Pennsylvania Act 1968-84 — VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS' RELIEF ASSOCIATION ACT

Act text

VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS' RELIEF ASSOCIATION ACT
                  Act of Jun. 11, 1968, P.L. 149, No. 84              Cl. 53
                                  AN ACT

     Relating to volunteer firefighters' relief associations,
        clarifying their purposes and objectives, establishing
        criteria and standards for the conduct of their affairs,
        providing for their formation, recognition, continuing
        operation, and for their dissolution in appropriate
        circumstances and the distribution of their funds. (Title
        amended Dec. 22, 1993, P.L.547, No.78)

        The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
     hereby enacts as follows:

        Section 1.  Short Title.--This act shall be known and may be
     cited as the "Volunteer Firefighters' Relief Association Act."
        (1 amended Dec. 22, 1993, P.L.547, No.78)
        Section 2.  Definitions.--As used in this act:
        (1)  A volunteer firefighters' relief association is an
     organization formed primarily for the purpose of affording
     financial protection to volunteer firefighters against the
     consequences of misfortune suffered as a result of their
     participation in the fire service. Such an association may also
     serve other purposes, as hereinafter set forth, provided only
     that adequate provisions be first made to serve its primary
     purpose. It may comprehend within its membership the members of
     one or more fire companies.
        (2)  The fire service comprehends the service of organized
     groups of individuals, not only in training for and in active
     duty in the protection of the public against fire, but also in
     the training for and the performance of such other activities as
     are commonly undertaken by fire companies and their affiliated
     organizations, including, inter alia, fire prevention, first
     aid, rescue and salvage, ambulance service, fire police work,
     radio communications, assistance at accidents, control of crowds
     both on the fire grounds and at occasions of public or general
     assembly, animal rescue, abatement of conditions due to storm,
     flood, or general peril, abatement or removal of hazards to
     safety, and participation in public celebrations, parades,
     demonstrations, and fund-raising campaigns.
        (3)  Volunteer firefighter comprehends any member of a fire
     company, organized and existing under the laws of the
     Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and also any member of any fire
     police unit, rescue squad, ambulance corps, or other like
     organization affiliated with one or more fire companies, and
     refers to any individual who is a member of such a fire company
     or affiliated organization and who participates in the fire
     service, but does not look to that service as his primary means
     of livelihood. A person shall not lose his or her status as a
     volunteer firefighter solely because he or she may also be a
     paid firefighter, as long as he or she is acting within the
     scope of his or her responsibilities as a member of a volunteer
     fire company at the time and not within the scope of his or her
     responsibilities as a paid firefighter.
        (2 amended Dec. 22, 1993, P.L.547, No.78)
        Section 3.  Statement of Purpose.--The purpose of the
     Legislature in enacting this statute is to encourage individuals
     to take part in the fire service as volunteer firefighters, by
     establishing criteria and standards for the orderly
     administration and conduct of the affairs of firefighters'
     relief associations, so as to ensure, as far as circumstances
     will reasonably permit, that funds shall be available for the
     protection of volunteer firefighters and their heirs:
        (1)  To provide financial assistance to volunteer
     firefighters who may suffer injury or misfortune by reason of
     their participation in the fire service;
        (2)  To provide financial assistance to the widow, children,
     and/or other dependents of volunteer firefighters who lose their
     lives as a result of their participation in the fire service;
        (3)  To provide, either by insurance or by the operation of a
     beneficial fund, for the payment of a sum certain to the
     designated beneficiaries of a participating member in such fund
     following the death of such member for any cause, and to
     establish criteria which members must meet in order to qualify
     as participants in such death benefit fund;
        (4)  To provide safeguards for preserving life, health and
     safety of volunteer firefighters, so as to ensure their
     availability to participate in the fire service;
        (5)  To provide financial assistance to volunteer
     firefighters who, after having actively participated in the fire
     service for a specified minimum term, are no longer physically
     able to continue such participation and are in need of financial
     assistance;
        (6)  To provide funds to aid the rehabilitation of volunteer
     firefighters who have suffered an impairment of their physical
     capacity to continue to perform their normal occupations; and
        (7)  In any event, to provide sufficient funds to ensure the
     efficient and economical handling of the business of the
     association in accomplishing the objectives hereinabove set
     forth.
