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(A) Retirement Board. The general administration of the plan and the responsibility for carrying out the provisions of the plan shall be placed in a Board of 11 persons consisting of the following:
(1) Two guardian employee members of the plan who are members of a guardian bargaining unit who shall be elected by guardian employee members of the plan of the same category, as of July 1 each year for a term of two years, but in 1982 one shall be appointed for a one-year term, so that one membership of this category shall thereafter become vacant each year;
(2) Two service employee members of the plan who are members of a service bargaining unit, who shall be elected by service employee members of the plan of the same category as of July 1 of each year for a term of two years, whose terms shall expire in rotation as of June 30 so that one new member of this category is elected each year;
(3) One member of the plan, who is not a member of a bargaining unit, who shall be elected by the members of the plan of the same category, as of July 1 for a term of two years;
(4) Four persons who are not members of the plan, whose terms and manner of appointment shall be such as provided for by legislative action of the town;
(5) The Mayor; and
(6) The Finance Director.
(B) Resignation. Any member of the Retirement Board may resign by delivering his/her written resignation to the Mayor of the town, who shall have the power to fill for the unexpired term any vacancy occurring by resignation or death.
(C) Powers and duties.
(1) The members of the Retirement Board shall have the power to:
(a) Elect a Secretary who may be but need not be one of the members of the Retirement Board;
(b) Appoint from its members such Boards with such powers as it shall determine;
(c) Authorize one or more of its members or any agent to execute or deliver any instrument or make a payment on its behalf; and
(d) Retain counsel, employ agents and provide for such clerical, accounting and actuarial services as it may require in carrying out the provisions of the plan.
(2) The Retirement Board shall hold meetings upon such notice, at such place or places, and at such time or times as it may determine.
(3) Any act which the plan authorizes or requires the Retirement Board to do may be done by a majority of its members. The action of such majority expressed from time to time by a vote at a meeting or in writing without a meeting, provided that reasonable notice thereof is given to the entire Retirement Board, shall constitute the action of the Retirement Board and shall have the same effect for all purposes as if assented to by all members of the Retirement Board at the time in office.
(4) No member of the Retirement Board who is an employee of the town shall receive any compensation for his/her services as such, and no bond or other security shall be required of him/her in such capacity in any jurisdiction.
(5) Subject to the limitations of the plan, the Retirement Board from time to time may establish rules for the administration of the plan and the transaction of its business. The determination of the Retirement Board shall be conclusive as to any disputed question within its jurisdiction.
(6) The Retirement Board shall adopt from time-to-time tables and the rate of regular interest, compounded annually, which shall be used in all actuarial calculations required in connection with the plan. As an aid to the Retirement Board in adopting tables and in fixing the rates of contributions payable by the town to the plan, the actuary designated by the Retirement Board shall make annual actuarial valuations of the contingent assets and liabilities of the plan and shall recommend to the Retirement Board tables and rates of contribution for use by the Retirement Board. The Retirement Board shall maintain accounts showing the fiscal transactions of the plan, and shall keep in convenient form such data as may be necessary for actuarial valuations of the plan. The Retirement Board shall submit a report each year to the Mayor of the town giving a brief account of the operation of the plan during the past year, a copy of which shall be filed in the office of the Mayor, where it shall be open to inspection by any member of the plan.
(7) The Retirement Board shall prepare and submit to the Director of Finance of the town on or before July 15 of each year a budget of the estimated receipts and expenses of the plan for the following fiscal year of the town.
(8) The members of the Retirement Board shall use ordinary care and diligence in the performance of their duties, but no member thereof shall be personally liable by virtue of any contract, agreement, bond, or other instrument made or executed by him/her or on his/her behalf as a member of the Retirement Board, nor for any loss unless resulting from his/her own bad faith or willful misconduct.
(D) Trust agreement for the plan. The town employees' retirement plan shall utilize the separate trust agreement ("Trust Agreement") between the town and the Retirement Board of the employees retirement plan of the town adopted by Ord. 399, setting forth the duties and responsibility of said Retirement Board in connection with the management of assets of the employees retirement plan.
