There shall be continued in and for the City
of Albany a Police Pension Fund, which shall consist of:
A.
All securities, property and moneys which, upon the
passage of this article, are in the possession or under the charge
and control of the Trustees of the Police Pension Fund.
B.
All fines, penalties and forfeitures that, from time
to time, may hereafter be imposed upon and collected from any officer
or member of the Police Department of the City, by way of discipline,
collectible from pay or salary, and all compensation or salary that
may be deducted or withheld from any officer or member for or on account
of absence from duty.
C.
All rewards in money, fees, gifts, testimonials and
emoluments that may be given or paid because of special or extraordinary
services rendered by any officer or member of such Police Department
or for any other reason.
D.
Pursuant to the authority granted by § 113,
Subdivision c, as amended, of the Retirement and Social Security Law
of the State of New York, the City of Albany, as a portion of its
plan for increased take-home pay for members of pension or retirement
systems administered by the City, does hereby provide that it will
make contributions, in an amount not to exceed three and one-half
per centum (3 1/2%) of the annual salaries of its officers and employees
who are such members, for the benefit of such member officers and
employees of the City of Albany.
E.
All lost or stolen moneys remaining in the hands of
the Department of Police for the space of one year, for which there
shall be no lawful claimant, and moneys arising from the sale of unclaimed
property by the City Comptroller.
F.
All moneys which may hereafter be collected or received
from fines or penalties for violation of any traffic or highway law
now existing or which may hereafter exist.
G.
Five per centum of the City's portion of all liquor
tax moneys which may be received by the City Treasurer.
In case the yearly revenue received from the sources mentioned in § 42-13 of this article is insufficient to meet the demands upon the pension fund, pursuant to the provisions of this article, the Common Council shall, at the end of each fiscal year, appropriate such sum or sums as may be necessary to meet each yearly deficiency, and the Board of Estimate and Apportionment shall approve such appropriation, and the same shall be payable out of any moneys in the City treasury derived from any source other than by municipal tax or placed in the annual tax budget and raised in the same manner as other moneys provided for in such budget.
[Amended 12-2-1985 by L.L. No. 2-1986]
The Mayor, Comptroller and Chief of Police of
the City of Albany, and their successors in office, are hereby constituted
the Board of Trustees, who shall have the control, management and
distribution of the funds provided for in this article. One of the
Trustees shall be elected President, and the Comptroller shall be
the ex officio Treasurer of the Board and custodian of such funds.
The Board of Trustees is hereby authorized to adopt rules and regulations
for its government. It shall determine all applications for pensions
according to the provisions of this article and shall cause to be
kept a full and complete record of all its proceedings and meetings
and shall report in detail to the Common Council annually the condition
and disposition of such funds and the items of receipts and disbursements
in connection with the same, which shall be printed in the annual
report of the City Comptroller; and the granting or allowing of any
pension except as hereinafter set forth shall constitute a breach
of trust on the part of the Trustees voting for the same; and actions
at law to recover such pension illegally paid may be brought and maintained
against the bond of the Treasurer and such delinquent Trustees and
their estates and the person to whom the same may be paid by the City
of Albany.
[Amended 12-2-1985 by L.L. No. 2-1986]
The Chief of Police shall have the power to
retire from the service in the Police Department any officer or member
thereof who may be found, on examination by the surgeon of the Department,
disqualified, physically or mentally, for the performance of his duties;
and the Treasurer of the pension fund shall grant pensions as hereinafter
provided to such member or to the widow and/or children of such member
who may be entitled thereto, as follows:
A.
In case an officer or member of the Police Department
shall be killed in the actual performance of duty or shall have died
within one year from the effects of any injury received while in the
actual discharge of such duty, there shall be paid by the Board of
Trustees of the pension fund to the widow, during her natural life
or until she remarries, one-half (1/2) of the salary which such officer
or member was receiving at the time of his death or fatal injury,
and, if there is no widow or if there is a widow and she remarries,
the Board of Trustees shall pay from the pension fund to the child
or children under the age of 18 years one-half (1/2) of the salary
which said officer or member was receiving at the time of his death
or fatal injury and, if there be more than one child, share and share
alike in such one-half salary. The pension or allowance in the case
of a child or children shall cease when such child, if there is one,
attains the age of 18 years, and, if there be more than one, as each
child attains the age of 18 years, his share shall cease and shall
be paid to the other child or children under 18 years of age.
B.
To any member of the Police Department who, while
in the actual performance of duty and by reason of the performance
of such duty and without fault or misconduct on his part, shall have
become permanently disabled, through injuries received, so as to be
unfit to perform full police duty; and the Trustees of the fund shall
place upon the pension roll of the pension fund and award and grant,
to be paid such member, from such Police Pension Fund, an annual pension
during his lifetime of one-half (1/2) of the salary of such member
so retired. After the death of such member, there shall be paid to
his wife surviving him an annual allowance as a pension of 60% of
the pension paid him at the time of his death, provided that the said
wife was married to said member at the time the disability occurred;
and said payments shall continue during her natural life or until
she remarries.
