[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council
of the Borough of Aldan: Art. I, 1-15-1992 by Ord. No. 437. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Special school police — See Ch.
13.
[Adopted 1-15-1992 by Ord. No. 437]
A. As used in this article, the following terms shall
have the meanings indicated:
AGE
The age attained by the employee at his or her last birthday.
AVERAGE APPLICABLE SALARY
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) of his continuous employment by the Borough prior to
such date of reference.
BOROUGH
The Borough of Aldan, Delaware County, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER
The person who has primary responsibility for the execution
of the administrative affairs of this pension plan, or the designee
of that person.
COUNCIL
The Council of the Borough of Aldan.
EMPLOYEE
Any person in the full-time employ of the Borough Police
Department whose customary employment is for not less than 35 hours
a week.
FUND
All assets held by the Trust under the Trust Agreement relating
to this Police Pension Plan.
MEMBER
Any person in the full-time employ of the Borough Police Department who has satisfied the eligibility requirements established in §
30-11 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 §
30-3A hereof.
NORMAL RETIREMENT DATE
The first day of the month coincident with or next following
the date on which the member completes 25 years of service, and the
date on which the member attains age 50.
PLAN
The Police Pension Plan for the Borough of Aldan, as herein
set forth and as the same may hereafter be amended.
PLAN YEAR
A period of 12 consecutive months commencing on any January
1 and ending on the following December 31.
POLICE PENSION COMMITTEE
Consists of three members, which number shall include one
person chosen by the President of the Council, one person chosen by
a majority of the members in the plan and one person chosen by the
President of the Council.
SALARY
Earnings including, but not limited to, base pay, longevity
pay, shift differential (if any), overtime pay, but shall exclude
reimbursement expenses or payments in lieu of expenses, non-police
salary, but including, but not limited to, fringe benefits provided
by the Borough and any other allowances paid by the Borough (i.e.,
uniform allowances).
SERVICE
The aggregate of 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 national emergency 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.
TOTAL AND PERMANENT DISABILITY
Any condition arising from service-connected illness or injury
which precludes an employee from performing the duties associated
with the normal occupational requirements of any position with the
Police Department as certified by a physician designated by the Borough.
TRUSTEE
The Council of the Borough of Aldan 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. All persons who are employees (as defined in this
plan) as of the effective date hereof shall be members as of the effective
date.
B. Any person who becomes an employee after the effective
date hereof shall become a member on the first day of service as an
employee.
A. Contributions by members.
[Amended 2-14-2007 by Ord. No. 495]
(1) Members shall pay into the fund at a rate of 5% of salary. Salary for this purpose shall be as defined in §
30-1 of the plan.
(2) 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 or her individual account.
Interest to be credited shall be 6%, compounded annually.
(3) Interest shall be credited from the end of the plan
year in which paid to the end 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 90 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, and to reduce member contributions pursuant to Subsection
A 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. Contributions by members while on military service. A member who enters the military service during a time of national emergency, either voluntarily or by conscription, shall continue to make contributions to the plan as outlined in Subsection
A based on the salary in effect on the last day of service with the Borough's Police Department. These contributions will continue throughout the length of his military service. During military service, the Trustee shall continue to contribute to the fund for the officer's benefit. However, no contributions will be made either by or on behalf of a member who voluntarily extends his military service during peacetime.
G. 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.
(1) 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 second Wednesday of
the month coincident with or next following his date of actual retirement
and ending with the payment made as of the second Wednesday 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 salary.
(2) In addition to the above monthly pension benefit, an added benefit
of $100 per month, to a maximum of $500 per month, shall be paid to
any retired, full-time policeman as a length of service increment
for each completed year of service in excess of 25 years of service.
[Amended 6-14-2016 by Ord. No.
520]
B. 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 §
30-3A hereof shall continue.
C. Disability benefit. If a member retires because of
a total and permanent disability, that member shall be entitled to
receive a pension benefit equal to 70% of his or her salary at the
time the disability was incurred, offset by any social security disability,
Workers' compensation or Heart and Lung Act benefits received by the
member for the same injury. This benefit shall continue until his
or her death.
[Amended 2-14-2007 by Ord. No. 495]
D. Allowance for cost-of-living increases for retirees.
The Borough, at its discretion or through collective bargaining with
representatives of its police officers, may from time to time provide
for retired police officer to receive an annual cost of living increase,
provided that:
[Added 8-9-1995 by Ord. No. 461]
(1) Such cost of living increase shall not exceed the
percentage increase within the Consumer Price Index for all urban
consumers, Philadelphia, from the year in which the officer last worked;
(2) In no case shall the total police pension benefits
exceed 75% of the salary for computing retirement benefits; and
(3) The total cost of living increase shall not exceed
30%.
