282.01 NAME OF THE PLAN
This plan shall be known as the Lawrence Park Township Police Pension Plan.
282.02 DEFINITIONS
As used in this plan, unless otherwise plainly required by the context, the following terms shall have the meanings as indicated in this section. Any words used herein in the masculine shall be read and construed in the feminine where they would so apply. In addition, terms used in the singular shall be read and construed in the plural where the plural would so apply.
(a) “Accrued benefit” means as of any date of determination, the benefit earned under Article IV, 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 aggregated service determined as of such date and the denominator of which shall be the aggregate service which would be credited to the participant as of his/her normal retirement date if he/she were to continue to be employed until such date.
(b) “Accumulated contributions” means the total amount contributed by any participant to this Fund or its predecessor by way of payroll deduction or otherwise, plus interest credited at five percent per annum. Such interest shall be credited annually in the form of a compound interest rate up to the date on which the participant’s employment is terminated.
(c) “Act” means the Municipal Pension Plan Funding Standard and Recovery Act, enacted as P.L. 1005 (Act 205 of 1984), as amended.
(d) “Actuarial equivalent” solely for the purposes of complying with Code Section 415, means two forms of payment of equal actuarial present value on a specified date based on applicable mortality tables and applicable interest rate.
(e) “Actuary” means 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.
(f) “Aggregate service” means 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 his/her accumulated contributions with respect to a period of employment, such period of employment shall not be included in his/her aggregate service thereafter unless, at the commencement of his/her next period of employment, he/she repays to the Fund the amount of such withdrawal with interest. For purposes of this definition, interest shall accrue as of the date the employee receives a refund of his/her accumulated contributions and shall be computed at the same rate and in the same manner as described in section (b) hereof.
(g) “Authority and duties of Plan Administrator” are to select an individual retirement plan provider (either the state or a federally regulated financial institution) and invest funds in connection with the rollover of mandatory distributions as described in Section 282.48.
(h) “Basic monthly earnings” means the total compensation of the employee, whether salary or hourly wages, including overtime pay, holiday pay, longevity pay, and any other form of compensation paid by the employer for police services rendered. Basic monthly earnings shall also include 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. The compensation used in determining an employee’s basic monthly earnings shall be limited to two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) per plan year, adjusted for inflation in accordance with Code Section 401(a)(17).
(i) “Beneficiary” means the person or entity designated by the participant to receive a refund 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 his/her beneficiary does not survive him/her, his/her beneficiary shall be his/her surviving spouse, or if there is no surviving spouse, or if he/she subsequently dies, his/her child or children under the age of eighteen years or, if attending college, under or attaining the age of twenty-three years, and if no surviving spouse or qualifying children, then to his/her estate.
(j) “Board of Commissioners” means the Commissioners of the Lawrence Park Township.
(k) “Code” means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.
(l) “Consumer price index” means the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (U.S. City average) as published by the United States Department of Labor for the base year 1967 or such later base year as elected by the Plan Administrator and applied on a consistent and nondiscriminatory basis to all participants.
(m) “Disability date” means the date when a participant is determined by the Plan Administrator to be incapacitated due to a total and permanent disability, or the date when participant’s employment terminates due to such total and permanent disability, if later.
(n) “Employee” means any individual employed by the employer on a permanent, full-time basis as a member of the employer’s police force. For purposes of this definition, “employed on a full-time basis” means that the individual works a customary number of hours per week for full-time employment. Any other individual who is receiving remuneration for service with the Township is excluded.
(o) “Employer” means the Lawrence Park Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania.
