A Police Pension Plan is hereby established
pursuant to and in compliance with the Act of May 29, 1956, P.L. 1804,
as amended. Such fund shall be under the direction of the Board of
Supervisors, Township of Kidder and shall be applied under such regulations
as the Board may prescribe.
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
ACTUARIAL EQUIVALENT
A benefit determined by an actuary to be equivalent in value
to the participant's normal retirement benefit, as defined herein;
provided that such actuarial equivalent is within the limitations
provided herein.
COMMITTEE
The persons appointed to serve in an advisory capacity to
the Board in the administration of the Pension Fund.
CONTRIBUTION
The payroll deductions made monthly from the compensation of the participants and paid to the Pension Fund; except that contributions in §
39-6 shall mean the total contributions accumulated during the period of employment and participation in this fund.
FUND
The Police Pension Fund established pursuant to this article.
FUTURE SERVICE LIABILITY
The value of participant's benefits which shall accrue by
virtue of service in the aggregate rendered subsequent to the enactment
of this article.
MONTHLY COMPENSATION
The amount of salary received by a participant in each and
every month, including overtime, longevity pay and service increments,
if any.
PARTICIPANT
Every person duly appointed from time to time by the municipality
as a full-time paid policeman working at least 40 hours a week at
a definite salary, subject to reasonable vacation and sick leave.
TERMINATION
The cessation of services by the participant for any reason,
including disability, death, resignation and employer termination.
Voluntary leaves of absence without pay shall not be a termination
for purposes of this article; but no period of such leave shall be
computed in the total service in the aggregate for pension benefit
purposes. Leaves of absence with pay shall not be considered a termination
within the meaning of the article, and such leaves may be computed
in the total service in the aggregate for pension benefit purposes,
provided that the municipality is able to certify to the Department
of the Auditor General that such participant on a leave of absence
with pay is within the definition of participant herein.
UNFUNDED LIABILITY
The present value of any participant's benefits accrued prior
to the enactment of this article by virtue of his/her prior service
in the aggregate.
Upon termination of the fund, the assets shall
be distributed as follows:
A. Sufficient funds shall be maintained to provide the pension benefits prescribed in §
39-4B for all participants who have retired prior to termination or who are eligible for retirement at the time of the termination of this fund.
B. Contributions with interest at the rate of 6% as provided in §
39-6 shall be refunded to any and all participants who terminate service at the time of the termination of the fund.
C. Of the remaining funds, those which can be identified
as municipality contributions or contributions other than from participants
or from the Commonwealth allocation, shall be distributed as the Council
sees fit, provided that such distribution is made on a uniform basis.
D. All funds in excess of the funds described in Subsections
A,
B and
C above shall be returned to the Commonwealth as unused funds pursuant to the Act of May 12, 1943, P.L. 259, as amended, 72 P.S. § 2263.1 et seq.
All investments by the Board of the assets of
the fund shall comply with the Fiduciary Investment Act of 1949, as
amended, and such regulations as the Board shall establish for the
purpose of investing such fund. The Board may also purchase annuities
or other contracts of insurance which provide a cash value with which
to fund pensions, provided that the Board shall determine the value
of any policies purchased, the company with which the contracts shall
be made, and the time to purchase such policies. The Board shall also
have the obligation to insure that the policies purchased provide
benefits on a uniform scale and that such policies are endorsed to
the ownership of the municipality's pension fund.
The Board reserves the right to amend at any time, in whole or in part, any or all of the provisions of this fund. However, no such amendment shall authorize or permit any part of the fund to be used or diverted to purposes other than for the exclusive benefit of the participants, their beneficiaries or their estates. Nor shall any amendment divest a participant of benefits vested by §
39-4H. All such amendments shall comply with the applicable statutes of the Commonwealth, including but not limited to the Act of May 29, 1956, P.L. (1955) 1804, as amended, 53 P.S. § 767 et seq.