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.
[Amended 2-14-2007 by Ord. No. 495]
(1) 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,
or he met the age and service requirements, but he had not yet retired),
then a monthly pension benefit shall be provided.
(2) The amount of the monthly pension benefit shall be 100% of the pension
the member was receiving or would have been entitled to receive if
the member had been retired at the time of his or her death.
[Amended 6-14-2016 by Ord. No.
520]
(3) 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 §
30-6A. 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. 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 any accredited institution of higher learning and are carrying a minimum course load of seven credit hours per semester. Dependent children shall include stepchildren, adopted children, and any child conceived before the time of the member's death and thereafter born to the member's spouse.
C. Preretirement survivor benefit. In the event that a member is killed
in service, the member's family shall receive survivor benefits
provided for and subject to the terms of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's
Act 51 of 2009, 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 with the Borough (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.
[Amended 2-14-2007 by Ord. No.
945; 6-14-2016 by Ord. No. 520]
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 §
30-4 or
30-5 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 §
30-3A. However, a member who has completed 12 or more years of service may elect either choice 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 of Aldan, 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 §
30-4A. 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 §
30-3A. If he elects to receive the refund of his contributions plus interest, he would forfeit the pension benefit outlined in Subsection
A.
A. Refund benefits becoming distributable pursuant to §
30-6 and death benefits becoming distributable pursuant to the provision of §
30-5A shall be paid in the form of a lump sum distribution.
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 §
30-5B.
A. It is the duty of the Trustee to pay the benefits to members and their beneficiaries, as provided in §§
30-4,
30-5 and
30-6, 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 Borough 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 salary may be paid from the fund.
C. 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. 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 Aldan. 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 §
30-8B of this plan.
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 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.
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 that 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 fewer
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 or
any four members 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. The Council may appoint a committee which shall administer
the plan established by this article according to the regulations
established pursuant to this article.
B. The committee so designated shall service until death,
resignation, removal or disqualification. Any committee member may
resign upon written notice to the Council and the committee. Any vacancies
in the committee arising from resignation, death or removal shall
be filled by the Council (by the procedure set out herein for the
committee whose resignation, death or removal has created the vacancy).
C. The committee shall act by such procedure as the committee
shall establish. All decisions of the committee shall be by majority
vote. The committee may authorize one of its members to execute any
document or documents on behalf of the committee. The committee may
adopt such bylaws and regulations as it deems necessary for the conduct
of its affairs and may appoint such accountants, counsel, actuaries,
specialists or such other person as it may deem advisable for the
proper administration of the plan. No such regulation by law or appointment
shall be effective until such is approved by the Council, and the
expenses incurred by the retention of such professionals shall be
subject to the prior approval of the Council.
D. The committee shall keep a record of all proceedings
and acts and shall keep all such books of accounts, records and other
data as shall be necessary for the proper administration of the plan.
All actions of the committee shall be communicated to the Council
monthly.
E. All books, records, accounts, ledgers, transcripts,
bank records, assets and tangible property of value shall be kept
and in the custody of employer or any person designated by the President
of the Borough Council.
F. The committee shall serve without salary for its services,
but shall be reimbursed for all reasonable expenses incurred in the
administration of the plan. Such expenses shall be subject to the
prior approval of the Council.
G. No committee member shall incur any liability for
any action or failure to act, accepting only liability for his/her
own gross negligence or willful misconduct. The employer shall indemnify
each committee member against any and all claims, loss, damages, expense
and liability arising from any action or failure to act, except for
such that is the result of gross negligence or willful misconduct
of such committee.
H. All checks, drafts, order to pay money, deposits of
money and all transactions concerning the receipt or disbursement
of any money shall be prepared by the employer or any person designated
by the President of the Borough 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
Employees Pension Fund herein provided for.
C. Nothing contained in the plan shall be held or construed
as a contract or guaranty 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 members 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 §
30-3 for all participants 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 §
30-5 shall be refunded to any and all participants 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 participants or from the commonwealth allocation shall be distributed as the Council sees fit, provided that such distribution is in compliance with §
30-8.
