The following terms as used in this chapter,
unless a different meaning is plainly required by the context, shall
have the meanings indicated:
PAY
The salary or wages of an employee for his services with
the City, including all grants and allowances for maintenance at such
figures as may be determined by the Pension Board, but regardless of any general temporary increase or reduction
thereof.
PENSION
A payment made to an employee according to the provisions
of this chapter, other than a return of contributions.
REGULAR INTEREST
Interest at the rate determined from time to time by the
Pension Board.
RETIREMENT FUND
The fund derived from contributions made as herein provided
for the payment of pensions to City employees retired under this chapter.
RETIREMENT SYSTEM
The plan for retirement of City employees as established
by this chapter.
The terms of this chapter shall apply to all
regular full-time employees, including elected or appointed officials,
of the City of Meriden and all employees of the school, provided that
said terms shall not apply to members of the State Teachers' Retirement
Association nor to teachers who were at any time eligible for membership
therein, nor shall the terms of this chapter apply to regular firemen
or policemen. Regular full-time employees shall be deemed to be those
whose principal employment is by the City of Meriden and whose employment
required continuous service to the City of Meriden for at least 30
hours per week for at least nine months of a year or for at least
20 hours per week for 12 months of a year during the City's usual
business hours. Completed months' service shall be considered as fractional
parts of a year.
A. Each eligible employee in the service of the City
on July 1, 1972, shall be required to participate in the retirement
system, unless within the three months next following he shall notify
the Pension Board in writing of his intention not to participate in
the system. If such employee gives notice of his intention not to
participate, he shall not thereafter be admitted to the retirement
system unless he makes a new application to participate within two
years after July 1, 1972, and he shall then be admitted only with
the unanimous consent of the Pension Board after having passed a prescribed
physical examination and upon payment of an amount equal to the contributions
he would have been required to make, with regular interest compounded
annually.
B. Each eligible employee not over 55 years of age who
shall enter the service of the City at any time after July 1, 1972,
shall, at the beginning of his employment, be required to participate
in the retirement system, and such participation shall be a condition
of his continued employment, provided that an elected or appointed
official shall not be required to participate in the retirement system
if, within three months following the effective date of his election
or appointment, he notifies the Pension Board in writing of his intention
not to participate.
C. Participation in the retirement system shall not be
a condition of the continued employment of an employee over 55 years
of age entering the service of the City at any time after July 1,
1972, but such employee may elect, upon the beginning of his employment,
to participate in the retirement system, and, failing to elect at
that time, he shall not thereafter be admitted to the retirement system
unless he makes a new application to participate within the two years
next following, and then only with the unanimous consent of the Pension
Board after having passed a prescribed physical examination and upon
payment of the amount he would have been required to contribute to
the retirement system during the interim, with regular interest thereon
compounded annually.
D. All pensions payable to former employees who have
been retired shall be assumed by the retirement system and paid thereafter
from its funds.
E. Eligible employees not now participating in the retirement
system in accordance with the aforementioned or previous conditions
shall be given the opportunity as of July 1, 1989, to become members
of the plan and buy back up to 50% of their past service or 10 years,
whichever is greater. The Board shall have the authority to establish
a reasonable period of time during which such buyback payments may
be made. It shall establish a schedule of payments based on the amounts
involved and the pay schedule of the employee, as it may deem appropriate.
The City of Meriden shall be liable to the Pension
Board for such an amount on account of future pensions representing
service of employees covered by this chapter rendered prior to the
inception of the retirement system as shall be determined by the Board
on sound actuarial principles. In lieu of full payment initially of
such an amount, the City shall pay periodically such amounts as the
Pension Board determines are necessary to discharge such liability
over a definite period not exceeding 40 years. The City shall also
pay annually to the Pension Board such amounts as are determined by
the Pension Board on sound actuarial principles to be necessary, in
addition to contributions of the employees, to provide future pensions
on account of service rendered by employees subsequent to the date
upon which each shall begin participation in the retirement system.
