Adopted by House 3-25-2009
HB3158 HFAT White #1 3-25McO
Com. Sub. for H. B. 3158 -- "A BILL to amend and reenact
§8-13C-1, §8-13C-2, §8-13C-3, §8-13C-4, §8-13C-5, §8-13C-9,
§8-13C-11 and §8-13C-14 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended; to amend said code by adding thereto a new section,
designated §8-13C-15; to amend and reenact §8-15-8a and §8-15-8b of
said code; to amend said code by adding thereto two new sections,
designated §8-15-8d and §8-15-8e; to amend and reenact §8-22-16,
§8-22-17, §8-22-19, §8-22-20, §8-22-20a, §8-22-22, §8-22-22a,
§8-22-23a, §8-22-26a and §8-22-27 of said code; to amend said code
by adding thereto two new sections, designated §8-22-18a and §8-22-
18b; to amend said code by adding thereto a new section, designated
§11-21-12i; to amend and reenact §12-4-14 of said code; to amend
said code by adding thereto a new section, designated §33-2-15e; to
amend and reenact §33-3-14d and §33-3-33 of said code; to amend
said code by adding thereto three new sections, designated
§33-3-14e, §33-3-34 and §33-3-35; and to amend and reenact §60-3-
17 of said code, all relating to providing assistance to certain
political subdivision activities involving municipal policemen's
and firemen's pensions and relief systems and volunteer fire
departments generally; revising the conditions upon which
municipalities may impose pension relief occupational taxes, pension relief sales and service and pension relief use taxes, and
may issue bonds, dedicated solely to reducing the unfunded
actuarial accrued liability of the municipality's policemen's and
firemen's pensions and relief funds; modifying requirements for
bonds issued by a municipality to eliminate the unfunded actuarial
accrued liability; creating new West Virginia Municipal Pensions
Matching Fund to which the alcohol beverage control commissioner is
directed to transfer funds; providing for the investment,
allocation and distribution of state funds on a matching fund basis
for the purpose of reducing the unfunded actuarial accrued
liability of policemen's and firemen's pension and relief funds;
establishing eligibility for allocation and distribution of
matching funds; adding requirements for eligibility for allocations
to volunteer fire companies and departments from the Fire
Protection Fund; providing for the disposition of assets and moneys
derived from allocations from the Fire Protection Fund upon the
sale of the assets by a volunteer fire company or department or the
withdrawal of its certification; requiring sworn statements of
expenditures or reports from volunteer fire companies and
departments receiving allocations from the Fire Protection Fund to
be filed with the Legislative Auditor; providing for disposition of
funds withheld from distribution for failure to file the statements
or reports; establishing criminal penalties; establishing
eligibility criteria for volunteer fire companies and departments to receive funds allocated from the Volunteer Firefighters Length
of Service Awards Program Fund; revising calculation of overtime
for compensation and average adjusted salary for new employees who
are members of municipal policemen's and firemen's pensions and
relief systems; requiring additional duties of municipal
policemen's and firemen's pensions and relief fund trustees;
establishing the West Virginia Municipal Pensions Oversight Board;
specifying powers, duties, liabilities and compensation of
oversight board members; requiring reporting on local pension
funds' investment returns; creating the West Virginia Municipal
Pensions Security Fund; transferring certain duties from the State
Treasurer to the oversight board and providing for efficient
transition; requiring municipal contributions on a monthly basis;
requiring deposits of certain revenues within five days of receipt;
increasing employee contributions to the pension and relief funds
for new employees to nine and one-half percent of salary and for
current members to eight and one-half percent of salary; requiring
the increased contributions as a condition of eligibility to
receive certain insurance premium tax revenues; reducing time to
qualify for insurance premium tax revenues allocation; providing
for annual actuarial report, for periodic review of the actuarial
process and for periodic actuarial audit; setting minimum standards
for annual municipality contributions to pension funds;
establishing target funding ratios of eighty, ninety and one hundred percent of unfunded liabilities; establishing amortization
periods; eliminating alternative funding method; providing for
contract actuary; establishing actuarial process; requiring
reports; authorizing local pension boards of trustees to investment
with the state Investment Management Board and Board of Treasury
Investments; requiring compliance with the Uniform Prudent Investor
Act; revising restrictions and conditions of authorized investments
by municipal trustees; requiring reporting of municipal trustees'
investment policy; requiring reporting of fees and transactions
costs; providing for disability examinations; requiring completion
of investigation of charge and any implementation of disciplinary
action by board of trustees prior to consideration of disability
retirement; authorizing light-duty work at discretion of the
municipality and the employee; revising calculation of and
requirements for supplemental benefits; providing for reinstatement
to employment and payments of assessments for those returning from
military service; establishing deduction of insurance premium
surcharges assessed for volunteer fire companies and departments
for state personal income tax purposes; requiring study of casualty
and surety insurance by insurance commissioner; repeal of current
fire and casualty insurance additional premium tax provisions;
continuation and increase of fire and casualty insurance additional
premium tax solely for municipality's policemen's and firemen's
pensions and relief system and reallocation of the tax collections; providing amortization schedule for plans with funding level of at
least one hundred ten percent; repeal of current fire and casualty
insurance premium surcharge provisions; continuation of fire and
casualty insurance premium surcharge solely for volunteer fire
companies and departments; civil penalties for failure to collect
the premium surcharge; allocating and distributing the surcharge
collections; creating new Volunteer Firefighters Length of Service
Awards Program Fund to which the alcohol beverage control
commissioner is directed to transfer funds; providing for the
allocation and distribution of state funds to volunteer fire
companies and departments for the purpose of defraying the cost of
participation in length of service awards programs; providing
duties and expense allowance for State Treasurer and State
Insurance Commissioner; imposing requirements for the use of
distributed allocations; and providing disposition of undistributed
portion of the funds.".