H. B. 3116
(By Delegate Ennis)
[Introduced March 21, 2005; referred to the
Committee on Pensions and Retirement Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §8-22-25 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to municipal police and firemen
pension plans; providing that where a member's service has
been interrupted by military service, that member may receive
retirement benefits immediately upon retirement.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §8-22-25 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 22. RETIREMENT BENEFITS GENERALLY; POLICEMEN'S PENSION
AND RELIEF FUND; FIREMEN'S PENSION AND RELIEF
FUND; PENSION PLANS FOR EMPLOYEES OF WATERWORKS
SYSTEM, SEWERAGE SYSTEM OR COMBINED WATERWORKS AND
SEWERAGE SYSTEM.
§8-22-25. Retirement pensions.
(a) Any member of a paid police or fire department who is entitled to a retirement pension hereunder, and who has been in the
honorable service of such department for twenty years, may, upon
written application to the Board of Trustees, be retired from all
service in such department without medical examination or
disability. On such retirement the Board of Trustees shall
authorize the payment of annual retirement pension benefits
commencing upon his
or her retirement or upon his
or her attaining
the age of fifty years, whichever is later, payable in twelve
monthly installments for each year of the remainder of his
or her
life, in an amount equal to sixty percent of such member's average
annual salary or compensation received during the three
twelve-consecutive-month periods of employment with such department
in which such member received his
or her highest salary or
compensation while a member of the department, or an amount of five
hundred dollars per month, whichever is greater.
(b) Any member of any such department who is entitled to a
retirement pension under the provisions of subsection (a) of this
section and who has been in the honorable service of such
department for more than twenty years at the time of his
or her
retirement shall receive, in addition to the sixty percent
authorized in said subsection (a):
(1) Two additional percent, to be added to the sixty percent
for each of the first five additional years of service completed at
the time of retirement in excess of twenty years of service up to a maximum of seventy percent; and
(2) One additional percent, to be added to such maximum of
seventy percent, for each of the first five additional years of
service completed at the time of retirement in excess of
twenty-five years of service up to a maximum of seventy-five
percent.
The total additional credit provided
for in this subsection
may not exceed fifteen additional percent.
(c) Any member of any such department whose service has been
interrupted by duty with the armed forces of the United States as
provided in section twenty-seven of this article
prior to the first
day of July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-one, shall be
eligible for retirement pension benefits immediately upon
retirement, regardless of his
or her age, if he
or she shall
otherwise be eligible for such retirement pension benefits.
Any member or previously retired member of any such department
who has served in active duty with the armed forces of the United
States as described in section twenty-seven of this article,
whether prior to or subsequent to becoming a member of a paid
police or fire department covered by the provisions of this
article, shall receive, in addition to the sixty percent authorized
in subsection (a) of this section and the additional percent credit
authorized in subsection (b) of this section, one additional
percent for each year so served in active military duty, up to a maximum of four additional percent. In no event, however, may the
total benefit granted to any member exceed seventy-five percent of
the member's annual average salary calculated in accordance with
subsection (a) of this section.
(d) Any member of a paid police or fire department shall be
retired at the age of sixty-five years in the manner provided in
this subsection. When a member of the paid police or fire
department reaches the age of sixty-five years, the
said Board of
Trustees shall notify the mayor of this fact, within thirty days of
such member's sixty-fifth birthday. The mayor shall cause such
sixty-five-year-old member of the paid police or fire department to
retire within a period of not more than thirty additional days.
Upon retirement under the provisions of this subsection, such
member shall receive retirement pension benefits payable in twelve
monthly installments for each year of the remainder of his
or her
life in an amount equal to sixty percent of such member's average
annual salary or compensation received during the three
twelve-consecutive-month periods of employment with such department
in which such member received his
or her highest salary or
compensation while a member of the department, or an amount of five
hundred dollars per month, whichever is greater. If such member
has been employed in
said the department for more than twenty
years, the provisions of subsection (b) of this section shall
apply.
(e) It shall be the duty of each member of a paid police or
fire department at the time a fund is hereafter established to
furnish the necessary proof of his
or her date of birth to the said
Board of Trustees, as specified in section twenty-three of this
article, within a reasonable length of time,
said the length of
time to be determined by the
said Board of Trustees. Then the
Board of Trustees and the mayor shall proceed to act in the manner
provided in subsection (d) of this section and shall cause all
members of the paid police or fire department who are over the age
of sixty-five years to retire in not less than sixty days from the
date the fund is established. Upon retirement under the provisions
of this subsection (e), such member, whether he
or she has been
employed in
said the department for twenty years or not, shall
receive retirement pension benefits payable in twelve monthly
installments for each year of the remainder of his
or her life in
an amount equal to sixty percent of such member's average annual
salary or compensation received during the three
twelve-consecutive-month periods of employment with such department
in which such member received his
or her highest salary or
compensation while a member of the department, or an amount of five
hundred dollars per month, whichever is greater. If such member
has been employed in
said the department for more than twenty
years, the provisions of subsection (b) of this section shall
apply.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that where a
member's service has been interrupted by military service, that
member may receive retirement benefits immediately upon retirement.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.