[Ord. No. 28, 10/10/1978, § 1]
The Township of Sugarloaf does hereby adopt a Police Pension Plan to become effective October 15, 1978, ratifying and adopting, however, its prior institution September 16, 1976.
[Ord. No. 28, 10/10/1978, § 2]
The plan adopted is hereby designated to be and shall be known as the "Pension Plan for Police Officers of Sugarloaf Township" (hereinafter known merely as the "Police Officer Pension Fund"). It shall comply with all statutes and regulations.
[Ord. No. 28, 10/10/1978, § 3]
The Township Secretary is hereby directed to file any additional records with the Auditor General's Department of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as may be necessary to ensure the approval of the program.
[Ord. No. 28, 10/10/1978, § 4]
Police pension fund shall be used to provide the required benefits under this Part and under law for such full-time members of the police force as shall receive honorable discharge therefrom by reason of age and service as provided by this Subpart A and by law and for no other purpose.
[Ord. No. 28, 10/10/1978, § 5]
"Policeman" is defined as a full-time paid policeman or policewoman working not less than 40 hours per week at a definite salary.
[Ord. No. 28, 10/10/1978, § 6; as amended by Res. 5-1980, 7/22/1980, § 1; by Res. 8-1991, 3/12/1991; and by Ord. No. 3.1A-1994, 2/13/1994, §§ 1, 2]
1. 
Should a police officer, before contemplating 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 shall be entitled to vest his retirement benefits by filing with the Board of Supervisors within 90 days of the date he ceases to be a full-time police officer a written notice of his intention to vest. Upon reaching the date which would have been his superannuation retirement date if he had continued to be employed as a full-time police officer, he shall be paid a partial superannuation retirement allowance determined by applying the percentage his years of service bears to the years of service which he would have rendered had he continued to work until his superannuation retirement date to the gross pension; using, however, the monthly average salary during the appropriate period prior to his termination of employment. Such pension or retirement benefits for any month shall be the sum of all sources of benefits as outlined in this subpart to the extent necessary to bring the total benefit in any month up to his partial superannuation retirement allowance outlined above.
2. 
The minimum period of total service required for retirement under the fund shall be the aggregate of 20 years service with Sugarloaf Township and the attainment of age 55.
[Ord. No. 28, 10/10/1978, § 8]
Members of the police force that were previously employed in the Township under a federal program shall, if the Township desires to continue their employment after the federal program ends, become members of this Police Pension Fund. Such members may elect to participate in the fund retroactively to the date of their original employment, or to any full six-month period of their employment, in the Township under the federal program. If such an election is made, they shall first be required to make contributions to the Police Pension Fund in such an amount as to equal their possible contributions had they been employed by the Township and been members of the Police Pension Fund at the time of their employment under a federal program.
[Ord. No. 28, 10/10/1978, § 9; as amended by Ord. No. 71-1996, 7/8/1996]
1. 
Benefits shall be computed at one-half the monthly average salary of the (eligible) officer during the last 36 months of employment. The only benefit payable under this plan shall be a straight life annuity payable until the death of the retiree officer.
2. 
The surviving spouse of a member of the police force or a member who retires on pension who dies or if no spouse survives or if he or she survives and subsequently dies, then the child or children under the age of 18 years or, if attending college, under or attaining the age of 23 years, of a member of the police force or a member who retires on pension who dies shall, during her lifetime in the case of a surviving spouse or until reaching the age of 18 years or, if attending college, under or attaining the age of 23 years in the case of a child or children be entitled to receive a pension calculated at no less than 50% of the pension the member was receiving or would have been receiving had he been retired at the time of his death.
[Amended by Ord. No. 1-2009, 5/12/2009]
3. 
The surviving spouse of a member of the police force who dies before his pension has vested or if no spouse survives or if he or she survives and subsequently dies, the child or children under the age of 18 years or, if attending college, under or attaining the age of 23 years of the member of the police force shall be entitled to receive repayment of all money which the member invested in the pension fund, plus interest or other increases in value of the member's investment in the pension fund, unless the member has designated another beneficiary for this purpose.
[Amended by Ord. No. 1-2009, 5/12/2009]
4. 