(Ord. 435, passed 3-12-01; Am. Ord. 666, passed 12-7-15)
(A) Amendments. This plan may be discontinued or amended in any respect at any time by action of the Legislative Council of the town, subject to applicable general laws and special acts of the State of Connecticut, provided that no such discontinuance or amendment shall adversely affect the rights of members or their beneficiaries which had become fully vested at the date of discontinuance or amendment, nor to make it possible for any part of the funds of the plan to be used for or diverted to purposes other than for the exclusive benefit of members and their beneficiaries or contingent annuitants under the plan, prior to the satisfaction of all liabilities under the plan with respect to them.
(B) Termination. The town, by action of its Legislative Council, may terminate the plan for any reason at any time. In case of termination of the plan, the funds of the plan on the date of termination shall be used for the exclusive benefit of members or their beneficiaries and contingent annuitants as of the last date of payment of any contributions hereunder, except that any funds not required to satisfy all liabilities of the plan for benefits because of erroneous actuarial calculations shall be returned to the town. Each member not yet retired shall be entitled to a share equal to his/her accumulated contributions, and each retired member or his/her contingent annuitant in receipt of a retirement pension shall be entitled to a share equal to any excess of the accumulated contributions at retirement over the amount of benefits received. Each such member, retired member or contingent annuitant shall then be entitled to the additional share required to provide a total share equal to such proportionate part of the funds of the plan as the reserve computed to be required for his/her credits bears to the total of all such reserves required under the plan, as determined by the Retirement Board on the basis of actuarial valuation; provided that if the funds remaining are insufficient to provide in full for such additional shares, the additional shares shall be reduced proportionately. The Retirement Board may require that any such share be withdrawn in cash, or in immediate or deferred annuities or other periodic payments, as it may determine.
(Ord. 435, passed 3-12-01; Am. Ord. 666, passed 12-7-15)
(A) Minors and incompetents. If any person to whom a benefit is payable from the plan is a minor, or if the Retirement Board determines that any person to whom such benefit is payable is incompetent by reason of age, physical or mental disability, any payment due (unless a proper claim therefor shall have been made by a duly appointed guardian, conservator or legal representative) may be made to the spouse, a child, a parent or a brother or sister of such person, or to any person deemed by the Retirement Board to have incurred expenses for such person otherwise entitled to payment. Any such payment shall be a complete discharge of any liability for such payment under the plan.
(B) Non-alienation of benefits.
(1) No benefit under the plan shall be subject at any time, in any manner to alienation, sale, transfer, assignment, pledge, attachment, or encumbrances of any kind. Any attempt to alienate, sell, transfer, assign, pledge or otherwise encumber any such benefits, whether presently or thereafter payable, shall be void. No retirement benefit nor the trust fund shall in any manner be liable for or subject to the debts or liability of any employee, terminated vested member, member, beneficiary or pensioner entitled to any retirement benefit. If the employee, member, former member, beneficiary or pensioner shall attempt to alienate, sell, transfer, assign, pledge or otherwise encumber the member benefit under the plan or any part thereof, or if by reason of the member's bankruptcy or other event happening at any time, such benefits would devolve upon anyone else or would not be enjoyed by him, then the town, in its discretion, may terminate the member's interest in any such benefit, and hold or apply it to or for the benefit of such person, the member's spouse, children, or other dependent or any of them, in such manner as the town may deem proper.
(2) Division (B)(1) shall not apply to the creation, assignment or recognition of a right to any benefit payable with respect to a member pursuant to a Domestic Relations Order that is approved by the Retirement Board in accordance with the provisions of the plan and the approved domestic relations order policies and procedures which are made a part of the plan by reference.
(C) Tenure of employment. Neither the action of the town in the establishment of this plan nor any action taken by it or by the Retirement Board hereunder shall be construed as giving any employee or member the right to be retained in the employ of the town or any other right whatsoever, except to the extent of the benefits provided by the plan to be paid or made available from the fund.
(D) Non-liability of town. All benefits under the plan shall be paid or provided for solely from the trust fund and the town assumes no liabilities or responsibilities therefor.
(E) Unclaimed benefits. Whenever reasonable efforts fail to locate any member or beneficiary entitled to benefits under the plan within seven years from the time the notice is first received that he/she is not to be found at the address in the records of the town, or the trustee, the Retirement Board may direct that any benefits to which the member may be entitled shall thereupon be canceled and no payment shall be made thereafter to anyone with respect to the benefits so canceled.