        (3 amended Dec. 22, 1993, P.L.547, No.78)
        Section 4.  Construction.--This act shall be construed,
     applied, and interpreted, so far as circumstances permit, as
     justifying the actions of the officers and members of volunteer
     firefighters' relief associations affected by it, when such
     actions appear to have been taken in good faith and in a bona
     fide belief that they were in furtherance of the purposes of
     this act, but shall be strictly construed and applied against
     those responsible for actions taken in wilful disregard of the
     purposes of this act, or with reckless indifference to such
     purposes, and in particular, where any action called into
     question results or has resulted or was likely to result in an
     unmerited personal benefit to one or more of those responsible
     for the taking of such action.
        (4 amended Dec. 22, 1993, P.L.547, No.78)
        Section 5.  Structure.--(a)  A volunteer firefighters' relief
     association may be a body corporate, governed by a charter and
     bylaws, or it may be an unincorporated association of
     individuals, governed by a constitution and bylaws. In either
     case, it must provide for the taking and preserving of minutes
     of all meetings, and the maintenance of such books of account as
     may be necessary and appropriate to afford a permanent record of
     its fiscal affairs.
        (b)  The constitution or charter shall state the name, the
     purposes and the form of the organization, shall designate the
     class or classes of persons eligible for membership, and the
     procedures to be followed in making amendments.
        (c)  The bylaws shall specify the requirements for securing
     membership, the voting rights of different classes of members,
     if there be different classes, and the conditions under which
     membership may be terminated. They shall state the notice
     requirements and the procedure to be followed in calling
     meetings, as well as the quorum requirements for regular and
     special meetings of the membership and for regular and special
     meetings of the body which governs the operations of the
     association between membership meetings, and shall designate
     that body, whether it be a board of directors, the trustees, or
     any similar body, such as an executive committee. Unless
     otherwise provided in the bylaws, the powers and duties of the
     officers and directors and/or trustees, shall be such as
     normally pertain to such positions in nonprofit corporations.
     The bylaws shall require that the signatures of at least two
     officers, one of whom shall be the disbursing officer, shall be
     required in order to bind the association by formal contract or
     to issue any negotiable instrument. They shall require that the
     disbursing officer, whether designated treasurer, comptroller,
     financial secretary, or otherwise, shall be bonded by corporate
     surety for the faithful performance of his duties. The amount of
     such bond shall be at least as great as the maximum cash balance
     in current funds of the association at any time during the
     fiscal year, and the premium on such bond shall be a proper
     charge against the funds of the association. The bylaws shall
     state the procedure to be followed in nominating and in electing
     officers, trustees, directors, and members of the executive
     committee, according to such provisions as shall have been made
     for the establishment of such positions. The bylaws shall
     establish procedures for the approval of expenditures and the
     payment thereof, and for the investment of funds and the sale of
     investments. The bylaws shall set out the procedure to be
     followed in amending the bylaws, and shall specify the notice
     required with respect to proposed amendments, including the
     time, place, and the date when any proposed amendment shall be
     considered. The bylaws shall be faithfully preserved in
     permanent form and any amendments made thereto shall be entered
     thereon with the date when any such amendment became effective.
     The bylaws may contain any such other provisions as may to the
     membership seem to be appropriate or necessary to the orderly
     conduct of the affairs of the association.
        (d)  In addition to the bylaws the association may adopt from
     time to time such matters as the membership may regard as of a
     routine nature under the head of standing procedures. Such
     procedures may be adopted, modified or repealed by motion and
     majority vote but they shall not be inconsistent with the bylaws
     and they shall be recorded as an appendix to the bylaws.
        (e)  Any volunteer firefighters' relief association organized
     or conducted in accordance with the requirements of this section
     shall be regarded as a charitable corporation for all purposes
     including the right to establish exemption from the operation of
     certain taxes.
