Chapter 38 Pensions

Date: see § 38-1.

Amount: see § 38-1.

Late retirement benefit.

Date: the first day of any month following normal retirement date with the prior consent of the employer.

Amount: the same formula as the normal retirement benefit.

Death benefits.

Before retirement, disability or other termination of employment: $5,000.

For employees hired after June 1, 1979, the death benefit will be effective 30 calendar days after the date of the individual participant's employment.

The death benefit shall be paid within 60 days of the date of death.

The death benefit shall be paid in lieu of all other benefits and accruals under the plan and shall completely discharge the plan's and municipality's liability to the estate of the participant.

(5)

There shall be no death benefit for any employee already receiving benefits under the plan at the time of death.

Disability benefits.

In the event of any participant's total and permanent disability, his account shall become vested in accordance with the vesting schedule as contained in § 38-3G hereafter. The Committee shall direct the trustee to purchase a single premium annuity with immediate monthly payments guaranteed for life on an actuarially sound basis dependent upon the funds available due to the participant's vesting.

The condition of total and permanent disability shall be finally determined by the Social Security Administration or its successor, utilizing the guidelines of said Administration in effect at the time of the alleged disability. The determination of the Social Security Administration as to disability shall be final and binding upon the employer and participant.

Benefits upon termination of employment prior to normal retirement date or withdrawal from plan.

Termination of employment shall result in a deferred paid-up annuity with benefits commencing at the normal retirement date for the amount which the participant's vested interests in the fund will provide, based on the vesting schedule contained in § 38-3G.

Any employee who voluntarily withdrew from the plan in accordance with § 38-3E(2) of shall, within 30 days of the adoption of this article, declare, in writing, if they will participate in the plan. All new employees eligible to participate in the plan shall declare upon hiring their intent to participate. No participant shall have the right to voluntarily terminate their participation.

[Amended 12-14-1996 by Ord. No. 96-13]

Optional forms of benefit payment.

In lieu of the straight life annuity provided for in § 38-1, a participant may elect to receive an actuarially equivalent benefit in any of the following forms:

Life annuity with 60 monthly payments guaranteed.

Life annuity with 120 monthly payments guaranteed.

(c)

One-hundred-percent joint and survivor annuity.

(d)

Fifty-percent joint and survivor annuity.

(e)

A lump sum payment of the vested portion of the participant's account.

In lieu of the benefit provided in § 38-3E(1) for a participant who terminates prior to the normal retirement date, a participant with 10 years of service may choose an actuarially equivalent benefit of any one of the above optional forms of benefit payment commencing within 60 days of the termination of employment or may withdraw the actuarial equivalent of his or her accrued and vested benefits in a single lump sum payable within 90 days of the termination of employment.[1]

Editor's Note: Former Section 3.7, which set forth a three-percent employee contribution, was deleted 12-4-1996 by Ord. No. 96-13.

Vesting.

[Amended 12-1-1993 by Ord. No. 93-2]

Upon five completed full years of continuous employment, the benefit of any participant shall be one-hundred-percent vested.

All employee contributions shall be one-hundred-percent vested at all times.

Nonalienation of benefits and vesting. No benefit under the plan shall be subject in any manner to anticipation alienation, sale, transfer, assignment, pledge, encumbrance or charge. Nor shall any such benefits be in any manner liable for or subject to garnishment, attachment, execution, levy or other legal process. Further, all benefits granted herein shall vest in the participant upon completion of the requirements for eligibility, and his benefits shall continue in the amount and in the form in which he or she first became entitled to them.

Effective date. The effective date shall be June 1, 1978.

§ 38-4 Contributions.

Contributions of the municipality.

Past service liability. It shall be the obligation of the municipality to fund the past service liability as determined by the actuary, provided that such liability may be funded over a period not to exceed 25 years. The 25 years commences with the passage of this article.

Future service cost. The municipality shall have no liability for the future service cost of the pension fund unless such costs are not met by the compensation determined by the Township Council. The maintenance of the actuarial soundness of the fund shall be the responsibility of the municipality.

Administrative expenses. It shall be the liability of the municipality to pay the administration expenses incurred in the management of the fund. No funds paid for the purpose of funding pensions shall be used to pay administrative costs.