C.
The Chief of Police may release and retire from the
Police Department any member upon a certificate of the police surgeon
showing that such member of whatever age who has served 20 years continuously
is permanently disabled, physically or mentally, so as to unfit for
duty; and the Treasurer of the fund shall place upon the pension roll
of the pension fund and award and grant, to be paid from such Police
Pension Fund, an annual pension during his lifetime of one-half (1/2)
of the full salary or compensation of such member so retired. After
the death of such member, there shall be paid to his wife surviving
him an annual allowance as a pension of 60% of the pension paid him
at the time of his death, provided that said wife was married to said
member at the time of his retirement by reason of disability as aforesaid.
D.
The surviving wife of any officer or member of the
Police Department shall be paid at annual allowance as a pension of
60% of the pension paid him at the time of his death or that would
have been paid him if he had been retired on the date of his death,
for the period of her natural life or until she remarries, provided
that such officer or member shall have been a member of the Police
Department of the City of Albany continuously since May 31, 1940,
and provided further that he was not a member of the New York State
Employees Retirement System.
E.
The provisions for payment to the surviving wife as set forth herein in Subsections B, C and D of this section shall not be made if the surviving wife shall be otherwise entitled to benefits under this article or under any state law which may provide for the payment of benefits by the City to each surviving wife.
F.
Every officer or member of the Police Department who
has served continuously as such for 25 or more years and shall have
arrived at the age of 50 years shall, upon his own application, be
retired without physical examination and certification. An annual
pension shall be granted and paid each officer or a member so retired,
from the Police Pension Fund, equal to one-half (1/2) of the annual
compensation allowed him as salary at the date of his retirement from
the service, and such pension shall be for the natural life of the
pensioner. Any member of the veteran grade who shall become entitled
to a pension under this article shall receive an annual pension equal
to one-half (1/2) the salary to which he would have been entitled
had he been of the same grade and in the active list at the time of
his retirement.
G.
Officers and members referred to in this article are
those only who have been regularly appointed officers and patrolmen
of the Police Department.
H.
In the event that a policeman has served as a member
of the Police Department for his minimum period and continues in service,
upon his subsequent retirement for any cause whatsoever, there shall
be added to the amount of the annual pension or retirement allowance
to which he was entitled upon such retirement, an additional amount
computed at the rate of one-sixtieth (1/60) of his final compensation
for each year of such additional service. His final compensation shall
be computed to be the average of the last three years of salary or
the highest average salary earned during any three consecutive years
from the date of his minimum period to the date of his retirement.
I.
The provisions of Subsection H above shall not be made in addition to additional retirement benefits provided under any state law except to the extent that said state benefit is less than the benefit herein provided. This additional benefit set forth herein is intended to be in lieu of any lesser amount prescribed by any state law and, in particular, by § 207-d of the General Municipal Law of the State of New York.
A.
Once each year following the retirement of a member
on a disability allowance, the Board of Trustees may and, upon the
beneficiary's application, shall require any disability beneficiary
to undergo a medical examination by the Board of Trustees, said examination
to be made at the place of residence of said beneficiary or other
place mutually agreed upon. Should any disability beneficiary refuse
to submit to a medical examination, his retirement allowance shall
be discontinued until his withdrawal of such refusal, and should such
refusal continue for one year, all his rights in and to his pension
shall be forfeited.
B.
Should the surgeon of the Police Department report
and certify to the Board of Trustees that such disability beneficiary
is engaged in or is able to engage in a gainful occupation paying
more than his retirement allowance and should the Board of Trustees
concur in such report, then the amount of his pension shall be reduced
to an amount which, when added to the amount earnable by him together
with his annuity, shall equal the amount of his final average salary.
Should his earning capacity be later changed, then the amount of his
pension may be further altered, provided that the new pension shall
not exceed the amount of the pension originally granted nor an amount
which, when added to the amount earned by the beneficiary together
with his annuity, equals the amount of his final average salary. If
the Board of Trustees concurs in a report by the surgeon of the Police
Department that said beneficiary is able to engage in a gainful occupation,
it shall, if the beneficiary so desires, certify the name of such
beneficiary to the Civil Service Commission, and such Commission shall
place his name as a preferred eligible on such appropriate lists of
candidates as are prepared for appointment to positions for which
he is stated to be qualified, of a salary grade not exceeding that
from which he was last retired. Should said beneficiary be offered
municipal service as a result of the placing of his name on a civil
service list, the Board of Trustees shall reduce the amount of his
disability pension to an amount which, when added to that then earned
by him or earnable by him in municipal service so offered him, shall
not exceed the amount of the final compensation on the basis of which
his pension was determined. A beneficiary restored to active service
at a salary less than the final average salary upon the basis of which
he was retired shall not become a member of the Police Pension Fund
while receiving any pension.
C.
Should a disability beneficiary be restored to active
service at a salary not less than his final average salary, his retirement
allowance shall cease, he shall again become a member of the Police
Pension Fund, and he shall contribute to said find thereafter in the
same manner and at the same rate as he paid prior to his disability.
