The City of Pittston may, under the provisions of the Act of
May 23, 1945, P.L. 903, as amended, an Act authorizing cities of the third class to establish
an optional retirement system for officers and employees, create and
hereby does create an Officers and Employees Retirement System, under
the conditions and subject to the qualifications following.
The following words and phrases, unless a different meaning
is plainly required by the context, shall have the following meanings:
BOARD
Officers and Employees Retirement Board.
EMPLOYEE
A person in the service of the City, who is either or who
is not now adequately protected under all circumstances by pensions
authorized by the laws of this commonwealth and in force at the time
of the passage of this article.
FUND
Officers and Employees Retirement Fund.
HE
The masculine and feminine pronouns.
JOINT COVERAGE MEMBER OF THE RETIREMENT SYSTEM
A City employee who shall have become a member of the retirement
system subsequent to the last date permitted by such City for statement
of preference concerning social security coverage or who, having become
a member on or before such date, shall have filed with the Retirement
Board a written statement that he or she elects social security coverage
under an agreement with the Federal Secretary of Health, Education
and Welfare entered into by the commonwealth.
OFFICER
A person elected or appointed to City service.
PENSION CALCULATION
The employee pension shall be calculated using the monthly
or five-year average salary as follows:
[Amended 12-12-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-3]
A.
MONTHLYAny employee who retires during the course of any year shall do so effective the 1st of the month. He/she can use the monthly taxable wages (as defined in this section) paid during the last calendar month prior to retiring for pension calculation.
B.
FIVE-YEAR AVERAGEAn employee who for some unforeseen reason is at a lower pay scale than at some time in his/her career with the City has the option of using the average salary (as defined in this section) of the five highest years of employment with the City.
PERSON
An officer or employee of the City.
SALARY
The definition of the term "salary" shall be either of the
following two definitions:
[Amended 12-12-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-3]
A.
MONTHLY SALARYThe total taxable amount paid to an employee during any calendar month. This would include the regular fixed scheduled salary (all W-2 wages), but specifically excludes other taxable pay such as vacation buyback, sick day buyback, compensatory pay and personal leave pay.
B.
FIVE-YEAR AVERAGE EARNINGSThe average of the highest five years of annual earnings as taken from the employee's W-2 wages less any vacation buyback, sick day buyback, compensatory pay and personal leave pay.
SINGLE COVERAGE MEMBER OF THE RETIREMENT SYSTEM
A City employee who shall have become a member of the retirement
system on or before the last date permitted by such City for statement
or preference concerning social security coverage and who either shall
have filed with the Retirement Board a written statement that he or
she does not elect social security coverage under any agreement with
the Federal Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare entered into
by the commonwealth or shall not have filed with the Retirement Board
any written statement.
VESTING
The twelve-year vesting in §
68-4E will extend to all sections which previously required 20 years for vesting and vesting-type benefits.
YEARS OF SERVICE
Includes any time, not exceeding six years, spent by the
employee on active duty with the armed forces of the United States,
providing that he received an honorable discharge or a certificate
of satisfactory service and he pays to the Board an amount equal to
3% of his last monthly salary or wage prior to entering on active
duty for each month he is not employed by the City because of his
active duty with the armed forces.
[Amended 12-12-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-3; 3-19-2014 by Ord. No.
2014-4]
A. Establishment. The Nonuniform Pension Fund shall be under the direction
and control of a Board of Managers, composed of both voting and nonvoting
members.
B. Composition:
(1) Five
voting members, to include:
(b) One
member of the City Council;
(d) Two
members of the nonuniformed departments and offices, to be chosen
by the members of the nonuniformed offices and departments contributing
to the retirement fund, of which there shall be no more than one member
from a particular office or department; and
(2) Three
nonvoting, ex officio members:
(a) The
Superintendent of the Streets and Sanitation Department;
(b) The
Treasurer/Tax Collector; and
(c) A
representative of the administrative departments and offices selected
by the City Administrator.
C. Method of
appointment.
(1) City
Council member. The City Council shall designate its member by resolution.
(2) Nonuniformed
departments and offices members. Of the first Managers so chosen by
the nonuniformed offices and departments, one shall be chosen for
a term of two years and one for a term of four years. Biennially thereafter,
one Manager shall be chosen for a term of four years to take the place
of the Manager whose term expires. In the case of a vacancy among
the Managers chosen by the members of the nonuniformed offices and
departments, a successor shall be chosen by such members for the remainder
of the unexpired term.
[Added 12-12-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-3]
A. The Board may, subject to the approval required under Subsection
B, increase the compensation of any member of the fund by reason of and after the termination of the services of such member of the fund. Such increases shall be in conformity with a uniform scale, which shall be based on the consumer price index for all urban consumers calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor, but the total of any such allowance shall not at any time exceed 1/2 of the current salary being paid to nonuniformed employees of the highest pay grade.
B. The Board may recommend the increase described in Subsection
A to the City Council at any time. Provided that the provisions of Section 305 of the Act of December 18, 1984 (P.L. 1005, No. 205), known as the "Municipal Pension Plan Funding Standard and Recovery Act," have been satisfied, the Council, by ordinance, may approve
this increase; subject, however, to the approval of the Mayor.
No person holding a position in any City as an employee, at
a per diem wage, shall be compelled to pay or contribute toward the
fund herein provided for, but he shall have the option or choice of
so doing, and shall only, upon electing to contribute to the fund,
become entitled to the compensation provided by this article; provided,
however, that he shall be required to contribute 3% of his wages and
the same percentage upon any amount of compensation he receives after
his retirement.
All officers and employees, except elected officers, eligible
for full pension hereunder shall retire at the age of 70 years.
The head of every department and office employing persons entitled
under the provisions of this article to receive compensation shall
certify to the Board all persons so employed, and the amount of salary
or wages which are paid to said employed, together with dismissals,
resignations or terminations of service, and from the records of their
office or department shall furnish such other relative information
as the Board shall require.
The Council of the City of Pittston shall annually set aside,
apportion and appropriate out of all taxes and income of such City
unto the Board a sum sufficient to maintain the compensation due under
this article and any additional amount deemed necessary to provide
sufficient funds for payments to widowers of members retired on pension
or killed in the service.
The time of service herein specified shall be computed from
the time of the first or original service to the City and need not
be continuous. No compensation shall be paid under the provisions
of this article, however, until after January 1, 1977.
The compensation herein mentioned shall not be subject to attachment
or execution and shall be payable only to the beneficiary designed
by this article and shall not be subject to assignment or transfer.
[Amended 3-19-2014 by Ord. No. 2014-4]
Payments of pensions under this article shall not be a charge
on any fund in the treasury of the City or under its control, save
the Nonuniform Pension Fund provided for in this article. The City
Council shall, upon recommendation of the Board of Managers, and in
accordance with Act 44 of 2009, appoint a trustee by resolution for the Nonuniform Pension
Plan to receive from the City any allocation received by the City
of Pittston from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, from the City of
Pittston itself, from nonuniformed employees and from gifts, grants,
devises or bequests made pursuant to this article and shall invest
such funds in the manner it deems beneficial to the fund so as to
provide retirement and other benefits as shall be required by the
laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and this article where it
shall be established from time to time by resolution of the City Council.