§16-5V-4. Creation and administration of West Virginia Emergency Medical Services Retirement System; specification of actuarial assumptions.
§16-5V-5. Article to be liberally construed; supplements federal social security; federal qualification requirements.
§16-5V-7. Creation of Fund; investments; actuarial valuations.
§16-5V-8. Members' contributions; employer contributions.
§16-5V-8a. Correction of errors; underpayments; overpayments.
§16-5V-9. Transfer from Public Employees Retirement System.
§16-5V-10. Notice requirements; test case.
§16-5V-11. Retirement; commencement of benefits.
§16-5V-12. Federal law maximum benefit limitations.
§16-5V-13. Federal law minimum required distributions.
§16-5V-14a. Rollovers and transfers to purchase service credit or repay withdrawn contributions.
§16-5V-15. Retirement credited service through member's use, as option, of accrued annual or sick leave days.
§16-5V-18. Refunds to certain members upon discharge or resignation; deferred retirement; forfeitures.
§16-5V-19. Awards and benefits for disability -- Duty related.
§16-5V-20. Awards and benefits for disability -- Due to other causes.
§16-5V-21. Same -- Physical examinations; termination of disability.
§16-5V-23. Awards and benefits to surviving spouse -- When member dies in performance of duty, etc.
§16-5V-24. Awards and benefits to surviving spouse -- When member dies from nonservice-connected causes.
§16-5V-25. Additional death benefits and scholarships -- Dependent children.
§16-5V-27. Double death benefits prohibited.
§16-5V-28. Right to benefits not subject to execution, etc.;assignments prohibited; deductions for group insurance; setoffs for fraud; exception for certain domestic relations orders; benefits exempt from taxes.
§16-5V-29. Fraud; penalties; and repayment.
§16-5V-30. Credit toward retirement for member's prior military service; credit toward retirement when member has joined Armed Forces in time of armed conflict; qualified military service.
§16-5V-31. How a county commission or political subdivision becomes a participating public employer.
§16-5V-32. Effective date; report to Joint Committee on Government and Finance; special starting date for benefits.
§16-5V-33. Limitation of county liability.
§16-5V-34. Benefits not forfeited if system terminates.
§16-5V-35. Return to covered employment by retirant.
This article is known and may be cited as the "West Virginia Emergency Medical Services Retirement System Act."
(a) “Accrued benefit” means on behalf of any member two and six-tenths percent per year of the member’s final average salary for the first twenty years of credited service. Additionally, two percent per year for twenty-one through twenty-five years and one and one-half percent per year for each year over twenty-five years will be credited with a maximum benefit of sixty-seven percent. A member’s accrued benefit may not exceed the limits of Section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code and is subject to the provisions of section twelve of this article.
(1) The board may, upon the recommendation of the board’s actuary, increase the employees’ contribution rate to ten and five-tenths percent should the funding of the plan not reach seventy percent funded by July 1, 2012. The board shall decrease the contribution rate to eight and one-half percent once the plan funding reaches the seventy percent support objective as of any later actuarial valuation date.
(2) Upon reaching the seventy-five percent actuarial funded level, as of an actuarial valuation date, the board shall increase the two and six-tenths percent to two and three-quarter percent for the first twenty years of credited service. The maximum benefit will also be increased from sixty-seven percent to ninety percent.
(b) “Accumulated contributions” means the sum of all retirement contributions deducted from the compensation of a member, or paid on his or her behalf as a result of covered employment, together with regular interest on the deducted amounts.
(c) “Active military duty” means full-time active duty with any branch of the armed forces of the United States, including service with the National Guard or reserve military forces when the member has been called to active full-time duty and has received no compensation during the period of that duty from any board or employer other than the armed forces.
(d) “Actuarial equivalent” means a benefit of equal value computed upon the basis of the mortality table and interest rates as set and adopted by the board in accordance with the provisions of this article.
(e) “Annual compensation” means the wages paid to the member during covered employment within the meaning of Section 3401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code, but determined without regard to any rules that limit the remuneration included in wages based upon the nature or location of employment or services performed during the plan year plus amounts excluded under Section 414(h)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code and less reimbursements or other expense allowances, cash or noncash fringe benefits or both, deferred compensation and welfare benefits. Annual compensation for determining benefits during any determination period may not exceed the maximum compensation allowed as adjusted for cost of living in accordance with section seven, article ten-d, chapter five of this code and Section 401(a)(17) of the Internal Revenue Code.
(f) “Annual leave service” means accrued annual leave.
(g) “Annuity starting date” means the first day of the month for which an annuity is payable after submission of a retirement application. For purposes of this subsection, if retirement income payments commence after the normal retirement age, “retirement” means the first day of the month following or coincident with the latter of the last day the member worked in covered employment or the member’s normal retirement age and after completing proper written application for retirement on an application supplied by the board.
(h) “Board” means the Consolidated Public Retirement Board.
(i) “Contributing service” or “contributory service” means service rendered by a member while employed by a participating public employer for which the member made contributions to the plan.
(j) “County commission or political subdivision” has the meaning ascribed to it in this code.
(k) “Covered employment” means either: (1) Employment as a full-time emergency medical technician, emergency medical technician/paramedic or emergency medical services/registered nurse and the active performance of the duties required of emergency medical services officers; or (2) the period of time during which active duties are not performed but disability benefits are received under this article; or (3) concurrent employment by an emergency medical services officer in a job or jobs in addition to his or her employment as an emergency medical services officer where the secondary employment requires the emergency medical services officer to be a member of another retirement system which is administered by the Consolidated Public Retirement Board pursuant to this code: Provided, That the emergency medical services officer contributes to the fund created in this article the amount specified as the member’s contribution in section eight of this article.
(l) “Credited service” means the sum of a member’s years of service, active military duty, disability service and accrued annual and sick leave service.
(C) Whose relationship with the member is described in paragraph (A), (B) or (C), subdivision (1) of this subsection.
(n) “Dependent parent” means the father or mother of the member who was claimed as a dependent by the member for federal income tax purposes at the time of the member’s death.
(o) “Disability service” means service received by a member, expressed in whole years, fractions thereof or both, equal to one half of the whole years, fractions thereof, or both, during which time a member receives disability benefits under this article.
(p) “Early retirement age” means age forty-five or over and completion of twenty years of contributory service.
(q) “Effective date” means January 1, 2008.
