Request By:
Mr. L. J. Slusher
Chief of Police
City of Mt. Sterling
36 Broadway
Mt. Sterling, Kentucky 40353
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Thomas R. Emerson, Assistant Attorney General
This is in reply to your letter raising a question concerning pension contributions by the city on behalf of its police officers.
The city recently instituted a retirement program for its employes. You state that under the program the city contributes four percent of each employe's gross salary on a monthly basis. The employes are not required to contribute and the program is with an insurance company.
Your specific question concerns the state supplement received by city police officers and whether the city should also contribute four percent of the state supplement received by the police officers to the pension fund.
Mt. Sterling is, of course, a city of the fourth class [KRS 81.010(4)] and such cities have the option of operating their police and firefighters' pension fund plans under various statutory methods pursuant to KRS 95.761. You have not set forth what particular plan your city has adopted for its police and firefighters. If, for example, your city is operating its plan pursuant to KRS 95.762 to 95.785, we direct your attention to KRS 95.768 and 95.769
KRS 95.768(1)(c) provides in part that the police and firefighters' pension fund in cities of the fourth class shall consist of assessments, which the board of trustees of the pension fund shall make upon each member of the police and fire departments, of not more than three and one-half percent of his salary, to be held from the monthly salary and paid by the city treasurer into the pension fund. In OAG 80-65, copy enclosed, we said that KRS 95.768(1)(c) is mandatory and the city is required to make deductions for members of the police and fire departments except those members who may be excluded from the pension fund.
KRS 95.769 states in part that the board of trustees of the pension fund shall have exclusive control and management of the fund and all moneys donated, paid or assessed for pension fund purposes and shall assess each member not exceeding three and one-half percent of the salary of such member, to be deducted and withheld from the monthly pay of each member so assessed. In OAG 71-154, copy enclosed, we said that the trustees of a pension fund operating pursuant to KRS 95.762 to 95.785 could not turn over all of the assets of the fund to an insurance company to invest and administer.
Since we do not know the particular statutory provisions pursuant to which the pension fund for the city's police officers is being operated, we can only suggest that you consult with the city attorney and the board of trustees of the pension fund to ascertain what specific provisions are involved and whether the requirements of those statutes are being followed.
Assuming that the city's pension fund for its police officers was adopted pursuant to one of the statutorily acceptable methods and that the program is being administered according to the statutory requirements, we will proceed to answer your specific question as the answer is not dependent upon the particular pension plan that the city may be utilizing. Your letter mentions the state supplement received by your police officers so you are undoubtedly referring to the Kentucky Law Enforcement Foundation Program Fund (K.L.E.F.P.F.) which appears as KRS 15.410 to 15.510.
KRS 15.460, as amended, provides in part that an eligible local unit of government shall be entitled to receive a supplement to each qualified police officer's annual salary from the K.L.E.F.P.F., to be paid in addition to his regular salary. In addition, KRS 15.490(2) states: "Local units of government shall include the additional compensation paid to each police officer from the law enforcement foundation program fund as a part of the officer's salary in determining all payroll deductions." See also
Policeman's and Fireman's Retirement Fund of City of Ashland v. Richardson, Ky., 522 S.W.2d 452 (1975), where the Court concluded that sums received by a police officer under the K.L.E.F.P.F. must be considered in computing deductions from his salary for the pension fund.
Finally, we direct your attention to a series of opinions (OAG 76-361, OAG 75-649, OAG 75-375 and OAG 73-458, copies enclosed) where this office concluded that K.L.E.F.P.F. payments must be taken into account in computing pension and retirement fund contributions by cities and their police officers. Thus, assuming that the state supplements received by the city police officers are payment made pursuant to the K.L.E.F.P.F. (KRS 15.410 to 15.510), those sums and the officers' regular salaries are to be considered together as their total salaries for purposes of computing deductions for pension fund purposes.