        (5 amended Dec. 22, 1993, P.L.547, No.78)
        Section 6.  Funds.--(a)  Any volunteer firefighters' relief
     association shall have the right to solicit and receive gifts
     and contributions from any source including municipal
     corporations. It shall not have the right to receive any portion
     of the moneys distributed to the political subdivisions of the
     Commonwealth under the provisions of Chapter 7 of the act of
     December 18, 1984 (P.L.1005, No.205), known as the "Municipal
     Pension Plan Funding Standard and Recovery Act," unless and
     until the governing body of at least one such political
     subdivision shall have certified to the Auditor General that
     such association is in fact a bona fide volunteer firefighters'
     relief association affiliated with a fire company which affords
     protection against fire to all or a portion of the political
     subdivision.
        (b)  The funds of any volunteer firefighters' relief
     association may be deposited in any bank, trust company, or
     other banking establishment accredited by the Commonwealth or
     insured by the Government of the United States.
        (c)  All, or any part of the funds of any volunteer
     firefighters' relief association may be invested:
        (1)  In any form of investment named in the Fiduciaries Act
     of 1949, as amended, including first mortgages. Such first
     mortgages insuring repayment of loans by relief associations
     must provide for a minimum interest payment of three per cent
     and not exceed eighty per cent of the appraised value of the
     real property covered by the mortgage.
        (2)  In any obligation of a political subdivision, having the
     power to levy or collect taxes, or
        (3)  In any obligation of an incorporated fire company which
     obligation is secured by assets of the company having capital
     value equal to at least one hundred fifty per cent of the amount
     of the obligation at the time it is made, and is subject to
     provisions which will amortize such loan at a rate ensuring that
     the depreciated value of the assets pledged shall continue to be
     at least equal to one hundred fifty per cent of the balance
     remaining due.
        (d)  No investment shall be acquired, encumbered or sold
     except pursuant to a resolution duly enacted by the governing
     body of the association. The income from investments however may
     be invested or spent in the same way as any other income.
        (e)  The funds of any volunteer firefighters' relief
     association may be spent:
        (1)  To pay for such normal and reasonable running expenses
     as may be appropriate to the businesslike conduct of its affairs
     including legal fees and including but not by way of limitation
     the rental or purchase of offices, the payment of reasonable
     compensation of any needed employes, and the purchase of office
     equipment and supplies.
        (2)  To purchase contracts of insurance which shall at the
     least afford financial assistance to active members of the fire
     service represented by the association against losses due to
     injury suffered in the fire service and which may also provide
     in the order named, (i) for payments to the surviving spouse or
     other dependents of a member in the event of the member's death,
     (ii) for protection of active firefighters against disease,
     (iii) for the replacement or purchase of prosthetic devices such
     as visual aids, hearing aids, dentures, braces, crutches, and
     the like, where such devices have been lost or damaged while the
     owner was engaged in the fire service or where the need for such
     devices arises because of functional impairment attributable to
     participation in the fire service, (iv) for the repair or
     replacement if necessary of articles of clothing or pocket
     pagers damaged or lost in the course of participation in the
     fire service, and (v) for disability incurred after service for
     a minimum of twenty years as a volunteer firefighter.
        (3)  To maintain a beneficiary or death benefit fund and to
     pay a sum certain from that fund to the beneficiary of any
     participant in that fund upon his or her death. In the event a
     beneficiary is not designated or a designated one has
     predeceased the participant, the sum certain shall be paid to
     the estate of the participant.
        (4)  To pay in full or in part for damage or loss in any of
     the categories mentioned in clause (2) above in any specific
     case in which (i) no policy of insurance is in force which
     covers the risk, or (ii) the amount payable under insurance
     policies in force is inadequate to cover the loss.
        (5)  To pay the costs of procuring and forwarding tokens of
     sympathy and goodwill. To a volunteer firefighter who may be ill
     or hospitalized as a result of participation in the fire service
     or who may die or who may be seriously ill for any reason.
        (6)  To make cash payments to families in distressed
     circumstances by reason of age, infirmities or other
     disabilities suffered by one of the family in the course of his
     or her participation in the fire service as a volunteer
     firefighter.
        (7)  To acquire and maintain membership in any Statewide
     association or corporation which extends advice and assistance
     to firefighters' relief associations in the conduct of their
     affairs and to pay reasonable expenses of travel and maintenance
     to a duly elected delegate for attendance at such meetings of
     such Statewide association or corporation.