(r) “Emergency medical services officer” means an individual employed by the state, county or other political subdivision as a medical professional who is qualified to respond to medical emergencies, aids the sick and injured and arranges or transports to medical facilities, as defined by the West Virginia Office of Emergency Medical Services. This definition is construed to include employed ambulance providers and other services such as law enforcement, rescue or fire department personnel who primarily perform these functions and are not provided any other credited service benefits or retirement plans. These persons may hold the rank of emergency medical technician/basic, emergency medical technician/paramedic, emergency medical services/registered nurse, or others as defined by the West Virginia Office of Emergency Medical Services and the Consolidated Public Retirement Board.
(s) “Employer error” means an omission, misrepresentation or violation of relevant provisions of the West Virginia Code or of the West Virginia Code of State Rules or the relevant provisions of both the West Virginia Code and of the West Virginia Code of State Rules by the participating public employer that has resulted in an underpayment or overpayment of contributions required. A deliberate act contrary to the provisions of this article by a participating public employer does not constitute employer error.
(t) “Final average salary” means the average of the highest annual compensation received for covered employment by the member during any five consecutive plan years within the member’s last ten years of service while employed, prior to any disability payment. If the member did not have annual compensation for the five full plan years preceding the member’s attainment of normal retirement age and during that period the member received disability benefits under this article, then “final average salary” means the average of the monthly salary determined paid to the member during that period as determined under section nineteen of this article multiplied by twelve. Final average salary does not include any lump sum payment for unused, accrued leave of any kind or character.
(u) “Full-time employment” means permanent employment of an employee by a participating public employer in a position which normally requires twelve months per year service and requires at least one thousand forty hours per year service in that position.
(v) “Fund” means the West Virginia Emergency Medical Services Retirement Fund created by this article.
(3) Each hour for which back pay is either awarded or agreed to be paid by the employing county commission or political subdivision, irrespective of mitigation of damages. The same hours of service shall not be credited both under subdivision (1) or (2) of this subsection and under this subdivision. Hours under this paragraph shall be credited to the member for the plan year or years to which the award or agreement pertains, rather than the plan year in which the award, agreement or payment is made.
(x) “Member” means a person first hired as an emergency medical services officer by an employer which is a participating public employer of the Public Employees Retirement System or the Emergency Medical Services Retirement System after the effective date of this article, as defined in subsection (q) of this section, or an emergency medical services officer of an employer which is a participating public employer of the Public Employees Retirement System first hired prior to the effective date and who elects to become a member pursuant to this article. A member shall remain a member until the benefits to which he or she is entitled under this article are paid or forfeited.
(y) “Monthly salary” means the W-2 reportable compensation received by a member during the month.
(z) “Normal form” means a monthly annuity which is one twelfth of the amount of the member’s accrued benefit which is payable for the member’s life. If the member dies before the sum of the payments he or she receives equals his or her accumulated contributions on the annuity starting date, the named beneficiary shall receive in one lump sum the difference between the accumulated contributions at the annuity starting date and the total of the retirement income payments made to the member.
(4) Attainment of age sixty-two years and completion of five or more years of regular contributory service.
(bb) “Participating public employer” means any county commission or political subdivision in the state which has elected to cover its emergency medical services officers, as defined in this article, under the West Virginia Emergency Medical Services Retirement System.
(cc) “Political subdivision” means a county, city or town in the state; any separate corporation or instrumentality established by one or more counties, cities or towns, as permitted by law; any corporation or instrumentality supported in most part by counties, cities or towns; and any public corporation charged by law with the performance of a governmental function and whose jurisdiction is coextensive with one or more counties, cities or towns: Provided, That any public corporation established under section four, article fifteen, chapter seven of this code is considered a political subdivision solely for the purposes of this article.
(dd) “Plan” means the West Virginia Emergency Medical Services Retirement System established by this article.
(ee) “Plan year” means the twelve-month period commencing on January 1 of any designated year and ending the following December 31.
(ff) “Public Employees Retirement System” means the West Virginia Public Employee’s Retirement System created by West Virginia Code.
(gg) “Regular interest” means the rate or rates of interest per annum, compounded annually, as the board adopts in accordance with the provisions of this article.
(hh) “Required beginning date” means April 1 of the calendar year following the later of: (1) The calendar year in which the member attains age seventy and one-half; or (2) the calendar year in which he or she retires or otherwise separates from covered employment.
(ii) “Retirant” means any member who commences an annuity payable by the plan.
(jj) "Retire" or "retirement" means a member's withdrawal from the employ of a participating public employer and the commencement of an annuity by the plan.
(kk) “Retirement income payments” means the monthly retirement income payments payable under the plan.
(ll) “Spouse” means the person to whom the member is legally married on the annuity starting date.
(mm) “Surviving spouse” means the person to whom the member was legally married at the time of the member’s death and who survived the member.
(nn) “Totally disabled” means a member’s inability to engage in substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determined physical or mental impairment that can be expected to result in death or that has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than twelve months.
(1) A member is totally disabled only if his or her physical or mental impairment or impairments is so severe that he or she is not only unable to perform his or her previous work as an emergency medical services officer but also cannot, considering his or her age, education and work experience, engage in any other kind of substantial gainful employment which exists in the state regardless of whether: (A) The work exists in the immediate area in which the member lives; (B) a specific job vacancy exists; or (C) the member would be hired if he or she applied for work. For purposes of this article, substantial gainful employment is the same definition as used by the United States Social Security Administration.
(2) “Physical or mental impairment” is an impairment that results from an anatomical, physiological or psychological abnormality that is demonstrated by medically accepted clinical and laboratory diagnostic techniques. The board may require submission of a member’s annual tax return for purposes of monitoring the earnings limitation.
Hours of Service Year of Service Credited.
During a member’s first and last years of covered employment, the member shall be credited with one twelfth of a year of service for each month during the plan year in which the member is credited with an hour of service for which contributions were received by the fund. A member is not entitled to credit for years of service for any time period during which he or she received disability payments under section nineteen or twenty of this article. Except as specifically excluded, years of service include covered employment prior to the effective date.
Years of service which are credited to a member prior to his or her receipt of accumulated contributions upon termination of employment pursuant to section eighteen of this article or section thirty, article ten, chapter five of this code, shall be disregarded for all purposes under this plan unless the member repays the accumulated contributions with interest pursuant to section eighteen of this article or has prior to the effective date made the repayment pursuant to section eighteen, article ten, chapter five of this code.
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.
