Bill Text: WV SB316 | 2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Preserving previously approved state Municipal Policemen's or Firemen's pensions
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-1)
Status: (Passed) 2019-04-16 - Chapter 62, Acts, Regular Session, 2019 [SB316 Detail]
Download: West_Virginia-2019-SB316-Introduced.html
WEST
virginia legislature
2019 regular session
Introduced
Senate Bill 316
By Senators Plymale, Woelfel, Lindsay, Stollings, and Hamilton
[Introduced
January 16, 2019; Referred
to the Committee on Pensions; and then to the Committee on Finance]
A BILL to amend and reenact §8-22-27a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to preserving previously approved pensions awarded through the state Municipal Policemen’s or Municipal Firemen’s Pension and Relief Funds.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
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.
§8-22-27a. Correction of errors; underpayments; overpayments.
(a) General rule. — Upon learning of errors, the municipal policemen’s pension and relief fund board of trustees or the municipal firemen’s pension and relief fund board of trustees shall correct errors in the plan in a timely manner whether the individual, municipality or board of trustees was at fault for the error with the intent of placing the affected individual, municipality and pension board of trustees in the position each would have been in had the error not occurred. Should the municipal policemen’s or firemen’s pension and relief fund board of trustees fail to correct discovered errors, the Municipal Pensions Oversight Board shall have the authority to order the pension fund board of trustees to correct such errors. Any order issued by the Municipal Pensions Oversight Board shall be enforceable by an action at law.
(b) Underpayments to the plan. — Any error resulting in an underpayment to the plan may be corrected by the member or retirant remitting the required employee contribution or underpayment and the municipality remitting the required municipality contribution or underpayment. The rate of interest applicable to employer error payments in a Municipal Policemen’s or Municipal Firemen’s Pension and Relief Fund shall be the actuarial interest rate assumption as approved by the Municipal Pensions Oversight Board for completing the Actuarial Valuation for the plan year immediately preceding the first day of the plan year in which the employer error payment is made, compounded per annum. Any accumulating interest owed on the employee and employer contributions or underpayments resulting from an employer error shall be the responsibility of the employer. The employer may remit total payment and the employee reimburse the 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 plan will result in the plan correcting an erroneous underpayment from the plan, the correction of the underpayment from the plan shall be made only after the board of Trustees receives full payment of all required employee and employer contributions or underpayments, including interest.
(c) Overpayments to the plan by an employee. — When mistaken or excess employee contributions or overpayments have been made to the plan, the municipal policemen’s or municipal firemen’s pension and relief fund board of trustees 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 Municipal Policemen’s or Municipal Firemen’s Pension and Relief Fund Board of Trustees may require the municipality employing the individual to pay the individual the amounts as wages, with the board of trustees crediting the employer with a corresponding amount to offset against its future contributions to the plan. If the municipality has no future liability for municipality contributions to the plan, the board of trustees shall refund said amount directly to the municipality: 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 of trustees for returning employee overpayments.
(d) Overpayments from the plan. — If any error results in any member, retirant, beneficiary, entity or other individual receiving from the plan more than he would have been entitled to receive had the error not occurred the board of trustees after 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 of trustees 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 municipal policemen’s pension fund or municipal firemen’s pension fund in any manner permitted by the board of trustees of that fund. Interest shall not accumulate on any corrective payment made to the plan pursuant to this subsection.
(e) Underpayments from the plan. — 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 of trustees, 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 of trustees shall prospectively adjust the payment of the benefit to the correct amount. In addition, the board of trustees 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 municipal policemen’s pension fund or municipal firemen’s pension fund pursuant to this subsection.
(f) It is the intent of the Legislature by enacting the amendment to this section during the regular session of the Legislature of 2019, that the language of this section may not be construed to authorize any reduction of a retirement benefit amount that was approved prior to the enactment of this section during the regular legislative session of 2017. Therefore, notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, nothing herein authorizes the reduction of a previously approved retirement benefit amount of any member, retirant, beneficiary, entity, or other individual who retired prior to the effective date of this section, as enacted during the regular legislative session of 2017.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that changes to this section enacted during the 2017 Regular Legislative Session do not reduce previously approved pensions awarded through the Municipal Policemen’s or Municipal Firemen’s Pension and Relief Funds.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
