This information is prepared as an informational service only and should not be relied upon as an official record of action taken by the Colorado General Assembly.
Sixty-first General Assembly
LLS NO. 980788.01D MKH
HOUSE BILL 981380
STATE OF COLORADO
BY REPRESENTATIVE Grampsas;
also SENATOR Rizzuto.
REREVISED
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
A BILL FOR AN ACT
CONCERNING PENSION BENEFIT AMOUNTS PROVIDED UNDER
THE "VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER PENSION ACT".
Bill Summary
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced
and does not necessarily reflect any amendments that may be subsequently
adopted.)
Provides that any increase in volunteer firefighter pension benefits for longterm disability or supplemental pensions over $300 per month is the responsibility of the municipality or district making such increase.
Eliminates the maximum monthly retirement benefit of $450 and allows pension boards to determine the maximum monthly benefit for volunteer firefighters who have 20 years of active service and who are over 50 years of age based upon an actuarial review indicating the amount of a payment that is actuarially sound. Requires the maximum monthly benefit determined by the board of a municipality to be approved by the municipality's governing body.
Modifies the maximum amount of the following volunteer firefighter pension benefits:
Provides that survivor benefits are eligible for
postretirement increases.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:
SECTION 1. Repeal. 31301120, Colorado Revised Statutes, as amended by House Bill 981035, enacted at the Second Regular Session of the Sixtyfirst General Assembly, is repealed as follows:
31301120. Maximum benefit
amount. Except
as otherwise provided in sections 31301122 and
31301129, a benefit provided in this part 11 must
not exceed four hundred fifty dollars per month.
SECTION 2. 31301121 (1), Colorado Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
31301121. Disability pension rules hearing. (1) If a volunteer firefighter is injured while in the line of duty as a volunteer firefighter, the board shall pay to the volunteer firefighter:
(a) A shortterm disability monthly
annuity for not more than one year in an amount it determines
is proper and equitable, considering the financial condition of
the fund, but not more than onehalf the amount stated
in section 31301120 PAID
BY THE BOARD PURSUANT TO SECTION 31301122 (1) OR TWO
HUNDRED TWENTYFIVE DOLLARS, WHICHEVER IS GREATER; or
(b) A longterm disability monthly
annuity for a disability that deprives the volunteer firefighter
of an earning capacity and that extends beyond one year in an
amount it determines is proper and necessary but not more than
the amount stated in section 31301120
PAID BY THE BOARD PURSUANT TO SECTION 31301122 (1)
OR FOUR HUNDRED FIFTY DOLLARS, WHICHEVER IS GREATER. ANY INCREASE
IN THE BENEFITS IN A MUNICIPALITY UNDER THIS PARAGRAPH (b) SHALL
BE APPROVED BY THE MUNICIPALITY'S GOVERNING BODY.
SECTION 3. 31301122 (1), Colorado Revised Statutes, as amended by House Bill 981035, enacted at the Second Regular Session of the Sixtyfirst General Assembly, is amended to read:
31301122. Retirement pension.
(1) The board of a municipality, with the prior consent
of the municipality's governing body, or the board of a fire protection
district or county improvement district may pay a retirement pension
to a volunteer firefighter who has twenty years of active service
and who is over the age of fifty years. The retirement pension
shall be an amount determined by the board of not more than one
hundred dollars per month, unless an actuarial review indicates
a higher payment is actuarially sound; but
in no case shall the retirement pension exceed the amount stated
in section 31301120.
except that any such amount determined by the board of a municipality
shall be made with the prior consent of the municipality's governing
body. Any higher payment made
pursuant to this section shall not be subject to the maximum benefit
amount contained in section 31301120.
Pensions that make payments in excess
of three hundred dollars per month are subject to the state contribution
limitation specified in section 31301112 (2) (b).
Except as provided in section 31301132, a volunteer
firefighter shall not receive a retirement pension for service
in a fire department while the firefighter is an active member
of that department. A volunteer firefighter shall maintain a
minimum training participation in the fire department of thirtysix
hours each year to qualify for retirement benefits. A volunteer
firefighter who has served twenty years and who has not reached
the age of fifty years may be granted a leave of absence and retain
all rights to a retirement pension and is entitled to the retirement
pension when the firefighter is fifty years of age.