For purposes of this subpart, the phrase "attending college" shall mean the eligible children are registered at an accredited institution of higher learning and are carrying a minimum course load of seven credit hours per semester, and the term "regional police department" shall mean a municipal police force organized and operated in combination by two or more municipalities through an intermunicipal agreement pursuant to 53 Pa.C.S.A. Ch. 23 Subch. A (relating to intergovernmental cooperation).
[Added by Ord. No. 1-2009, 5/12/2009]
[1]
Editor's Note: Subsection 2 of Ordinance No. 1-2010, adopted 4/13/2010, provided as follows: Any portion of the Ordinance that provides for benefits to be paid to a surviving spouse or children of a police officer who dies as a result of the performance of his duty are hereby repealed.
[Ord. No. 28, 10/10/1978, § 10]
Members shall pay into the Police Pension Fund, monthly, an amount equal to 5% of monthly compensation. If an actuarial study shows that the condition of the Police Pension Fund of the Township is such that payments into the Police Pension Fund by members may be reduced below the percentage herein prescribed, or eliminated, and that if such payments are reduced or eliminated, contributions by the members will not be required to keep the Police Pension Fund actuarially sound, the Township may then, on an annual basis, by ordinance or resolution, reduce or eliminate payments into the Police Pension Fund by members.
[Ord. No. 28, 10/10/1978, § 11]
In computing the benefits payable under this subpart, none of the primary benefits under federal social security laws for which an officer may be eligible because of age shall be included in the sum of benefits. The Township, in its discretion, retains the right, by resolution, to elect to increase, up to 75%, the amount of primary benefits under the federal social security laws for which the officer may be eligible because of age to be included in the sum of benefits. Said election, when taken, would reduce the benefits payable under this subpart. No member shall have any vested right to benefits as now computed under the 0% provisions of this section unless he shall have first been duly retired in conformance to the provisions of this subpart and been entitled to payment hereunder. If the security offset is provided for, the members monthly payment into the fund it to be determined under this section as follows. On compensation on which social security taxes are payable, the monthly rate is calculated by subtracting from 5% the product obtained by multiplying 3% by such offset percentage.
[Ord. No. 28, 10/10/1978, § 12]
If for any reason whatsoever any member of the fund shall be ineligible to receive a pension such member shall be entitled to a refund pursuant to the Act, being the amount of member contribution only, with simple interest at 6% per year. If such ineligibility is due to death, such monies shall be paid to his designated beneficiary or, in the absence thereof, to his estate.
[Ord. No. 28, 10/10/1978, § 13; as amended by Ord. No. 3.1A-1994, 2/13/1994, § 3]
The expenses of administering the Police Pension Fund, including the compensation of an actuary and the custodian of the fund, shall be paid out of the Police Pension Fund as a legal expense of the fund.
[Ord. No. 28, 10/10/1978, § 14]
All funds heretofore or hereafter paid to the Treasurer of this Township by the commonwealth for police pension purposes from proceeds of the state tax on foreign casualty insurance company premiums or otherwise shall be deposited in a special bank account or fund designated "Sugarloaf Township Police Pension Fund."
[Ord. No. 28, 10/10/1978, § 15]
1. 
Such payments by the State Treasurer to the Township Treasurer from the monies received from taxes paid upon the premiums of foreign casualty insurance companies for purposes of pension retirement shall be used in the following order:
A. 
To reduce the unfunded liability, if any.
B. 
To apply against the annual obligation of the Township for future service costs, or to the extent that the payment may be in excess of such obligation.
C. 
To reduce member contributions.
[Ord. No. 28, 10/10/1978, § 16]
Any member of the police force employed by the Township who has been a regular appointed policeman of the 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 employment record for pension or retirement benefits all of the time spent by him in such military service, if such person returns or has heretofore returned to his employment within six months after his separation from the service.
[Ord. No. 28, 10/10/1978, § 17]
The Township may take by gift, grant, devise or bequest, any money or property, real, personal or mixed, in trust; for the benefits of such Police Pension Fund and the care, management, investment and disposal of such trust funds or property shall be vested in the Township, and the said trust funds shall be governed thereby subject to such directions not inconsistent therewith as the donors of such funds and property may prescribe.
[Ord. No. 28, 10/10/1978, § 18]
A disability benefit may be provided for a policeman who suffers a permanent disability which is service connected. The amount and commencement of a disability benefit shall be fixed by the Township and such benefits must be uniform for all policemen.
