reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 22. Retirement Benefits Generally; Policemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Firemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Pension Plans for Employees of Waterworks System, Sewerage System or Combined Waterworks and Sewerage System › §8-22-6. Contributions; Prior, Earned and Total Service Credits; Service Breaks

Until June 30,1967, each member shall pay into the fund six percent of his monthly salary up to $400 a month. After June 30, 1967, each member shall contribute six percent of his monthly salary without any such maximum limitation. Effective January 1, 1987, a city may provide that contributions made by a member shall be before-tax, as permitted by section 414(h)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code. Each member shall continue to make such contributions until such time as such member retires or until he has contributed to the fund for a period of thirty-five years, that is, has thirty-five years of "earned service credit."
For prior service, each participating employee, in the employ of the city on the effective date of the fund, shall be credited, as of such date, with a prior service credit equal to the period or periods of service that the member has rendered to the city prior to the effective date of the fund. Any employee who is in the employ of the city on the effective date of the fund and who becomes a member of the fund shall be entitled to prior service credit even though such prior service was not continuous. Any individual who is not in the employ of the city on the effective date of the fund but who has been employed by the city in the past shall be entitled to prior service credit if he returns to the service of the city within two years from the date of the termination of his service and becomes a member of the fund within such two-year period.
Effective January 1, 1987, a city may provide that members who have been honorably discharged from the military shall receive up to two years prior service credit for military service prior to their employment with the city.
A member upon separation from the service shall be entitled to withdraw his contributions without interest in lieu of any benefits to which he may be entitled. A city may provide that contributions are credited with interest at the rate of six percent compounded annually from January 1, 1987. If such employee returns to the service of the city within two years and becomes a member of the fund, he shall be considered as a new employee and shall have forfeited all prior service credits unless he shall repay to the fund in cash at the time of reemployment the amount of money which he has withdrawn plus four percent interest compounded annually on said amount during the time he was separated from the service, but effective January 1, 1987, a city may require six percent interest. If, however, the break in service of such member is more than two years, he shall not be entitled to any prior service credit nor shall he be entitled to redeposit withdrawals but he shall reenter the fund as a new member.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 22. Retirement Benefits Generally; Policemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Firemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Pension Plans for Employees of Waterworks System, Sewerage System or Combined Waterworks and Sewerage System › §8-22-8. Disability Pensions; Annuities

A member may qualify for a disability pension under any one of the following mutually exclusive provisions:
(1) If a member receives total disability in line of duty, he shall be entitled during the time of his disability to a monthly disability pension equal to fifty percent of the monthly salary of the member at date of disability: Provided, That the minimum payment shall be $100 per month. Any benefits payable from the retirement and benefit fund shall be reduced by benefits payable from workers' compensation due to the total disability of the member.
(2) If a member receives total disability not in line of duty while an employee of the city after he has had at least ten years' total service credit and such member is not entitled to a retirement pension under the provisions of section seven of this article, he shall be entitled during the time of his disability to one half of the retirement pension to which he would have been entitled under the provisions of said section seven had he been sixty years of age at date of disability and had elected to take retirement: Provided, That he shall be entitled to a minimum payment of $50 per month and a maximum payment of $100 per month. Effective January 1, 1987, a city may provide that the maximum payment be $300 per month.
(3) If a member becomes so physically or mentally disabled as to render him unfit for the performance of the duties of the position he occupies, but his disability does not constitute either total disability in line of duty or total disability not in line of duty, and such member has less than ten years' total service credit, he shall be entitled to an annuity which shall be the actuarial equivalent of his total accumulation at the date of his disability.
The board of trustees of the fund shall order a periodic reexamination of members of the fund receiving a disability pension, and if the disability no longer exists the payment thereunder shall be discontinued: Provided, That no such reexamination of any such member shall be ordered as aforesaid after such member attains the age of sixty years.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 22. Retirement Benefits Generally; Policemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Firemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Pension Plans for Employees of Waterworks System, Sewerage System or Combined Waterworks and Sewerage System › §8-22-10. Contributions by City