Any prior service and member service on the basis of which service
was computed at the time of his retirement shall be restored to full
force and effect; and in addition, upon his subsequent retirement,
he shall be credited with all his service as a member subsequent to
his last restoration to membership.
Any officer or members of said Police Department who shall hereafter relinquish his membership in said Police Department, except as provided in § 42-16 of this article, shall forfeit all rights and privileges in connection with the Police Pension Fund.
All moneys ordered to be paid out of the Police
Pension Fund to any person or persons shall be paid by the Treasurer
of the fund only upon warrant signed by the President of the Board
of Trustees thereof and countersigned by the Secretary thereof, and
no warrant shall be drawn except by order of the Board of Trustees
duly entered in the record of the proceedings of the Board. The Board
of Trustees is hereby authorized to deposit the fund in any of the
banks or trust companies in the City of Albany upon receiving adequate
security therefor or to invest the same in the bonds or other obligations
of the City or in bonds of the United States or of this state issued
pursuant to the authority of the laws of this state. The Board may
purchase at par the whole or any part of the issue of the bonds of
the City on account of the fund for investment purposes. All interest,
income or dividends which shall be paid or agreed to be paid on account
of the fund shall constitute a part thereof. Nothing herein contained
shall, however, be construed as authorizing the Treasurer of the fund
to invest, loan or deposit any part thereof unless so authorized by
the Board.
The Board of Trustees of these funds may take
by gift, grant, devise or bequest, and hold free from taxation, any
real or personal property, the annual income of which shall not exceed
in the aggregate the sum of $30,000 for the benefit thereof.
The Corporation Counsel of the City, without
additional compensation, shall, under the direction of the Treasurer,
take charge of the prosecution and defense of all suits or proceedings
instituted by or against the Board of Trustees on account of or in
the discharge of their trust. And the Treasurer thereof is hereby
authorized to settle or compromise any suit or judgment for less than
the amount of the same, with the consent of the Board of Trustees.
Any officer or board of officers of the City
who shall realize, receive or derive any money which, under the provisions
of law, constitute a part of the pension fund, is hereby directed
to pay over the same on the first day of the month succeeding the
receipt and collection thereof to the Treasurer of the Board of Trustees
thereof, to be used and applied as a part of the fund.
All pensions and benefits granted under the
provisions of this article and property purchased from the proceeds
thereof shall be exempt from execution, attachment or any process
whatever. The funds shall be sacredly kept and held secure and distributed
and applied for the purpose of pensioning and insuring the persons
named herein and for no other purpose whatsoever.
Any person who shall willfully or knowingly
swear falsely in any oath or affirmation in obtaining or procuring
any pension or the payment thereof under the provisions of this article
shall be guilty of perjury.
All pensions heretofore granted shall continue
at the same rate and under the same conditions as when granted, notwithstanding
the passage of this article.
The repeal of a law, or any part of it, specified
in this article or otherwise, by the provisions of this article, shall
not affect or impair any act done or right accruing, accrued or acquired,
or penalty, forfeiture or punishment incurred prior to the time when
this article takes effect under or by virtue of the laws so repealed,
but the same may be asserted, enforced, prosecuted or inflicted, as
fully and to the same extent as if such law had not been repealed.
The provisions of this article, so far as they are substantially the
same, or cover the same subject matter, as those of any law repealed
hereby, shall be construed as a continuance of such repealed law,
modified or amended, according to the language employed herein and
not as new enactments.
Said Board of Trustees may, in its discretion,
pay the pension of said minor child or children to the mother or to
their general or testamentary guardian or to the person or persons
who shall have the care and custody of said minor child or children,
and the decision of said Board of Trustees as to what is deemed for
the best interests of said minor child or children may be reviewed
by the surrogate of the County of Albany, State of New York, and payment
according to its determination of the pensions and allowances herein
provided for shall be full discharge for the money so paid.
This article shall apply to all who are now
officers or members of the Police Department, but none of the provisions
of this article or any amending state or local law shall apply to
any member appointed on or after June 1, 1940, but in place and instead
of membership in said Police Pension Fund of the City of Albany, such
appointee or appointees shall be entitled to membership in the New
York State Employees Retirement System and entitled to all of the
pensions, retirement benefits, emolument or awards as are provided
for in Chapter 741, Article 4 of the Laws of 1920, and Chapter 591,
Article 5 of the Laws of 1922, as the same have from time to time
been amended and renumbered. The City of Albany, New York, hereby
gives its consent and approval to such membership and/or memberships
in the New York State Employees Retirement System of all members of
such Albany Police Department who shall be appointed on and after
June 1, 1940.
This article shall be known as "Local Law No. 1 of 1940" and is intended to change and supersede Subdivisions 4, 5 and 7 of Section l, Subdivision 1 of Section 4 of Chapter 375 of the Laws of 1920, as amended by Local Law No. 6 of 1936, and to add two new sections thereto numbered 14 and 15.