There is hereby created the West Virginia Emergency Medical Services Retirement System. The purpose of this system is to provide for the orderly retirement of emergency medical services officers who become superannuated because of age or permanent disability and to provide certain survivor death benefits, and it is contemplated that 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, 2008: Provided, That at least seventy percent of all eligible emergency medical services officers and at least eighty-five percent of the eligible emergency medical services officers who are currently active members of the Public Employees Retirement System elect to participate in this plan by December 31, 2007. If this level of participation is not reached, then all of the provisions of this article are void and of no force and effect. All business of the system shall be transacted in the name of the West Virginia Emergency Medical Services 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.
(a) The provisions of this article shall be liberally construed so as to provide a general retirement system for emergency medical services officers eligible to retire under the provisions of this plan. Nothing in this article may be construed to permit a county to substitute this plan for federal social security now in force in West Virginia.
(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 of chapter five of this code to assure compliance with the requirements of this section.
(a) Any emergency medical services officer first employed by a county or political subdivision in covered employment after the effective date of this article shall be a member of this retirement plan as a condition of employment and upon membership does not qualify for membership in any other retirement system administered by the board, so long as he or she remains employed in covered employment: Provided, That any emergency medical services officer who has concurrent employment in an additional job or jobs which would require the emergency medical services officer to be a member of the West Virginia Deputy Sheriff Retirement System or the West Virginia Municipal Police Officers and Firefighters 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) Any emergency medical services officer employed in covered employment by an employer which is currently a participating public employer of the Public Employees Retirement System shall notify in writing both the county commission in the county or officials in the political subdivision in which he or she is employed and the board of his or her desire to become a member of the plan by December 31, 2007. Any emergency medical services officer who elects to become a member of the plan ceases to be a member or have any credit for covered employment in any other retirement system administered by the board and shall continue to be ineligible for membership in any other retirement system administered by the board so long as the emergency medical services officer remains employed in covered employment by an employer which is currently a participating public employer of this plan: Provided, That any emergency medical services officer who does not affirmatively elect to become a member of the plan continues to be eligible for any other retirement system as is, from time to time, offered to other county employees but is ineligible for this plan regardless of any subsequent termination of employment and rehire.
(c) Any emergency medical services officer who was employed as an emergency medical services officer prior to the effective date, but was not employed on the effective date of this article, shall become a member upon rehire as an emergency medical services officer. For purposes of this section, the member's years of service and credited service prior to the effective date shall not be counted for any purposes under this plan unless the emergency medical services officer has not received the return of his or her accumulated contributions in the Public Employees Retirement System pursuant to section thirty, article ten, chapter five of this code. The member may request in writing to have his or her accumulated contributions and employer contributions from covered employment in the Public Employees Retirement System transferred to the plan. If the conditions of this subsection are met, all years of the emergency medical services officer's covered employment shall be counted as years of service for the purposes of this article.
(d) Any emergency medical services officer employed in covered employment on the effective date of this article who has timely elected to transfer into this plan as provided in subsection (b) of this section shall be given credited service at the time of transfer for all credited service then standing to the emergency medical services officer's service credit in the Public Employees Retirement System regardless of whether the credited service (as that term is defined in section two, article ten, chapter five of this code) was earned as an emergency medical services officer. All credited service standing to the transferring emergency medical services officer's credit in the Public Employees Retirement System at the time of transfer into this plan shall be transferred into the plan created by this article and the transferring emergency medical services officer shall be given the same credit for the purposes of this article for all service transferred from the Public Employees Retirement System as that transferring emergency medical services officer would have received from the Public Employees Retirement System as if the transfer had not occurred. In connection with each transferring emergency medical services officer receiving credit for prior employment as provided in this subsection, a transfer from the Public Employees Retirement System to this plan shall be made pursuant to the procedures described in this article: Provided, That any member of this plan who has elected to transfer from the Public Employees Retirement System into this plan pursuant to subsection (b) of this section may not, after having transferred into and becoming an active member of this plan, reinstate to his or her credit in this plan any service credit relating to periods in which the member was not in covered employment as an emergency medical services officer and which service was withdrawn from the Public Employees Retirement System prior to his or her elective transfer into this plan.
(e) Once made, the election made under this section is irrevocable. All emergency medical services officers employed by an employer which is a participating public employer of the Public Employees Retirement System after the effective date and emergency medical services officers electing to become members as described in this section shall be members as a condition of employment and shall make the contributions required by this article.
(f) 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.
(a) There is hereby created the "West Virginia Emergency Medical Services 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.
(a) There shall be deducted from the monthly salary of each member and paid into the fund an amount equal to eight and one-half percent of his or her monthly salary. An additional amount shall be paid to the fund by the county commission or political subdivision in which the member is employed in covered employment in an amount determined by the board: Provided, That in no year may the total of the employer contributions provided in this section, to be paid by the county commission or political subdivision, exceed ten and one-half percent of the total payroll for the members in the employ of the county commission or political subdivision.
(b) Any active member who has concurrent employment in an additional job or jobs and the additional employment requires the emergency medical services officer to be a member of another retirement system which is administered by the Consolidated Public Retirement Board pursuant to article ten-d, chapter five of this code shall contribute to the fund the sum of eight and one-half percent of his or her monthly salary earned as an emergency medical services officer as well as the sum of eight and one-half percent of his or her monthly salary earned from any additional employment which additional employment requires the emergency medical services officer to be a member of another retirement system which is administered by the Consolidated Public Retirement Board pursuant to article ten-d, chapter five of this code. An additional percent of the monthly salary of each member shall be paid to the fund by the concurrent employer by which the member is employed in an amount determined by the board: Provided, That in no year may the total of the employer contributions provided in this section, to be paid by the concurrent employer, exceed ten and one-half percent of the payroll for the concurrent member employees.
(c) All required deposits shall be remitted to the board no later than fifteen days following the end of the calendar month for which the deposits are required. If the board upon the recommendation of the board actuary finds that the benefits provided by this article can be actuarially funded with a lesser contribution, then the board shall reduce the required member and employer contributions proportionally. Any county commission or political subdivision which fails to make any payment due the Emergency Medical Services Retirement Fund by the fifteenth day following the end of each calendar month in which contributions are due may be required to pay the actuarial rate of interest lost on the total amount owed for each day the payment is delinquent. Accrual of the loss of earnings owed by the delinquent county commission or political subdivision commences after the fifteenth day following the end of the calendar month in which contributions are due and continues until receipt of the delinquent amount. Interest compounds daily and the minimum surcharge is $50.