[Ord. No. 28, 10/10/1978, § 19]
Upon the death of any policeman prior to his retirement, the Township shall pay to his beneficiary or to his estate, as the case may be, a lump-sum death benefit in the amount provided in the life insurance contract on his life in effect at such time. In no event shall the beneficiary be entitled to receive, nor shall the pension fund be liable for payment of, more than the actual amount of the death benefits provided by said life insurance contracts in force at the time of his death. Payment of such lump-sum death benefits shall be in lieu of and constitute full satisfaction of the right of a member to receive monthly retirement benefits, as well as all other rights and interest of the participation in this fund.
[Ord. No. 28, 10/10/1978, § 20]
To comply with all statutory requirements and regulations, this Township, to the extent made possible by said commonwealth payments, enters into contract(s) with the Columbia Life Insurance Company for pension annuity contract(s) or life insurance contract(s) on the lives of its present or any future Township policemen who are employed and paid on a full-time basis; ownership of any and all rights under said contract(s), together with the right to exercise all options, privileges and other rights provided therein, except the right to designate the beneficiary, to change the beneficiary and to receive the retirement benefit thereunder, to be vested in this Township; custody of said contract(s) to be held by the Township and the Township officers, from time to time, being directed to execute the necessary applications for such contracts, together with any other documents necessary or incidental to full utilization and enjoyment thereof for their intended purpose, and to pay the premiums for the same as they become due solely from the aforementioned Police Pension Fund, all without any further special authorization by the Supervisors.
[Ord. No. 28, 10/10/1978, § 21; as amended by Ord. No. 1-2022, 2/15/2022]
1. 
A service increment may be provided to retired officers for each completed year of service in excess of 25 years. The total length of service increment may not exceed $500 per month.
2. 
Average salary will be the gross compensation paid by the employer and reportable on form W-2 during the last 36 months of employment. This includes all regular time, overtime, court time, compensatory time, educational incentive, accrued sick, vacation, or holiday pay or any other amounts of monies that are reportable as gross income according to the IRS Code, whether in a lump sum at retirement or termination, if the amounts were earned during the final 36 months of employment. Any payment for lump sums not earned during the final 36 months of employment are excluded from compensation and average salary.
[Ord. No. 28, 10/10/1978, § 22]
A cost-of-living increase in pension benefits may be provided for, but such increases may not exceed the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index. This percentage increase should be obtained by the Solicitor from the Auditor General's Office. Three additional limitations have been placed upon all cost-of-living increases. First, in no case may the total police pension benefits exceed 75% of the officer's salary for computing retirement benefits. Secondly, the retired officer's total cost-of-living increase shall not exceed 30%. Thirdly, no cost-of-living increase shall be granted which would impair the actuarial soundness of the pension fund. This latter limitation would appear to require that a resolution intending to provide for a cost-of-living increase must rely upon an actuarial study to ensure that the proposed cost-of-living increase will not impair the actuarial soundness of the pension fund.
[Ord. No. 28, 10/10/1978, § 23]
Any extra compensation, including, but not limited to, overtime, lunch allowance, etc., shall not be included in computing a member's monthly compensation.
[Ord. No. 28, 10/10/1978, § 24]
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 member or his designated beneficiary and shall not be subject to assignment or transfer.
[Ord. No. 28, 10/10/1978, § 25]
The Budget Committee of Sugarloaf Township shall include within the budget for each year such amounts as shall be required as contributions from the Township to Police Pension Fund.
[Ord. No. 28, 10/10/1978, § 26]
The books and records of the Police Pension Fund shall be open for inspection by any interested parties and the accounts shall be audited as the Township shall direct.
[Ord. No. 28, 10/10/1978, § 27]
Any officer or member of the police force aggrieved by any ruling or action regarding Police Pension Fund and his relation thereto shall have the right to a hearing before the Township upon his written request therefor. Such requests shall contain in clear language the objection being presented, and said Township shall require the attendance of any witnesses on behalf of the objecting party by subpoenas.
[Ord. No. 28, 10/10/1978, § 28]
The Township has elected not to grant any of the optional benefits available under law. Any and all benefits or options not specifically granted by this subpart which are discretionary under the Act shall be deemed denied to member of the Police Pension Fund. The enumeration of options excluded in this subpart shall not in any manner imply, warrant, suggest or import the inclusion of options not specifically excluded. This election by the Township at this time shall not prevent the Township in the future, by resolution, from granting any additional benefit or benefits that it deems appropriate under law.