In the event that the municipality should for any reason be ineligible for state aid or state aid is insufficient to fund the plan, the municipality shall have the sole discretion of paying the deficiency or directing that the funding or deficiency shall be covered through contributions by employees of 3/7 of such deficiency, but in no event to exceed 3% of any individual employee's total compensation and 4/7 of such deficiency by the municipality, as well as any other amounts required by law to meet such deficiency. The municipality shall determine if employee contributions are required on or before March 31. The contribution by the employees, if required by the municipality, shall commence on the first of April and continue for a period of 12 consecutive months. The payment by the municipality for any deficiency without employee contribution shall not bar the municipality from requiring employee contribution for future years where a deficiency should exist.

[Amended 12-14-1996 by Ord. No. 96-13]

Allocation of assets of existing pension fund(s). Any assets of any existing pension fund for the nonuniformed employees of the municipality are hereby transferred to the fund established by this article and shall be applied against the unfunded liability.

§ 38-5 Credit for military service.

Any nonuniformed employee of the municipality for at least six months who thereafter shall enter the military services of the United States shall have credited to his employment record for pension benefits all of the time spent by him in such military service if such person returns to this employment with the municipality within six months after this separation from the service.

§ 38-6 Termination of the fund.

Upon termination of the fund, the assets shall be distributed as follows:

Sufficient funds shall be maintained to provide the pension benefits prescribed in § 38-3 for all participants who have retired prior to termination or who are eligible for retirement at the time of the termination of this fund.

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.

§ 38-7 Right to terminate.

Neither the establishment of the plan hereby created nor any modification thereof nor the creation of any fund or account nor the payment of any benefits shall be construed as giving to any participant or other person any legal or equitable right against the municipality or any officer or employee thereof or the Committee, except as herein provided. Under no circumstances shall the fund created hereby constitute a contract for continuing employment for any participant or in any manner obligate the municipality to continue or discontinue the services of an employee.

This plan has been established and shall be maintained by the municipality in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The plan shall continue for such period as may be required by such laws, and should such laws provide that the municipality may, by its own action, discontinue this plan, the municipality reserves the right to take such action in its sole and absolute discretion. Upon termination, the municipality shall have no liability hereunder other than that imposed by law.

§ 38-8 Investments.

All investments by the trustee of the assets of this fund shall comply with the Fiduciaries Investment Act of 1949, as amended,[1] and such regulations as the Council shall establish for the purpose of investing such funds.

AVERAGE MONTHLY COMPENSATION

Editor's Note: See 20 Pa.C.S.A. § 7301 et seq.

§ 38-9 Amendments.

The Council reserves the right to amend at any time, in whole or in part, any or all of the provisions of this article. 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 § 38-3G. All such amendments shall comply with the applicable statutes of the commonwealth.

§ 38-10 Construction of plan.

This plan shall be constructed according to the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and all provisions hereof shall be administered according to the laws of such commonwealth.

Whenever any words are used herein in the masculine gender they shall be construed as though they were also used in the feminine gender in all cases where they would so apply, and whenever any words are used herein in the singular form they shall be construed as though they were also used in the plural form in all cases where they would so apply.

Headings of sections and subsections 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 hereof.

Article II Uniformed Employee Pension

[Adopted 8-1-1979 by Ord. No. 79-8; amended in its entirety 4-6-2005 by Ord. No. 2005-03]

§ 38-11 Definitions.

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.

The monthly average of the compensation received during the last 36 months of employment.

COMPENSATION

The amount of salary received by a participant in each and every month, including overtime, longevity pay and service increments, if any.

COMMITTEE

The person appointed to administer the Uniformed Employee Pension Fund established pursuant to this article.

CONTRIBUTION

The payroll deductions made monthly from the compensation of the participants and paid to the pension fund, except that contributions in § 38-15 shall mean the total contributions accumulated during the period of employment and participation in this fund.

COUNCIL

The governing body of Lower Saucon Township.

EMPLOYER

The Township of Lower Saucon.

FUND

The Uniformed Employee Pension Fund established pursuant to this article.

FUTURE SERVICE LIABILITY

The value of any participant's benefits, which shall accrue by virtue of service in the aggregate rendered subsequent to the enactment of this article.

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.

SERVICE IN THE AGGREGATE

Total service, not necessarily continuous.

TERMINATION

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.

§ 38-12 Administration.

The Township Council ("Council") shall administer the Uniformed Employee Pension Fund established by this article by such regulation as shall from time to time be necessary for the effective maintenance of the fund, provided that no regulation shall be contrary to the statutes of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and/or applicable federal regulations.