(F) Applicable law. The validity of the provisions of this plan shall be determined and construed according to the laws of the State of Connecticut and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.
(G) Claims procedure. Any denial of a claim for benefits under the plan shall be stated in writing by the Retirement Board and delivered or mailed to the member or beneficiary whose claim for benefits has been denied, and shall set forth specific reasons for such denial, written in a manner calculated to be understood by such member or beneficiary. Within 60 days after receiving the notification of such denial, any such member or beneficiary may notify the Retirement Board in writing of the member's desire for a review of such decision. Upon such notification, the Retirement Board shall schedule a review proceeding at which the member shall restate the member's arguments for such claim to a representative of the Retirement Board. The Retirement Board's decision following such hearing shall be made within 30 days, and shall be communicated in writing to the member.
(H) Qualified plan. The plan is intended to be a governmental plan under Section 414(d) of the Internal Revenue Code, and "qualified" as such under Section 401 (a) of the Internal Revenue Code.
(I) Return of town contributions under special circumstances. Any town contribution made under a mistake of fact or law may be returned to the town within one year following the date the town became aware of such mistake.
(Ord. 435, passed 3-12-01; Am. Ord. 666, passed 12-7-15)
(A) Direct rollovers. Notwithstanding any provisions of the plan to the contrary that would otherwise limit a distributee's election under this division a distributee may elect, at the time and in the manner prescribed by the Retirement Board in accordance with applicable regulations, to have any portion of an eligible rollover distribution paid directly to an eligible retirement plan specified by the distributee in a direct rollover.
(1) A distributee who is entitled to elect a direct rollover with respect to all or any portion of a distribution but who does not make any election shall be deemed to have rejected the direct rollover option.
(2) A distributee who elects a direct rollover with respect to any eligible rollover distribution that is one in a series of installment payments made at least annually over a period of less than ten years shall be deemed to have made the same election with respect to all subsequent eligible rollover distributions in the series unless and until the distributee changes the election. A change of election shall be accomplished by notifying the Retirement Board of the change in the form and manner prescribed by the Retirement Board.
(3) Within a reasonable period of time before an eligible rollover distribution is to be made, the Retirement Board shall provide to the distributee an explanation of the right to elect a direct rollover and the federal tax withholding consequences of failing to elect a direct rollover. A distributee who elects a direct rollover must provide all information that the Retirement Board may require to complete the direct rollover.
(4) For the purposes of this division, the following definitions will apply:
(a) A "DIRECT ROLLOVER" is a payment by the plan to the eligible retirement plan specified by the distributee.
(b) Distributee: A distributee includes an employee or former employee. In addition, the employee's or former employee's surviving spouse and the employee's or former employee's spouse or former spouse who is the alternate payee under a qualified Domestic Relations Order, as defined in Section 414(p) of the Internal Revenue Code, are distributees with regard to the interest of the spouse or former spouse. A distributee also includes the member's nonspouse designated beneficiary under § 31.39(D). In the case of a non-spouse beneficiary, the direct rollover may be made only to an individual retirement account or annuity described in Section 408(a) or Section 408(b) ("IRA") of the Internal Revenue Code that is established on behalf of the designated beneficiary and that will be treated as an inherited IRA pursuant to the provisions of Section 402(c)(ll) of the Internal Revenue Code. Also, in this case, the determination of any required minimum distribution under Section 401(a)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code that is ineligible for rollover shall be made in accordance with Notice 2007-7, Q&A 17 and 18, 2007-5 I.R.B. 395.
