H. B. 2448
(By Delegates Tucker, Caputo and Williams)
[Introduced February 22, 2001
; referred to the
Committee on Pensions and Retirement then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact sections seven and twenty-five, article
twenty-two, chapter eight of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, all relating to
retirement benefits for members of police and fire
departments.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections seven and twenty-five, article twenty-two,
chapter eight of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all 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.
§8-22-7. Retirement pensions.
(a) After the effective date of the fund, any member of the
fund who has at least ten years of continuous total service credit
shall receive a vested right to a retirement pension which he the
member may exercise upon or after attainment of age sixty
twenty-five years of service credit regardless of the member's age.
When he the member
has attained the age of sixty twenty-five years
of service credit, he the member
may, at he the member's
option,
apply for a retirement pension, the amount thereof to be determined
in accordance with the provisions of subsection (e) of this
section.
(b) Retirement for all members of the fund shall be is
compulsory at the age of seventy subject to the following
conditions: The employee may be permitted to continue in the
service if he the member
so desires and if he the member's
services
are still valuable to the city. Whether an employee's services are
valuable at the age of seventy shall be determined by the
appointing officer of the city. If he the appointing officer
determines that such these services are valuable, his this
determination must be certified to the board for approval. If the board approves, the employee may continue in the service of the
city. The appointing officer shall annually certify to the board
relative to the ability and competency of all employees over age
seventy. The amount of any pension under the provisions of this
subsection shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of
subsection (e) of this section.
(c) Effective the first day of January, one thousand nine
hundred eighty-seven, a city may provide that any member of the
fund who has at least ten years of continuous total service credit
shall receive a vested right to a retirement pension which he the
member
may exercise upon or after attainment of age fifty-five
twenty-five years of service credit regardless of the member's age.
When he the member
has attained the age of fifty-five twenty-five
years of service credit, he the member
may, at his the member's
option, apply for a retirement pension, the amount thereof to be
determined in accordance with the provisions of subsection (e) of
this section, reduced by one quarter of one percent for each month
(three percent per year) by which his the member's
retirement date
precedes age sixty, except that if his the member's
age plus years
of continuous service credit is equal to or greater than
eighty-five, the benefit shall may not be reduced.
(d) Although he has not attained the age of sixty, Any
member who has thirty-five years' total service and who becomes so
physically or mentally disabled as to render him the member
unfit
for the performance of the duties of the position he the member
occupies shall be is entitled to an annual retirement pension, the
amount thereof to be determined in accordance with the provisions
of subsection (e) of this section.
(e) A member of the fund, upon retirement, shall be is
entitled to the following annual retirement pension, payable in
twelve monthly installments:
For thirty-five years of total service credit to and including
twenty-four years of total service credit, fifty percent of average
salary plus one and two-thirds percent of average salary per year
of service for each year above twenty-three years;
For twenty-three years of total service credit, fifty percent
of average salary: Provided, That if a member has twenty-three
years of total service credit he shall be the member is
entitled to
a minimum retirement pension of one hundred dollars per month;
For twenty-two years of total service credit, forty-nine
percent of average salary;
For twenty-one years of total service credit, forty-eight percent of average salary;
For twenty years of total service credit, forty-seven percent
of average salary;
For nineteen years of total service credit, forty-five percent
of average salary;
For eighteen years of total service credit, forty-three
percent of average salary;
For seventeen years of total service credit, forty-one percent
of average salary;
For sixteen years of total service credit, thirty-nine percent
of average salary;
For fifteen years of total service credit, thirty-six percent
of average salary;
For fourteen years of total service credit, thirty-three
percent of average salary;
For thirteen years of total service credit, thirty-one percent
of average salary;
For twelve years of total service credit, twenty-nine percent
of average salary;
For eleven years of total service credit, twenty-seven percent
of average salary; and
For ten years of continuous total service credit, twenty-
five percent of average salary.
The rate of a retirement pension shall be prorated for any
fractional part of the total service credit of an employee of less
than a full year.
(f) With the condition that no optional benefit shall be is
effective if the member dies within thirty days after the effective
date of his the member's
retirement, such the member may elect at
least one year prior to such the effective date of his the member's
retirement to receive a lesser retirement pension, on a joint and
last survivor basis, in order to provide, on an actuarial
equivalent basis, an annuity to a designated beneficiary under any
of the following two options:
Option 1. Upon his the member's
death while on retirement,
his the member's
lesser retirement pension shall be continued
throughout the life of and paid to such the individual having an
insurable interest in his the member's
life, as he shall have the
member has named in a written designation duly acknowledged and
filed with the board.
Option 2. Upon his the member's
death while on retirement,
one half of his the member's
lesser retirement pension shall be continued throughout the life of and paid to such the individual
having an insurable interest in his the member's
life as he shall
have the member has named in a written designation duly
acknowledged and filed with the board.
Effective the first day of January, one thousand nine hundred
eighty-seven, a city may provide that an election may be made at
any time prior to the date his benefits commence.
(g) A member who has attained the age of sixty years and who
has less than ten years' total service credit shall be is entitled
to an annuity which shall be the actuarial equivalent of his total
accumulation account at the time of his the member's
retirement.
(h) Effective the first day of January, one thousand nine
hundred eighty-seven, a city may provide that if an actuarial
valuation of the plan determines that the required city
contribution is less than six percent of payroll, then the board of
trustees may provide ad hoc cost-of-living increases to retired
members and beneficiaries, provided such the change does not
increase the city cost to an amount greater than six percent of
payroll. Such These cost-of-living increases are limited to the
increase in the national consumer price index.
§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 the
department for twenty years, may,
upon written application to the board of trustees, be retired from
all service in such the
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 the member's
retirement, or upon his attaining
the age of fifty years, whichever is later payable in twelve
monthly installments for each year of the remainder of his the
member's
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
the
department in which such the
member received his the member's
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 the
department for more than twenty years at the time of his the
member's
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 the
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 the
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
is eligible for retirement pension benefits immediately upon
retirement, regardless of his the member's
age, if he shall
otherwise be the member is otherwise
eligible for such the
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 must
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 the
member's sixty-fifth birthday. The mayor shall cause such
the
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 the
member shall receive retirement pension
benefits payable in twelve monthly installments for each year of
the remainder of his the member's
life in an amount equal to sixty
percent of such the member's average annual salary or compensation
received during the three twelve-consecutive-month periods of
employment with such the
department in which such the
member
received his the member's
highest salary or compensation while a
member of the department, or an amount of five hundred dollars per
month, whichever is greater. If such the
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 is 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 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 the member, whether he the member
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 the member's
life in an amount equal to sixty percent of such the member's
average annual salary or compensation received during the three
twelve-consecutive-month periods of employment with such the
department in which such the
member received his the member's
highest salary or compensation while a member of the department, or
an amount of five hundred dollars per month, whichever is greater.
If such the 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 for retirement
benefits for members of police and fire departments upon attaining
twenty-five years of service regardless of age.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.