[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors
of the Township of Derry as indicated in article histories. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 5-9-1977 by Ord. No. 180]
[Amended 12-19-1989 by Ord. No. 311; Ord.
No. 452]
A. The following persons shall be entitled to receive
pension or retirement benefits as hereinafter provided:
(1) Each policeman employed by this Township on a full-time
basis who shall have 25 years of continuous service with this Township
and who shall have attained 55 years of age and who shall have received
an honorable discharge. Effective January 1, 1989, the foregoing age
requirement shall be reduced from 55 years of age to 50 years of age
for all police persons who retire on or after that date.
(2) Each policeman employed by this Township on a full-time
basis who is totally and continuously disabled as a result of a service-connected
injury.
(3) The surviving widow of any policeman who has fulfilled the age and service requirements for retirement and who was employed by this Township on a full-time basis at the time of his death; or of any policeman retired by reason of age and service; or disability, as defined in Subsection
A(2), above, or of any policeman killed in service; so long as said widow does not remarry.
(4) Any surviving child or children under the age of 18 years of any policeman who has fulfilled the age and service requirements for retirement and who was employed by this Township on a full-time basis at the time of his death; or, of any policeman retired by reason of age and service; or disability, as defined in Subsection
A(2), above, or of any policeman killed in service, so long as said policeman is not survived by a widow or, if survived by a widow, said widow subsequently dies or remarries.
(5) Effective January 1, 1999, any employee with 20 or
more years of credited service shall be permitted to retire and begin
receipt of an actuarially reduced benefit pursuant to the provisions
of Act 24 regardless of age. The amount of the benefit shall be actuarially
reduced in accordance with the formula set forth in Act 24.
B. "Continuous service" shall mean full-time employment
with this Township, including periods of absence which are approved
by the Board of Supervisors of this Township or which arise by operation
of law.
C. Any participant retiring hereunder shall be subject
to serve, from time to time, as a police reserve in cases of riot,
tumult or preservation of the public peace, until unfit for such service,
whereupon he may be finally discharged from reserve service by reason
of age or disability.
[Amended 12-19-1989 by Ord. No. 311]
A. The amount of pension or retirement benefits payable
to any policeman under this program shall be a sum equal to 1/2 of
the monthly average salary of the participant during the last 36 months
of employment. Such retirement benefits shall be payable monthly during
the balance of participant's life following actual retirement and
the benefits for any month shall be computed as the sum of:
(1) Any pension benefits from pension plans heretofore
established by a private organization or association for the members
of the police force, but only to the extent that the Commonwealth
or any of its municipalities shall have contributed to such pension
plan monies raised by taxation;
(2) Fifty percent of the primary benefits under Federal
Social Security laws from which the participant may be eligible because
of age or disability; provided, however, that no such social security
benefits shall be used to calculate pensions for policemen who retire
on or after January 1, 1989; and
(3) Benefits from the pension fund established hereunder
to the extent necessary to bring the total benefits in any month up
to 1/2 of the aforesaid monthly average salary. Pension payments made
under the provisions of this article shall not be a charge on any
other fund in the treasury of the Township or under its control, save
the police pension fund.
B. A widow eligible to receive benefits by reason of
survivorship of a policeman shall receive a pension calculated at
the rate of 50% of the pension or retirement benefits the policeman
was receiving or would have been receiving had he been retired at
the time of his death.
C. A child eligible to receive benefits by reason of
survivorship of a policeman shall receive a pension calculated at
the rate of 50% of the pension or retirement benefits the policeman
was receiving or would have been receiving had he been retired at
the time of his death provided, however, that where more than one
child of a policeman is eligible to receive benefits, the aggregate
pension payable to said children shall not exceed 50% of the pension
or retirement benefits the policeman was receiving or would have been
receiving at the time of his death.
