North Carolina § 58-86-1 - Fund established; administration by board of trustees; rules and regulations.

§ 58-86-1. Fund established; administration by board of trustees; rules and regulations.

For the purpose of furthering the general welfare and police powers and obligations of the State with respect to the protection of all its citizens from the consequences of loss or damage by fire and of injury by serious accident or illness, of increasing the protection of life and property against loss or damage by fire, of improving firefighting and life saving techniques, of increasing the potential of fire departments, rescue squads, organizations and groups, of fostering increased and more widely spread training of personnel of these organizations and groups, and of providing incentive and inducement to participate in fire prevention, firefighting and rescue squad activities and for the establishment of new, improved or extended fire departments, rescue squads, organizations and groups to the end that ultimately all areas of the State and all of its citizens will receive the benefits of fire protection and rescue squads' activity and a resulting reduction of loss or damage to life and property by fire hazard or injury by serious accident or illness, and in recognition of the public service rendered to the State of North Carolina and its citizens by "eligible firefighters and rescue squad workers," as defined by this Article, there is created in this State a fund to be known, and designated as "The North Carolina Firefighters' and Rescue Squad Workers' Pension Fund" to be administered as provided in this Article. The North Carolina Firefighters' and Rescue Squad Workers' Pension Fund is established to provide pension allowances and other benefits for eligible firefighters and rescue squad workers in the State who elect to become members of the fund. The board of trustees created by this Article shall have authority to administer the fund and shall make necessary rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this Article. History (1957, c. 1420, s. 1; 1959, c. 1212, s. 1; 1961, c. 980; 1981, c. 1029, s. 1; 2013-284, s. 1(a).) Cross References. - As to statutory provisions pertaining to a prior transfer of the North Carolina Firemen's and Rescue Squad Workers' Pension Fund to the Department of State Auditor, see G.S. 143A-27.1 . Editor's Note. - This Article is former Article 3 of former Chapter 118 , rewritten by Session Laws 1981, c. 1029, s. 1, effective January 1, 1982, and recodified as Article 4 of former Chapter 118 , which in turn has been recodified and incorporated as Article 86 of Chapter 58 pursuant to Session Laws 1987, c. 752, s. 9, as amended by Session Laws 1987 (Reg. Sess., 1988), c. 975, s. 34. Session Laws 1981, c. 1029, s. 2, provides: "The Fund established by Session Laws 1961 Chapter 980 , G.S. 118-18 et seq., 'the Firemen's Pension Fund' is made a part of the Fund established by this act as the 'Firemen's and Rescue Squad Workers' Pension Fund'." Session Laws 1991 (Reg. Sess., 1992), c. 833, s. 1 provides: "The statutory authority, powers, duties, and functions, records, personnel, property, unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations or other funds, including the functions of budgeting and purchasing, of the Department of State Auditor to administer the North Carolina Firemen's and Rescue Squad Workers' Pension Fund are transferred to the Department of State Treasurer." Session Laws 2009-567, s. 1, provides: "Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any member who was a firefighter employed by the Asheville Regional Airport Fire Department on April 1, 2005, and who has not received credit for periods of service with the Firemen's and Rescue Squad Workers' Pension Fund since that time, may receive credit for that service upon making a lump-sum payment of ten dollars ($10.00) for each month of service not credited. Any employee of the Asheville Regional Airport Fire Department that meets all the criteria of this section may continue as a member of the Pension Fund." Session Laws 2014-64, s. 3(c), (d), provides: "(c) Using a portion of the additional funds made available to the General Fund through the amendment to G.S. 105-228.5 made by Section 3(b) of this act, the sum of one million four hundred thousand dollars ($1,400,000) is appropriated for fiscal year 2014-2015, recurring from the General Fund to the North Carolina Firefighters' and Rescue Squad Workers' Pension Fund established under G.S. 58-86-1 . "(d) The Department of State Treasurer shall report by March 1, 2015, and for two years thereafter, to the House Committee on State Personnel and the Senate Committee on Pensions & Retirement and Aging on the Department's progress toward the following efforts related to the North Carolina Firefighters' and Rescue Squad Workers' Pension Fund: "(1) Building appropriate lapse assumptions into the State's annual required contribution to the pension fund. "(2) Collecting timely member contributions to the pension fund." Session Laws 2016-108, s. 5, provides: "The Board of Trustees of the Local Governmental Employees' Retirement System shall develop a 'State Contribution Rate Stabilization Policy' for the North Carolina Firefighters' and Rescue Squad Workers' Pension Fund and report it to the Office of State Budget and Management and the Fiscal Research Division on or before March 1, 2017." Session Laws 2016-108, s. 9, is a severability clause. Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2013-284, s. 1(a), effective July 1, 2013, substituted "firefighting" for "fire fighting," "firefighters" for "firemen," and "Firefighters"' for "Firemen's" throughout the section. Legal Periodicals. - For article, "The Impact of Law on the State Pension Crisis," see 54 Wake Forest L. Rev. 105 (2019).