§ 38-13 Retirement requirements and benefits. [1]

Eligibility for normal retirement.

Every participant in the pension fund may retire from active duty, provided that:

He/she has completed 25 years of service in the aggregate with the employer or elects to take early retirement upon completion of 20 years of service in the aggregate with the employer and is eligible for early retirement in accordance with Act 24 of 1998;[2]

[2]

Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 771.

He/she has attained the age of 50 years.

Every participant shall retire at the age of 65.

Every participant shall be subject to service from time to time as a police reserve in cases of riot, tumult or the preservation of the public peace until such time as he/she shall be unfit for such service, when he shall be finally discharged by reason of age or disability. This subsection shall not affect the purpose of Subsection A(2) to require retirement at age 65, nor shall Subsection A(2) bar any participant from service as a police reserve.

Should a participant, before reaching superannuation retirement age (50 years of age) and after having completed 12 years of total service, for any reason cease to be a Township policeman, he/she shall be entitled to vest his/her retirement benefits until he/she attains superannuation retirement age by filing with the Board a written notice of his/her intentions to vest within 90 days of the date of his/her termination of employment. Accumulated deductions will include interest from the date of termination until the earlier of the date of the commencement of the annuity or the date of payment of member contributions.

Normal retirement benefits.

Each participant who shall complete the age and service eligibility requirements as set out in § 38-13A shall receive a pension for life payable in equal monthly installments in an amount equal to 1/2 the participant's average monthly compensation, or that percentage and based on that number of months as shall be prescribed by statute of the commonwealth subsequent to the adoption of this article.

Such pension shall be payable from the assets of the fund established pursuant to this article. There shall be no offset for social security benefits received by the participant which the participant may be entitled to because of age.

A participant who is receiving benefits because of retirement shall be entitled to an automatic cost-of-living increase in his/her pension check that is equal to the increased cost-of-living during his/her retirement up to the maximum of 30% over his/her lifetime.

A participant shall not be required to contribute to the pension fund during the term of the uniform contract with the Township unless an actuarial study requires the contribution.

(5)

The Township shall not be required to contribute to the fund in order to maintain actuarial soundness.

Death prior to retirement or retirement eligibility.

Qualification for death benefit:

The beneficiaries [as defined in Subsection C(4)] of a police officer shall be entitled to receive a death benefit if the police officer dies:

After he/she has begun receiving benefits under a normal retirement benefit; or

[2]

After he/she has begun receiving disability retirement benefits, provided that such benefits did not terminate prior to his/her death because he/she ceased to be disabled; or

[3]

While still employed by the Township of Lower Saucon and after having met the age and service requirements for normal retirement; or

[4]

Prior to commencement of any retirement benefit under this section and was vested in his/her accrued benefit.

However, a death benefit under this section shall not be paid if the police officer's beneficiaries are entitled to receive a killed in service death benefit under Subsection C(3).

Death benefit form and amount of payments. The death benefit shall be paid in a series of monthly payments:

Beginning on the first day of the month following the month of the police officer's death under the conditions described in Subsection C(1)(a)[1], [2] or [3]; or

Beginning on the first day of the month following the expected normal retirement date of the deceased police officer and described in Subsection C(1)(a)[4]; and

(c)

Continuing on the first day of each succeeding month until there is no person who qualifies as a beneficiary;

(d)

In a monthly amount equal to:

Fifty percent of the monthly amount being received by the police officer at the time of his/her death, or would have been receiving had the police officer been retired at the date of death, described in Subsection C(1)(a)[1], [2] or [3]; or

[2]

Fifty percent of the monthly vested accrued amount the police officer would have been entitled to receive described in Subsection C(1)(a)[4].

Killed-in-service death benefit. The beneficiaries of a police officer who dies due to injuries incurred while performing the duties of his/her employment shall be entitled to receive a killed-in-service death benefit from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in accordance with the provisions of Act 600 of 1956, as amended by Act 51 of 2009,[3] known as the Emergency and Law Enforcement Personnel Death Benefits Act.

[Amended 11-3-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-08]

[3]

Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 891.

Beneficiaries.

[Amended 11-3-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-08]

In general. Any given payment in the series of payments which constitutes the death benefit shall be paid to the person(s) who is/are a beneficiary as of the date for which the payment is being made.

