Pennsylvania Code › Title 16 - COMMUNITY AFFAIRS › Part III - Municipal Retirement Board › Chapter 81 - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 81.1 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
The following words and terms, when used in this part, have
				  the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
Accumulated deductions
-The total amount
				  deducted from the salary or compensation of the contributor plus regular
				  interest credited thereon, based on a benefit plan selected and as determined
				  by an actuary, and shall also include payments for arrearages for reinstatement
				  or purchase of service, as otherwise permitted by law.
Active member
-A municipal employe, municipal
				  firefighter or municipal police officer who is earning credited service in a
				  System pension plan as a result of employment with a municipality that has
				  enrolled in the System.
Actuarially equivalent
-Annuities or lump sum
				  amounts of equal present value determined by appropriate actuarial factors
				  based on mortality tables and interest rates currently adopted and used by the
				  Board.
Beneficiary
-A person last designated in
				  writing by a contributor or a retired member, or if one is not so designated,
				  the estate of the member or next of kin under
				  20 Pa.C.S. §
										3101
				  (relating to payments to family and funeral directors), to the extent
				  applicable.
Board
-The Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement
				  Board required by the law to administer the System.
Contributor
-The term includes a member who
				  has a member's account with the System, regardless of whether the account
				  contains accumulated deductions.
Date of termination of service
-
(i) For an active member, the last day of
				employment in a status covered by the eligibility requirements of the pension
				plan.
(ii) For an inactive member,
				the date on which formal action is taken by the employer to separate the member
				from employment.
Effective date of disability retirement
-The
				  date following the last day for which compensation was paid or the date on
				  which the member filed an effective application for disability benefits,
				  whichever is later.
Inactive member
-A municipal employe,
				  municipal firefighter or municipal police officer who is enrolled in the System
				  but is no longer earning credited service in a System pension plan as a result
				  of separation from or leave from employment.
Law
-The Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement
				  Law (53 P. S. §§
										881.101-881.502).
Optional membership
-Shall be available to
				  those categories of employes authorized by law, resolution or ordinance to
				  elect or refrain from electing membership.
(i) If they choose not to join, the
				declination of membership shall apply for the period of time the employe serves
				continuously in that optional category.
(ii) If there is a break in service and the
				employe returns, the member may not be permitted to purchase optional
				membership time previously declined, but may be a member for future optional
				service, if the employe so chooses.
(iii) If the employe returns to service when
				there is mandatory membership, the member shall be required to join the plan,
				on a prospective basis only.
Portability
-The condition by which a member
				  leaves the employ of a System administered plan and within 1 year of the date
				  of termination of service enters into the employ of another System administered
				  plan and the member elects to transfer his previously accrued service credits
				  to the new employer, subject to provision of municipalities' contracts.
Prior service
-This may not apply to
				  municipal employes or officers who are returning to service in those
				  municipalities which had optional plans in which the member chose not to
				  enroll. The term includes service to the municipality prior to the effective
				  date of the plan unless the municipality elects to limit credit for the
				  service.
Regular interest
-The rate fixed by the
				  Board, on the basis of earnings on investments and, as applied to members'
				  contributions, means interest compounded annually to be calculated as follows:
				  The sum of the accumulated deductions at the conclusion of the previous year
				  and the mean balance of the current year's contributions multiplied by the
				  regular interest amount then in existence for the fractional part of a year for
				  which the contributor was a member.
Retired member
-A former municipal employe,
				  municipal firefighter or municipal police officer, or the beneficiary or
				  survivor annuitant of a municipal employe, municipal firefighter or municipal
				  police officer who is entitled to a monthly benefit payment from the retired
				  member's reserve account of the System.
System
-The Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement
				  System created by the law.
Vested member
-A member after a stipulated
				  age or with sufficient years of service, or both, based on the plan in which
				  the member is enrolled, who has terminated municipal service and has elected to
				  leave total accumulated deductions in the Fund and to defer receipt of an
				  annuity representing both the member's and municipal benefits, provided the
				  election is made within 90 days after the effective date of termination of
				  service.