H. B. 4509


(By Delegates Davis, Michael, Pettit,
Cann and Warner)
[Introduced February 11, 2000; referred to the
Committee on Pensions and Retirement then Finance.]



A BILL to amend and reenact section twenty-four, article twenty-two, chapter eight of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to police and firefighter pension funds; increasing the minimum annual amount a member on disability retirement can earn without penalty.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twenty-four, article twenty-two, chapter eight of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
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.
§8-22-24. Disability pensions.
(a) The monthly sum to be paid to each member eligible for disability received as a proximate result of service rendered in the performance of his or her duties under the provisions of section twenty-three-a of this article shall be equal to sixty percent of the monthly salary being received by such member, at the time he is so disabled, or the sum of five hundred dollars per month, whichever shall be greater: Provided, That the limitation provided in subsection (b) of this section is not exceeded.
(b) Effective for any member who becomes eligible for disability benefits on or after the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-one, under the provisions of section twenty-three-a of this article, as a proximate result of service rendered in the performance of his or her duties within such departments, his or her monthly disability payment as provided in subsection (a) of this section shall not, when aggregated with the monthly amount of state workers' compensation, result in such disabled member receiving a total monthly income from such sources in excess of one hundred percent of the basic compensation which is paid to members holding the same position which such member held within such department at the time of his disability. Lump sum payments of state workers' compensation benefits shall not be considered for purposes of this subsection unless such lump sum payments represent commuted values of monthly state workers' compensation benefits.
(c) Any member who has served on active duty with the armed forces of the United States as described in section twenty-seven of this article, whether prior or subsequent to becoming a member of a paid police or fire department covered by the provisions of this article, and who, on the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-six, is receiving or thereafter receives a disability pension, shall receive in addition to the sixty percent or minimum five hundred dollars authorized in subsection (a) of this section, one additional percent for each year served in active military duty, up to a maximum of four additional percent.
(d) Beginning on and after the first day of April, one thousand nine hundred ninety-one, the monthly sum to be paid to a member who becomes eligible for total disability incurred not in the line of duty shall be the monthly benefit provided in subsection (a) of this section: Provided, That the limitation is in subsection (b) of this section is not exceeded: Provided, however, That for any person receiving benefits under this subsection who is self-employed or employed by another, there shall be offset against said benefits the amount of one dollar for each three dollars of income derived from self-employment or employment by another: Provided further, That a person receiving disability benefits must file a certified copy of his or her tax return on or before the fifteenth day of April of each year to demonstrate either unemployment or income earned from self-employment or employment by another: And provided further, That there shall be no offset of benefit for any income derived from self-employment or employment by another when the annual total amount of such income is seven twelve thousand five hundred dollars or less.


NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase from $7,500 to $12,500 the annual amount a disabled member of the police or firefighters pension fund may earn without losing any benefits.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.