Definition. For purposes of the death benefit the "beneficiary" of a police officer shall be his/her spouse. If there is no spouse or if the spouse survives and subsequently dies, then the death benefit shall be payable to the police officer's child or children who have not yet attained age 18 (or are attending college and have not yet attained the age 23). For purposes of this subsection, a person is "attending college" if he/she is registered at an accredited institution of higher learning and is carrying a minimum course load of seven credit hours per semester. The death benefit shall be payable to eligible children in equal shares.

(c)

Killed-in-service beneficiaries. For the purposes of the killed-in-service death benefit, the term "beneficiary" shall be defined as that term is defined in Act 51 of 2009, as may be amended from time to time.

(5)

Death benefit return of accumulated contributions.

In general. If a police officer dies at a time when his/her beneficiaries are not eligible to receive a death benefit, or has no beneficiaries; and has not received any payments under a normal retirement benefit, disability retirement benefit, or vested benefit; then the plan shall distribute an amount equal to the amount of the police officer's accumulated contributions plus interest at the rate of 5% per annum to the police officer's named beneficiary(ies). If the police officer failed to designate a beneficiary or if no designated beneficiary shall have survived the police officer, the distribution shall be made to the estate of the police officer.

[Amended 11-3-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-08]

Time of payment. A distribution under this Subsection C(5) shall be made as soon as practicable after the designated recipient or personal representative of the police officer files an election to receive the distribution.

(6)

No other death benefits. Except as provided in this section, no police officer or former police officer and no estate, heir, or beneficiary of any police officer or former police officer shall receive any payment or benefit under this plan or from the trust due to the death of a police officer or former police officer.

Death after retirement or retirement eligibility. If the participant shall die after retirement or after completing the requirements for eligibility § 38-13B, the widow or widower of such participant shall receive, for life, a pension equal to 1/2 the pension the participant was receiving or was eligible to receive at the time of his or her death. The survivor spouse may remarry, and such remarriage shall not affect the eligibility of the surviving spouse. If the member's spouse dies, the child or children of the deceased participant shall share equally in a pension equal to 1/2 the pension the participant was receiving or was eligible to receive at the time of his or her death. The child or children shall remain eligible for benefits, in the first instance until each reaches the age of 18 years, provided, however, that a surviving child or children shall remain eligible to receive benefits to age 23 years if attending college.

[Amended 6-6-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-01]

Disability retirement benefit.

If a police officer shall qualify for a permanent and total service-related disability benefit under the provisions of the plan, such police officer shall be eligible to receive a disability benefit from the plan.

In the event of a permanent and total service-related disability, benefits shall become payable to an injured police officer in an amount equal to 50% of the police officer's salary at the time the disability was incurred, provided that any police officer who receives benefits for the same injuries under the Social Security Act (49 Stat. 620, 42 U.S.C. § 301 et seq.) shall have the disability benefit offset or reduced by the amount of such social security benefits.

Total and permanent disability means a physical or mental condition of a member resulting from bodily injury or disease or mental disorder contracted, without fault or misconduct on such police officer's part, from the performance of such officer's duties in the Police Department, which renders the member incapable of continuing in the employment as a police officer for the Township of Lower Saucon.

A determination by the Township Council or its designated agent that a police officer is totally and permanently disabled shall be required for such member to receive a disability benefit under the plan. Before making such determination, the Township Council or its designated agent shall secure the opinion of one or more practicing physicians licensed to practice medicine in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Township Council shall have the right to require a physical examination and a redetermination at its option.

[Amended 6-3-2009 by Ord. No. 2009-03]

Designation of beneficiaries.

Each participant shall have the right to name the beneficiary or beneficiaries for preretirement death benefits incidental to policies of insurance purchased primarily to fund the participant's pension, provided that the ownership of such policies shall remain in the municipality's governing body and shall be endorsed to prevent the assignment of ownership to the insured. If the participant shall fail to name a beneficiary, such benefits that would have accrued to his beneficiaries shall be paid to the participant's estate.

Each participant may from time to time change the beneficiaries in such form and manner as shall be prescribed by the Council.

Nonalienation of benefits and vesting.

No benefit under the plan shall be subject in any manner to anticipation, alienation, sale, transfer, assignment, pledge, encumbrance or charge. Nor shall any such benefits be in any manner liable for or subject to garnishment, attachment, execution, levy or other legal process.

