[Adopted 7-3-1984 as Ch. 1, Part 2B, of the 1984 Code]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ACTUARY
A member of the American Academy of Actuaries or an individual who has demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Insurance Commissioner of Pennsylvania that he or she has the educational background necessary for the practice of actuarial science and has had at least seven years of actuarial experience, or a firm, partnership or corporation of which one or more members meet the above requirements.
SALARY
The fixed, stated amount of compensation paid at periodic intervals, longevity payments, education pay, and overtime compensation for hours actually worked to a full-time police officer by the Township. The term salary shall not include any other payments made by the Township to a full-time police officer including, but not limited to, payments for unused vacation time, personal days, etc.
[Added 6-5-2001 by Ord. No. 2-01; amended 9-1-2009 by Ord. No. 2-09]
The Supervisors shall employ or retain the services of an actuary to conduct and file the actuarial study required to be filed with the Department of Community Affairs of Pennsylvania pursuant to Act 293 of 1972, as amended.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 730.2 et seq.
The Police Pension Fund shall be maintained by:
A. 
A charge against each full-time member of the police force.
B. 
Annual appropriations made by the Township.
C. 
Payments made by the State Treasurer to the Township Treasurer from moneys received from taxes paid upon premiums by foreign casualty insurance companies for purposes of pension retirement for policemen.
D. 
Gifts, grants, devises or bequests granted to the pension fund.
A. 
Each full-time police officer who has been in the employ of the Township as a full-time police officer for 25 years in the aggregate, except as otherwise provided herein, and who has attained the age of 50 years may retire and shall, upon his or her actual retirement from employment with the Township, be entitled to receive pension or retirement benefits as are hereinafter provided.
B. 
Any full-time member of the police force who has been a regularly appointed employee of this Township for a period of at least six months and who thereafter shall enter into the military service of the United States shall have credited to his or her employment record for pension or retirement benefits all of the time spent by him or her in such military service, if such person returns or has heretofore returned to his or her employment within six months after his or her separation from the service.
C. 
Any participant retiring under this article shall be subject to serve, from time to time, as a police reserve in case of riot, tumult or preservation of the public peace, until unfitted for such service, whereupon he or she may be finally discharged from reserve service by reason of age or disability.
[Amended 7-2-1991 by Ord. No. 4-91; 6-5-2001 by Ord. No. 2-01]
The amount of pension or retirement benefits payable under this article shall be as follows:
A. 
Full-time police officers who retired on or before December 31, 1992, shall have retirement benefits computed in accordance with the Police Pension Ordinance in effect upon the date of such full-time police officer's retirement.
B. 
Full-time police officers who retired on or after January 1, 1993, but on or before December 31, 1999, shall have retirement benefits computed in accordance with the Police Pension Ordinance in effect upon the date of such full-time police officer's retirement.
C. 
Full-time police officers shall be entitled to a pension or retirement benefit payable monthly during the balance of the full-time officer's life following actual retirement computed as follows:
(1) 
One-half of the monthly average salary of the full-time police officer during the officer's last 36 months of employment with the Township.
(2) 
If the full-time police officer shall have a minimum period of total service with the Township of 26 or more years, such full-time police officer shall receive a service increment in the amount of $100 per month which shall be added to the monthly pension benefit computed in accordance with § 25-9C(1).
A. 
A full-time policeman becomes a participant in the fund and liable for contributions immediately upon employment.
(1) 
Since the positions covered by the Police Pension Fund are also under the Federal Social Security Act and since an offset is provided for by § 25-9A(1), each participant shall contribute monthly into the pension fund established hereunder an amount equal to the sum of:
(a) 
The product determined by multiplying the total monthly compensation on which the social security taxes are payable by 2.75%; plus
(b) 
The product obtained by multiplying the amount of total monthly compensation in excess of that on which social security taxes are payable, if any, by 5%.
(2) 
All such contributions by the participant 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. 
Effective January 1, 1993, the offset of Federal Social Security Act payments is eliminated. Therefore, in accordance with the requirements of 53 P.S. § 771, as amended, each participant shall contribute monthly into the pension plan established hereunder an amount equal to the sum of 5% of the officer's total compensation. 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.
[Amended 7-2-1991 by Ord. No. 4-91]
C. 
