[Adopted 10-14-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-06]
This article shall be known as the "Jim Thorpe Borough Police
Act 44 Retirement Program."
When used in this article, the below words shall have the meaning
indicated.
The Act 44 Deferred Retirement Option Program referred to
in the collective bargaining agreement between the Jim Thorpe Borough
Police and the Borough of Jim Thorpe.
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 of Jim Thorpe, Carbon County, Pennsylvania.
Deferred Retirement Option Program.
The Police Pension Plan.
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.
Police officers of the Jim Thorpe Police Department.
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 any month upon attaining age 50 and 25 years of service.
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 Secretary.
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
24 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 the Act 44 Program; 2) that, as a condition of Act 44 Program participation,
the participant forgoes 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
the 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 re-enter the Act
44 Program, even if the employee separates from employment and subsequently
begins employment with the Borough again.
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 § 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 § 402(c)(9).
If an Act 44 Program participant becomes temporarily incapacitated
due to a service-connected injury during his participation in the
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 section, 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 the 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 Public Employee Pension Forfeiture
Act, 43 P.S. §§ 1311 through 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 individual participants.
Any amendments to this Act 44 Program article 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 November 14,
2021.