[Amended 12-19-1989 by Ord. No. 311]
A. Each participant shall contribute monthly into the
pension fund established hereunder an amount equal to the product
determined by multiplying the total monthly compensation by 5%. All
such contributions by participants shall be deducted by the Township
from the participant's salary. Any balance of needed annual contributions
shall become the obligation of the Township and shall be paid to the
pension fund by annual appropriations.
B. This Township reserves the right to reduce or eliminate
payments into the fund by participants on an annual basis, by resolution,
if an actuarial study shows that if such payments are reduced or eliminated,
contributions by the Township will not be required to keep the fund
actuarially sound.
C. Any payments made by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
to the Township for police pension purposes shall be used as follows:
(1) To reduce the unfunded liability of the Township on
account of pensions payable hereunder, and after such liability has
been funded;
(2) To apply against the annual obligation of the Township
for future service cost or, to the extent that the payment may be
in excess of such obligation;
(3) To reduce participant's contributions.
Effective January 1, 1978, the Board of Supervisors
of this Township or its designee may, by resolution, provide for a
cost of living increase for members of the police force receiving
retirement benefits; provided, however, that such cost of living increase
shall not exceed the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index
from the year in which the police member last worked; provided, further,
that in no case shall the total police pension benefits for a retiree
exceed 75% of his salary used for computing retirement benefits; and,
provided further, that the total cost of living increase shall not
exceed 30%. No cost of living increase shall be granted which would
impair the actuarial soundness of the pension fund, nor shall any
cost of living increase be granted more frequently than on an annual
basis.
[Amended 5-23-1983 by Ord. No. 238]
A. The Township shall be the owner of all monies or property
paid into the fund or annuities or policies purchased from insurance
companies hereunder and the owner of any insurance retirement income
contracts acquired hereunder, and no participant prior to retirement
shall have any right or interest in any portion of said monies or
property; provided, however, that each participant shall be entitled
to designate a beneficiary for his contributions and earnings thereon,
and for his pension benefits. In the event of termination or discontinuance
of his employment with the Township for reasons other than retirement
or death, each participant shall be entitled to have returned to him
the total amount of all such monies paid by him into the pension fund,
with interest at the rate of 4 1/2% per annum. If such termination
or discontinuance of employment is due to death, such refund of monies
shall be paid to the participant's designated beneficiary or, in the
absence thereof, to his estate.
B. Should an officer cease to be employed as a full-time
police officer by Derry Township prior to reaching superannuation
retirement age and service requirements, but after having completed
12 years of continuous service as a full-time police officer for Derry
Township, he or she shall be entitled to vest his or her benefits
by filing with the Board of Supervisors written notice of his or her
intention to vest within 90 days of cessation of employment as a full-time
police officer of Derry Township. Upon reaching the date which would
have been his or her superannuation retirement date as a full-time
police officer, he or she shall be paid a partial superannuation retirement
allowance determined by applying the percentage his or her years of
service bears to the years of service which he or she would have rendered
had he or she continued to work to his or her superannuation retirement
date, to the gross pension, using the monthly average salary during
the appropriate period prior to termination of employment. Such pension
or monthly retirement benefit for any month shall be determined in
accordance with the present provisions of the Municipal Police Pension
Law, the Act of May 29, 1956, P.L. 1804, as amended, 53 P.S. § 761
et seq.
A. The pension payments herein provided for shall not
be subject to attachment, execution, levy, garnishment or other legal
process, and shall be payable only to the participant or his designated
beneficiary. No participant or his beneficiary shall have any right
to alienate, encumber or assign any assets of the fund held by the
Trustees on his behalf, or any of the benefits or payments or proceeds
of any contract or agreement purchased or acquired by the Township
hereunder.
B. Any contract or agreement purchased or acquired pursuant
to this article upon the life of such participant shall contain a
provision, in substance, that to the extent permitted by law, none
of the benefits or payments or proceeds of such contract or agreement
shall be subject to any legal process by any creditor of such participant
or beneficiary of such participant.