If an actuarial study shows that the condition of the Police Pension Fund of the Township is such that payments into the fund by members may be reduced below the minimum percentages hereinbefore prescribed or be eliminated and that if such payments are reduced or eliminated contributions by the Township will not be required to keep the fund actuarially sound, the Board of Supervisors may on an annual basis, by resolution, reduce or eliminate payments into the fund by policemen.
D. 
Any payments made by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to the Township from moneys received from taxes paid upon premiums by foreign casualty insurance companies for police pension purposes shall be used as follows: to reduce the unfunded liability of the Township on account of pensions payable hereunder and, after such liability has been funded, 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, to reduce the participant's contributions as provided for by § 25-10.
[1]
Editor's Note: Resolutions which suspended payments by members of the police force into the Police Pension Fund for specific years are on file in the office of the Township Manager.
A. 
The Township shall be the owner of all moneys or property paid into the fund or annuities or policies purchased from insurance companies hereunder and the owner and designated beneficiary of any insurance and retirement income contracts acquired hereunder; and no participant prior to retirement shall have any right or interest in any portion of said moneys or property; provided, however, that each participant who is for any reason whatsoever ineligible to receive a pension after having contributed any charges to the Police Pension Fund established pursuant to this article shall be entitled to a refund of all such moneys paid by him or her into the pension fund, with interest at the rate of 4% per annum simple interest or actual interest if said interest is segregated as part of the charges collected from an individual police officer immediately upon discontinuance of his or her employment. If such termination or discontinuance of employment is due to death, such refund of money shall be paid to the participant's designated beneficiary or, in the absence thereof, to his or her estate.
B. 
Notwithstanding any language in this article to the contrary, a vested benefit as described in this section is hereby authorized, provided that such vested benefit does not impair the actuarial soundness of the fund as determined by an actuary. Under the provisions of such benefit, should a police officer, before completing superannuation retirement age and service requirements but after having completed 12 years of total service, for any reason cease to be employed as a full-time police officer by the Township, he or she shall be entitled to vest his or her retirement benefits by filing with the Board of Supervisors within 90 days of the date he or she ceases to be a full-time police officer a written notice of his or her intention to vest. Upon reaching the date which would have been his or her superannuation retirement date if he or she had continued to be employed 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 until his or her superannuation retirement date to the gross pension established by § 25-9, using, however, the monthly average salary during the appropriate period prior to his or her termination of employment. Such pension or retirement benefits for any month shall be up to 1/2 the average monthly salary as set forth in § 25-9 to the extent necessary to bring the total benefits in any month up to his or her partial superannuation retirement allowance as outlined herein. It is the intent of this section to provide a vested benefit as and to the extent authorized by Act No. 1979-99.[1] Examples of vesting are as follows:
(1) 
Full retirement vesting. A person, age 30, begins to work for the Township. He or she must work for 25 years with the Township and be age 50 to vest and collect his or her pension of 50% of salary averaged over the last 60 months of employment. If his or her final sixty-month average salary was $1,000 per month, he or she would receive a pension of $500 per month.
(2) 
Twelve-year vesting. If this same police officer left the Township after 12 years of continuous service, he or she could vest in his or her accrued pension benefits. The accrued pension benefit is determined by taking the total number of years of service [12] and dividing by the total number of years he or she would have normally worked for full pension [25]. This fraction (12/25) is then applied against 50% of the police officer's average monthly salary over the last 60 months of employment. In this example, let us assume the final average to be $1,000 per month. This would result in an accrued pension benefit of $240 per month (12/25 1000/2). This $240 per month pension now becomes a liability to the pension fund since the police officer is not eligible to receive the pension until his or her normal retirement age of 50.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 771.
[Added 6-14-1989 by Ord. No. 3-89; amended 7-2-1991 by Ord. No. 4-91; 1-6-2003 by Ord. No. 2-03; 4-6-2010 by Ord. No. 2-10]
Any full-time police officer who is totally and permanently disabled from injuries incurred in service as a police officer of the Township shall be entitled to monthly disability benefits equal to 50% of the participant's monthly salary at the time of total and permanent disability. There shall be no offset of worker's compensation benefits. This disability benefit shall be subject to the Social Security offset established by Act 600, as amended by Act 30. Monthly disability payments shall commence upon the expiration of any payments under disability insurance provided by the Township or on the 121st day following the inception of such total and permanent disability, whichever occurs later.