[Ord. No. 28, 10/10/1978, § 29]
Any statute which may be hereinafter enacted by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or any proper regulation which may be properly promulgated hereinafter by said commonwealth which shall affect this subpart shall be considered as an amendment to this subpart and all actions taken hereunder shall be subject thereto.
[Ord. No. 28, 10/10/1978, § 30]
All officers of the Township be and are hereby directed and authorized to do and perform all acts and things necessary to put said Police Pension Fund into effect as of October 15, 1978, ratifying its prior institution September 15, 1976, and thereafter to maintain it in force.
[Added by Ord. No. 2-2010, 8/10/2010]
1. 
For all police officers hired after the date of passage of this amendment, said police officers must serve the Township as police officers for a minimum time period of 25 years of aggregate service for normal retirement.
2. 
All currently serving police officers shall only be required to serve an aggregate of 20 years of service for normal retirement.
3. 
All other provisions of the Police Pension Plan Ordinance are hereby amended to comply with the presently existing Act 600 requirements.
[Res. 8-1979, 2/27/1979]
1. 
The Sugarloaf Township (hereinafter referred to as "employer"), having its principal place of business in Luzerne County, hereby establishes a defined benefit pension plan:
A. 
The plan shall be known as the "Sugarloaf Township Employee Pension Plan."
B. 
The effective date of the plan is January 1, 1973.
C. 
Normal retirement date shall be age 65 with earlier or later retirement with the consent of the employer and employee.
D. 
Compensation shall include the participant's regular basic pay, plus any of the following:
Included
Excluded
N/A
—
—
% commission
bonuses
—
—
overtime pay
E. 
Eligibility applies only to all full-time employees working at least 1,000 hours per year, but excludes Supervisors.
F. 
The entry date shall be _____.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: The entry date is blank in Res. 8-1979, 2/27/1979, as enacted.
G. 
Each employee shall be required to contribute none to the plan. Voluntary employee contributions are permitted up to 10% of compensation. All employee contributions including accumulated interest shall be fully vested at all times.
H. 
Each employee shall be entitled to receive the retirement benefit at normal retirement of $50 per month.
I. 
If an employee, while employed by the employer and covered under this plan, shall die prior to the commencement of any benefit provided, his account shall be fully vested and his beneficiary shall receive a death benefit of the value of the employee's accrued retirement benefit.
J. 
The employer shall pay the expense of administering the plan and be the owner of the policies.
K. 
Upon termination of employment, the portion of the employee account eligible for distribution shall be vested according to the following schedule, 100% immediate. In case of termination of employment due to total and permanent disability, the employee shall be fully vested in his account. Any amounts that were not fully vested under this plant shall be used to reduce future contributions under this plan.
L. 
If an employee elects to retire prior to his normal retirement date, he shall be deemed to have retired early. His retirement benefit will be the value of his accrued benefit.
M. 
If by mutual agreement of the employer and employee and the employee continues in active employment following his normal retirement date, he shall continue to participate under this plan with his retirement benefit being the same.
N. 
The employer reserves the right to amend or terminate this plan at any time and to any extent that is may deem advisable, without the consent of any participant or any beneficiary; provided, however, that no amendment shall deprive any employee of any vested interest.
O. 
The Supervisors and Secretary are hereby authorized to execute any and all documents necessary to for the implementation of the herein-described pension plan.
[Res. 8-1979, 2/27/1979; as added by Res. 20-1990, 2/27/1979; as amended by Res. 13-1997, 10/14/1997; and by Res. 9-1995, 2/14/1995]
1. 
Alternative Number 1. A monthly benefit commencing immediately upon retirement in the annual amount of 1% of the average salary for the final three years of employment multiplied by the total years of service to the Township up to a maximum of 25 years; that upon the death of a retired employee receiving benefit under the plan the spouse of the retired employee would continue to receive 50% or 1/2 of the benefits which the retired employee would have received for the remainder of the life of the spouse of the deceased employee.
2. 
Alternative Number 2. A life annuity providing the monthly payments for the lifetime of the retired employee which is the actuarial equivalent of Alternative Number 1. Upon the death of the retired employee, no further payments will be made.