(b) Underpayments to the plan: Any error resulting in an underpayment to the retirement plan , may be corrected by the member or retirant remitting the required employee contribution or underpayment and the participating public employer remitting the required employer contribution or underpayment. Interest shall accumulate in accordance with the legislative rule 162 CSR 7 concerning retirement board refund, reinstatement, retroactive service, loan and correction of error interest factors and any accumulating interest owed on the employee and employer contributions or underpayments resulting from an employer error shall be the responsibility of the participating public employer. The participating public employer may remit total payment and the employee reimburse the participating public employer through payroll deduction over a period equivalent to the time period during which the employer error occurred. If the correction of an error involving an underpayment to the retirement system will result in the plan paying the retirant an additional amount, this additional payment shall be made only after the board receives full payment of all required employee and employer contributions or underpayments, including interest.
(c) Overpayments to the plan by an employer: When mistaken or excess employer contributions or other employer overpayments have been made to the plan, the board shall credit the employer with an amount equal to the overpayment, to be offset against the employer's future liability for employer contributions to the plan. If the employer has no future liability for employer contributions to the plan, the board shall refund the erroneous contributions directly to the employer. Earnings or interest shall not be returned, offset or credited to the employer under any of the means used by the board for returning employer overpayments to the retirement system.
(d) Overpayments to the plan by an employee: When mistaken or excess employee contributions or overpayments have been made to the plan, the board shall have sole authority for determining the means of return, offset or credit to or for the benefit of the individual making the mistaken or excess employee contribution of the amounts, and may use any means authorized or permitted under the provisions of section 401(a), et seq. of the Internal Revenue Code and guidance issued thereunder applicable to governmental plans. Alternatively, in its full and complete discretion, the board may require the participating public employer employing the individual to pay the individual the amounts as wages, with the board crediting the participating public employer with a corresponding amount to offset against its future contributions to the plan. If the employer has no future liability for employer contributions to the plan, the board shall refund said amount directly to the employer: Provided, That the wages paid to the individual shall not be considered compensation for any purposes of this article. Earnings or interest shall not be returned, offset, or credited under any of the means used by the board for returning employee overpayments.
(e) Overpayments from the plan: If any error results in any member, retirant, beneficiary, entity or other individual receiving from the system more than he would have been entitled to receive had the error not occurred the board upon learning of the error shall correct the error in a timely manner. If correction of the error occurs after annuity payments to a retirant or beneficiary have commenced, the board shall prospectively adjust the payment of the benefit to the correct amount. In addition, the member, retirant, beneficiary, entity or other person who received the overpayment from the plan shall repay the amount of any overpayment to the plan in any manner permitted by the board. Interest shall not accumulate on any corrective payment made to the plan pursuant to this subsection.
(f) Underpayments from the retirement system: If any error results in any member, retirant, beneficiary, entity or other individual receiving from the plan less than he would have been entitled to receive had the error not occurred, the board, upon learning of the error, shall correct the error in a timely manner. If correction of the error occurs after annuity payments to a retirant or beneficiary have commenced, the board shall prospectively adjust the payment of the benefit to the correct amount. In addition, the board shall pay the amount of such underpayment to the member, retirant, beneficiary or other individual in a lump sum. Interest shall not be paid on any corrective payment made by the plan pursuant to this subsection.
(g) Eligibility errors: If the board finds that an individual, employer, or both individual and employer, participating in the plan is not eligible to participate, the board shall notify the individual and his or her employer of the determination and terminate participation in the plan. Any erroneous payments to the plan shall be returned to the employer and individual in accordance with the methods described in subsections (c) and (d) of this section and any erroneous payments from the plan to such individual shall be returned to the plan in accordance with the methods described in subsection (e) of this section. Any erroneous service credited to the individual shall be removed. If the board determines that an individual or employer, or both, has not been participating in the plan, but was eligible to and required to be participating in the plan, the board shall as soon as practicable notify the individual and his or her employer of the determination, and the individual and his or her employer shall prospectively commence participation in the plan as soon as practicable. Service credit for service prior to the date on which the individual prospectively commences participation in the plan shall be granted only if the board receives the required employer and employee contributions for such service, in accordance with subsection (b) of this section, including interest.
(a) The Consolidated Public Retirement Board shall, within one hundred eighty days of the effective date of the transfer of an emergency medical services officer from the Public Employees Retirement System to the plan, transfer assets from the Public Employees Retirement System Trust Fund into the West Virginia Emergency Medical Services Trust Fund.
(7) Determine the assets to be transferred from the Public Employees Retirement System to the Emergency Medical Services Retirement System by multiplying the active members' funded percentage determined under subdivision (5) of this subsection by the transferring active members' actuarial accrued liabilities under the Public Employees Retirement System under subdivision (6) of this subsection and adjusting the asset transfer amount by interest at seven and five-tenths percent for the period from the calculation date of July 1, 2007, through the first day of the month in which the asset transfer is to be completed.
(c) Once an emergency medical services officer has elected to transfer from the Public Employees Retirement System, transfer of that amount as calculated in accordance with the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, or subsection (e) if applicable, by the Public Employees Retirement System shall operate as a complete bar to any further liability to the Public Employees Retirement System and constitutes an agreement whereby the transferring emergency medical services officer forever indemnifies and holds harmless the Public Employees Retirement System from providing him or her any form of retirement benefit whatsoever until that emergency medical services officer obtains other employment which would make him or her eligible to reenter the Public Employees Retirement System with no credit whatsoever for the amounts transferred to the Emergency Medical Services Retirement System.
(6) Service will be credited only upon receipt by the board of all payments due.
(e) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, any Emergency Medical Services director who: (1) Is an active member of the Public Employees Retirement System; and (2)has, or obtains within one year of the effective date of the amendments to this section enacted during the 2012 regular session of the Legislature, basic or higher emergency management technician certification, is eligible to transfer service credit from the Public Employees Retirement System to the Emergency Medical Services Retirement System, upon payment of associated costs by the transferring director. The board shall compute the actuarially appropriate amount of any increased benefit cost of transfer to be borne by the transferring director to be paid according to terms established by the board. Any Emergency Medical Services director who transfers to the Emergency Medical Services Retirement System pursuant to the provisions of this subsection shall apply for the transfer to the board within one year of the effective date of the amendments to this section enacted during the 2012 regular session of the Legislature. Upon receipt of the total payment of all associated costs by the transferring director, the board shall compute the amount of assets to be transferred from the Public Employees Retirement System to the Emergency Medical Retirement System and shall transfer the assets within six months of the receipt of the application. Any director transferring into the retirement system as provided in this subsection is prohibited from retiring within three years of transfer.