Effective January 1, 1987, the financial objective of each municipality shall not be less than to contribute to the fund annually an amount which, together with the contributions from the members, will be sufficient to meet the normal cost of the fund including the cost of administration and amortize any actuarial deficiency over a period of not more than forty years, but for those funds in existence on January 1, 1987, its actuarial deficiency, if any, shall not be amortized over a period longer than that which remains under its current schedule. For purposes of determining this minimum financial objective (1) the value of the fund's assets shall be determined on the basis of any reasonable actuarial method of valuation which takes into account fair market value and (2) all costs, deficiencies, rate of interest and other factors under the fund shall be determined on the basis of actuarial assumptions and methods which in aggregate are reasonable, taking into account the experience of the fund and reasonable expectations, and which in combination offer the qualified actuary's best estimate of anticipated experience under the fund. If as a result of this legislation a municipality's financial commitment to the fund is materially increased, the municipality may elect to phase in this increase over the five fiscal years commencing January 1, 1987.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 22. Retirement Benefits Generally; Policemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Firemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Pension Plans for Employees of Waterworks System, Sewerage System or Combined Waterworks and Sewerage System › §8-22-11a. Restrictions on Investment

Moneys invested as permitted by §8-22-11 of this code are subject to the restrictions and conditions contained in this section:
(1) At no time may more than 75 percent of the portfolio of either fund be invested in securities described in §8-22-11(7) of this code;
(2) At no time may more than 20 percent of the portfolio of either fund be invested in securities described in §8-22-11(7) of this code which mature within one year from the date of issuance thereof;
(3) At no time may more than nine percent of the portfolio be invested in securities issued by a single private corporation or association; and
(4) At no time may more than 60 percent of the portfolio be invested in equity mutual funds under §8-22-11(10) of this code.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 22. Retirement Benefits Generally; Policemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Firemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Pension Plans for Employees of Waterworks System, Sewerage System or Combined Waterworks and Sewerage System › §8-22-12. Individual Accounts; Actuarial Data; Tables

The board of trustees shall maintain an individual account with each member, showing the amount of the member's contributions and the interest accumulations thereon. It shall collect and keep in convenient form such data as may be necessary for the preparation of the required mortality and service tables, and for the compilation of such other information as may be needed for the actuarial valuation of the fund. The board of trustees shall adopt appropriate tables for the purpose of evaluating and computing retirement, disability and death allowances.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 22. Retirement Benefits Generally; Policemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Firemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Pension Plans for Employees of Waterworks System, Sewerage System or Combined Waterworks and Sewerage System › §8-22-13. Reports by Board of Trustees

The board of trustees for each retirement fund shall have regularly scheduled actuarial valuation reports prepared by a qualified actuary.
An actuarial valuation report shall be prepared at least once every five years commencing with the later of (1) July 1, 1987, or (2) five years following the most recently prepared actuarial valuation report.
For purposes of this section the term "qualified actuary" means only an actuary who is a member of the society of actuaries or the American academy of actuaries. The qualified actuary shall be designated a fiduciary and shall discharge his duties with respect to a fund solely in the interest of the members and members' beneficiaries of that fund. In order for the standard of this section to be met, the qualified actuary shall certify that the actuarial valuation report is complete and accurate and that in his opinion the technique and assumptions used are reasonable and meet the requirements of this section of this article.
The board of trustees shall submit to the governing body an annual report showing the condition of the fund under its control. It shall certify in such report the amount of accumulated cash and securities in the fund and shall present a full account of the operation of the system.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 22. Retirement Benefits Generally; Policemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Firemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Pension Plans for Employees of Waterworks System, Sewerage System or Combined Waterworks and Sewerage System › §8-22-14. Custodian of Fund; Duties; Bond

The treasurer of the city shall be the custodian of all of the assets of the fund, and shall deposit and pay out the moneys of the fund upon, and in accordance with, any proper order of the board of trustees. Such treasurer shall be liable upon his official bond as treasurer for the faithful performance of his duties in respect to such fund, and the official bond of the treasurer covering such fund shall be executed with a good and financially responsible surety company, authorized to do business in this state, as surety for such fund. Such fund shall not be used for any other purpose than provided in sections two through fourteen of this article.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 22. Retirement Benefits Generally; Policemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Firemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Pension Plans for Employees of Waterworks System, Sewerage System or Combined Waterworks and Sewerage System › §8-22-15. Action by City Required Before New Provisions Are Applicable

