[Adopted 12-20-2006 by Ord. No. 6-2006]
There is hereby established in the Township a police pension
plan for the benefit of full-time police officers of the Township.
The Police Pension Plan shall be known as the "Silver Spring Township
Police Pension Plan" (the "Plan").
A.
The Silver Spring Township Police Pension Fund (the "Fund") shall
be created and maintained in the following manner:
(1)
All funds on deposit and held for the pension or retirement benefits
of Township police officers shall continue to be part of the Fund
created hereby, subject to any liabilities which may exist against
such Fund.
(2)
The allocation by the Board of payments made by the Treasurer of
the Commonwealth from monies received from taxes paid upon premiums
by foreign casualty insurance companies and foreign fire insurance
companies pursuant to the General Municipal Pension System State Aid
Program shall be held in the Fund.
(3)
Payments made by contributions of the police officers in accordance
with the Plan, as may be in effect from time to time, shall be held
in the Fund.
(4)
Payments made by other gifts, grants, devises or bequests made to
the Fund shall be held therein.
(5)
Such other payments as may, from time to time, be made by the Board
to the Fund from the general revenue of the Township shall be held
in the Fund.
B.
All such payments received shall be deemed to be part of the Fund
and shall not be applied to any other account or disbursed in any
manner except as provided herein.
C.
Payments required under the Plan shall be a charge only upon the
Fund and not upon other monies or funds of the Township.
A.
The amounts of the payments made by the Treasurer of the Commonwealth
from monies received from taxes paid upon premiums by foreign casualty
insurance companies and foreign fire insurance companies, which are
determined by the Board to be deposited in the Fund, shall be used
and applied as follows:
(1)
To pay expenses incurred for the administration of the Fund and the
Plan;
(2)
To reduce any unfunded liability, defined as the present value of
liability of the Fund on account of retirement benefits payable under
this article to members of the Township Police Department for service
prior to the date upon which they first made contribution to the Plan,
offset by the value of any assets in the Fund; or after such liability
has been funded;
(3)
To apply against the annual obligation of the Township for future
service cost, defined as the amount of money required to be contributed
annually into the Fund on account of benefits payable under the Plan
to members of the Township Police Department for service subsequent
to the date of establishment of the Plan; or to the extent that the
payment made be in excess of such obligation;
(4)
To reduce member contributions.
B.
Any other monies paid into the Fund shall be applied equally against
the member and Township contributions for future service cost.
The Fund shall be deposited with and invested by a corporate
custodian designated by the Board, which shall carry out its responsibilities
in accordance with the terms of the custodial agreement, and further
subject to such investment policy and guidance as the Board shall,
from time to time, give to the custodian for the investment of the
Fund assets.
The Plan shall cover all full-time members of the Township Police
Department (the "member"). Every full-time police officer employed
by the Township shall, upon commencement of his employment, be a member
covered under the Plan and entitled to the benefits provided hereunder,
provided the member agrees to make the required member contributions.
[Amended 5-22-2013 by Ord. No. 3-2013]
The normal retirement date for a member shall be the day the
member attains 50 years of age and completes 25 years of service.
The basic monthly pension benefit shall be 1/2 of the monthly
average salary of such member during the last 36 months of employment.
The monthly pension shall be payable during the lifetime of the member
with payments ceasing upon the member's death.
The following benefits shall be in addition to the basic benefits as provided in § 49-23 above:
A.
Length of service increment. A retired member shall receive as additional
pension the sum of $20 per month for each year of the retiree's full-time
service in the Township Police Department beyond 25 years of such
full-time service, but in no case shall such additional amount exceed
$100 per month regardless of the number of years of service.
B.
Cost-of -living increase. An annual cost-of-living increment shall
be provided to each retired member in the amount of 3% of the retired
member's original pension, provided that said increment shall not
exceed the percentage increase of the Consumer Price Index during
the preceding calendar year; and provided, further, that:
C.
"Consumer Price Index" shall mean the Consumer Price Index published
by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (CPI-W) of the United States Department
of Labor for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers for All Items
(CPI-W) — U.S. City average of shall mean the successor thereto.
