GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
1993 SESSION

CHAPTER 653
HOUSE BILL 1683

AN ACT TO INCREASE THE MONTHLY BENEFITS FROM THE NORTH CAROLINA FIREMEN'S AND RESCUE SQUAD WORKERS' PENSION FUND.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.  G.S. 58-86-55 reads as rewritten:
"§ 58-86-55.  Monthly pensions upon retirement.
Any member who has served 20 years as an 'eligible fireman' or 'eligible rescue squad worker' in the State of North Carolina, as provided in G.S. 58-86-25 and G.S. 58-86-30, and who has attained the age of 55 years is entitled to be paid a monthly pension from this fund.  The monthly pension shall be in the amount of one hundred ten dollars ($110.00) per month.  Any retired fireman receiving a pension of one hundred ten dollars ($110.00) per month shall, effective July 1, 1994, receive a pension of one hundred ten dollars ($110.00) per month.
Members shall pay five dollars ($5.00) per month as required by G.S. 58-86-35 and G.S. 58-86-40 for a period of no longer than 20 years.  No 'eligible rescue squad member' shall receive a pension prior to July 1, 1983.  No person shall be entitled to a pension hereunder until his official duties as a fireman or rescue squad worker for which he is paid compensation shall have been terminated and he shall have retired as such according to standards or rules fixed by the board of trustees.
Any member who is totally and permanently disabled while in the discharge of his official duties as a result of bodily injuries sustained or as a result of extreme exercise or extreme activity experienced in the course and scope of his official duties and who leaves the fire or rescue squad service because of this disability shall be entitled to be paid from the fund a monthly benefit in an amount of one hundred ten dollars ($110.00) per month beginning the first month after his fifty-fifth birthday.  All applications for disability are subject to the approval of the board who may appoint physicians to examine and evaluate the disabled member prior to approval of his application, and annually thereafter.  Any disabled member shall not be required to make the monthly payment of five dollars ($5.00) as required by G.S. 58-86-35 and G.S. 58-86-40.
Any member who is totally and permanently disabled for any cause, other than line of duty, who leaves the fire or rescue squad service because of this disability and who has at least 10 years of service with the pension fund, may be permitted to continue making a monthly contribution of five dollars ($5.00) to the fund until he has paid into the fund the sum of one thousand two hundred dollars ($1,200).  The member shall upon attaining the age of fifty-five years be entitled to receive a pension as provided by this section.  All applications for disability are subject to the approval of the board who may appoint physicians to examine and evaluate the disabled member prior to approval of his application annually thereafter.
Any member who, because his residence is annexed by a city under Part 2 or Part 3 of Article 4 of Chapter 160A of the General Statutes, or whose department is closed because of an annexation by a city under Part 2 or Part 3 of Article 4 of Chapter 160A of the General Statutes, and because of such annexation is unable to perform as a fireman of any status, and if the member has at least 10 years of service with the pension fund, may be permitted to continue making a monthly contribution of five dollars ($5.00) to the fund until he has paid into the fund the sum of one thousand two hundred dollars ($1,200).  The member upon attaining the age of 55 years and completion of such contributions shall be entitled to receive a pension as provided by this section.  Any application to make monthly contributions under this section shall be subject to a finding of eligibility by the Board of Trustees upon application of the member.
The pensions provided shall be in addition to all other pensions or benefits 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 becomes effective July 1, 1994, but is only effective if funds to implement it are appropriated in the Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 1994.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 1st day of July, 1994.

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Dennis A. Wicker
President of the Senate

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Daniel Blue, Jr.
Speaker of the House of Representatives