(p) “Employment” for purposes of determining aggregate service, means the following:
(1) 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;
(2) Any period of time for which an employee is paid 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 the Pennsylvania Heart and Lung Act, worker’s compensation or similar laws), either directly by the employer or through a program to which the employer has made contributions on behalf of the employee; and
(3) Any period of voluntary or involuntary military service with the armed forces of the United States of America, provided that:
(A) 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
(B) The participant returns to employment within six months following his/her separation from military service or within such longer period during which his/her employment rights are guaranteed by applicable law or under the terms of a collective bargaining agreement with the employer; and
(C) The participant is not eligible or entitled to receive retirement benefits now or in the future for said service as set forth in Section 4(c) of Act 600 of 1956, as amended by Act 205 of 1990.
(4) A police officer may purchase credit for military service incurred prior to employment by the Township in accordance with Section 4(b) and (c) of Act 205 of 1990, and subject to the further provision that no expense shall be incurred by the Township as a result thereof.
(5) Any period during which an employee is entitled to disability benefits under this Plan.
(q) “Final monthly average salary.”
(1) The average monthly salary earned by the participant and paid by the employer during the final thirty-six months immediately preceding retirement which are included in the averaging period. The term salary, as used herein, shall include the employee’s regular salary and other forms of compensation which are fixed amounts paid at periodic intervals such as longevity pay, holiday pay, overtime pay, and night differential pay. Salary shall also include fixed periodic payments made to the employee for periods in which the employee is not actively employed where such amounts are paid by the employer or from any program to which the employer contributes or has contributed (other than this Plan) on behalf of the employee. Therefore, for example, salary shall include payments made under the provisions of worker’s compensation laws, the Pennsylvania Heart and Lung Act of short-term disability payments.
(2) Final monthly average salary shall be calculated by taking into account only those periods during which an employee received salary, as that term is defined in this definition. Therefore, for example, the final monthly average salary for a participant who receives disability benefits from this plan or who is voluntarily or involuntarily serving in the United States Armed Forces during the final thirty-six months of his/her aggregate service shall be based on the thirty-six month period during which the employee last received salary (as defined in paragraph (1) hereof) from the employer.
(3) Salary used to determine final monthly average salary shall be limited to two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) per year, adjusted for inflation in accordance with Code Section 401(a)(17).
(r) “Normal retirement date” means the dates on which the participant has completed twenty-five years of aggregate service with the employer and has attained age fifty.
(s) “Participant” means an employee who has met the eligibility requirements to participate in the plan as provided under Article II and who has not for any reason ceased to be a participant hereunder.
(t) “Pension Fund” or “Fund” means 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.
(u) “Plan” means the plan set forth herein, as amended from time to time and designated as the Lawrence Park Township Police Pension Plan.
(v) “Plan Administrator” means the retirement plan board appointed by the Board of Commissioners to administer the provisions of the plan. In the event that no such appointment is made, the Plan Administrator shall be the Board of Commissioners.
(w) “Plan Year” means the twelve-month period beginning on January 1 and ending on December 31 of each year.
(x) “Restatement date” means January 1, 2005, the date upon which this amendment and restatement of the plan becomes effective.
(y) “Total and permanent disability” means a condition of physical or mental impairment due to which a participant is unable to perform any substantial, gainful activity. Certification of such condition shall be made by the Plan Administrator based upon such competent medical evidence as the Plan Administrator deems necessary or desirable. If the Plan Administrator determines that a participant who was totally and permanently disabled has recovered sufficiently to resume active employment or if a participant refuses to undergo a medical examination as directed by the Plan Administrator (such a medical examination shall not be required more frequently than once every twelve months), the participant shall cease to be considered totally and permanently disabled. For purposes of this definition and Article VI, a condition shall not be treated as a total and permanent disability unless such condition results from the participant’s performance in the line of the employee’s duty as a member of the employer’s police force. Therefore, an employee who physical or mental impairment does not occur in the line of duty is not entitled to receive disability benefits. Notwithstanding the foregoing, “total and permanent disability” shall not include injuries which are willfully self-inflicted or are due to the participant’s alcoholism, or his/her addiction to narcotics or injuries sustained in the participant’s perpetration of any felonious criminal activity.