If the Consumer Price Index is converted to a different standard reference
base or otherwise revised, the determination of such cost-of-living
increase shall be made with the use of such conversion factor, formula
or table for converting the Consumer Price Index as may be published
by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, or if the Bureau should fail to
publish the same, then with the use of such conversion factor, formula
or table for converting the Consumer Price Index as may be published
by Prentice Hall, Inc., or any other nationally recognized publisher
of similar statistical information.
A.
A Member may, upon application, or upon application of one acting
on his/her behalf, be retired on a disability pension before his/her
superannuation date, if a physician designated by the Board, after
medical examination at the Member's residence or other place mutually
agreed upon, certifies that the cause of such disability arose in
the course of and as a result of the Member's employment, that the
Member is unable to perform the duties of a police officer and that
said Member ought to be retired.
B.
The disability benefit shall be equal to 50% of the Member's salary
at the time the disability was incurred.
C.
Should a Member while retired on disability die before the total
disability allowance actually received by such Member is at least
equal to the amount of the accumulated retirement deductions at the
time of disability retirement, the Board shall pay to the Member's
named beneficiary, or his/her estate of no beneficiary is designated,
an amount equal to the difference between such total retirement allowance
actually received by such Member and the Member's accumulated retirement
deductions.
An early retirement benefit as authorized by Act 24 of 1998, codified as 53 P.S. § 771(i), shall be available to a Member regardless of age, with 20 or more years of continuous service who terminates employment prior to the completion of superannuation retirement age and service increments set forth in § 49-22 above and who files a written application for an early retirement benefit to the Board. The early retirement benefit shall become effective as of the date the application is filed with the Board or the date designated on the application, whichever is later, and shall be the actuarial equivalent of a partial superannuation retirement benefit calculated as follows:
A.
A partial superannuation retirement benefit shall be determined by
applying the percentage that the Member's years of service bear to
the years of service that the Member would have rendered had the Member
continued to be employed until his superannuation retirement date
to the gross pension amount calculated using the monthly average salary
during the appropriate period prior to his termination of employment.
B.
The actuarial equivalent of the partial superannuation retirement
benefit shall be determined by actuarially reducing the partial superannuation
retirement benefit to reflect that it will commence on the effective
date of the early retirement rather than on the date on which the
Member would have completed superannuation age and service requirements.
The actuarial reduction shall be calculated using the actuarial assumptions
reported in the last actuarial valuation report filed with the Public
Employee Retirement Commission under the Act of December 18, 1984
(P.L. 1005, No. 205), known as the "Municipal Pension Plan Funding
Standard and Recovery Act" or "Act 205," 53 P.S. § 895.101
et seq.
[Amended 5-26-2010 by Ord. No. 6-2010]
Upon the death of a retired Member, or upon the death of an
active Member who was eligible for retirement at the time of death,
the surviving spouse, or the surviving children of the Member under
the age of 18 years, or if attending college, as defined by Act 600,
as amended, under or attaining the age of 23 years in absence of a
surviving spouse, shall receive a pension equal to 1/2 of the pension
which such retired Member was receiving or which such active Member
was eligible to receive if he had been retired at the time of death.
All Members of the Township Police Department shall pay into
the Fund monthly, 5% of their gross monthly compensation, inclusive
of overtime payments. Said payments shall be made by each Member of
said Police Department during such periods of time as required by
the Board.
The Board may, by resolution on an annual basis, reduce or eliminate
payments into the Fund by Members.
If a Member before reaching his normal retirement date and having
completed 12 years of total service, for any reason ceases to be a
Member of the Township Police Department, he/she shall be entitled
to vest his/her retirement benefits until his/her normal retirement
date by filing with the Board a written notice of his/her intention
to vest, within 90 days of the date of his/her termination. Upon reaching
the date which he/she would have been eligible for retirement if he/she
had continued to be employed as a full-time police officer, he/she
shall be paid a partial retirement benefit determined by applying
the percentage his/her years of service bears to the years of service
which he/she would have rendered had he/she continued to work until
his/her normal retirement date to the gross pension which he/she would
have earned had he/she continued as a full-time police officer to
his/her normal retirement date, using, however, the monthly average
salary during the appropriate period to his/her termination of employment.