Further, all benefits granted herein shall vest in the participant as set forth in § 38-13A(4), and his/her benefits shall continue in the amount and in the form in which he/she first became entitled to them.

Service increments. In addition to other monthly pension or retirement allowances, the Uniformed Employee Pension Fund will pay length of service increments in an amount equal to $100 per month for each completed year of service in excess of 25 years up to a maximum of $500 per month after five completed years of service in excess of 25 years.

[Amended 8-19-2009 by Ord. No. 2009-07]

Editor's Note: See also the Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP), effective 1-1-2022, included as an attachment to this chapter.

§ 38-14 Contributions.

Police officers shall contribute 5% of their monthly compensation to the plan.

The Township Council may, on an annual basis by resolution, reduce or eliminate payments into the fund by police officers.

Contributions of the municipality.

Past service liability. It shall be the obligation of the municipality to fund the past service liability, as determined by the actuary, provided that such liability may be funded over a period not to exceed 25 years. The 25 years commences with the passage of this article.

Future service cost. The municipality shall have no liability for the future service cost of the pension fund unless such costs are not met by the allocation of commonwealth funds and participants' contributions. The maintenance of the actuarial soundness shall be the responsibility of the municipality.

Administration expenses. It shall be the liability of the municipality to pay the administrative expenses incurred in the management of the fund. No funds paid for the purpose of funding pensions shall be used to pay administrative costs.

Allocation of commonwealth funds. The payments made by the State Treasurer to the municipality from the moneys received from the taxes paid on the premiums of foreign casualty insurance companies for purposes of pension retirement or disability benefits for policemen shall be used as follows:

To reduce the unfunded liability;

After such liability is funded, to apply against the annual obligation of the municipality for future service cost; or

To the extent that the payments may be in excess of such obligation, to reduce participants' contributions.

Gifts, bequest and grants. All other moneys and property received by the Council, including gifts, bequests, devises and grants, shall, unless otherwise specifically provided, be applied equally against the participant and the municipality portions of the future service cost.

Allocation of assets of existing pension fund(s). Any assets of any existing pension fund for the members of the municipality's Police Department are hereby transferred to the fund established by this article and shall be applied against the unfunded liability.

§ 38-15 Termination of employment.

If for any reason a member of the police force of the municipality shall terminate service with the municipality, that member shall be entitled to a refund of contributions, plus interest at the rate of 5% per annum. Said interest rate shall be uniform for all participants.

If a member shall subsequently return to service and, within six months of the date of return to service, return the contributions and interest to the fund which were refunded to him upon termination, plus interest at a rate currently paid for United States Treasury Bills (ninety-day rate) on the date of return or 5% per annum, whichever is greater, on the balance actually withdrawn under the aforesaid subsection, calculated from the date of withdrawal (refund) to the date of the participant's restoration of said participant's contribution account as calculated herein, then he/she shall be entitled to credit for the prior years of service to the extent of the return of contributions as herein described. Nothing in this section shall be construed to allow credit for service not actually given to the municipality, except as specifically provided in § 38-16.

§ 38-16 Credit for military service.

Any member of the police force of the municipality for at least six months who thereafter shall enter the military service of the United States shall have credited to his employment record for pension benefits all of the time spent by him in such military service if such person returns to his employment with the municipality within six months after his separation from the service.

§ 38-17 Termination of fund.

Upon termination of the fund, the assets shall be distributed as follows:

Sufficient funds shall be maintained to provide the pension benefits prescribed in § 38-13B for all participants who have retired prior to termination or who are eligible for retirement at the time of the termination of this fund.

Contributions with interest at a rate established by the Committee as provided in § 38-15 shall be refunded to any and all participants who terminate service at the time of the termination of this fund.

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.

§ 38-18 Right to terminate.

This plan has been established and shall be maintained by the municipality in accordance with the law of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The plan shall continue for such period as may be required by such laws, and should such laws provide that the municipality may, by its own action, discontinue this plan, the municipality reserves the right to take such action in its sole and absolute discretion. Upon termination, the municipality shall have no liability hereunder other than that imposed by law.

§ 38-19 Investments.

All investments by the trustee of the assets of this fund shall comply with the Fiduciaries Investment Act of 1949,[1] as amended, and such regulations as the Council shall establish for the purpose of investing such funds.