(4) All funds in excess of the funds described in Subsection
B(1),
(2), and
(3) above shall be returned to the commonwealth as unused funds pursuant to the Act of May 12, 1943, P.L. 259, as amended, 72 P.S. § 2263.1 et seq.
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. 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 participant 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 therefor, 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 6-14-2016 by Ord. No.
520]
This article shall be known as the "Aldan Borough Police Act
44 Retirement Program."
When used in this article, the below words shall have the meaning
indicated.
ACT 44 PROGRAM
The Act 44 Deferred Retirement Option Program referred to
in the collective bargaining agreement between the Aldan Borough Police,
represented by the Delaware County Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge
No. 27 and the Borough of Aldan.
ACT 44 PROGRAM ACCOUNT
Separate ledger account created to accept Act 44 Program
participants' monthly pension benefit while an Act 44 Program
participant, as well as any interest thereon.
BOROUGH
Borough of Aldan, Delaware County, Pennsylvania.
DROP
Deferred retirement option program.
PARTICIPANT
A police officer who meets the eligibility for and has executed
the proper documents for participation in Act 44 Program and has had
such application approved by the Borough.
Eligibility for the Act 44 Program shall be determined as follows:
A. Police officers who have not retired prior to the implementation
of the Act 44 Program may enter into the Act 44 Program on the first
day of the month following completion of 25 years of credited service
and attaining the age of 50, i.e., superannuation date.
Eligible officers who wish to be participants in the Act 44
Program must signify that intention in writing as follows:
A. A police officer electing to participate in the Act 44 Program must
complete and execute an Act 44 Program participation election form
prepared by the Borough, which shall evidence the member's election
to participate in the Act 44 Program. The form must be signed by the
police officer and be notarized and submitted to the Borough Manager.
The Act 44 Program participation election form shall include an irrevocable
notice to the Borough, by the police officer member, that the police
officer shall resign from employment with the Police Department effective
on a specific date (the "resignation date") that is no later than
60 months from the effective date of Act 44 Program election form.
A police officer shall cease to work as and may no longer be employed
as a police officer on the officer's resignation date, unless
the Borough properly terminates or honorably discharges the officer
prior to the resignation date. A participant may resign from employment
while in Act 44 Program status, which shall terminate his/her participation
in the Act 44 Program.
B. In addition to the above information, the Act 44 Program participation
election form shall also advise the employee of the following: (1)
an explanation of the participant's rights and obligations while
in Act 44 Program; (2) that, as a condition of Act 44 Program participation,
the participant foregoes active participation in the police pension
plan and foregoes any recalculation of pension benefits to include
salary increases occurring after Act 44 Program participation commences;
and (3) that the Act 44 Program participant's service while in
Act 44 Program will not count as pension service nor will it entitle
a participant to any service increment benefits to which the participant
was not entitled prior to commencing Act 44 Program participation.
An Act 44 Program participant must also complete any and all retirement
documents required by the police pension plan administrator, and such
documents must be filed and presented to the Borough for approval
of retirement and payment of pension. Once an Act 44 Program participation
election form has been approved by the Borough, it is irrevocable.
Likewise, once an Act 44 Program participant enters the Act 44 Program,
the participant may not subsequently leave and then reenter the Act
44 Program, even if the employee separates from employment and subsequently
begins employment with the Borough again.
C. Any officer who shall have been eligible to be a participant in this
program on January 1, 2016 (the effective date of the collective bargaining
agreement) through to the effective date of this article may, within
45 days after the effective date of this article, make the written
election to participate in the program and may designate an effective
date on or after January 1, 2016 when that officer desires his participation
in the program to commence (the "look back period"). After 45 days
from the effective date of this article, officers shall not be eligible
to designate a prior effective date during the look back period.
For all pension plan purposes, continuous service of a police
officer participating in the Act 44 Program shall remain as it existed
on the effective date of commencement of participation in the Act
44 Program. Service thereafter shall not be recognized or used for
the calculation or determination of any benefits payable by the Borough
police pension plan. 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 Act
44 Program. 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 pension benefit payable
to the members shall increase only as a result of cost of living adjustments
in effect on the effective date of the member's participation
in the Act 44 Program or by applicable cost-of-living adjustments
granted thereafter.
The monthly retirement benefits 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 Act 44 Program, accumulate to the benefit of that officer and be
accounted for on that police officer's Act 44 Program account.
Participants shall not have the option of self-directed investment
of their individual Act 44 Program account while in the Act 44 Program.