(a) Each county commission or political subdivision shall prepare a written notice to be delivered to each emergency medical services officer employed prior to July 1, 2007. This notice shall clearly and accurately explain the benefits, financial implications and consequences to an emergency medical services officer of electing to participate in the retirement plan created in this article, including the consequences and financial implications in regard to the benefits under the Public Employees Insurance Plan as set forth in this code for those emergency medical services officers employed by a county commission or political subdivision which participates in that insurance plan. This notice shall be distributed to each emergency medical services officer and the county or political subdivision shall obtain a signed receipt from each emergency medical services officer acknowledging that the emergency medical services officer was provided a copy of the notice required in this subsection. If an emergency medical services officer makes the election provided in section six of this article, he or she shall be considered to have made a voluntary, informed decision in regard to the election to participate in the retirement system created in this article.
(b) Nothing in this section may be construed to alter, affect or change any of the rights and benefits of any emergency medical services officer who has insurance coverage under article sixteen, chapter five of this code as a result of being a spouse or dependant of a participant who is the primary insured under article sixteen, chapter five of this code.
(c) Nothing contained in this section may be construed to affect or pertain to any life insurance coverage under article sixteen, chapter five of this code.
(a) Except for duty disability retirement, no member may retire before January 1, 2011.
(b) On or after the date a member attains early or normal retirement age, a member may retire and commence to receive retirement income payments on the first day of the calendar month following termination of employment and receipt of his or her written application for retirement in an amount as provided under this article: Provided, That retirement income payments under this plan are subject to the provisions of this article. Upon receipt of a request for estimation of benefits, the board shall promptly provide the member with an explanation of his or her optional forms of retirement benefits and the estimated gross monthly annuity. Upon receipt of properly executed retirement application forms from the member, the board shall process member's request for and commence payments as soon as administratively feasible.
(g) The application of the provisions of this section shall not cause the maximum annual benefit provided to a member to be less than the member's accrued benefit as of December 31, 2008 (the end of the limitation year that is immediately prior to the effective date of the final regulations for this retirement system as defined in Treasury Regulation §1.415(a)-1(g)(2)), under provisions of the retirement system that were both adopted and in effect before April 5, 2007, provided that such provisions satisfied the applicable requirements of statutory provisions, regulations and other published guidance relating to Section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code in effect as of December 31, 2008, as described in Treasury Regulation §1.415(a)-1(g)(4). If additional benefits are accrued for a member under this retirement system after January 1, 2009, then the sum of the benefits described under the first sentence of this subdivision and benefits accrued for a member after January 1, 2009, must satisfy the requirements of Section 415, taking into account all applicable requirements of the final 415 Treasury Regulations.
(a) The payment of benefits under the plan to any member shall be distributed to him or her not later than the required beginning date, or be distributed to him or her commencing not later than the required beginning date, in accordance with regulations prescribed under Section 401(a)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code, over the life of the member or over the lives of the member and his or her beneficiary or over a period not extending beyond the life expectancy of the member and his or her beneficiary: Provided, That the requirements of this section may not be construed to grant a right to a form of benefit which is not otherwise available to a particular member under this retirement system. Benefit payments under this section shall not be delayed pending, or contingent upon, receipt of an application for retirement from the member.
(b) If a member dies after distribution to him or her has commenced pursuant to this section but before his or her entire interest in the plan has been distributed, then the remaining portion of that interest shall be distributed at least as rapidly as under the method of distribution being used at the date of his or her death.
(c) If a member dies before distribution to him or her has commenced, then his or her entire interest in the plan is to be distributed by December 31 of the calendar year containing the fifth anniversary of the member’s death, unless the provisions of subsection (d) of this section apply.
(1) "Eligible rollover distribution" means 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 of the following: (A) 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 the joint life expectancies of the distributee and the distributee's designated beneficiary, or for a specified period of ten years or more; (B) any distribution to the extent the distribution is required under Section 401(a)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code; and (C) any hardship distribution described in Section 401(k)(2)(B)(i)(iv) of the Internal Revenue Code. A portion of a distribution shall not fail to be an eligible rollover distribution merely because the portion consists of after-tax employee contributions which are not includable in gross income. However, this portion may be paid only to an individual retirement account or annuity described in Section 408(a) or (b) of the Internal Revenue Code (including a Roth IRA described in Section 408A of the Internal Revenue Code), or to a qualified trust or to an annuity contract described in Section 403(a) or (b) of the Internal Revenue Code that agrees to separately account for amounts transferred (including interest or earnings thereon), including separately accounting for the portion of the distribution which is includable in gross income and the portion of the distribution which is not so includable.
(2) "Eligible retirement plan" means an eligible plan under Section 457(b) of the Internal Revenue Code 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, 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, a Roth IRA described in Section 408A of the Internal Revenue Code, an annuity plan described in Section 403(a) of the Internal Revenue Code, an annuity contract described in Section 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code, or a qualified plan described in Section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code that accepts the distributee's eligible rollover distribution: Provided, That in the case of an eligible rollover distribution to a designated beneficiary (other than a surviving spouse) as such term is defined in Section 402(c)(11) of the Internal Revenue Code, an eligible retirement plan is limited to an individual retirement account or individual retirement annuity which meets the conditions of Section 402(c)(11) of the Internal Revenue Code.
(3) "Distributee" means 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 with respect to governmental plans, are distributees with regard to the interest of the spouse or former spouse. The term "distributee" also includes a designated beneficiary (other than a surviving spouse) as such term is defined in Section 402(c)(11) of the Internal Revenue Code.
(4) "Direct rollover" means a payment by the plan to the eligible retirement plan.
(4) For purposes of Section 415(b) of the Internal Revenue Code, the annual benefit attributable to any rollover contribution accepted pursuant to this section shall be determined in accordance with Treasury Regulation §1.415(b)-1(b)(2)(v), and the excess, if any, of the annuity payments attributable to any rollover contribution provided under the retirement system over the annual benefit so determined shall be taken into account when applying the accrued benefit limitations of Section 415(b) of the Internal Revenue Code and section twelve of this article.
(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 purchase of permissive service credit or repayment of withdrawn or refunded contributions.
(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed as permitting the purchase of service credit or repayment of withdrawn or refunded contributions except as otherwise permitted in this article.
