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.
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.
[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).
[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.
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.
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.