[Added 6-14-1989 by Ord. No. 3-89; amended 1-6-2003 by Ord. No. 2-03; 4-6-2010 by Ord. No. 2-10]
A. 
Upon the death of a participant who is receiving a retirement benefit or upon the death of a participant who is eligible to receive retirement benefits (other than a participant who is killed in the performance of police duties), the surviving spouse shall be entitled, during his or her lifetime, to receive a pension equal to 50% of the pension the participant was receiving or would have been receiving had the participant been retired at the time of the participant's death. If there is no surviving spouse, or if the surviving spouse subsequently dies, then the child or children of the participant under the age of 18, or, if attending college, under the age of 23 years, shall be entitled to receive a pension equal to 50% of the pension the participant was receiving or would have been receiving had the participant been retired at the time of death. Such pension to the child or children shall continue until the child or children reach the age of 18 years or, if attending college, reach the age of 23 years.
B. 
For the purposes of this § 25-13 the phrase "attending college" shall mean the eligible child is registered at an accredited institution of higher learning and is carrying a minimum course load of seven credit hours per semester.
C. 
Participants who are killed in the line of service shall receive benefits pursuant to the Act of October 9, 2009 (P.L. ____, No. 51), which amended the Act of June 24, 1976 (P.L. 424, No. 101), referred to as the Emergency and Law Enforcement Personnel Death Benefits Act, as previously amended April 2, 2002 (P.L. 213, No. 20), October 6, 2005 (P.L. 319, No. 59) and July 2, 2007 (P.L. 68, No. 21).
[Added 12-1-1992 by Ord. No. 9-92]
On or after January 1, 1993, a participant may obtain full service credit for each year of military service or fraction thereof, not to exceed three years, for military service completed prior to employment of the participant by the Township as a full-time police officer. The amount due for the purchase of credit for military service other than intervening military service shall be computed by applying the average normal cost rate for borough and Township police pension plans as certified by the Public Employee Retirement Study Commission, but not to exceed 10%, to the participant's average annual rate of compensation over the first three years of municipal service and multiplying the result by the number of years and fractional part of a year of creditable nonintervening military service being purchased together with interest at the rate of 4.75%, compounded annually, from the date the participant became a full-time police officer of the Township to the date of payment for the purchase of such credit for military service. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a participant shall not be able to purchase credit for nonintervening military service if the participant is entitled to receive, eligible to receive now or in the future or is receiving retirement benefits for such service under a retirement system administered and wholly or partially paid for by any other government agency, with the exception of a participant eligible to receive or receiving military retirement pay earned by a combination of active duty and nonactive duty with a reserve or National Guard component of the armed forces, which retirement pay is payable only upon the attainment of a specified age and period of service under 10 U.S.C. Chapter 67.
The Police Pension Fund shall be maintained under the direction of the Board of Supervisors of this Township who shall act as trustees of the pension fund, and they shall have full responsibility for the administration of the program established hereunder and shall hold, invest, reinvest and distribute all funds or other property received pursuant hereto in trust for the purpose of this article. The Supervisors may receive at any time and from time to time gifts, grants, devises or bequests to the pension fund or any money or property, real or personal or mixed, to be held by them in trust for the benefit of the fund and in accordance with the provisions hereof. The Supervisors shall have full power and authority by a majority action of their members to do all acts, to execute, acknowledge and deliver all instruments and to exercise for the sole benefit of the participants hereunder any and all powers and discretions necessary to implement and effectuate the purpose of this article, including, for purposes of illustration but not limited to, any and all of the following:
A. 
To hold, invest and reinvest all funds received pursuant to this article in such legal investments as may be authorized as legal investments under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
B. 
To enter into contracts or deposit agreements on behalf of this Township with one or more banks, trust companies, savings and loan associations or insurance companies, in order to provide the pension and other benefits herein set forth, and to pay the premiums and deposits required by the purchase of said contracts.
C. 
To retain or purchase as an investment any form of annuity or contracts of similar nature and to exercise with respect thereto any right or incident of ownership.
D. 
To retain any property which may at any time become an asset of the fund, as long as said Supervisors may consider it advisable.
E. 
To make distribution of moneys in the fund, in accordance with the terms of this article.