Instead, the monies shall be invested in a fund to be identified and
selected solely by the Borough in accordance with applicable law so
as to generate a rate of return of no less than 0% and no more than
4.5%.
After a police officer elects to participate in the Act 44 Program,
all other contractual benefits shall continue to accrue with the exception
of those provisions relating to the police pension plan.
Upon separation from employment, the Act 44 Program payout options
available to the Act 44 Program participant shall be as follows:
A. The balance of the Act 44 Program participant's account, less
withholding taxes, if any, remitted to the Internal Revenue Service,
shall be paid to the participant or the participant's surviving
beneficiary.
B. The balance of the Act 44 Program participant's account shall
be paid directly to the custodian of an eligible retirement plan as
defined by Internal Revenue Code Section 402(c)(8)(b), or in the case
of an eligible rollover distribution to the surviving spouse of a
deceased Act 44 Program participant, an eligible retirement plan that
is an individual retirement account or an individual retirement annuity
as defined by Internal Revenue Code Section 402(c)(9).
C. If the Act 44 Program participant or beneficiary fails to make an election within 60 days following the date of termination of Act 44 Program participation, then the Chief Administrative Officer of the pension plan shall implement Subsection
A above.
If an Act 44 Program participant becomes temporarily incapacitated
due to a service-connected injury during his participation in Act
44 Program, that police officer shall continue to participate in the
Act 44 Program as if fully employed. The police officer shall receive
disability pay in the same amount as disabled police officers that
are not participating in Act 44 Program. In no event shall a police
officer on temporary disability have the ability to draw from his
Act 44 Program account. However, notwithstanding any other provision
in this article, if a police officer is disabled and has not returned
to work as of the date of his required resignation, then such resignation
shall take precedence over all other provisions herein and said officer
shall be required to resign. Nothing contained in this plan shall
be construed as conferring any legal rights upon any police officer
or other person to a continuation of employment nor shall participation
in the Act 44 Program supersede or limit in any way the right of the
Borough to honorably discharge a police officer based upon an inability
to perform his or her full duties as a police officer. If an Act 44
Program participant becomes eligible for a service-connected disability
pension and his employment is terminated due to an inability to continue
in service on grounds that render him eligible for a service-connected
disability pension, the monthly normal retirement benefit of the Act
44 Program participant shall be reclassified as being on account of
a service-connected disability. In no event shall an Act 44 participant's
monthly retirement benefit be recalculated. The Act 44 participant's
monthly retirement benefit shall remain 50% as calculated at the time
of entry into the Act 44 Program subject to applicable cost-of-living
adjustments.
If an Act 44 Program participant dies, the participant's
eligibility for Act 44 Program shall terminate upon the date of death.
In such case, if the Act 44 Program account balances have not yet
been paid out, the participant's legal beneficiary shall have
the same rights and options as the participant to withdraw/roll over
the account balance.
Notwithstanding a police officer's status as an Act 44
Program participant, a current or former participant 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 Pennsylvania's Pension Forfeiture Act, 43 P.S.
§§ 1311-1314, shall forfeit his right to receive a
pension, including any amounts currently deposited in the Act 44 Program
account. In such a case, the participant shall only be entitled to
receive the contributions, if any, made by the participant to the
Police Pension Fund, without interest.
The police officers and the Borough agree that any costs or
fees associated with the management of the Act 44 Program accounts
shall be paid directly by the participants and each participant's
Act 44 retirement account is subject to an annual charge of $40, plus
0.60% annual asset charge, payable out of said account. Should the
Borough assert the need to increase such charge, the parties shall
negotiate.
Any amendments to this Act 44 Program ordinance shall be consistent
with the provisions covering individual retirement option plans set
forth in any applicable collective bargaining agreement and shall
be binding upon all future Act 44 Program participants and upon all
Act 44 Program participants who have balances in their individual
retirement option accounts. The Act 44 Program may only be amended
by a written instrument, not by any oral agreement or past practice.
A police officer's election to participate in the Act 44
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 or her duties.
The provisions of the Act 44 Program shall be severable; and
if any of its provisions shall be held to be unconstitutional or illegal,
the validity of any of the remaining provisions of the Act 44 Program
shall not be affected thereby. It is hereby expressly declared as
the intent of the Borough that the Act 44 Program would have been
adopted had such unconstitutional or illegal provision or provisions
not been included herein.
The effective date of the Act 44 Program shall be January 1,
2016.