The following words and phrases as used in this plan shall have
the meanings set forth in this section, unless a different meaning
is otherwise clearly required by the context:
ACCRUED BENEFIT
As of any given date, the benefit determined under §
47-134B, calculated on the basis of final monthly average salary as of the date of determination and multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which shall be the participant's aggregate service determined as of such date and the denominator of which shall be the projected aggregate service of the participant as if the participant continues in employment until attainment of normal retirement age. Notwithstanding anything contained herein to the contrary, in no event shall the fraction exceed 1.0. The accrued benefit shall not exceed the maximum limitation, determined as of the date of computation, provided under §
47-134G. All accrued benefits are subject to all applicable limitations, reductions, offsets and actuarial adjustments provided pursuant to the terms of the plan prior to the actual payment thereof.
ACCUMULATED CONTRIBUTIONS
The total amount contributed by any participant to this pension fund or its predecessor by way of payroll deduction or otherwise, plus interest credited at 4% per annum. Interest shall be credited in the form of a compound interest rate from the first day of the plan year following the date on which the contributions were paid to the first day of the month preceding the date that a distribution of accumulated contributions under §
47-136B or
47-137B shall be paid or payment of benefits shall commence. Interest shall be credited as described herein solely for any period of time commencing on or after January 1, 1980. Prior to January 1, 1980, interest credit was determined in the sole discretion of the Board.
ACT
The Municipal Pension Plan Funding Standard and Recovery
Act which was enacted as Act 205 of 1984, as amended, 53 P.S. § 895.101
et seq.
ACTUARIAL EQUIVALENT
Two forms of payment of equal actuarial present value on
a specified date. The actuarial present value shall be determined
by use of the UP-1984 Mortality Table and 7% interest, unless otherwise
specifically provided herein.
ACTUARY
The person, partnership, association or corporation which
at any given time is serving as actuary, provided that such actuary
must be an approved actuary as defined in the Act.
AGGREGATE SERVICE
The total period or periods of the participant's employment
with the employer, whether or not interrupted. Notwithstanding the
preceding sentence, should any such participant receive a distribution
of accumulated contributions with respect to a period of employment
for which employee contributions are required, such period of employment
shall not be included in aggregate service thereafter unless, at the
commencement of the next period of employment, the participant repays
to the fund the amount of such distribution with interest. For purposes
of this definition, interest shall accrue as of the date the employee
receives a distribution of accumulated contributions and shall be
computed at the same rate and in the same manner as described in the
definition of "accumulated contributions." Aggregate service shall
be calculated in whole years and completed months.
BENEFICIARY
The person or entity designated by the participant to receive
a distribution of the participant's accumulated contributions
should the participant die prior to becoming entitled to a retirement
benefit. In the event that a participant does not designate a beneficiary
or the beneficiary does not survive the participant, the beneficiary
shall be the surviving spouse or, if there is no surviving spouse,
the issue, per stirpes, or, if there is no surviving issue, the estate,
but if no personal representative has been appointed, to those persons
who would be entitled to the estate under the intestacy laws of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania if the participant had died intestate
and a resident of Pennsylvania.
BOARD
The Board of Commissioners of the Township of Shaler.
CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER
The person designated by the Township who has the primary
responsibility for the execution of the administrative affairs for
the plan.
CODE
The Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.
COMMITTEE
The Pension and Insurance Committee as determined pursuant to §
47-138B.
COMPENSATION
The total remuneration of the employee, whether salary or
hourly wages paid by the employer for police services rendered. Compensation
shall include overtime pay, holiday pay, longevity pay, any other
form of remuneration paid by the employer for police services rendered,
and fixed, periodic amounts paid for periods during which the participant
is not actively employed as a member of the employer's regular
full-time police force, which amounts are paid directly by the employer
or through a program to which the employer has made contributions
on behalf of the employee, other than under this plan (including,
without limitation, a worker's compensation program or payments
made under the Pennsylvania Heart and Lung Act). Certain nonperiodic
payments such as bonuses, educational incentives, unused and earned
vacation and sick-leave buyback payments shall also be included in
compensation. Compensation shall be limited on an annual basis to
the amount specified for government plans pursuant to Code Section
401(a)(17), as adjusted under Code Section 415(d).