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 or her designated beneficiary. No participant or his or her beneficiary shall have any right to alienate, encumber or assign any assets of the fund held by the Supervisors on his or her behalf or any of the benefits or payments or proceeds of any contract or agreement purchased or acquired by the Township hereunder. 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.
[Amended 5-6-1986 by Ord. No. 1-86]
All costs and expenses incurred in administering the Police Pension Fund, including but not limited to the compensation paid to an actuary and to any custodian or Trustee of the fund, may be paid from the assets of the Police Pension Fund.
[Added 12-2-2008 by Ord. No. 8-08; amended 9-1-2009 by Ord. No. 2-09; 12-5-2023 by Ord. No. 4-23]
A. 
Definitions. For the purposes of this § 25-16.1, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ASSOCIATION
The West Hempfield Township Police Association, the duly recognized collective bargaining unit representing all eligible full-time police officers of the West Hempfield Township Police Department.
BENEFICIARY or BENEFICIARIES
The individual or individuals identified by a DROP participant to receive the balance of such DROP participant's DROP account in the event of the death of the DROP participant during the DROP participation period.
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT
The applicable collective bargaining agreement then in effect between the Association and the Township.
DROP
Deferred Retirement Option Plan.
DROP ACCOUNT
A separate, interest-bearing, subsidiary participant account established for each DROP participant. DROP accounts shall be established as ledger accounts within the Township's pension trust fund, and shall be accounted for separately, but need not be physically segregated from other pension trust fund assets.
DROP NOTICE
The form prescribed by the Township and Association upon which a member or officer informs the Township of his or her irrevocable intent to participate in the DROP Program. Once submitted to the Township and approved by the Township, the DROP notice is irrevocable, except as otherwise provided herein.
DROP PARTICIPANT or PARTICIPANT
A member or officer who has properly submitted a DROP notice to participate in the DROP, which has been approved by the Township's Board of Supervisors, and who has commenced his or her DROP participation period.
DROP PARTICIPATION PERIOD
The period of time from the commencement of a participant's participation in the DROP as stated in the participant's DROP notice, which has been approved by the Township, until the participant's separation from employment as a police officer of West Hempfield Township (i.e., resignation date as defined below), which in no event shall exceed 36 months.
DROP PERIOD
The period of time during which a member or officer can participate in a DROP, which in no event shall exceed 36 months.
DROP PROGRAM
The program implemented by the Township and Association pursuant to which members of the Township's Police Department may establish DROP accounts while continuing to provide police service for the Township as described herein. The DROP Program is an integral component of the plan.
MEMBER or OFFICER
A duly sworn full-time police officer employed by the Township.
PENSION PLAN
The West Hempfield Township Police Pension Plan.
RESIGNATION DATE
The date specified in the participant's irrevocable DROP notice approved by the Township on which the participant shall resign from employment with the West Hempfield Township Police, which shall be no more than 36 months from the commencement of the participant's DROP participation period.
RETIREMENT DATE
The day before the commencement of the DROP participation period.
TOWNSHIP
The Township of West Hempfield, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, including its elected and appointed officials.
B. 
Eligibility. Any officer who has fulfilled the age and service requirements for normal retirement under the plan shall be eligible to participation in the DROP Program after providing at least 30 days' written notice to the Township.
C. 
Election to participate in DROP Program.
(1) 
DROP notice. An officer electing to participate in the DROP must complete and execute a DROP notice. The DROP notice shall include irrevocable notice to the Township that the officer shall resign from employment with the West Hempfield Township Police Department effective on a specific date (the resignation date), which shall be no more than 36 months from the commencement of the officer's DROP participation period. The DROP notice shall detail a DROP participant's rights and obligations under the DROP Program, and include an agreement by the participant to forgo: a) active participation in the plan; b) any growth in the salary base used for calculating the normal retirement benefit under the plan; and c) any additional benefit accrual for retirement purposes, including length-of-service increments.
(2) 
Submission of DROP notice. The DROP notice must be submitted to the Township at least 30 days' prior to the date on which the officer wishes to commence the DROP participation period, which shall be specified on the DROP notice. Once an officer submits a DROP notice to the Township, the officer's resignation date shall be irrevocable. Once an officer commences participation in the DROP, the officer may not choose to end participation in the DROP and resume contributions to the pension plan. An officer electing DROP participation must also complete any and all retirement documents required by the Pension Plan Administrator.