Any member accruing annual leave or sick leave days may, after the effective date of this section, elect to use the days at the time of retirement to acquire additional credited service in this retirement system: Provided, That the accrued annual or sick leave may not be used to purchase health insurance under the Public Employees Insurance Agency until the member reaches the age of fifty-five. The days shall be applied on the basis of two workdays' credit granted for each one day of accrued annual or sick leave days, with each month of retirement service credit to equal twenty workdays and with any remainder of ten workdays or more to constitute a full month of additional credit and any remainder of less than ten workdays to be dropped and not used, notwithstanding any provisions of the code to the contrary. The credited service shall be allowed and not considered to controvert the requirement of no more than twelve months' credited service in any year's period.
This section describes when adjustment of a member's accrued benefit to reflect the difference in age, in years and months, between the member's annuity starting date and the date the member attains normal retirement age shall be made. This age adjustment, when required, shall be made based upon the normal form of benefit and shall be the actuarial equivalent of the accrued benefit at the member's 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 provisions of Section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code and section twelve of this article. 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.
(a) 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.
(b) Early retirement. -- A member who ceases covered employment and has attained early retirement age while in covered employment may elect in writing by completion of an application for retirement required by and submitted to the board, to receive retirement income payments commencing on the first day of the month coincident with or following the date the member ceases covered employment and submits the proper application to the board. "Normal retirement age" for such a member is the first day of the calendar month coincident with or next following the month in which the member attains the age of fifty years. If the member's annuity starting date is prior to the date the member attains normal retirement age, his or her accrued benefit is reduced to the actuarial equivalent benefit amount based on the years and months by which his or her annuity starting date precedes the date he or she attains normal retirement age.
(c) Late retirement. -- A member whose annuity starting date is later than the date the member attains normal retirement age shall receive retirement income payments in the normal form without adjustment for age at commencement, which is the benefit to which he or she is entitled according to his or her accrued benefit based on his or her final average salary and credited service at the time of his or her actual retirement and following the completion of an application for retirement as required by the board.
(d) 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. Notwithstanding any other provision of the plan, a member who is married on the annuity starting date will receive his or her retirement income payments in the form of a sixty-six and two-thirds percent joint and survivor annuity with his or her spouse unless prior to the annuity starting date the spouse waives the form of benefit.
(a) Option A-- Contingent joint and survivor annuity. -- A life annuity payable during the joint lifetime of the member and his or her beneficiary who must be a natural person with an insurable interest in the member's life. Upon the death of the member, the benefit shall continue as a life annuity to the beneficiary in an amount equal to fifty percent, sixty-six and two-thirds percent, seventy-five percent or one hundred percent of the amount paid while both were living as selected by the member. If the beneficiary dies first, the monthly amount of benefits may not be reduced, but shall be paid at the amount that was in effect before the death of the beneficiary. If the retiring member is married, the spouse shall sign a waiver of benefit rights if the beneficiary is to be other than the spouse.
(b) Option B -- Ten years certain and life annuity. -- A life annuity payable during the member's lifetime but in any event for a minimum of ten years. If the member dies before the expiration of ten years, the remaining payments shall be made to a designated beneficiary, if any, or otherwise to the member's estate.
(a) Any member who terminates covered employment and is not immediately eligible to receive disability or retirement income benefits under this article is, by written request filed with the board, entitled to receive from the fund the member's accumulated contributions. Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, upon withdrawal, the member shall forfeit his or her accrued benefit and cease to be a member.
(b) Any member who ceases employment in covered employment and active participation in this plan and who thereafter becomes reemployed in covered employment may not receive any credited service for any prior withdrawn accumulated contributions from either this plan or the Public Employees Retirement System unless following his or her return to covered employment and active participation in this plan, the member redeposits in the fund the amount of the accumulated contributions withdrawn from previous covered employment, together with interest on the accumulated contributions at the rate determined by the board from the date of withdrawal to the date of redeposit. Upon repayment he or she shall receive the same credit on account of his or her former covered employment as if no refund had been made.
The repayment authorized by this subsection shall be made in a lump sum within sixty months of the emergency medical services officer's reemployment in covered employment or, if later, within sixty months of the effective date of this article.
(c) A member of this plan who has elected to transfer from the Public Employees Retirement System into this plan pursuant to subsection (b), section six of this article may not, after having transferred into and become an active member of this plan, reinstate to his or her credit in this plan any service credit relating to periods of nonemergency medical services officer service withdrawn from the Public Employees Retirement System prior to his or her elective transfer into this plan.
(d) Every member who completes sixty months of covered employment is eligible, upon cessation of covered employment, to either withdraw his or her accumulated contributions in accordance with this section or to choose not to withdraw his or her accumulated contribution and to receive retirement income payments upon attaining early or normal retirement age.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, forfeitures under the plan may not be applied to increase the benefits any member would otherwise receive under the plan.
(a) Any member who after the effective date of this article and during covered employment: (1) Has been or becomes totally disabled by injury, illness or disease; and (2) the disability is a result of an occupational risk or hazard inherent in or peculiar to the services required of members; or (3) the disability was incurred while performing emergency medical services functions during either scheduled work hours or at any other time; and (4) in the opinion of two physicians after medical examination, one of whom shall be named by the board, the member is by reason of the disability unable to perform adequately the duties required of an emergency medical services officer, is entitled to receive and shall be paid from the fund in monthly installments the compensation set forth under either subsection (b) or (c) of this section.
(b) If the member is totally disabled, the member shall receive ninety percent of his or her average full monthly compensation for the twelve-month period preceding the member's disability or the shorter period if the member has not worked twelve months.
(c) If the member remains totally disabled until attaining sixty-five years of age, the member shall then receive the retirement benefit provided in sections sixteen and seventeen of this article.
(d) The disability benefit payments will begin the first day of the month following termination of employment and receipt of the disability retirement application by the Consolidated Public Retirement Board.
(a) Any member with ten or more years of contributing service and who during covered employment: (1) Has been or becomes totally disabled from any cause other than those set forth in section nineteen of this article and not due to vicious habits, intemperance or willful misconduct on his or her part; and (2) in the opinion of two physicians after medical examination, one of whom shall be named by the board, he or she is by reason of the disability unable to perform adequately the duties required of an emergency medical services officer, is entitled to receive and shall be paid from the fund in monthly installments, the compensation set forth in, either subsection (b) or (c) of this section.