DISABILITY DATE
The date when a participant is determined by the plan administrator
to be incapacitated due to total and permanent disability, or the
date when the participant's employment terminates due to such
total and permanent disability, if later.
EMPLOYEE
Any individual employed by the employer on a regular, full-time
basis as a police officer of the employer's police force. For
purposes of this definition, "employed on a regular full-time basis"
means that the individual is regularly scheduled to work a minimum
of 40 hours per week.
EMPLOYER
The Township of Shaler, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
EMPLOYMENT
For the purpose of determining aggregate service:
A.
The period of time for which an employee is directly or indirectly
compensated or entitled to compensation by the employer for the performance
of duties as a police officer;
B.
Any period of time for which an employee is paid, either directly
by the employer or through a program to which the employer has made
contributions on behalf of the employee, a fixed, periodic amount
in the nature of salary-continuation payments for reasons other than
the performance of duties (such as vacation, holidays, sickness, entitlement
to benefits under workers' compensation or similar laws);
C.
Any period during which an employee is entitled to disability
benefits under this plan, provided that the employee returns to employment
within three months of the date on which it is determined that the
employee is no longer totally and permanently disabled, if such determination
occurs prior to the date a participant attains normal retirement age;
D.
Any period of voluntary or involuntary military service with
the Armed Forces of the United States of America, provided that the
participant has been employed as a regular, full-time member of the
employer's police force for a period of at least six months immediately
prior to the period of military service, and the participant returns
to employment within six months following discharge from military
service or within such longer period during which employment rights
are guaranteed by applicable law or under the terms of a collective
bargaining agreement with the employer; and
E.
Any period of qualified military service as determined under
the requirements of Chapter 43 of Title 38, United States Code, provided
that the participant returns to employment following such period of
qualified military service, and the participant makes payment to the
plan in an amount equal to the participant contributions that would
otherwise have been paid to the plan during such period of qualified
military service. The amount of participant contributions shall be
based upon an estimate of the compensation that would have been paid
to the participant during such period of qualified military service
as determined by the average compensation paid to the participant
during the 12 months immediately preceding the period of qualified
military service. The amount of participant contributions calculated
must be paid into the plan before the end of the period that begins
on the date of reemployment and ends on the earlier of the date that
ends the period that has a duration of three times the period of qualified
military service or the date that is five years after the date of
reemployment.
FINAL MONTHLY AVERAGE SALARY
The average monthly salary earned by the participant and
paid by the employer during the final 36 months immediately preceding
termination of active employment. Salary shall include the employee's
compensation to which the employee is entitled for the rendering of
services in employment but shall exclude for this purpose any single
sum or extraordinary payments made which are not directly attributable
to active employment during the averaging period, including but not
limited to payment for accumulated sick leave, payment of a longevity
bonus, or payment of a back-pay damage award. Salary shall not include
uniform allowance.
A.
In the case of each participant who was actively employed in
employment on or before April 1, 2001, "salary" for the purpose of
determining final monthly average salary shall include payments made
for accumulated sick leave, whether as an annual payment during the
averaging period or as a single-sum payment at the time of retirement.
B.
Final monthly average salary shall be calculated by taking into
account only those periods during which an employee receives salary,
as that term is defined in this definition. Therefore, for example,
the final monthly average salary for a participant who is voluntarily
or involuntarily serving in the United States Armed Forces during
the final 36 months of aggregate service shall be based on the period
during which the employee last received salary (as defined in the
preceding paragraphs) from the employer.
C.
Salary used to determine final monthly average salary shall
be limited on an annual basis to the amount specified for government
plans in accordance with Code Section 401(a)(17), as adjusted under
Code Section 415(d).
LATE RETIREMENT DATE
The day next following the date on which the participant
retires from employment which is subsequent to the date on which the
participant attains normal retirement age.
NORMAL RETIREMENT AGE
The date on which the participant has completed 25 years
of aggregate service with the employer and has attained age 55.
NOTICE or ELECTION
A written document prepared in the form specified by the
plan administrator. If such notice or election is to be provided by
the employer or the plan administrator, it shall be mailed in a properly
addressed envelope, postage prepaid, to the last known address of
the person entitled thereto on or before the last day of the specified
notice or election period. If such notice or election is to be provided
to the employer or the plan administrator, it must be received by
the intended recipient on or before the last day of the specified
notice or election period.
