Offi cers’ Rights
Incomplete assumptions:
A look at the future of 20-year service pensions in light of Tasca v. PFRS
Thinking about a 20-year service pension? If you
became a member of the Police and Firemen’s Retire-
ment System (PFRS) after Jan. 18, 2000, you may have
to think again — at least for now.
The 20-year service pension statute, known as
Chapter 428, provides in relevant part as follows:
Any member of the retirement system as of the
effective date of P.L.1999, c. 428 who has 20 or more
STUART years of creditable service at the time of retirement
ALTERMAN shall be entitled to receive a retirement allowance
equal to 50 percent of the member’s final compensa-
tion…N.J.S.A. 43:16A-5(3).
The recent Appellate Division case of Regina Tasca v. Board
of Trustees, Police and Firemen’s Retirement System, Docket No.
A-4028-15T1, which was decided on Jan. 28, addressed the question
of whether a 20-year service pension is available for PFRS mem-
bers who became a member of PFRS after Jan. 18, 2000. In short,
the Appellate Division’s answer to this question was a resounding
“no.” This includes members who were in a different New Jersey
pension system, such as the Public Employees Retirement System
(PERS), prior to Jan. 18, 2000, and, through an interfund transfer,
transferred their time from PERS to PFRS.
In Tasca, the petitioner was employed as a special police officer
from Jan. 1, 1995, through Jan. 24, 2001, and a member in PERS. On
Feb. 1, 2001, she joined the Bogota Police Department as a patrol
officer and transferred her service credit from PERS to PFRS. There-
after, her certification of payroll deductions from PFRS listed Jan. 1,
1995, as her “date of enrollment.” In May 2011, Tasca was involved
in disciplinary actions which resulted in her termination in 2012.
Five months before her termination, she filed a civil lawsuit against
Bogota, members of its police department, the mayor and some
of its council members alleging violations of her rights under the
New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, Conscientious Employee
Protection Act (CEPA) and First Amendment. The end result of the
litigation that followed was that Tasca’s suspension from May 2011
and termination in 2012 were invalidated and she was reinstated
to employment, though not on active duty. In November 2015, the
entire litigation was settled.
As part of the settlement agreement, Tasca was to put in for a 20-
year service retirement. Throughout the negotiations, she relied on
the information supplied to her by PFRS regarding her enrollment
date; however, prior to finalizing the settlement, PFRS indicated
that she was ineligible for a 20-year pension because she was not
a PFRS member on Jan. 18, 2000. When she heard this, she refused
to sign the settlement, but a court found the agreement binding.
Tasca and Bogota jointly sought to reverse the PFRS determination
that she was ineligible for a 20-year service retirement but were un-
successful and the matter was appealed to the New Jersey Superior
Court, Appellate Division.
The Appellate Division held that the language of N.J.S.A. 43:16A-
5(3) requires a member to be enrolled in PFRS as of Jan. 18, 2000,
the effective date of the statute, in order to receive a 20-year service
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NEW JERSEY COPS
■ FEBRUARY 2019