SECTION 4. 31301123, Colorado Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
31301123. Retirement pension
sources of payment. The
retirement pension of a volunteer firefighter who has earned twenty
years of active service as a volunteer firefighter for any one
municipality or district shall be paid from the fund of that municipality
or district, and no other fund shall pay a pension to that volunteer
firefighter. The retirement pension of a volunteer firefighter
who earns twenty years of active service as a volunteer firefighter
after June 2, 1977, by serving more than one municipality or district
shall be paid from the fund of each municipality or district for
which the volunteer firefighter served at least five years. The
amount paid by each fund for each year of service with the particular
municipality or district shall equal onetwentieth of the
retirement pension being paid by that fund on the day the volunteer
firefighter left the service of the particular municipality or
district. The retirement pension of a volunteer firefighter who
earns twenty years of active service as a volunteer firefighter
by serving more than one municipality or district shall be paid
only by the municipality or district last served by that volunteer
firefighter if any part of the twenty years of service was earned
on or before June 2, 1977. In no event shall a volunteer firefighter
receive a total retirement benefit from all volunteer firefighter
pension funds exceeding the amount
stated in section 31301120
MAXIMUM AMOUNT PAID BY THE BOARD FROM SUCH FUNDS PURSUANT TO SECTION
31301122 (1) OR FOUR HUNDRED FIFTY DOLLARS, WHICHEVER
IS GREATER.
SECTION 5. 31301126, Colorado Revised Statutes, is amended BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SUBSECTION to read:
31301126. Survivor benefit. (4) THE BENEFITS UNDER THIS SECTION MAY BE INCREASED IN THE SAME MANNER AS POSTRETIREMENT BENEFIT INCREASES AS PROVIDED IN SECTION 31301122 (3), SUBJECT TO THE STATE CONTRIBUTION LIMIT SET FORTH IN SECTION 31301112 (2) (c.5).
SECTION 6. 31301127, Colorado Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
31301127. Survivor benefit
death from injuries in the line of duty.
(1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (4)
of this section, if a fire department member dies from injuries
received while in the line of duty as a volunteer firefighter
and leaves a surviving spouse, the board shall pay the surviving
spouse a monthly annuity either in an amount the board deems proper
and necessary, but not more than onehalf the amount provided
in section 31301120 PAID
BY THE BOARD PURSUANT TO SECTION 31301122 (1) OR TWO
HUNDRED TWENTYFIVE DOLLARS, WHICHEVER IS GREATER, or within
limits prescribed by municipal ordinance or by rules of the board
of the affected municipality or district. The annuity shall cease
if the surviving spouse remarries. Dissolution of a subsequent
marriage does not reinstate the annuity.
(2) Except as otherwise provided in subsection
(4) of this section, if there is no surviving spouse as provided
in subsection (1) of this section but there is a surviving child
of the deceased volunteer firefighter under eighteen years of
age, the board shall pay a monthly annuity either in an amount
the board deems proper or necessary, but not more than onehalf
the amount provided in section 31301120
PAID BY THE BOARD PURSUANT TO SECTION 31301122 (1)
OR TWO HUNDRED TWENTYFIVE DOLLARS, WHICHEVER IS GREATER,
or within limits prescribed by municipal ordinance or by rules
of the board of the affected municipality or district. The board
shall pay this annuity to the guardian of the child on behalf
of the child. The annuity shall cease when the child is eighteen
years of age.
(3) Except as otherwise provided in subsection
(4) of this section, if there is no surviving spouse or child
as provided in subsections (1) and (2) of this section but there
is a surviving dependent parent of the deceased volunteer firefighter,
the board shall pay the dependent parent a monthly annuity either
in an amount the board deems proper and necessary, but not more
than onehalf the amount provided
in section 31301120 PAID
BY THE BOARD PURSUANT TO SECTION 31301122 (1) OR TWO
HUNDRED TWENTYFIVE DOLLARS, WHICHEVER IS GREATER, or within
limits prescribed by municipal ordinance or by rules of the board
of the affected municipality or district. The annuity shall cease
if the dependent parent remarries. Dissolution of a subsequent
marriage does not reinstate the annuity.
(4) The benefits under this section:
(a) Are in addition to the educational benefits under section 233.3205, C.R.S.;
(b) Do not apply if the optional survivor benefits under section 31301128 are provided; AND
(c) MAY BE INCREASED IN THE SAME MANNER AS POSTRETIREMENT BENEFIT INCREASES AS PROVIDED IN SECTION 31301122 (3), SUBJECT TO THE STATE CONTRIBUTION LIMIT SET FORTH IN SECTION 31301112 (2) (c.5).
SECTION 7. 31301129, Colorado Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
31301129. Funeral benefit. When
an active volunteer firefighter or retired fire department member
dies, the board shall pay a funeral benefit to assist in the proper
burial of the deceased firefighter in an amount determined by
the board of not more than twice the amount determined by the
board under section 31301122, but not less than one
hundred dollars. notwithstanding section
31301120. The board
shall pay this funeral benefit to any person who pays the necessary
funeral expenses.
SECTION 8. Safety clause. The general assembly hereby finds, determines, and declares that this act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety.