PRINTER'S NO. 1692
No. 1314 Session of 2000
INTRODUCED BY HOLL, TOMLINSON, SALVATORE, GREENLEAF, COSTA,
KUKOVICH, TILGHMAN, LEMMOND, PUNT AND BOSCOLA,
FEBRUARY 29, 2000
REFERRED TO FINANCE, FEBRUARY 29, 2000
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of May 29, 1956 (1955 P.L. 1804, No.600),
2 entitled, as amended, "An act providing for the establishment
3 of police pension funds or pension annuities in certain
4 boroughs, towns and townships; authorizing the establishment
5 of police pension funds or pension annuities by regional
6 police departments; providing for the regulation and
7 maintenance of police pension funds or pension annuities;
8 providing for an actuary; continuance of existing funds or
9 transfer thereof to funds herein established; prescribing
10 rights of beneficiaries; contributions by members; providing
11 for expenses of administration; continuation of existing
12 authority to provide annuity contracts; credit for military
13 service; refunds; exempting allowances from judicial process;
14 and repealing certain acts," further providing for benefits.
15 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
16 hereby enacts as follows:
17 Section 1. Section 1 of the act of May 29, 1956 (1955
18 P.L.1804, No.600), referred to as the Municipal Police Pension
19 Law, amended May 10, 1996 (P.L.162, No.33), is amended to read:
20 Section 1. (a) (1) Each borough, town and township of this
21 Commonwealth maintaining a police force of three or more full-
22 time members and each regional police department shall, and all
23 other boroughs, towns or townships may, establish, by ordinance
1 or resolution, a police pension fund or pension annuity to be
2 maintained by a charge against each member of the police force,
3 by annual appropriations made by the borough, town, township or
4 regional police department, by payments made by the State
5 Treasurer to the municipal treasurer from the moneys received
6 from taxes paid upon premiums by foreign casualty insurance
7 companies for purposes of pension retirement for policemen, and
8 by gifts, grants, devises or bequests granted to the pension
9 fund pursuant to section two of this act.
10 (2) Such fund shall be under the direction of the governing
11 body of the borough, town, township or regional police
12 department, and applied under such regulations as such governing
13 body, by ordinance or resolution, [may] shall prescribe for the
14 benefit of such members of the police force as shall receive
15 honorable discharge therefrom by reason of age and service, or
16 disability, and [may] shall prescribe for the benefit (i) of
17 widows, and if no widow survives or if she survives and
18 subsequently dies [or remarries], then (ii) of child or children
19 under the age of eighteen years or if attending college, under
20 the age of twenty-three years, of members of the police force or
21 of members retired on pension.
22 (3) All such pensions as shall be allowed to those who are
23 retired by reason of disabilities shall be in conformity with a
24 uniform scale.
25 (4) The widow of a member of the police force or the widow
26 of a member who was eligible for a pension but had not begun
27 collecting a pension or a member who retires on pension who dies
28 or if no widow survives or if she survives and subsequently dies
29 [or remarries], then the child or children under the age of
30 eighteen years or if attending college, under the age of twenty-
20000S1314B1692 - 2 -
1 three years, of a member of the police force or a member who
2 retires on pension who dies on or after [the effective date of
3 this amendment, may] June 23, 1970, shall, during her lifetime
4 [or so long as she does not remarry] in the case of a widow or
5 until reaching the age of eighteen years or if attending
6 college, until reaching the age of twenty-three years, in the
7 case of a child or children, be entitled to receive a pension
8 calculated at the rate of fifty per centum of the pension the
9 member was receiving or would have been receiving had he been
10 retired at the time of his death[.], except that if the assets
11 of the pension fund exceed the present value of future benefits
12 as reported in the last actuarial valuation report filed with
13 the Public Employee Retirement Commission under the act of
14 December 18, 1984 (P.L.1005, No.205), known as the "Municipal
15 Pension Plan Funding Standard and Recovery Act," such
16 entitlement shall be calculated at one hundred per centum of the
17 pension the member was receiving or would have been receiving
18 had he been retired at the time of his death.
19 (5) The widow of a member of the police force who dies
20 before his pension has vested or if no widow survives or if she
21 survives and subsequently dies, the child or children under the
22 age of eighteen years, or if attending college, under the age of
23 twenty-three years, of the member of the police force shall be
24 entitled to receive repayment of all money which the member
25 invested in the pension fund plus interest or other increases in
26 value of the member's investment in the pension fund.
27 (b) For purposes of this act, the term "regional police
28 department" shall mean a municipal police force organized and
29 operated in combination by two or more municipalities through an
30 intermunicipal agreement under the act of July 12, 1972
20000S1314B1692 - 3 -
1 (P.L.762, No.180), referred to as the Intergovernmental
2 Cooperation Law.
3 Section 2. Section 5(c) and (e) of the act, amended February
4 18, 1998 (P.L.158, No.24), are amended to read:
5 Section 5. * * *
6 (c) Monthly pension or retirement benefits other than length
7 of service increments shall be computed at one-half the monthly
8 average salary of such member during not more than the last
9 sixty nor less than the last thirty-six months of employment[.],
10 except that if the assets of the pension fund exceed the present
11 value of future benefits as reported in the last actuarial
12 valuation report filed with the Public Employee Retirement
13 Commission under the act of December 18, 1984 (P.L.1005,
14 No.205), known as the "Municipal Pension Plan Funding Standard
15 and Recovery Act," such monthly pension or retirement benefits
16 may be computed in excess of the limits herein prescribed. Such
17 pension or retirement benefits for any month shall be computed
18 as the sum of (1) any pension benefits from pension plans
19 heretofore established by a private organization or association
20 for the members of the police force but only to the extent that
21 this Commonwealth or any of its municipalities shall have
22 contributed to such pension plan moneys raised by taxation; (2)
23 if positions covered by the fund are included in an agreement
24 under the Federal Social Security Act, up to seventy-five per
25 centum of his full social security old-age insurance benefit
26 calculated in accordance with the provisions of the Federal
27 Social Security Act in effect on the date of his termination of
28 employment, except that such amount shall be included only upon
29 attainment of the age at which the officer would be eligible to
30 receive full social security old-age insurance benefits and in
20000S1314B1692 - 4 -
1 determining such eligibility and such amount only compensation
2 for services actually rendered by the officer and covered by the
3 police pension fund shall be included; and (3) benefits from the
4 police pension fund established pursuant to this act to the
5 extent necessary to bring the total benefits in any month up to
6 one-half the aforesaid monthly average salary except that any
7 officer who receives pension or retirement benefits from any
8 plan established at any time pursuant to this act and who is
9 also entitled to receive social security old-age insurance
10 benefits shall not regardless of when the officer retired from
11 active service have his pension or retirement benefits offset or
12 reduced by more than seventy-five per centum of the social
13 security old-age insurance benefits which he receives.
14 * * *
15 (e) In the case of the payment of pensions for permanent
16 injuries incurred in service and to families of members killed
17 in service, the amount and commencement of the payments shall be
18 fixed by regulations of the governing body of the borough, town,
19 township or regional police department[.], provided that
20 pensions for permanent injuries shall be calculated at no less
21 than fifty per centum of the member's salary at the time the
22 disability was incurred and provided further that pensions for
23 the families of members killed in service shall be calculated at
24 one hundred per centum of the member's salary at the time of
25 death.
26 * * *
27 Section 3. This act shall take effect in 90 days.
G30L53DMS/20000S1314B1692 - 5 -