(b) If the member is totally disabled, he or she shall receive sixty-six and two-thirds percent of his or her average monthly compensation for the twelve-month period immediately preceding the disability award, or if the member has not worked all twelve months during the twelve month period immediately preceding the disability award, the average of the months in which compensation was received for the twelve month period shall be used.
(c) If the member remains totally disabled until attaining sixty years of age, then the member shall receive the retirement benefit provided in sections sixteen and seventeen of this article.
(d) The board shall propose legislative rules for promulgation in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code concerning member disability payments so as to ensure that the payments do not exceed one hundred percent of the average current salary for the position last held by the member.
(e) The disability benefit payments will begin the first day of the month following termination of employment and receipt of the disability retirement application by the Consolidated Public Retirement Board.
(a) The board may require any member who has applied for or is receiving disability benefits under this article to submit to a physical examination, mental examination or both, by a physician or physicians selected or approved by the board. All costs incident to any examination by a board selected physician shall be paid from the board's expense fund. The costs may include hospital, laboratory, X-ray, medical and physicians' fees. A report of the findings of any physician shall be submitted in writing to the board for its consideration. If, from the report, independent information, or from the report and any hearing on the report, the board is of the opinion and finds that: (1) The member has become reemployed as an emergency medical services officer; (2) a physician who has examined the member has found that considering the opportunities for emergency medical services in West Virginia, the member could be so employed as an emergency medical services officer; or (3) other facts exist to demonstrate that the member is no longer totally disabled, then the disability benefits shall cease the first day of the month following board action. (b) The board shall require recertification for a disabled retirant, who has not attained age sixty, at least once each year during the first five years following his or her retirement and at least once in each three year period thereafter.
(c) If a retirant refuses to submit to a medical examination or submit a statement by his or her physician certifying continued disability in any period, his or her disability annuity may be discontinued by the board until the retirant complies. If the refusal continues for one year, all the retirant's rights in and to the annuity may be revoked by the board.
Acts, 2012 Reg. Sess., Ch. 32.
(a) The surviving spouse of any member who, after the effective date of this article while in covered employment, has died or dies by reason of injury, illness or disease resulting from an occupational risk or hazard inherent in or peculiar to the service required of members, while the member was or is engaged in the performance of his or her duties as an emergency medical services officer, or the survivor spouse of a member who dies from any cause while receiving benefits pursuant to section nineteen of this article, is entitled to receive and shall be paid from the fund benefits as determined in subsection (b) of this section: To the surviving spouse annually, in equal monthly installments during his or her lifetime an amount equal to the greater of: (1) Two thirds of the annual compensation received in the preceding twelve-month period by the deceased member; or (2) if the member dies after his or her early or normal retirement age, the monthly amount which the spouse would have received had the member retired the day before his or her death, elected a one hundred percent joint and survivor annuity with the spouse as the joint annuitant, and then died.
(b) Benefits for a surviving spouse received under this section, section twenty-five and section twenty-six of this article are in lieu of receipt of any other benefits under this article for the spouse or any other person or under the provisions of any other state retirement system based upon the member's covered employment.
(a) If a member who has been a member for at least ten years, while in covered employment after the effective date of this article, has died or dies from any cause other than those specified in section twenty-three of this article and not due to vicious habits, intemperance or willful misconduct on his or her part, the fund shall pay annually in equal monthly installments to the surviving spouse during his or her lifetime, a sum equal to the greater of: (1) One half of the annual compensation received in the preceding twelve-month employment period by the deceased member; or (2) if the member dies after his or her early or normal retirement age, the monthly amount which the spouse would have received had the member retired the day before his or her death, elected a one hundred percent joint and survivor annuity with the spouse as the joint annuitant, and then died. Where the member is receiving disability benefits under this article at the time of his or her death, the average monthly compensation received in the plan year prior to disability shall be substituted for the annual compensation in subdivision (1) of this subsection.
(b) Benefits for a surviving spouse received under this section, or other sections of this article are in lieu of receipt of any other benefits under this article for the spouse or any other person or under the provisions of any other state retirement system based upon the member's covered employment.
(a) In addition to the spouse death benefits in this article, the surviving spouse is entitled to receive and there shall be paid to the spouse $100 monthly for each dependent child.
(b) If the surviving spouse dies or if there is no surviving spouse, the fund shall pay monthly to each dependent child a sum equal to one hundred percent of the spouse's entitlement under this article divided by the number of dependent children. If there is neither a surviving spouse nor a dependent child, the fund shall pay in equal monthly installments to the dependent parents of the deceased member during their joint lifetimes a sum equal to the amount which a surviving spouse, without children, would have received: Provided, That when there is only one dependent parent surviving, that parent is entitled to receive during his or her lifetime one-half the amount which both parents, if living, would have been entitled to receive: Provided, however, That if there is no surviving spouse, dependent child or dependent parent of the deceased member, the accumulated contributions shall be paid to a named beneficiary or beneficiaries: Provided further, That if there is no surviving spouse, dependent child or dependent parent of the deceased member, or any named beneficiary or beneficiaries, then the accumulated contributions shall be paid to the estate of the deceased member.
(c) Any person qualifying as a dependent child under this section, in addition to any other benefits due under this or other sections of this article, is entitled to receive a scholarship to be applied to the career development education of that person. This sum, up to but not exceeding $6,000 per year, shall be paid from the fund to any university or college in this state or to any trade or vocational school or other entity in this state approved by the board to offset the expenses of tuition, room and board, books, fees or other costs incurred in a course of study at any of these institutions so long as the recipient makes application to the board on an approved form and under rules provided by the board and maintains scholastic eligibility as defined by the institution or the board. The board may propose legislative rules for promulgation in accordance with article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code which define age requirements, physical and mental requirements, scholastic eligibility, disbursement methods, institutional qualifications and other requirements as necessary and not inconsistent with this section. Scholarship benefits awarded pursuant to this subsection are not subject to division or payable to an alternate payee by any Qualified Domestic Relations Order.
Any member who dies as a result of any service related illness or injury after the effective date is entitled to a lump sum burial benefit of $5,000. If the member is married, the burial benefit shall be paid to the member's spouse. If the member is not married, the burial benefit shall be paid to the member's estate for the purposes of paying burial expenses, settling the member's final affairs, or both. Burial benefits awarded pursuant to this section are not subject to division or payable to an alternate payee by any Qualified Domestic Relations Order.
A surviving spouse is not entitled to receive simultaneous death benefits under this article as a result of the death of two or more members to whom the spouse was married. Any spouse who becomes eligible for a subsequent death benefit under this article while receiving a death benefit under this article shall receive the higher benefit, but not both.