PARTICIPANT
An employee who has met the eligibility requirements to participate in the plan as provided in §
47-132A and who has not for any reason ceased to be a participant hereunder.
PENSION FUND
The police pension fund administered under the terms of this
plan and which shall include all money, property, investments, policies
and contracts standing in the name of the plan.
PLAN
The plan set forth herein, as amended from time to time,
and designated as the pension plan of the Township of Shaler (Police).
PLAN ADMINISTRATOR
The committee or the individual appointed for the purpose
of supervising and administering the provisions of the plan. In the
event that no such appointment is made, the plan administrator shall
be the Board.
PLAN YEAR
The twelve-month period beginning on January 1 and ending
on December 31 of each year.
POLICY or CONTRACT
A retirement annuity or retirement income endowment policy
(or a combination of both) or any other form of insurance contract
or policy which shall be deemed appropriate in accordance with the
provisions of applicable law.
RESTATEMENT DATE
January 1, 2006, the date upon which this amendment and restatement
of the plan becomes effective.
RETIREMENT DATE
The first day next following the date on which the participant
retires from employment on which the payment of retirement benefits
pursuant to this plan shall commence.
TOTAL AND PERMANENT DISABILITY
A condition of physical or mental impairment due to which a participant is unable to perform the usual and customary duties of employment and which is reasonably expected to continue to be permanent for the remainder of the participant's lifetime. For purposes of this definition and §
47-135, a condition shall not be treated as a total and permanent disability unless such condition results from permanent injuries incurred in service. Therefore, an employee whose physical or mental impairment does not occur while on duty or which is the result of alcoholism, addiction to narcotics, perpetration of a felonious criminal activity or is willfully self-inflicted is not entitled to receive disability benefits under the plan.
[Added 12-13-2011 by Ord.
No. 1902]
The following provisions are added to the plan. Any prior provisions
that are inconsistent with the provisions in this section are hereby
superseded.
A. The purpose of this section is to comply with the Pension Protection
Act of 2006 (PPA) and the Heroes Earnings Assistance Relief Tax Act (HEART
Act). Notwithstanding anything in this plan to the contrary,
this plan shall be interpreted so as to comply with the applicable
required provisions of the PPA and the HEART Act.
B. For the purposes of Code Section 415(b)(1)(A), effective as of January
1, 2008, the "applicable mortality table" and "applicable interest
rate" are found in Rev. Rul. 2007-67. The "applicable mortality table"
in Rev. Rul. 2001-62 was effective from December 31, 2002 through
December 31, 2007.
C. Section 415(c) compensation. For the purposes of this section, "compensation"
includes only those items specified in Treas. Reg. § 1.415(c)-2(b)(1)
or (2) and excludes all items listed in Treas. Reg. § 1.415(c)-2(c),
the terms of which are specifically incorporated herein by reference.
Effective as of January 1, 2009, to the extent required by the Heroes
Earnings Assistance Relief Tax Act of 2008 (HEART Act), differential
wage payments shall be included in compensation.
D. Effective as of January 1, 2007, an "eligible rollover distribution"
shall include any eligible rollover distribution (including distributions
containing after-tax contributions) that is transferred in a direct
trustee-to-trustee transfer to a Section 403(b) annuity contract or
a qualified trust under Code Section 401(a) that agrees to separately
account for amounts so transferred, including separately accounting
for the portion of such distribution which is includible in gross
income and the portion of such distribution which is not so includible.
E. Effective as of January 1, 2008, a Roth IRA is an eligible retirement
plan.
F. Nonspousal rollover. Effective January 1, 2007, if a beneficiary
who is not a surviving spouse is entitled to receive what would otherwise
be an eligible rollover distribution, the beneficiary may, in accordance
with Code Section 402(c)(11), make a trustee-to-trustee transfer of
that amount to an IRA or individual retirement annuity (other than
an endowment contract), provided that:
(1) The transfer is made not later than the end of the fourth year after
the year of the participant's death; and
(2) The account or annuity to which the amount is transferred is treated
as an inherited IRA or individual retirement annuity in accordance
with Code Section 408(d)(3)(C).
G. HEART Act. Effective for participant deaths occurring while performing
qualified military service [as defined in Code Section 414(u)] on
or after January 1, 2007, the plan will provide retirement benefits
and service credit to the extent required by the HEART Act.