        (8)  To contribute or to purchase contracts of insurance
     which will contribute towards the costs of rehabilitating and
     retraining volunteer firefighters who by reason of their
     participation in the fire service have suffered a major
     impairment of their ability to continue their vocation.
        (9)  To pay for medical and surgical bills arising from
     injuries sustained by volunteer firefighters while engaged in
     activities of the fire company to the extent that said bills are
     not covered by insurance provided by the relief association.
        (10)  To pay reasonable expenses actually and necessarily
     incurred for attending bona fide firefighters' training schools.
        (11)  To purchase safeguards for preserving life, health, and
     safety of volunteer firefighters, so as to ensure their
     availability to participate in the volunteer fire service.
        (12)  To secure insurance against the legal liability of the
     volunteer firefighters for loss and expense from claims arising
     out of the performance of their official, authorized duties
     while going to, returning from or attending fires or while
     performing their duties as special fire police.
        (13)  To maintain comprehensive health, physical fitness and
     physical monitoring programs that provide for physical fitness
     activities, nutrition education and instruction and health and
     fitness evaluation and monitoring. The programs shall be
     approved by the nearest State-licensed health care facility
     which is authorized to provide the service.
        (14)  To purchase exercise and fitness equipment for use by
     volunteer firefighters. Expenditures for exercise and fitness
     equipment shall not, however, exceed $2,000 in any two-year
     period.
        (15)  To purchase fire hose and nozzles.
        (16)  To purchase fire prevention materials for public
     distribution.
        (6 amended Dec. 22, 1993, P.L.547, No.78)
        Section 6.1.  Cooperation Agreements.--Two or more volunteer
     firefighters' relief associations may jointly cooperate to enter
     into agreements to make expenditures that are authorized under
     this act. A joint cooperation agreement may be enforced by and
     against a volunteer firefighters' relief association.
        (6.1 added Dec. 22, 1993, P.L.547, No.78)
        Section 7.  Audits.--(a)  The Department of the Auditor
     General shall have the power, and its duty shall be, to audit
     the accounts and records of every volunteer firefighters' relief
     association receiving any money under Chapter 7 of the act of
     December 18, 1984 (P.L.1005, No.205), known as the "Municipal
     Pension Plan Funding Standard and Recovery Act," as amended, as
     far as may be necessary to satisfy the department that the money
     received was expended or is being expended for no purpose other
     than that authorized by this act. Copies of all such audits
     shall be furnished to the Governor.
        (b)  If at any time the Department of the Auditor General
     shall find that any money received by a volunteer firefighters'
     relief association has been expended for any purpose other than
     those authorized by this act, it shall forthwith notify the
     Governor, and shall decline to approve any further requisition
     calling for payment to such volunteer firefighters' relief
     association, until an amount equal to that improperly expended
     shall have been reimbursed to the relief association fund.
        (7 amended Dec. 22, 1993, P.L.547, No.78)
        Section 8.  Dissolution.--(a)  If a majority of those voting
     in a referendum conducted in any political subdivision shall
     decide in accordance with the act of June 13, 1955 (P.L.173), to
     replace a volunteer fire company serving such subdivision with a
     full-paid fire department or company and the volunteer company
     so replaced ceases to render fire service to any community it
     shall withdraw from the volunteer firefighters' relief
     association which theretofore extended protection to its
     membership.
        (b)  In accordance with the above action the relief
     association shall continue to function as heretofore granting
     financial assistance to its remaining members and their families
     in death, sickness and distress suffered through the unfortunate
     elements of life.
        (c)  The volunteer firefighters' relief association so
     functioning shall not receive any new members.
        (d)  When the membership roll of the relief association so
     functioning shall diminish to five members it shall apply to the
     local common pleas court for dissolution.
        (e)  Said court shall direct that all bills including the
     costs of dissolution be paid and the balance of the funds in the
     treasury be paid to the pension fund of the paid fire department
     so created by the governing body of the local political
     subdivision.
        (8 amended Dec. 22, 1993, P.L.547, No.78)