Section 424A.10 State Supplemental Benefit; Volunteer Firefighters
424A.10 STATE SUPPLEMENTAL BENEFIT; VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS.
Subdivision 1. Definitions.
For purposes of this section:
(1) "qualified recipient" means an individual who receives a lump-sum distribution of pension or retirement benefits from a volunteer firefighters' relief association or from the voluntary statewide lump-sum volunteer firefighter retirement plan for service that the individual has performed as a volunteer firefighter;
(2) "survivor of a deceased active or deferred volunteer firefighter" means the surviving spouse of a deceased active or deferred volunteer firefighter under section 424A.001, subdivision 6, or, if none, the surviving child or children of a deceased active or deferred volunteer firefighter;
(3) "active volunteer firefighter" means a person who regularly renders fire suppression service for a municipal fire department or an independent nonprofit firefighting corporation, who has met the statutory and other requirements for relief association membership, and who is deemed by the relief association under law and its bylaws to be a fully qualified member of the relief association or from the voluntary statewide lump-sum volunteer firefighter retirement plan for at least one month; and
(4) "deferred volunteer firefighter" means a former active volunteer firefighter who terminated active firefighting service, has sufficient service credit from the applicable relief association or from the voluntary statewide lump-sum volunteer firefighter retirement plan to be entitled to a service pension under the bylaws of the relief association, but has not applied for or has not received the service pension.
Subd. 2.Payment of supplemental benefit.
(a) Upon the payment by a volunteer firefighters' relief association or by the voluntary statewide lump-sum volunteer firefighter retirement plan of a lump-sum distribution to a qualified recipient, the association must pay a supplemental benefit to the qualified recipient. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the relief association must pay the supplemental benefit out of its special fund and the voluntary statewide lump-sum volunteer firefighter retirement plan must pay the supplemental benefit out of the voluntary statewide lump-sum volunteer firefighter retirement plan. This benefit is an amount equal to ten percent of the regular lump-sum distribution that is paid on the basis of the recipient's service as a volunteer firefighter. In no case may the amount of the supplemental benefit exceed $1,000. A supplemental benefit under this paragraph may not be paid to a survivor of a deceased active or deferred volunteer firefighter in that capacity.
(b) Upon the payment by a relief association or the retirement plan of a lump-sum survivor benefit to a survivor of a deceased active volunteer firefighter or of a deceased deferred volunteer firefighter, the association may pay a supplemental survivor benefit to the survivor of the deceased active or deferred volunteer firefighter from the special fund of the relief association if its articles of incorporation or bylaws so provide and the retirement plan may pay a supplemental survivor benefit to the survivor of the deceased active or deferred volunteer firefighter from the retirement fund if chapter 353G so provides. The amount of the supplemental survivor benefit is 20 percent of the survivor benefit, but not to exceed $2,000.
(c) An individual may receive a supplemental benefit under paragraph (a) or under paragraph (b), but not under both paragraphs with respect to one lump-sum volunteer firefighter benefit.
Subd. 3.State reimbursement.
(a) Each year, to be eligible for state reimbursement of the amount of supplemental benefits paid under subdivision 2 during the preceding calendar year, the volunteer firefighters' relief association or the voluntary statewide lump-sum volunteer firefighter retirement plan shall apply to the commissioner of revenue by February 15. By March 15, the commissioner shall reimburse the relief association for the amount of the supplemental benefits paid by the relief association to qualified recipients and to survivors of deceased active or deferred volunteer firefighters.
(b) The commissioner of revenue shall prescribe the form of and supporting information that must be supplied as part of the application for state reimbursement. The commissioner of revenue shall reimburse the relief association by paying the reimbursement amount to the treasurer of the municipality where the association is located and shall reimburse the retirement plan by paying the reimbursement amount to the executive director of the Public Employees Retirement Association. Within 30 days after receipt, the municipal treasurer shall transmit the state reimbursement to the treasurer of the association if the association has filed a financial report with the municipality. If the relief association has not filed a financial report with the municipality, the municipal treasurer shall delay transmission of the reimbursement payment to the association until the complete financial report is filed. If the association has dissolved or has been removed as a trustee of state aid, the treasurer shall deposit the money in a special account in the municipal treasury, and the money may be disbursed only for the purposes and in the manner provided in section 424A.08. When paid to the association, the reimbursement payment must be deposited in the special fund of the relief association and when paid to the retirement plan, the reimbursement payment must be deposited in the retirement fund of the plan.
(c) A sum sufficient to make the payments is appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner of revenue.
Subd. 4.In lieu of income tax exclusion.
(a) The supplemental benefit provided by this section is in lieu of the state income tax exclusion for lump-sum distributions of retirement benefits paid to volunteer firefighters.
(b) If the law is modified to exclude or exempt volunteer firefighters' lump-sum distributions from state income taxation, the supplemental benefits under this section are no longer payable, beginning with the first calendar year in which the exclusion or exemption is effective. This subdivision does not apply to exemption of all or part of a lump-sum distribution under section 290.032 or 290.0802.
Subd. 5.Retroactive reimbursement in certain instances.
A supplemental survivor benefit may be paid by a relief association for the death of an active volunteer firefighter or of a deferred volunteer firefighter that occurred on or after August 1, 2005, if the relief association articles of incorporation or bylaws provide for a supplemental survivor benefit and provide for retroactivity.
History:
1988 c 719 art 19 s 22; 1989 c 319 art 10 s 7; 1993 c 307 art 9 s 1; 2006 c 271 art 13 s 5; 2007 c 134 art 10 s 1-3; 2008 c 154 art 15 s 9; 2009 c 169 art 9 s 29-31; art 10 s 46-50