PBA sues over Chapter 78 20-year threshold
Among the issues left unresolved as a result of the litigation several years ago over the enactment of Chapter 78 is whether law enforcement officers who did not have 20 years of pensionable service as of June 28 , 2011 – the date Chapter 78 became effective – are required to contribute toward health insurance coverage in retirement , assuming their contracts did not require contributions . This issue was not resolved previously because officers who did not have 20 years of pensionable service as of June 28 , 2011 would not have been eligible to retire with health benefits until July 1 , 2016 , one year after the contribution requirements in Chapter 78 expired . Chapter 78 included a specific clause which mandated that certain sections of the law , including the requirement for contributions for those with less than 20 years of pensionable service , expired four years after the law became effective .
Now that sections of the law have expired , and most officers have now reached the maximum contribution level after completing their four-year phase-in , it appears that not all jurisdictions have been implementing Chapter 78 in the same way for those officers who did not have 20 years of pensionable service as of June 28 , 2011 . While many employers are requiring officers with less than 20 years of pensionable service to contribute in retirement , a number of employers either have not required officers in that position to contribute or have negotiated reduced contribution levels for active and retiring officers .
We recently filed suit seeking to resolve this issue for those who are required to contribute . In Hamilton SOA and James Walters v . Township of Hamilton , the SOA , with the NJ State PBA ’ s backing , is challenging the township ’ s requirement that now-retired Sergeant James Walters contribute toward his health insurance coverage even though the contract between the SOA and the township did not require retiree contributions . Sergeant Walters retired on July 1 , 2017 . Had Chapter 78 not been enacted , Sergeant Walters would not have had to contribute toward his health insurance coverage in retirement . However , even though the contribution requirements of Chapter 78 expired on or about July 1 , 2015 , four years after their enactment , the township took the position that retirees , including Sergeant Walters , would have to contribute toward their health insurance coverage in retirement .
The lawsuit was filed in Mercer County Superior Court , the same court in which the State PBA , along with a number of other public employee labor unions , challenged enactment of Chapter 78 in 2011 . In the complaint , we argue that officers who did not have 20 years of pensionable service as of June 28 , 2011 are not required to contribute toward their health insurance coverage in retirement
12 NEW JERSEY COPS ■ DECEMBER 2017