24-11-818. Benefits — Voluntary retirement.

24-11-818. Benefits — Voluntary retirement. (a)(1)(A) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires, the term “salary” shall mean recurring pays that are received for the firefighter's regularly scheduled workweek and shall not include, except as otherwise provided in subdivision (a)(1)(B) of this section, payments for unused accrued sick leave or annual leave or the cash value of any nonrecurring or unusual remunerations. (B)(i) The term “salary” may include the payments to a firefighter for unused accrued sick leave not to exceed ninety (90) workdays recorded on the records of the city or town as of the firefighter's date of retirement, provided the municipality agrees by ordinance to make adequate contributions to the fund to cover the additional costs for the benefits from the increased salary, and the fund is judged by an actuarial determination to be actuarially sound. (ii) The board of trustees shall determine the actuarial costs of the payments for the unused accrued sick leave to the fund. (2) Any pension fund member who has served in a fire department in the State of Arkansas for a period of twenty (20) years or more, the last five (5) years of which shall have been consecutive, shall be entitled to be retired and receive from the fund a monthly pension equal to one-half (½) of the salary attached to the rank he or she held as a volunteer, part-paid, or full-paid member. (b) Any firefighter who shall have completed the period of service as provided for in this section shall receive from the board a certificate showing that he or she has completed the term of service required and is entitled to participate in all the benefits provided for in this act upon compliance with, and subject to, all the other terms and conditions of this act, whether he or she severs his or her connections or continues in service at the expiration of the time as set out in subdivision (a)(2) of this section. The right to participate in the fund shall become a vested right and shall not be lost by the termination of his or her services with or without cause. (c) Any full-paid firefighter who is already retired shall not receive less than three hundred fifty dollars ($350) per month. (d)(1)(A)(i) Any full-paid firefighter who has more than twenty (20) years of service at the time of retirement shall be entitled to receive the sum of twenty dollars ($20.00) per month in addition to his or her regular retirement pay for each full year worked over and above twenty (20) years. (ii) In no instance shall he or she receive more than one hundred dollars ($100) per month in addition to his or her regular benefits. (B)(i) A volunteer or part-paid firefighter who has more than twenty (20) years of service at the time of retirement shall be entitled to receive the sum of ten dollars ($10.00) per month in addition to his or her regular retirement pay for each full year worked over and above twenty (20) years. (ii) In no instance shall he or she receive more than fifty dollars ($50.00) per month in addition to his or her regular benefits. (2) The increase in benefit levels provided in this subsection for service beyond twenty (20) years shall apply only to those firefighters who retire on or after January 1, 1987, and, notwithstanding the provisions of § 24-11-826, may exceed one hundred percent (100%) of final salary. (e) A volunteer or part-paid firefighter who becomes a full-paid member of his or her fire department shall be eligible to retire as a full-paid member only if he or she shall have been employed as a full-paid member for a period of at least five (5) years immediately prior to his or her retirement. (f)(1) For purposes of this subsection, the term “compensation” shall not include: (A) Any money received by the retired firefighter for replacement of personal clothing or equipment destroyed during the performance of active service to a fire department; or (B) Any expenditures by a municipality, as determined on a case-by-case basis, on behalf of the retired firefighter for hospitalization insurance benefits. (2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section or any other law to the contrary, a person retired from the service of a fire department may remain actively involved in the fire department, provided the person does not receive compensation for the service provided. (3) Service to a fire department under subdivision (f)(2) of this section shall not cause any suspension of retirement benefits payable under § 24-11-801 et seq., nor shall such service be interpreted by any board administering funds under this subchapter as a reinstatement of employment in a fire department.