(A) The township hereby elects to enroll its municipal employees in the state’s municipal retirement system (the system), established by the state’s Municipal Retirement Law, Act 15 of 1974, being 53 P.S. §§ 881.101 et seq., as amended, with the express purpose of having the system administer the Pension Plan established for the municipal employees of the township. The township does hereby agree to be bound by all the requirements and provisions of the Municipal Retirement Law and the Municipal Pension Plan Funding Standard and Recovery Act, being 53 P.S. §§ 895.101 et seq., and to assume all obligations, financial and otherwise, placed upon member municipalities by said law. All references hereafter shall be based on benefits negotiated between the state’s Municipal Retirement Board (the Board) and the township under the provisions of Article IV of the state’s Municipal Retirement Law.
(B) Membership in the system shall be mandatory for all full-time municipal employees of the township. Membership for elected officials, part-time employees, and employees hired on a temporary or seasonal basis is prohibited, as is membership for individuals paid only on a fee basis.
(C) Credit for service toward the annuity of each original member shall begin to accrue upon the member’s date of enrollment in the system. However, for purposes of determining eligibility for early retirement and vesting, credited service shall accrue from each original member’s date of hire. Benefits provided to members in the agreement dated February 24, 2009 (the agreement), as it may be amended from time to time, shall accrue based on all credited service granted and earned in accordance with this section.
(D) Payment for any obligation established by the adoption of this section and the agreement between the Board and the township shall be made by the township in accordance with the state’s Municipal Retirement Law and Act 205 of 1984, the Municipal Pension Plan Funding Standard and Recovery Act, being 53 P.S. §§ 895.101 through 895.803. The township hereby assumes all liability for any unfundedness created due to the benefit structure set forth in the agreement.
(E) As part of this section, the township agrees that the system shall administer and provide the benefits set forth in the agreement, as amended.
(F) The passage and adoption of this section by the township is an official acceptance of said agreement and the financial obligations resulting from the administration of said agreement.
(G) By adoption of this section, the township agrees to terminate, upon the effective date of membership in the system, any previously maintained municipal pension program applicable to those employees identified as members in division (B) above and to transfer any assets from any existing plan to offset the established liability. The township also acknowledges that an affirmative vote representing at least 75% of the plan members indicated the members were in agreement with the establishment of the plan with the system.
(H) The township intends this section to be the complete authorization of the township’s Municipal Pension Plan, as amended, and it shall become effective as of the date specified in the adoption agreement, which is the effective date of the township’s Municipal Pension Plan, as amended.
(I) A duly certified copy of this section and the referenced agreement shall be filed with the state’s Municipal Retirement System. Membership for the municipal employees of the township in system shall be effective January 1, 2009.
(Ord. 2009-1, passed 2-24-2009; Ord. 2020-08, passed 9-22-2020)