Notwithstanding any provisions in sections two through fourteen of this article to the contrary, the provisions of said sections two through fourteen shall not be applicable to any fund established by any city prior to the effective date of this section, unless and until such city shall by ordinance provide for the application thereof. In the absence of any such ordinance, any such established fund shall be governed and controlled by and administered in accordance with the provisions of chapter one hundred fourteen, acts of the Legislature, regular session, 1947, and the amendments by (1) chapter ninety-two, acts of the Legislature, regular session, 1949, (2) chapter one hundred twenty-nine, acts of the Legislature, regular session, 1955, and (3) chapter thirty-nine, acts of the Legislature, regular session, 1968, if and only if an ordinance were adopted on and after May 8, 1968, and prior to the effective date of this section providing for the application of said chapter thirty-nine.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 22. Retirement Benefits Generally; Policemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Firemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Pension Plans for Employees of Waterworks System, Sewerage System or Combined Waterworks and Sewerage System › §8-22-16a. Legislative Findings

The Legislature finds that prudence often dictates a review of well meaning actions previously taken. The Legislature further finds that implementation of the cost of living benefit enacted during the one thousand nine hundred ninety regular legislative session would be disadvantageous to members of the municipal policemen and firemen pension funds and municipal budgets due to the large cost associated with that benefit and that this fact was unknown at the time of enactment of the cost of living benefit. The Legislature further finds that the fiscal integrity of the various municipal policemen and firemen pension funds will be in extreme jeopardy if an alternative benefit is not enacted. The Legislature further finds that maintenance of an actuarially sound pension system is incumbent upon the administrators of the various funds and is also incumbent upon the Legislature when it enacts changes to the benefit structure. The Legislature further finds that the implementation of the cost of living benefit enacted in the one thousand nine hundred ninety regular legislative session would prevent the maintenance of an actuarially sound pension system and would jeopardize the interests of the members of the retirement funds, therefore, it is necessary to amend the cost of living benefit as previously enacted.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 22. Retirement Benefits Generally; Policemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Firemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Pension Plans for Employees of Waterworks System, Sewerage System or Combined Waterworks and Sewerage System › §8-22-17. Powers and Duties of Boards of Trustees; Training

(a) Boards of trustees shall be public corporations by the name and style of "The Board of Trustees of the Policemen's Pension and Relief Fund of (name of municipality)", or "The Board of Trustees of the Firemen's Pension and Relief Fund of (name of municipality)", as the case may be, by which names they may sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, contract and be contracted with, take and hold real and personal property for the use of the policemen's pension and relief fund or the firemen's pension and relief fund and have and use a common seal. In the absence of a seal, the seal of the president of the corporation shall be equivalent to a common seal. A board of trustees may also in its corporate name do and perform any and all other acts and business pertaining to the trust created hereby or by any conveyance, devise or dedication made for the uses and purposes of the board.
(b) After June 30, 1981, any board of trustees and any members of a board shall, as fund fiduciaries, discharge their duties with respect to pension and relief funds solely in the interest of the members and members' beneficiaries for the exclusive purpose of providing benefits to members and their beneficiaries and defraying reasonable expenses of administering the fund.
(c) The board of trustees of each fund shall deliver a copy of the fund's current rules, regulations and procedures to the State Treasurer or oversight board established by section eighteen-a of this article on or before March 1, 2010, and thereafter within thirty days of any approved change in the rules, regulations or procedures.
(d) Each member of a board of trustees shall attend training in matters relating to trustee duties as may be required by the oversight board pursuant to section eighteen-a of this article.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 22. Retirement Benefits Generally; Policemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Firemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Pension Plans for Employees of Waterworks System, Sewerage System or Combined Waterworks and Sewerage System › §8-22-18c. Notice of Legal Actions by or Against Municipal Policemen's and Firemen's Pension Funds

In any legal action in which a municipal policemen's or firemen's pension and relief fund, or the fund's board of trustees, employee or administrator, is named as a party, the plaintiff or petitioner shall serve a copy of the complaint or petition upon the oversight board by certified mail, return receipt requested, within seven days of filing the legal action. Until proof of service is filed with the clerk of the court in which the action was filed, and for sixty days after the filing of the proof of service, no order may be entered by the court that directly or indirectly requires the expenditure or other disposition of pension funds or that determines the eligibility or entitlement of any member to any pension benefit payable from the pension and relief fund: Provided, That the court may enter such temporary or interim orders as may be needed to preserve and protect the assets of the fund. In any legal action involving a municipal policemen's or firemen's pension and relief fund the oversight board is entitled to intervene for the purpose of preserving the security or fiscal integrity of the pension fund.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 22. Retirement Benefits Generally; Policemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Firemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Pension Plans for Employees of Waterworks System, Sewerage System or Combined Waterworks and Sewerage System › §8-22-19a. Refunds of Member Contributions

