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B. Funding Policy <br />CITY OF RAMSEY <br />Notes to Financial Statements (continued) <br />December 31, 2000 <br />NOTE 8 — DEFINED BENEFIT PENSION PLANS — STATEWIDE (CONTINUED) <br />Minnesota Statutes Chapter 353 sets the rates for employer and employee contributions. These statutes are <br />established and amended by the state legislature. The City makes annual contributions to the pension plans <br />equal to the amount required by state statutes. PERF Basic Plan members and Coordinated Plan members <br />are required to contribute 8.75% and 4.75 %, respectively, of their annual covered salary. PEPFF members <br />are required to contribute 6.2% of their annual covered salary. The City of Ramsey is required to contribute <br />the following percentages of annual covered payroll: 11.43% for Basic Plan PERF members, 5.18% for <br />Coordinated Plan PERF members, and 9.3% for PEPFF members. The City's contributions to the Public <br />Employees Retirement Fund for the years ending December 31, 2000, 1999, and 1998 were $64,912, <br />$59,821, and $50,503, respectively. The City's contributions to the Public Employees Police and Fire Fund <br />for the years ending December 31, 2000, 1999, and 1998 were $83,250, $76,750, and $79,896, respectively. <br />The City's contributions were equal to the contractually required contributions for each year as set by state <br />statute. <br />NOTE 9 - DEFINED CONTRIBUTION PENSION PLAN - FIRE RELIEF ASSOCIATION <br />A. Plan Description <br />Volunteer fire fighters of the City of Ramsey are members of the Ramsey Fire Fighter's Relief Association. <br />The Association is a single- employer defined contribution pension plan that operates under the provisions <br />of Minnesota State Statutes § 69 and 424, as amended. It is governed by a Board of six officers and trustees <br />elected by the members of the Association for three year terms. The chief of the Ramsey Volunteer Fire <br />Department, the Mayor, and the Finance Director of the City of Ramsey are ex -officio members of the Board <br />of Trustees. The City's payroll for members of the Relief Association for the year ended December 31, <br />2000, was $97,780 compared to a total City payroll of $2,545,581. <br />For financial reporting purposes, the Association's financial statements are not included in the City of <br />Ramsey's financial statements because the Association is not a component unit of the City. The Relief <br />Association issues a publicly available financial report. A copy of the report may be obtained at Ramsey <br />City Hall, 15153 Nowthen Boulevard, Ramsey, Minnesota, 55303. <br />B. Pension Benefits <br />Minnesota State Statutes Chapters 424 and 424A authorize pension benefits for volunteer fire relief <br />associations. In order to be entitled to a pension benefit, a fire fighter must have completed a minimum of <br />10 years of service with the Department, 10 years membership in the Association, and attain the age of 50 <br />years. The fire fighter will then be 60% vested with every year after that at 4% per year until the 20th year <br />when 100% vesting will occur. Because this plan is a defined contribution plan, the amount of the retirement <br />benefit is not predetermined, but rather is based on the individual member's allocable portion of <br />contributions made during the participation period. <br />