Any member of the retirement system who has completed 10 years of service as an employee of the City of Meriden and who has attained the age of 65 years or who has any combination of years of service and age equaling 80 (Rule of 80) with a minimum of 10 years of service shall be eligible for normal retirement under the provisions of this chapter. Any such member may retire from service by filing with the Pension Board a written statement, duly attested, setting forth at what time subsequent to the date of filing thereof, but not less than 60 days subsequent to such date, he desires to be retired, or the Pension Board may, at its option, upon a showing of just cause, retire any such eligible member, other than an elected official or employee in the employ of the City of Meriden on September 1, 1957, by furnishing him written notice thereof at least 60 days in advance of the specified date of retirement. Any member not retiring when he is first eligible shall continue to be a participant, shall continue to make contributions and shall accrue additional benefits subject to the maximum pension determined in accordance with §
35-7 hereof.
A. Any member of the retirement system who, after 10
years of continuous service as an employee of the City of Meriden,
shall be totally and permanently disabled, except as a result of his
own willful misconduct, from earning compensation at any substantially
gainful employment, as such employment shall be determined by the
Board in its discretion, may be retired for disability in accordance
with the provisions of this chapter, whether or not such disability
resulted from injuries arising out of and in the course of his employment
with said City, provided that proof of total disability is submitted
to the Pension Board, which shall cause examinations to be made by
at least two impartial medical examiners, and provided that such total
disability, if shown to the satisfaction of the Pension Board to have
been sustained during the performance of essential duties pertaining
to his employment by the City of Meriden, shall entitle such member
to retirement for disability irrespective of the duration of his employment,
and, in computing his pension, credit for 10 years' service shall
be used if employed less than that number of years.
B. "Continuous service," for the purpose of this section,
shall mean uninterrupted employment, but absence from employment for
any reason followed by reinstatement within one year thereafter shall
not be considered as breaking the continuity of the employee's service.
In the case of absence from employment for more than one year, the
Pension Board shall determine the period within which the employee
may return without breaking the continuity of his service. Reinstatement
of an employee in the retirement system shall be conditioned upon
such medical examination as the Pension Board may prescribe and upon
payment to the retirement fund of contributions previously withdrawn,
together with such an amount as will establish the proper actuarial
reserve for that portion of the annuity reinstated which was represented
by the contributions previously withdrawn.
C. In computing years of service to determine eligibility
for retirement, no year shall be included in which the employee has
not been in actual service. Time spent as a member of any of the various
boards or in any capacity rendering incidental service to the City
of Meriden shall not be included. Time spent under leave of absence
in the military or naval forces of the United States in time of war
or for compulsory service in the military or naval forces of the United
States in time of peace shall be included, provided that the employee
has received an honorable discharge or certificate of satisfactory
completion of service and has been reemployed by the City of Meriden
within 90 days after such discharge or completion of service.
D. No employee who has been eligible for benefits under,
but has made no contributions to, any other retirement system of the
City of Meriden shall receive credit hereunder for the period of service
represented by employment during the time such other system was in
effect, unless he pays to the Pension Board an amount equal to the
contributions required by such other retirement system, subject to
such rules and regulations as the Board shall prescribe.
All moneys received by any member as an award under the Workers' Compensation Act, except as provided in Section 8 of Number 532 of the Special Acts of 1957, as amended in §
35-3, shall be deducted from any concurrent payments provided under this chapter.
No action for amounts due under the provisions
of this chapter shall be brought except within three years after the
right of action accrues. Persons legally incapable of bringing an
action when the right accrues may sue at any time within the three
years next after becoming legally capable of instituting suit. All
amounts not claimed within said period shall remain absolutely a part
of the retirement fund.
The right of any person to a pension or to the
return of contributions, any benefit or right accruing to any person
under the provisions of this chapter, and the cash and securities
held under this chapter shall be exempt from any state or municipal
tax and exempt from levy and sale, garnishment, attachment or any
other process and shall be unassignable.
The Pension Board shall, on or before April
1 of each year, file with the City Council an annual report showing
the financial condition of the retirement system as of the end of
the last completed fiscal year, including an actuarial valuation of
assets and liabilities and setting forth such other facts, recommendations
and data as may be of value to the members of the Pension Board and
the City of Meriden.
This chapter shall take effect July 1, 1972.
Benefits paid under this plan shall be effective as to all employees
who have retired from the City of Meriden during and after the calendar
year of 1972 and who were members of the pension plan in effect at
the time of their retirement.
Any person employed by the City of Meriden on
the effective date of this chapter and covered by the retirement system
established under Number 532 of the Special Acts of 1957, as revised
by the State Legislature June 1961, may, within six months of said
effective date, elect to accept the benefits of said Act as it existed
prior to said date or as amended by the provisions of this chapter.