After January 1, 2010, any member of a paid police department or fire department who is removed or discharged or who before retirement on any retirement pension or disability pension severs his or her connection with said department, whether or not consecutive, shall, upon request, be refunded all pension and relief fund deductions made from the member's salary or compensation, but without interest from the fund. The refund shall come from the accounts which originally received the member deductions. For municipalities using the conservation method of funding, the member contributions are to be refunded from both the Municipal Pension and Relief Fund and the city benefit account, in the exact percentages that were initially deposited to the respective accounts. Any member who receives a refund and subsequently wishes to reenter his or her department shall not be allowed to reenter the department unless the police officer or firefighter repays to the pension and relief fund all sums refunded to him or her in a lump sum at the date of reentry, or by monthly payroll deductions within thirty-six months from the date he or she reenters the department, with interest at the rate of eight percent per annum. In the event such refund is made prior to January 1, 1981, and such member subsequently reenters the department such police officer or firefighter shall be allowed membership in such pension and relief fund; however, no credit may be allowed such member for any former service, unless such member repays to the pension and relief fund all sums refunded to the member within one year from the date the member reenters the department with interest at the rate of eight percent per annum: Provided, That for such member who receives such refund prior to January 1, 1980, interest may not be charged for more than three years. Any probationary member of a paid police or fire department who is not given an absolute appointment at the end of the member's probationary period shall, upon request, be refunded all pension and relief fund deductions made from the member's salary or compensation, but without interest. Any member contribution made in fiscal years beginning on July 1, 1981, and thereafter by any members of such fund, which is in excess of the percentages, required in section nineteen of this article of such member's salary or compensation as defined in section sixteen of this article, shall be refunded with eight percent interest to such member upon completion of the calculation of the member's retirement benefit.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 22. Retirement Benefits Generally; Policemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Firemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Pension Plans for Employees of Waterworks System, Sewerage System or Combined Waterworks and Sewerage System › §8-22-21. Duties and Bond of Custodian of Funds

The treasurer of the municipality shall be the custodian of all of the assets of the policemen's pension and relief fund and firemen's pension and relief fund, and shall deposit and pay out the moneys thereof upon, and in accordance with, any proper order of the board of trustees. Such treasurer shall be liable upon his official bond as treasurer for the faithful performance of his duties in respect to such fund or funds, and the official bond of the treasurer covering such fund or funds shall be executed with a good and financially responsible surety company authorized to do business in this state, as surety for such fund or funds. The treasurer of the municipality shall as a fund fiduciary, discharge his duties with respect to such pension and relief fund solely in the interest of the members and members' beneficiaries for the exclusive purpose of providing benefits to such members and their beneficiaries and defraying reasonable expenses of administering the fund. Such fund or funds shall be trust funds and shall not be used for any other purpose than provided herein. Such treasurer shall keep in convenient form such data as may be necessary for an actuarial valuation report of such fund and for checking the actuarial experience of such fund.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 22. Retirement Benefits Generally; Policemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Firemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Pension Plans for Employees of Waterworks System, Sewerage System or Combined Waterworks and Sewerage System › §8-22-22. Investment of Funds by Boards of Trustees; Exercise of Discretion in Making Investments; Report of Investment Plan