(c) Eligible retirement plan: An eligible retirement plan is an individual retirement account described in Section 408(a) of the Internal Revenue Code, an individual retirement annuity described in Section 408(b) of the Internal Revenue Code, an annuity plan described in Section 403(a) of the Internal Revenue Code, or a qualified trust described in Section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code, that accepts the distributee's eligible rollover distribution. However, in the case of an eligible rollover distribution to the surviving spouse, an eligible retirement plan is an individual retirement account or individual retirement annuity. For plan years commencing after December 31, 2001, an eligible retirement plan shall also mean an annuity contract described in Code Section 403(b) and an eligible plan under Code Section 457(b) which is maintained by a state, political subdivision of a state, or any agency or instrumentality of a state or political subdivision of a state and which agrees to separately account for amounts transferred into such plan from this plan. The definition of eligible retirement plan shall also apply in the case of a distribution to a surviving spouse, or to a spouse or former spouse who is the alternate payee under a qualified domestic relation order, as defined in Section 414(p) of the Internal Revenue Code. For distributions made after December 31, 2007, a participant or beneficiary may elect to roll over directly an "eligible rollover distribution" to a Roth IRA described in Section 408A(b) of the Internal Revenue Code.
(d) Eligible rollover distribution: An eligible rollover distribution is any distribution of all or any portion of the balance to the credit of the distributee, except that an eligible rollover distribution does not include: any distribution that is one of a series of substantially equal periodic payments (not less frequently than annually) made for the life (or life expectancy) of the distributee or the joint lives (or joint life expectancies) of the distributee and the distributee's designated beneficiary, or for a specified period of ten years or more; any distribution to the extent such distribution is required under Section 401(a)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code; and the portion of any distribution that is not includable in gross income (determined without regard to the exclusion for net unrealized appreciation with respect to employer securities), any hardship distribution described in Section 401(k)(2)(B)(i)(IV) of the Internal Revenue Code received after December 31, 1998 and effective for plan years commencing after December 31, 2001, any amount that is distributed on account of hardship. For plan years commencing after December 31, 2001, a portion of a distribution shall not fail to be an eligible rollover distribution merely because the portion consists of after-tax employee contributions that are not includable in gross income. However, such portion may be transferred only to an individual retirement account or annuity described in Sections 408(a) or (b) of the Internal Revenue Code, or to a qualified defined contribution plan described in Sections 401(a) or 403(a) of the Internal Revenue Code that agrees to separately account for amounts so transferred, including separately accounting for the portion of such distribution which is includable in gross income and the portion of such distribution which is not so includable.
(5) A distribution of less than $200 that would otherwise be an eligible rollover distribution as defined above shall not be an eligible rollover distribution if it is reasonable to expect that all such distributions to the distributee from the plan during the same calendar year will total less than $200.
(B) Rollovers to the plan. In no event shall the plan accept eligible rollovers from any source unless a re-employed member is making a repayment of his/her member contributions in accordance with the provisions of § 31.34(E).
(Ord. 435, passed 3-12-01; Am. Ord. 458, passed 6-3-02; Am. Ord. 666, passed 12-7-15)
RETIREE HEALTH CARE PLAN
(A) Establishment. In accordance with Conn. Gen. Stat., § 7-450(a), the town shall establish a trust fund (“Trust”) with Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., or such other qualified financial institution approved by the Legislative Council, to hold and invest all contributions and assets of the town’s retiree health care plan (“Plan”). The Legislative Council shall have the authority to amend or terminate the Trust.
(B) Purpose. The Trust shall be for the purpose of funding current and future postemployment health care benefits for eligible retired employees of the town in accordance with the Plan. The Trust may also be used for the purpose of funding any other postemployment health and life plans as the town may establish.
(C) Trustees. The Mayor and the President of the Legislative Council shall serve as the trustees (“Trustees”) of the Trust. The Trustees shall have such powers and duties as set forth in the terms of the Trust, including, but not limited to, making payments or other disbursements in accordance with the Plan and the terms of the Trust and directing the investment of the assets of the Trust. The approval of both Trustees shall be required for the transaction of all business pertaining to the Trust.
(D) Administration. The Trustees shall serve as the Plan Administrator of the Plan and shall have such powers and duties as set forth in the Plan and the Trust with respect to the administration of the Plan, including, but not limited to, providing all proper instructions and directions to the Trustee regarding the investment of moneys on deposit in the Trust and disbursements from the Trust. The Trustees shall provide a report to the Legislative Council, including deposits, disbursements and assets held in the Trust, and such other information as shall be requested by the Legislative Council, on at least an annual basis, or more frequently as requested by the Legislative Council.
(Ord. 642, passed 10-8-13)