[Adopted 3-6-1990 as Ord.
No. 90-3[1]]
[1]
Editor’s Note: This ordinance was amended and restated 12-20-2005
by Ord. No. 05-31. Said ordinance included by reference the Norristown Paid
Fire Fighters Pension Plan Document. A complete copy of said document t is
on file in the municipal offices.
The administration of the Pension Plan shall be in accordance with the
amended (1989) trust agreement between the Borough of Norristown and Local
2335 of the International Association of Fire Fighters.
A.
Each full-time fire fighter now or hereafter employed
or retired by the borough shall be a member of the Pension Plan effective
with the date of employment. A former member who is reemployed will be treated
as a new employee unless:
B.
Effective July 28, 1989, active members shall pay into
the Annuity Plan, via payroll deduction, 3% of their salary. "Salary" shall
mean the base salary established by the collective bargaining agreement, plus
longevity and scheduled overtime beyond an average of 53 hours per calendar
week.
[Amended 4-6-1993 by Ord.
No. 93-7]
C.
Employee contributions shall be directed into an annuity
plan involving individual annuity accounts for all fire fighters. This provision
will be suspended if and when state financial support (i.e. Act 205[1]) is insufficient to meet the borough's minimum municipal pension
contribution and it becomes necessary to make such contributions from general
funds. For such time only, the employee contribution will be reinstated. Such
Annuity Plan shall be written, adopted and administered in a form to facilitate
separate provisions from the Pension Plan and shall be operated in compliance
with applicable state and federal law.
[Added 4-6-1993 by Ord. No.
93-7]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 895.102 et seq.
A.
Each member who has completed 25 years of service and
who has attained the age of 50 shall be eligible to retire the first day of
the month coincident with or following the achievement of these age and service
requirements. This date shall be known as the "normal retirement date."
B.
The normal form of benefit shall be 100% joint and survivor
annuity that will provide the member or surviving spouse with a lifetime pension
in the same amount the deceased member had been receiving without any offset
for social security.
[Amended 4-6-1993 by Ord.
No. 93-7]
[Amended 4-6-1993 by Ord.
No. 93-7]
A member may retire before the member's normal retirement date provided that the member is at least 45 years of age and has a minimum of 10 years of service. The pension of a member electing early retirement shall be calculated in the same manner as a vested pension (as described in § 27-15 of this Article) and shall be actuarially reduced to reflect retirement earlier than the normal retirement date.
A member shall have the option to vest his or her superannuation retirement
benefit if the member's full-time employment is terminated for any reason
after 12 years of service. If a member wishes to vest and thereby not receive
a refund, the member shall file a written notice of intent to do so with the
Chairman of the Board of Trustees not later than 90 days after the termination
date. Upon reaching the date which would have been the normal retirement date,
if the member had continued to be employed, the member shall be paid a partial
superannuation pension benefit. The benefit shall be determined by applying
the percentage of years of actual service to the years of service that would
have been rendered if the member had continued working up until the normal
retirement date. As an example, if the total years of service required for
a full pension benefit is 25 and a member vests after twelve and one-half
(12 1/2) years of service, the partial pension shall be 50% of the normal
or full amount. The compensation used for this determination shall be the
earnings prior to the date of termination.
A.
Service-connected.
(1)
Severe disability. If a member is permanently and totally disabled as a result of a severe, service-connected disability, the member shall receive a disability pension until the member returns to work or until death. The pension shall be 100% of the member's annual salary, as defined in § 27-12, at the time the disability pension is established by the Board of Trustees. There shall be no offset to this pension except that the Pension Fund shall not pay an amount which, together with the monthly workmen's compensation benefit, exceeds 100% of the annual salary. A "severe disability" shall be defined as the inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity be reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment which can be expected to result in death or has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months.
(2)
Moderate disability.
(a)
If a member is permanently and totally disabled as a result of a moderate, service-connected disability, the member shall receive a disability pension that is 50% of the member's annual salary, as defined in § 27-12, at the time of the disability determination until the member returns to work or until death. This benefit shall be reduced by the full amount of any workmen's compensation benefit and 50% of any gross earnings from other employment subsequent to the disability. To illustrate, a possible calculation using annual amounts would be as follows:
|
50% of salary
|
$15,000
| ||
|
Less workmen's compensation benefit and 50% new, gross earnings
|
—
|
$11,000
| |
|
______
| |||
|
Equals amount to be paid from Pension Plan
|
=
|
$4,000
|
(b)
However, that portion of the benefit being paid by the
Pension Plan shall be not less than the member would have received had he/she
vested his/her pension at the time of the disability determination. In the
above example, if a member became disabled at the time he had worked twelve
and one-half (12 1/2) years, then the amount payable from the Pension
Plan would be $7,500 [one-half (1/2) of $15,000].