(a) The board of trustees may invest a portion or all of the fund assets in any of the pools, funds and securities managed by the West Virginia Investment Management Board or West Virginia Board of Treasury Investments or as otherwise provided in this section. The board of trustees shall keep as an available sum for the purpose of making regular retirement, disability retirement, death benefit, payments and administrative expenses in an estimated amount not to exceed payments for a period of ninety days in short-term investments. The board of trustees, in acquiring, investing, reinvesting, exchanging, retaining, selling and managing property for the benefit of the fund, shall do so in accordance with the provisions of the Uniform Prudent Investor Act codified as article six-c, chapter forty-four of this code. Within the limitations of the Uniform Prudent Investor Act, the board of trustees is authorized in its sole discretion to invest and reinvest any funds received by it and not invested with the West Virginia Investment Management Board or West Virginia Board of Treasury Investments.
(b) The board of trustees of each fund may delegate investment authority to professional investment advisors registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, in accordance with the Investment Advisors Act of 1940, and registered with the appropriate state regulatory agencies, if applicable, and who manage assets in excess of $75 million.
(c) The board of trustees of each fund shall deliver to the State Treasurer or oversight board on or before March 1, 2010, a copy of the pension and relief fund's investment policy. A board of trustees shall submit to the oversight board any change to the investment policy within thirty days of the board's authorizing the change.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 22. Retirement Benefits Generally; Policemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Firemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Pension Plans for Employees of Waterworks System, Sewerage System or Combined Waterworks and Sewerage System › §8-22-23. Rules and Regulations as to Distribution of Funds; Proof of Age

The board of trustees of the policemen's pension and relief fund and the board of trustees of the firemen's pension and relief fund shall make rules and regulations, not inconsistent with the provisions of sections sixteen through twenty-eight of this article, for the distribution of the moneys of such funds according to the qualifications of those to whom any portion of such moneys shall be paid and the amount thereof: Provided, That such rules and regulations shall not be enforced until the same have been approved by the governing body.
At the time of the original appointment of any member to the paid police or fire department, such member shall, at the request of the board of trustees, furnish to said board a certified copy of his birth certificate or other proof of his date of birth satisfactory to the board.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 22. Retirement Benefits Generally; Policemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Firemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Pension Plans for Employees of Waterworks System, Sewerage System or Combined Waterworks and Sewerage System › §8-22-25b. Right to Benefits Not Subject to Execution, etc.; Assignments Prohibited; Deductions for Group Insurance; Setoffs for Fraud; Exception for Certain Domestic Relations Orders; Assets Exempt From Taxes

The right of a person to any benefit provided in this article shall not be subject to execution, attachment, garnishment, the operation of bankruptcy or insolvency laws, or other process whatsoever, nor shall any assignment thereof be enforceable in any court except that the benefits or contributions under municipal policemens pension and relief funds and firemens pension and relief funds shall be subject to "qualified domestic relations orders" as that term is defined in Section 414(p) of the Internal Revenue Code as applicable to governmental plans:
Provided
, That should a member be covered by a group insurance or prepayment plan participated in by a participating municipality, and should he or she be permitted to, and elect to, continue such coverage as a retirant, he or she may authorize the board of trustees to have deducted from his or her retirement pension the payments required of him or her to continue coverage under such group insurance or prepayment plan:
Provided, however
, That a participating municipality shall have the right of setoff for any claim arising from embezzlement by, or fraud of, a member, retirant or beneficiary. The assets of the retirement system are exempt from state, county and municipal taxes.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 22. Retirement Benefits Generally; Policemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Firemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Pension Plans for Employees of Waterworks System, Sewerage System or Combined Waterworks and Sewerage System › §8-22-27b. Fraud; Penalties; and Repayment

Any person who knowingly makes any false statement or who falsifies or permits to be falsified any record of a municipal policemen’s or municipal firemen’s pension and relief fund in any attempt to defraud that system is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $1,000 or confined in jail not more than one year, or both fined and confined. Any increased benefit received by any person as a result of the falsification or fraud shall be returned to the fund on demand by the board of trustees or by demand of the Municipal Pensions Oversight Board.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 22. Retirement Benefits Generally; Policemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Firemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Pension Plans for Employees of Waterworks System, Sewerage System or Combined Waterworks and Sewerage System › §8-22-28. Period in Which Payments Limited to Income From Fund; Reduced Payments Where Fund Insufficient

Until the expiration of three years from the time of the creation of any such fund, unless otherwise authorized by ordinance of the municipality, no payment shall be made to any member or beneficiary except from the income arising from said fund; and if at any time prior to July 1, 1981, there shall not be sufficient money to the credit of said pension and relief fund to pay each member and beneficiary entitled to the benefits thereof the full amount per month, as herein provided, then an equal percentage of such monthly payments shall be made to each member and beneficiary thereof, until the earlier of: (a) July 1, 1983, and (b) such time when said fund is so replenished as to warrant payment in full to each of such members and beneficiaries.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 22. Retirement Benefits Generally; Policemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Firemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Pension Plans for Employees of Waterworks System, Sewerage System or Combined Waterworks and Sewerage System › §8-22-28a. Distribution of Remaining Assets in a Closed Municipal Policemen S or Firemen S Pension and Relief Fund