All contracts, agreements or funds held by the
Township for the purpose of providing pensions, annuities or retirement
income, or any of them, on any policeman who shall be a participant
in the program herein established shall be and hereby are transferred
and assigned to the fund herein created. After such transfer, the
police pension fund shall assume the liability, if any, of continuing
the payment of pensions to members of the police force retired prior
to such transfer in accordance with the laws and regulations under
which such members were retired.
[Amended 12-19-1989 by Ord. No. 311]
The expense of administering this pension fund
program, including any custodian of the fund and any other charges
and expenses related thereto, exclusive of the payment of pensions
and actuarial related expenses as are authorized by the Municipal
Pension Plan Funding Standard and Recovery Act, the Act of December
18, 1984, P.L. 1005, as amended, 53 P.S. § 895.101 et seq.,
shall be paid from appropriations made by the Board of Supervisors.
[Amended 12-19-1989 by Ord. No. 311]
The vesting provisions provided in this article
are intended to comply with the statutory police pension provisions
for borough, towns and townships having three or more full-time members
in their police force, as established by the Municipal Police Pension
Law, the Act of May 29, 1956, P.L. 1804, as amended, 53 P.S. § 761
et seq. Any interpretation of the language or terms contained in this
article, as amended, shall be made in accordance with the provisions
of said Act and the relevant amendments thereto.
[Adopted 12-20-1994 by Ord. No. 383]
Derry Township hereby elects to enroll its municipal
employees in the Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement System, as authorized
by the Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement Law, Act 15 of 1974, as amended,
with the express purpose of having the Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement
System administer the retirement plan established by the Township
for the municipal employees. The Township does hereby agree to be
bound by all the requirements and provisions of said law and to assume
all obligations, financial and otherwise, placed upon member municipalities.
All references hereafter shall be based on benefits negotiated between
the Board and the Township under the provisions of Article IV of the
Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement Law.
Membership in the Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement
System shall be mandatory for all permanent municipal employees of
the Township. Membership for elected officials and employees hired
on a temporary or seasonal basis is prohibited, as is membership for
individuals paid only on a fee basis.
Credit for prior service for original employees
is granted for each year or partial year thereof that the member was
employed by the Township from original date of hire. Benefits provided
to members in the agreement dated__________, 199__, shall accrue based
on all credited service granted and earned in accordance with this
section.
Payment for any obligation established by the
adoption of this article and the agreement between the System and
Derry Township shall be made by the Township in accordance with the
Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement Law and Act 205 of 1984, the Municipal
Pension Plan Funding Standard and Recovery Act.
[Amended 2-22-2022 by Ord. No. 2022-01]
As part of this article, the Township agrees
that the System shall administer and provide the benefits set forth
in the amended and restated Deny Township Nonuniform Defined Benefit
Pension Plan as set forth in the Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement
System Defined Benefit Plan Adoption Agreement 001 entered into between
the Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement System and the Township of Derry
effective as of the date specified therein. The passage and adoption
of this article by Derry Township is an official acceptance of said
benefit agreement.
By adoption of this article the Township agrees to terminate, upon the effective date of membership in the Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement System, any previously maintained municipal pension program applicable to those employees identified as members in §
35-11 of this article and to transfer any assets from any existing plan to offset the established liability. Derry Township also acknowledges than an affirmative vote representing at least 75% of the plan members indicated the members were in agreement with the establishment of the plan with the Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement System.
Derry Township intends this article to be the
complete authorization of the Township's municipal pension plan and,
therefore, effective December 31, 1994, specifically repeals the previous
agreement dated January 23, 1978. Any other pension ordinance or resolutions
that are inconsistent herewith are likewise repealed.
A duly certified copy of this article and the
referenced agreement shall be filed with the Pennsylvania Municipal
Retirement System of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Membership
for the municipal pension plan of Derry Township in the Pennsylvania
Municipal Retirement System shall be effective the first day of January
1995.