(c)
A "moderate disability" shall be defined as the inability
to perform as a fire fighter for the borough by reason of any medically determinable
physical or mental impairment which has lasted or can be expected to last
for a continuous period of not less than 12 months.
B.
Non-service-connected disability. If a member is permanently and totally disabled as a result of a non-service-connected disability, the member shall receive a disability pension that is 30% of the member's annual salary, as defined in § 27-12, at the time of retirement until the member returns to work or until death. Such disability shall be defined the same as a moderate, service-connected disability. A member shall not be eligible for this pension if the disability:
C.
Medical examinations.
(1)
The determination of any disability, if necessary, shall
be by a doctor selected and paid for by the Board of Trustees. The Trustees
may require any member who has not reached his/her normal retirement date
to undergo a medical exam to verify continued eligibility. Should the doctor
find that the member is no longer disabled, then the pension shall cease,
and the member may, if eligible, vest his/her pension.
(2)
Should the member disagree with the findings of the doctor
selected by the Trustees, he/she shall have the right to be examined by a
doctor of his/her choice at the expense of themember. If the findings of the
member's doctor are contrary to those of the Trustees' doctor, then the member
shall have the right to the opinion of a third doctor, who shall be selected
by mutual agreement and whose findings shall be conclusive. The expense of
the third doctor shall be paid by the member if the findings agree with the
doctor designated by the Trustees or by the Trustees if they agree with the
doctor chosen by the member.
D.
Commutation of workmen's compensation. A disabled member
shall pursue the maximum benefits to which he/she may be entitled under workmen's
compensation and may not commute any such benefit without approval by the
Trustees.
E.
Reporting requirements.
(1)
A member receiving a pension for a moderate, service-connected
disability shall be required to annually provide the Board of Trustees the
following information:
(3)
Failure to provide this information shall cause the Board
of Trustees to temporarily stop the pension. Continued failure without cause
to provide the information for a period of one year shall cause all rights
to a disability pension to be forfeited until all such information has been
required.
A.
In the event that a member is killed in service before
becoming eligible to retire, the member's spouse or, if no spouse survives
or if the spouse survives and subsequently dies or remarries, then the child
or children under the age of 18 shall, during the lifetime of the spouse or
so long as the spouse does not remarry in the case of a widow or until reaching
age 18 in the case of a child or children, be entitled to receive a pension
calculated at the rate of 100% of what a superannuation pension member would
have received had the member been retired for reasons of superannuation at
the time of death. This benefit shall be granted if the survivor(s) receive
the workmen's compensation death benefit.
B.
Upon the death of an active member who has completed 10 years of service or a member who retired after 25 years of service or because of a severe service-connected disability, the surviving spouse or child or children as indicated in Subsection A of this section, shall receive a monthly benefit equal to 100% of the accrued benefit the member was receiving or would have been entitled to receive if he had retired at the time of his death without an actuarial reduction for early retirement.
[Amended 4-6-1993 by Ord.
No. 93-7]
C.
There shall be no social security offset for a non-service-connected
death. All other forms of survivor benefit shall be offset in full by any
social security benefits that are received by the survivors. This offset shall
be fixed at the rate received in the year following receipt of the survivor
benefit.
[Amended 7-7-1992 by Ord.
No. 92-13]
A.
If a member terminates employment for reasons other than
retirement or death, the member shall receive a refund of all contributions
made by him/her into the Pension Fund along with interest at a rate of 5%
per annum.
B.
If a member dies before retirement and there is no survivor
benefit, the refund shall be paid to the member's designated beneficiary or,
in the absence thereof, to the estate. If a member dies after retirement before
receiving pension payments equal to his/her contributions and there is no
survivor benefit, the refund shall be the difference between the contributions
and the total of pension payments.
Notwithstanding the above provisions, the Public Employee Pension Forfeiture
Act[1] shall apply to this Pension Plan.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 43 P.S. § 1311 et seq.
[Added 4-6-1993 by Ord. No.
93-7]
Any member who retires after January 1, 1993 may be eligible to receive
a cost of living increase in the monthly pension benefit based on the Consumer
Price Index (CPI) from the Philadelphia/Delaware Valley area. The Pension
Board shall annually determine the amount, if any, the retiree shall receive
after considering the yearly CPI and the yearly performance of the pension
fund. Notwithstanding the foregoing, there shall be a lifetime maximum increase
of 13% of the monthly pension benefit as calculated based upon the original
monthly pension benefit from the original retirement date.