(a)(1) Upon the cessation of any and all benefit payments to retirees or retiree beneficiaries because of death or disqualification, the board shall transfer the remaining assets of a policemens pension and relief fund or a firemens pension and relief fund to the municipality to be used solely by the municipalitys governing body to fund future retirement obligations for the municipalitys police or fire department members who are in the Municipal Police Officers and Firefighters Retirement System established under 8-22A-1 et seq. of this code, subject to subdivision (2) of this subsection.
(2) If within five years prior to the death of the last remaining retiree or beneficiary the Municipal Pensions Oversight Board provided any state aid to the fund pursuant to 33-3-14d(b)(2) of this code, an amount equal to the aggregate amount of state aid provided to the fund during that period shall be repaid from the assets of the fund to the Municipal Pensions Oversight Board prior to the municipalitys use of the remaining assets for the purposes described in subdivision (1) of this subsection. If the amount to be repaid is greater than the total assets of the fund, then the entire amount of the fund shall be repaid to the Municipal Pensions Oversight Board.
(b) The Municipal Pensions Oversight Board shall deposit any repaid amounts into the Municipal Pensions Security Fund for reallocation to municipal policemens or firemens pension and relief funds with an actuarial deficiency during the next allocation cycle pursuant to 33-3-14d(b)(2) of this code.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 22. Retirement Benefits Generally; Policemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Firemen's Pension and Relief Fund; Pension Plans for Employees of Waterworks System, Sewerage System or Combined Waterworks and Sewerage System › §8-22-29. Pension Plans for Employees of Waterworks System, Sewerage System or Combined Waterworks and Sewerage System May Be Continued

SYSTEM, SEWERAGE SYSTEM OR COMBINED WATERWORKS
AND SEWERAGE SYSTEM.
§8-22-29. Pension plans for employees of waterworks system, sewerage system or combined waterworks and sewerage system may be continued.
Any city which owns a waterworks system or sewerage system or combined waterworks and sewerage system, which does not hereafter become a participating public employer under the said West Virginia Public Employees Retirement System, which does not establish and maintain an employees' retirement and benefit fund in accordance with the provisions of sections two through fourteen of this article and which has heretofore provided, under the provisions of former section twenty-one-a, article four of this chapter, a pension plan or plans on behalf of and pertaining to all or part of the employees of said waterworks system or sewerage system or combined waterworks and sewerage system, may continue to maintain such plan or plans, financed from the general operation funds of said waterworks system or sewerage system or combined waterworks and sewerage system, and administered by a pension board or pension commission. Any such pension board or pension commission shall continue to be composed of such members as shall be approved by the governing body, giving proper representation to the employees of such waterworks system or sewerage system or combined waterworks and sewerage system. The chief financial executive officer or treasurer of such pension board or pension commission shall continue to maintain bond with a surety company qualified to do business in this state in an amount equal to the value of any funds or securities in the control of or owned by the pension board or pension commission. After reserving such funds as may be deemed necessary by the pension board or pension commission to provide such amounts as may be required to meet temporary commitments, the remainder shall continue to be invested in general obligation bonds of the United States, this state or any political subdivision of this state.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 22A. West Virginia Municipal Police Officers and Firefighters Retirement System › §8-22A-3. Meaning of Terms

Any term used in this article has the same meaning as when used in a comparable context in the laws of the United States, unless a different meaning is clearly required. Any reference in this article to the Internal Revenue Code means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 22A. West Virginia Municipal Police Officers and Firefighters Retirement System › §8-22A-4. Creation and Administration of West Virginia Municipal Police Officers and Firefighters Retirement System; Specification of Actuarial Assumptions

