(a) Normal retirement pension. Upon retirement at his or her normal retirement date, each participant shall be entitled to receive the benefit provided in Subsection 288.04(a) (normal retirement benefit) except that for participants hired on or after January 1, 2002, normal retirement date shall be age fifty with twenty years of service. At such time Council shall take any necessary action so that the participant shall receive such benefit from the plan or directly from an insurer, as Council shall direct.
(b) Late retirement pension. A participant who remains in the employ of the employer beyond his or her normal retirement date shall be entitled to receive, commencing on his or her late retirement date, his or her benefit calculated pursuant to Subsection 289.04(a) including the service increment in Subsection 289.04(a)(2).
(c) Disability retirement pension.
(1) A. Service-connected disability. A participant who becomes permanently and totally disabled as a result of a service-connected disability after fifteen years of service shall be entitled to a lifetime permanent disability pension equal to seventy-five percent of the normal retirement benefit.
B. Non-service connected disability. No participant shall be eligible for a non-service connected disability.
(2) The member must make application to the Board for service connected total disability benefits. He or she shall furnish to the Board at the time of application, any and all medical records relative to his or her injury or sickness. The Board shall select a physician to review the medical records submitted by the applicant, and conduct a physical examination of the applicant and issue a report to the Board which shall decide whether the participant is eligible for a service-connected disability pension.
(3) All expenses incurred by the actions of the Board shall be paid by the pension fund, and all expenses incurred by actions of the participant shall be paid by the participant.
(d) Limitations on fund. Payments for pensions, death benefits and disability benefits shall not be a charge on any other fund in the treasury of the City or under its control, except the pension fund herein provided for.
(e) Payments not affected by workers' compensation. Disability benefits and death benefits shall be paid under this chapter in addition to and notwithstanding any workers' compensation or other benefits which the member or his or her family shall receive by reason of the disability or death of the member.
(f) Increases in payments. The Council of the City of Sharon may, at any time at its discretion, upon the recommendation of the persons having custody and management of the firefighters's pension fund, increase the allowances of persons receiving allowances of any kind from the fund by reason of and after termination of the services of any member of the fund. Such increases shall be in conformity with a uniform scale which may be based on the cost of living, and the total of any such allowances shall not at any time exceed one-half of the current salary being paid firefighters of the highest pay grade.
(g) Forfeiture of rights in fund; notice of hearing. The Board may terminate and forfeit the rights of any member entitled to receive a pension and admitted participation therein for one or more of the following reasons: convicted of a felony or misdemeanor, becoming a habitual drunkard or failure to comply with some general regulation relating to the management of the fund made by the Board and which provides that a failure to comply therewith shall terminate the right to participate in the pension fund. Any such termination shall be only after due notice and hearing as prescribed by regulations of the Board.
(Ord. 05-09. Passed 4-16-09.)