D. 
Retirement status and pension contribution.
(1) 
Status under pension plan. For purposes of calculating pension benefits, an officer's retirement date under the pension plan shall be the day before the effective date of the officer's DROP participation period.
(a) 
For all pension plan purposes, continuous service of an officer participating in the DROP Program shall remain as it existed on the participant's retirement date. Service thereafter shall not be recognized or used for the calculation or determination of any benefits payable by the pension plan.
(b) 
The average monthly compensation of the participant for pension calculation purposes shall remain as it existed on the participant's retirement date. 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 monthly pension benefit payable to the members shall increase only as a result of cost-of-living adjustments required by the Police Pension Plan.
(2) 
Officer pension contributions. Once an officer's DROP participation period commences, the officer shall not be required to make any contributions to the pension plan.
(3) 
Accrual of non-pension benefits. A DROP participant shall continue to receive all other employee benefits and programs as set forth in the collective bargaining agreement, with the exception of vacation. Vacation accrual shall be frozen at the days accrued as of the date the DROP participation period commences.
E. 
DROP account.
(1) 
Benefit accrual. The monthly retirement benefit that would have been payable had the participant elected to cease employment and receive a normal retirement benefit, and interest thereon, shall be credited to the participant's DROP account in the pension plan trust fund.
(2) 
Interest rate. Interest shall be compounded and credited monthly at the actual rate earned by the DROP account and shall not be less than 0% and no more than 4.5%.
(3) 
Access to DROP benefits. A participant may not draw from the participant's DROP account during the DROP participation period. Participants shall not have the option of self-directed investment of their DROP account.
F. 
DROP termination.
(1) 
Early resignation. A DROP participant may change the participant's resignation date to an earlier date, and no penalty shall be imposed for early termination of DROP participation.
(2) 
Separation of employment. Upon the participant's resignation date, including an early resignation, the participant shall be separated from employment with the Township.
(3) 
No re-enrollment. A DROP participant shall be ineligible to re-enroll in the DROP Program thereafter, even if the former participant is reemployed by the Township with renewed active membership in the pension plan.
G. 
Payment of DROP benefits. Upon a participant's resignation date, including an early resignation, participation in the DROP shall cease and the pension plan shall calculate and pay to the participant the total accumulated DROP benefits in the participant's DROP account.
(1) 
Payout election. The DROP participant or, if deceased, the participant's beneficiary, shall elect on a form provided by the pension plan to receive payment of the DROP benefits in accordance with one of the following options:
(a) 
The balance in the DROP participant's DROP account, less withholding taxes, if any, remitted to the Internal Revenue Service, shall be paid within 45 days by the pension plan to the DROP participant or beneficiary.
(b) 
The balance in the DROP participant's DROP 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 DROP 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).
(2) 
Failure to elect. If the DROP participant or beneficiary fails to make an election within 60 days of the participant's resignation date, the pension plan shall pay the balance as a lump sum as provided in § 25-16.1G(1)(a).
(3) 
Compliance with Internal Revenue Code. The form of payment selected by the DROP participant or beneficiary shall comply with the minimum distribution requirements of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
H. 
Disability during DROP participation period.
(1) 
Temporary disability or incapacitation. If a DROP participant is temporarily incapacitated due to a service-connected injury during the DROP participation period, the participant shall continue to participate in the DROP Program as if fully employed. The participant shall receive disability pay in the same amount as disabled officers that are not participating in the DROP Program. In no event shall a participant on temporary disability have the ability to draw from the participant's DROP account. If a participant is disabled and has not returned to work as of the date of the participant's resignation date, then such resignation shall take precedence over all other provisions herein, and the participant shall be required to resign.
(2) 
Total and permanent disability. If a DROP participant is totally and permanently disabled due to a service-connected injury during the DROP participation period, and the participant becomes eligible for a service-connected disability pension, the participant shall be retired. Participation in the DROP Program shall terminate, and the officer shall receive normal retirement benefits under the plan in the amount calculated when the officer become a DROP participant. The officer shall not be entitled to any other disability payment or monthly disability pension benefit from the Township or the plan.
I. 
Death during DROP participation period.
(1) 
Named beneficiary. If a DROP participant dies during the DROP participation period, the participant's beneficiary shall be entitled to apply for and receive the benefits accrued in the participant's subsidiary DROP participant account.