There is hereby created the West Virginia Municipal Police Officers and Firefighters Retirement System. The purpose of this system is to provide for the orderly retirement of certain police officers and firefighters who become superannuated because of age or permanent disability and to provide certain survivor death benefits. Substantially all of the members of the retirement system shall be qualified public safety employees as defined in section two of this article. The retirement system shall come into effect January 1, 2010: Provided, That if the number of members in the system are fewer than one hundred on January 1, 2017, then all of the provisions of this article are void and of no force and effect, and memberships in the system will be merged into the Emergency Medical Services Retirement System created in article five-v, chapter sixteen of this code. If merger is required, the board shall take all necessary steps to see that the voluntary transfers of persons and assets authorized by this article do not affect the qualified status with the Internal Revenue Service of either retirement plan. All business of the system shall be transacted in the name of the West Virginia Municipal Police Officers and Firefighters Retirement System. The board shall specify and adopt all actuarial assumptions for the plan at its first meeting of every calendar year or as soon thereafter as may be practicable, which assumptions shall become part of the plan.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 22A. West Virginia Municipal Police Officers and Firefighters Retirement System › §8-22A-5. Article to Be Liberally Construed; Board to Administer Plan; Federal Qualification Requirements

(a) The provisions of this article shall be liberally construed so as to provide a general retirement system for municipal police officers and firefighters eligible to retire under the provisions of this plan.
(b) The board shall administer the plan in accordance with its terms and may construe the terms and determine all questions arising in connection with the administration, interpretation and application of the plan. The board may sue and be sued, contract and be contracted with and conduct all the business of the system in the name of the plan. The board may employ those persons it considers necessary or desirable to administer the plan. The board shall administer the plan for the exclusive benefit of the members and their beneficiaries subject to the specific provisions of the plan.
(c) The plan is intended to meet the federal qualification requirements of Section 401(a) and related sections of the Internal Revenue Code as applicable to governmental plans. Notwithstanding any other provision of state law, the board shall administer the plan to fulfill this intent for the exclusive benefit of the members and their beneficiaries. Any provision of this article referencing or relating to these federal qualification requirements is effective as of the date required by federal law. The board may propose rules for promulgation and amend or repeal conflicting rules in accordance with the authority granted to the board pursuant to section one, article ten-d, chapter five of this code to assure compliance with the requirements of this section.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 22A. West Virginia Municipal Police Officers and Firefighters Retirement System › §8-22A-6. Members

(a) A police officer or firefighter hired in covered employment after the effective date of this article by a municipality or municipal subdivision which has established and maintained a policemens pension and relief fund or a firemens pension and relief fund pursuant to 8-22-16 of this code and which is a participating employer or which is a participating public employer as authorized by, 8-22A-33 of this code, shall be a member of this retirement plan:
Provided,
That any police officer or firefighter who has concurrent employment in an additional job or jobs which would require the police officer or firefighter to be a member of the West Virginia Deputy Sheriff Retirement System, the West Virginia Emergency Medical Services Retirement System, or the West Virginia Natural Resources Police Officer Retirement System shall participate in only one retirement system administered by the board, and the retirement system applicable to the concurrent employment for which the employee has the earliest date of hire shall prevail.
(b) Except as provided in 8-22A-32 of this code, a police officer or firefighter who is a member of the Municipal Police Officers and Firefighters Retirement System may not have credit for covered employment in any other retirement system applied as service credit in the Municipal Police Officers and Firefighters Retirement System.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this article, any individual who is a leased employee is not eligible to participate in the plan. For purposes of this plan, a "leased employee" means any individual who performs services as an independent contractor or pursuant to an agreement with an employee leasing organization or similar organization. If a question arises regarding the status of an individual as a leased employee, the board has final power to decide the question.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 22A. West Virginia Municipal Police Officers and Firefighters Retirement System › §8-22A-7. Creation of Fund; Investments; Actuarial Valuations

(a) There is hereby created the West Virginia Municipal Police Officers and Firefighters Retirement Fund for the benefit of the members of the retirement system created pursuant to this article and the dependents of any deceased or retired member of the system.
(b) All moneys paid into and accumulated in the fund, except amounts designated by the board for payment of benefits as provided in this article, shall be held in trust and invested in the Consolidated Pensions Fund administered by the West Virginia Investment Management Board as provided by law.
(c) The board shall employ a competent actuary or actuarial firm to prepare an actuarial valuation of the assets and liabilities of the fund. The actuarial valuation period shall coincide with the fiscal year of the state.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 22A. West Virginia Municipal Police Officers and Firefighters Retirement System › §8-22A-9. Retirement; Commencement of Benefits; Insurance Requirements During Early Period

