical limits of the County of Westchester.
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended during codification.