A.
Upon termination of full-time employment before completion of 12
years of service or upon death of a police officer before commencement
of monthly pension benefits where a survivor's benefit is not payable,
a refund shall be made of any monies paid by such officer, with interest.
The rate of interest shall be 5% per annum. In the case of death,
such refund shall be paid to his/her beneficiary, or, in the absence
of such designation, to his/her estate.
B.
Should a police officer die before he/she, his/her surviving spouse
or his/her children under the age of 18 years, or if attending college,
as defined by Act 600, as amended, under or attaining the age 23 years
have received his/her total contributions to the Fund accumulated
with interest or other such increases in value of the Member's investment
in the Fund, then such remaining amount shall be paid to his/her beneficiary
or his/her estate.
A.
Any employee employed as a Member of the police force who has been
a regularly appointed employee for a period of at least six months
and who thereafter enters into the military service of the United
States shall receive credit for all such military service, if he returns
to employment with the Township within six months after his separation
from military service.
B.
Further, any employee who entered into the military service of the
United States before employment with the Township shall receive credit
for each year of military service or fraction thereof for a period
not to exceed five years. Such service shall not be credited if the
employee fails to make the required payment. The required payment
for such crediting shall be computed by (a) applying the lesser of
10% or the average normal cost rate for borough and Township police
pension plans as certified by the Public Employee Retirement Study
Commission to the employee's average annual rate of compensation over
the first three years of service and (b) multiplying the result by
the number of years and fractional parts of years of creditable nonintervening
military service being purchased together with interest at the rate
of 4.75% compounded annually from the date of employment to the date
of payment, as provided under Act 600, 53 P.S. § 770(b).
C.
No service shall be credited under this section if the employee is
entitled to receive retirement benefits for such service under a retirement
system administered and wholly or partially paid for by any other
governmental agency with the exception of an employee eligible to
receive 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 attainment of a specified
age and period of service under 10 U.S.C. Ch 67.
The retirement benefits provided herein shall not be reduced
by any Social Security payments received by a Member or to which said
Member is entitled.
All payments under the Plan shall be, to the fullest extent
permitted by law, free and clear of any debts, contracts, engagements,
anticipations or liability to levy, attachment, execution or sequestration
against the recipient, and shall not be subject to sale, assignment,
transfer, claim, judgment or bankruptcy proceedings against the recipient
of such payments, whether voluntary or involuntary.
[Added 5-22-2013 by Ord.
No. 3-2013]
A.
Composition. The Silver Spring Township Police Pension Board (the
"Police Pension Board") shall consist of three members appointed by
the Board of Supervisors on an annual basis, at least one of whom
shall be a duly elected or appointed Supervisor serving in such position
and at least one of whom shall be a full time Police Officer of Silver
Spring Township. The third member of the Police Pension Board shall
be a resident of Silver Spring Township selected by the Board of Supervisors
and will serve at the pleasure of the Board of Supervisors.
B.
Power and duties. The powers and duties of the Police Pension Board
shall be to serve as an advisory board to the Board of Supervisors
with regard to management of the Police Pension Fund, including the
investment of the funds of the Police Pension Plan. The Police Pension
Board shall also perform such other duties relating to the Police
Pension Plan as may be assigned to it from time to time by the Board
of Supervisors.
The Plan and Fund established by this article may be discontinued,
modified, altered, terminated or repealed according to law by Ordinance.
Any and all Ordinances and/or Resolutions heretofore enacted
by the Township providing for pension and/or retirement benefits for
police officers of the Township are hereby repealed, and any Ordinance,
Resolution or any part thereof conflicting with the provisions of
this article shall be, and the same are hereby repealed, insofar as
the same affects this article. Any Member of the police force who
shall have terminated employment before the effective date of this
article, and any dependent or beneficiary shall be entitled to the
benefits, if any, they were previously receiving.
