Board for Volunteer Fire Fighters and Reserve Officers

State Board for Volunteer Firefighters and Reserve Officers
Local Board of Trustees
Reporting Members
Relief Provisions
Pension Provisions
Physical Requirements for Members

REPORTING MEMBERS

For Disability
The Local Board of Trustees is responsible for reporting eligible members to the State Board each year. This report is due on January 1 of each calendar year. If fees remain unpaid after March 1, a statutory interest penalty of one percent per month will be assessed until the fees are paid. It is also the duty of the Local Board of Trustees to report all new participants immediately upon their acceptance as members of the department and to pay the disability fee on their behalf. Disability fees cannot be pro-rated for any portion of a year, nor can they be transferred from one member to another. Reporting of members is accomplished by submitting remittance form #4497, which is provided by the State Board.

For Pension Plan
Membership in the pension plan is optional. Before any firefighter or reserve officer may join the pension plan, the commissioners or city council must pass a resolution or ordinance allowing that participation. After a resolution or ordinance is passed, pension fees for all members who choose to join the pension plan are due with the annual disability fees and are reported on the same remittance form. A participant may make his or her first payment into the plan at any time during the year that he or she joins. Thereafter, all pension fees must be submitted with the annual report or a one percent per month interest penalty will be assessed for late payment. Fees that were not paid during a year when the member was active and after he or she became a member of the pension plan may be made up by paying the fee plus one percent interest per month from the date due until they are paid. A firefighter may not make payments into the pension plan for a year or years prior to the first year he or she became a member of the plan or for a year in which he or she was not an active firefighter. If it is allowed by the municipality, a reserve officer has one year after passage of the legislation – ordinance or resolution – to prove time and pay fees for prior service. Upon leaving the service, a member forfeits his or her right to make further payments into the pension fund unless and until he or she rejoins a department covered under this Act.

Remittance Form
The State Board for Volunteer Firefighters and Reserve Officers will send a blank remittance form with each receipt and with the annual letter, so there should always be one on hand with which to report new members. The form contains space for the social security number, name of member, birthdate and fees due. The disability fee is listed in the Disability Fee column. The portion of the pension fee paid by the municipality is listed in the Pension/Municipality Fee column. The portion of the pension fee paid by the member, if any, should be listed in the Pension/Member Fee column. The total of all fees paid should be in the Total column. The Volunteer Firefighters’ and Reserve Officers’ Relief and Pension Act has been amended to allow the municipality to pay the total pension fee for its members. Fees paid by the municipality are not refundable.

If a member of the pension plan is not allowed by his or her department to make a pension payment for any year or years of service because of non-compliance with department regulations, please note this fact by writing "N/A" under the pension fee columns. Fees disallowed by the department will not be allowed to be paid with interest at a later date.

All names must be listed in alphabetical order by municipality (not by station within a municipality) and social security numbers and birthdates are required. The white copy of the form should be sent to the State Board and the yellow copy is to be retained for the records of the Local Board of Trustees. If a municipality chooses to generate its own form for the annual remittance, that form should contain the same information in the same format as the form provided and should be on 14-inch paper or attached to the provided remittance form. Any individual under 16 years of age is not eligible for coverage under the Volunteer Firefighters’ and Reserve Officers’ Relief and Pension Act.