(2) 
Final benefit. The monthly retirement benefit accrued in the DROP account during the month of a DROP participant's death shall be the final monthly retirement benefit credited for DROP participation.
(3) 
Termination of DROP participation. A participant's eligibility to participate in the DROP terminates upon the death of the participant. If a participant dies on or after the effective date of participation in the DROP, but before the monthly retirement benefit of the participant accruable for the month has accrued in the DROP account, the Township shall pay the monthly retirement benefits as though the participant had not elected DROP participation and had died after the participant's effective date of retirement, but before receipt of the retired participant's first regular retirement benefit.
(4) 
Survivors ineligible for active member death benefit. Except for those benefits specifically payable as a result of death incurred in the course of performing a hazardous public duty, the survivors of a DROP participant who dies shall not be eligible to receive pension plan death benefits payable in the event of the death of an active member (to the extent such death benefits exist under the pension plan at the time of a participant's death). For purposes of pension benefits, a DROP participant ceases to be an active member on the officer's retirement date.
(5) 
Survivors eligible for retired member's death benefit. A DROP participant's survivor shall be eligible to receive pension plan death benefits normally payable in the event of the death of a retired member.
J. 
Taxation, attachment and assignment of DROP benefits.
(1) 
Exemption from tax, levy, and garnishment. Except as provided in § 25-16.1J(2) and (3) below, the right of a DROP participant to any benefit or right accrued or accruing under the provisions of this section and the moneys in the participant's DROP account are exempt from any state or municipal tax, levy and sale, garnishment, attachment, spouse's election or any other process whatsoever.
(2) 
Forfeiture of DROP benefits. Rights under this section shall be subject to forfeiture as provided by the act of July 8, 1978 (P.L. 752, No. 140), known as the Public Employee Pension Forfeiture Act, 43 P.S. §§ 1311 through 1314. Forfeitures under this subsection or under any other provision of law may not be applied to increase the benefits that any DROP participant otherwise would receive under this section.
(3) 
Attachment under qualified domestic relations order. Rights under this section shall be subject to attachment in favor of an alternate payee as set forth in a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO).
K. 
Costs to participants. The Association and the Township agree that any costs or fees associated with the operation and administration of the DROP Program shall be paid directly from the Police Pension Fund and not by the Township.
L. 
Interpretation of provisions.
(1) 
Governing law. The provisions of this section shall be interpreted under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
(2) 
Continuation of DROP. This section, except as it revises the West Hempfield Township Deferred Retirement Option Plan, is intended as a continuation of that plan.
(3) 
Pension benefits. Nothing provided hereunder shall be construed as a change to the parties' practice of calculating pensionable compensation, and except for the ability to establish a DROP account and participate in the DROP Program, nothing herein is intended to create new pension benefits of any kind which did not exist as of December 31, 2008.
(4) 
Employment rights and obligations. Nothing provided hereunder shall guarantee any officer or DROP participant a specific term of employment. Except as provided in this section, all DROP participants shall be considered to be employees of the Township and subject to the same terms and conditions of employment, policies, directives, orders, rules, regulations and disciplinary procedures as other officers and members who are not DROP participants. An officer's election to participate in the DROP Program shall in no way be construed as a limitation on the Township's right to suspend or terminate the officer for just cause or to grant the officer an honorable discharge based upon a physical or mental inability to perform the officer's duties.
(5) 
Headings. Headings of sections and paragraphs of this instrument are inserted for convenience of reference. They constitute no part of this plan and are not to be considered in the construction thereof.
M. 
Amendment. Any amendments to the DROP Program shall be consistent with the provisions covering Deferred Retirement Option Plans set forth in any applicable collective bargaining agreement and shall be binding upon all future DROP participants and upon all DROP participants who have balances in their DROP accounts. The DROP Program may only be amended by a written instrument, signed by an authorized representative of the Township and the Association, not by any oral agreement or past practice.
N. 
Severability. In the event any provision, section, sentence, clause or part of this section shall be held to be invalid, illegal, or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, such invalidity, illegality, or unconstitutionality shall not affect or impair the remaining provisions, sections, sentences, clauses or parts of this section, it being the intent of the Board of Supervisors that the remainder of this section shall be and shall remain in full force and effect.