(a) To ensure the fiscal integrity of the retirement system during the start-up phase, no member is entitled to retirement, disability or death benefits under this retirement system until January 1, 2017. Participating municipalities shall purchase insurance for their new plan members to provide coverage in an amount equal to disability coverage otherwise provided in sections seventeen and eighteen of this article and death benefits otherwise provided in sections twenty, twenty-two and twenty-three of this article for claims arising before January 1, 2013: Provided, That pursuant to the amendments made to this subsection during the 2013 regular session of the Legislature, participating municipalities shall reinstate or purchase the insurance coverage for all plan members no later than July 1, 2013, and continue coverage through January 1, 2017.
(b) A member may retire and commence to receive retirement income payments on the first day of the calendar month following written application for his or her voluntary petition for retirement coincident with or next following the later of the date the member ceases employment, or the date the member attains early or normal retirement age, in an amount as provided under this article: Provided, That retirement income payments under this plan are subject to the provisions of this article. On receipt of the petition, the board shall promptly provide the member with an explanation of his or her optional forms of retirement benefits and on receipt of properly executed forms from the member, the board shall process a member's request for and commence payments as soon as administratively feasible.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 22A. West Virginia Municipal Police Officers and Firefighters Retirement System › §8-22A-13. Rollovers and Transfers to Repay Withdrawn Contributions

(a) Notwithstanding any provision of this article to the contrary that would otherwise prohibit or limit rollovers and plan transfers to this system, the plan shall accept the following rollovers and plan transfers on behalf of a member solely for the purpose of the repayment of withdrawn or refunded contributions, in whole and in part, with respect to a previous forfeiture of service credit as otherwise provided in this article: (1) One or more rollovers within the meaning of Section 408(d)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code from an individual retirement account described in Section 408(a) of the Internal Revenue Code or from an individual retirement annuity described in Section 408(b) of the Internal Revenue Code; (2) one or more rollovers described in Section 402(c) of the Internal Revenue Code from a retirement plan that is qualified under Section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code or from a plan described in Section 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code; (3) one or more rollovers described in Section 457(e)(16) of the Internal Revenue Code from a governmental plan described in Section 457 of the Internal Revenue Code; or (4) direct trustee-to-trustee transfers or rollovers from a plan that is qualified under Section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code, from a plan described in Section 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code or from a governmental plan described in Section 457 of the Internal Revenue Code: Provided, That any rollovers or transfers pursuant to this section shall be accepted by the system only if made in cash or other asset permitted by the board and only in accordance with such policies, practices and procedures established by the board from time to time. For purposes of this section, "repayment of withdrawn or refunded contributions" means the payment into the retirement system of the funds required pursuant to this article for the reinstatement of service credit previously forfeited on account of any refund or withdrawal of contributions permitted in this article, as set forth in Section 415(k)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
(b) Nothing in this section may be construed as permitting rollovers or transfers into this system or any other system administered by the retirement board other than as specified in this section and no rollover or transfer shall be accepted into the system in an amount greater than the amount required for the repayment of withdrawn or refunded contributions.
(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed as permitting the repayment of withdrawn or refunded contributions except as otherwise permitted in this article.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 22A. West Virginia Municipal Police Officers and Firefighters Retirement System › §8-22A-14. Retirement Benefits

This section describes when adjustment of a members accrued benefit to reflect the difference in age, in years and months, between the members annuity starting date and the date the member attains normal retirement age shall be made. This age adjustment, when required, shall be made based on the normal form of benefit and shall be the actuarial equivalent of the accrued benefit at the members normal retirement age. The member shall receive the age adjusted retirement income in the normal form or in an actuarial equivalent amount in an optional form as provided under this article, subject to reduction if necessary to comply with the maximum benefit limitations of Section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code and 8-22A-10 of this code. The first day of the calendar month following the month of birth shall be used in lieu of any birth date that does not fall on the first day of a calendar month.
Normal retirement
. A member whose annuity starting date is the date the member attains normal retirement age is entitled to his or her accrued benefit without adjustment for age at commencement.
Retirement benefits shall be paid monthly in an amount equal to one twelfth of the retirement income payments elected and at those times established by the board.