The right of a person to any benefit provided for 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 this system 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 public employer, 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 annuity the payments required of him or her to continue coverage under such group insurance or prepayment plan: Provided, however, That a participating public employer 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 hereby exempt from state, county and municipal taxes.
Any person who knowingly makes any false statement or who falsifies or permits to be falsified any record of the retirement system in any attempt to defraud that system is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not to exceed 1,000, by confinement in jail not to exceed one year, or by both fine and confinement. Any increased benefit received by any person as a result of the falsification or fraud shall be returned to the fund upon demand by the board.
(3) That he or she is receiving no benefits from any other retirement system for his or her active military duty.
(c) The total amount of service allowable under subsections (a) and (b) of this section may not exceed five years.
(d) Any service credit allowed under this section may be credited one time only for each emergency medical services officer, regardless of any changes in job title or responsibilities.
(e) Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, contributions, benefits and service credit with respect to qualified military service shall be provided in accordance with Section 414(u) of the Internal Revenue Code. For purposes of this section, "qualified military service" has the same meaning as in Section 414(u) of the Internal Revenue Code. The Retirement Board is authorized to determine all questions and make all decisions relating to this section and, pursuant to the authority granted to the board in section one, article ten-d, chapter five of this code, may promulgate rules relating to contributions, benefits and service credit to comply with Section 414(u) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Any county commission or political subdivision employing emergency medical services officers may by a three-fifths vote of its governing body, or by a majority vote of its electors, elect to become a participating public employer and thereby include its emergency medical services officers in the membership of the plan. The clerk or secretary of each such county commission or political subdivision electing to become a participating public employer shall certify the determination of the county commission or political subdivision to the Consolidated Public Retirement Board within ten days from and after the vote of the governing body or the canvass of votes upon such action. Once a county commission or political subdivision elects to participate in the plan, the action is final and it may not, at a later date, elect to terminate its participation in the plan.
(a) The provisions of this article become effective January 1, 2008: Provided, That no payout of any benefits may be made to any person prior to January 1, 2011: Provided, however, That emergency medical services officers who retire due to a duty disability pursuant to this article may begin receiving the benefits at the rate and in the amount specified in this article from this fund after June 30, 2008: Provided further, That until June 30, 2008, those emergency medical services officers who retire due to a duty disability pursuant to this article may draw benefits from this fund at the rate and in the amount set forth in section twenty-five, article ten, chapter five of this code.
(b) During the 36-month period before the payout of benefits begins, the Joint Committee on Government and Finance shall cause an interim study or studies to be conducted on the potential effects of the implementation of this retirement system, including, but not limited to, potential funding mechanisms to provide health insurance coverage for retirees in the fifty to fifty-five age group: Provided, That after the effective date of this provision, the Director of the Public Employees Insurance Agency shall propose a rule for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code governing the funding of health insurance coverage for retirees under the plan provided in this article who are in the fifty to fifty-five year age group, which rule may be filed as an emergency rule: Provided, however, That any rule filed as an emergency rule pursuant to this subsection shall be refiled at the earliest opportunity as a legislative rule for review and promulgation in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code.
No county which has timely met all of its obligations under this article is liable for any payments or contributions to the emergency medical services retirement plan which are owed to the plan by another county or counties.
If the retirement system is terminated or contributions are completely discontinued, the rights of all members to benefits accrued or contributions made to the date of the termination or discontinuance, to the extent then funded, are not forfeited.
The annuity of any member who retires under the provisions of this article and who resumes service in covered employment shall be suspended while the member continues in covered employment. The monthly annuity payment for the month in which the service resumes shall be pro-rated to the date of commencement of service, and the member shall again become a contributing member during resumption of service. At the conclusion of resumed service in covered employment the member shall have his or her annuity recalculated to take into account the entirety of service in covered employment.


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During the Olympic Games in London this year there will be many visitors from all over the world who need the gospel. Chapter Two is publishing tracts especially for this occasion. One of these called 'IN THE ARENA' has the text in four languages - English, French, German and Spanish. Order these tracts today so that you have them in time and make sure you always carry some around with you during the Olympics. Please note these tracts have been designed to be used after the Olympics as well.
Have you ever run round an athletics track? 400 metres is more than many us can manage at the best of times, but athletes run up to 25 laps—depending on the length of the race—at speed. A bell rings as they begin the last lap to tell them that they’ve got 400 metres to go before they cross the finishing line.
When top runners hear that bell, they know they’ve got a minute or so to make the right decisions and get past—or keep in front of—their rivals. That’s when the pressure’s on. They need to stay calm and focussed but run as fast as they can! Sometimes that last lap seems much longer than 400 metres.
They live to run, and they run to win. They train and diet to get to the peak of fitness. They plan each race, checking out their main rivals and even the weather. They leave nothing to chance, and yet very often the result of the race depends on the way they run that last lap.
Life’s a race and all of us are runners but none of us knows when the bell will ring for the last lap. How well are we running? The Apostle Paul writes in the Bible that there’s a prize for winning the race of life. He says: ‘Run in such a way that you may obtain it’ (1 Corinthians ch. 9 v. 24).
He also writes: ‘all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’ (Romans ch. 3 v. 23). God has designed us to know and love Him, but our sin—our self-will—means that we’ll never win the race by ourselves. When it’s over, we’re going to spend eternity under His judgment.
But God doesn’t want it to end that way. He’s ‘not willing that any should perish’ (2 Peter ch. 3 v. 9). And He’s not left it to chance: if we’re willing to listen to Him, we’ll find there’s a way we can win the race. The Bible says: ‘the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Romans ch. 6 v. 23).
Yes, salvation’s a gift. God has sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to take the judgment we deserve for our sins so that we can enjoy His love—not suffer His judgment—for eternity. Jesus suffered and died on the cross of Calvary 2,000 years ago to make this possible (1 Peter ch. 3 v. 18).
Take God at His word? Don’t leave the result of the race of life to chance. No matter how good you try to be you’ll never be able to pay God back for your sins. Jesus has done it for you if you’ll only trust in Him. Again Paul writes: ‘not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us’ (Titus ch. 3 v. 5).
Someone once asked Paul how to be saved. He replied, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved’ (Acts ch. 16 v. 31). You need to do the same! Don’t leave your eternal destiny to chance or even to the last lap—you may not even hear the bell in the noise of the arena. ‘NOW is the day of salvation’ (2 Corinthians ch. 6 v. 2)!

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