NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1971 SESSION

CHAPTER 336

SENATE BILL 89

AN ACT TO REDUCE TO TWENTY YEARS OF SERVICE THE PERIOD REQUIRED FOR BENEFITS UNDER THE FIREMEN'S PENSION FUND.

The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:

Section 1.  G.S. 118-25 is hereby amended by deleting all references to "thirty years" and inserting in lieu thereof "twenty years" so that it shall read as follows:

"§ 118-25.  Monthly pensions upon retirement. — Any member who has served 20 years as a fireman in the State of North Carolina, who has been an 'eligible fireman' for two years immediately preceding his application for the payment of a pension hereunder and who is otherwise eligible as provided in G.S. 118-23 hereof, and who has attained the age of 55 years shall be entitled to be paid from the fund herein created a monthly pension. Said monthly pension shall be in the amount of fifty dollars ($50.00) per month or less as below set forth, provided that those members retiring after the age of 55 and before attaining the age of 60 may elect to receive the reduced amount to account for longer expectancy, said amount of monthly pension available at various retirement ages to be as follows:

Retirement Age Amount            Retirement Age Amount

55                       $36.00                         58                      38.00

58                       $44.00                         56                      38.00

59                       47.00                           57                      41.00

60 and above      50.00

Members shall pay five dollars ($5.00) per month as required by G.S. 118-24 until retirement from active service or until they shall have made said monthly payments for a period of 20 years, whichever first occurs; provided, any member retiring after 20 years of service, but before reaching the age of 55 years, shall continue to pay the monthly payments required by G.S. 118-24 in order to continue his membership in the fund until he shall reach the age of 55 or until he shall have paid said monthly payments into the fund for 20 years, whichever is the earlier. Upon reaching retirement age and being otherwise eligible he shall receive a pension as set out above. Notwithstanding the above provisions, no person shall receive a pension hereunder prior to January 1, 1960, but those persons eligible and retiring prior to said date who have paid into said fund five dollars ($5.00) per month with respect to a period of not less than 12 months or sixty dollars ($60.00) whichever occurs first, shall be entitled to a pension in the amount of fifty dollars per month or such reduced amount as set out above commencing January 1, 1960. No person shall be entitled to a pension hereunder until his official duties as a fireman shall have been terminated and he shall have retired as such according to standards or rules fixed by the board of trustees.

The pension herein provided for shall be in addition to all other pensions or benefits provided for under any other statutes of the State of North Carolina or the United States, notwithstanding any exclusionary provisions of other pensions or retirement systems provided by law."

Sec. 2.  This act shall become effective upon ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 7th day of May, 1971.