19-19-506. Supplement to certain pensions. (1) The payment for each fiscal year to the police officers, spouses, or minor children described in subsections (2)(a) through (2)(c) may not be less than one-half of the salary paid in that fiscal year in the appropriate city or town to newly confirmed police officers.

(2) On or before April 1 of each year, the board of trustees shall make a report to the state auditor including the following information:

(a) the names of all police officers who are receiving payments from the police retirement fund of the city or town as of the date of the report and who were receiving the payments prior to July 1, 1975;

(b) the names of all spouses or minor children who are receiving payments from the police retirement fund because of the death of a police officer who was receiving payments prior to July 1, 1975;

(c) the names of all spouses or minor children who are receiving payments from the police retirement fund and who were receiving payments prior to July 1, 1975, or in the case of minor children, whose parent, the spouse of a police officer, was receiving payments prior to July 1, 1975;

(d) for the purpose of determining the base figure for the computations set forth in subsection (4), the following information relating to the base fiscal year commencing July 1, 1976:

(i) the amount of the payments made in the base fiscal year to each police officer described in subsection (2)(a);

(ii) the amount of the payments made in the base fiscal year to each spouse or minor child described in subsection (2)(b) or (2)(c);

(iii) upon the death after April 18, 1977, of any police officer on the retired list who was receiving payments from the police retirement fund prior to July 1, 1975, and who is survived by a spouse or minor child entitled to receive payments from the police retirement fund, the amount that would have been paid to an eligible spouse of the police officer if that spouse had been receiving payments in the base fiscal year.

(3) Each fiscal year immediately after the adoption by a city or town having a police retirement fund of its budget for that fiscal year, the city or town shall report to the state auditor the salary for that fiscal year of a newly confirmed police officer of that city or town.

(4) The state auditor shall, upon receipt of the reports referred to in subsections (2) and (3), compute the difference between each amount reported under subsections (2)(d)(i) through (2)(d)(iii) and one-half the salary for the current fiscal year of a newly confirmed police officer of the appropriate city or town. The difference must be paid by the state auditor out of the general fund to the treasurer of the appropriate city or town at the same time as and in addition to the payment to be made by the state auditor under 19-19-305(1). The payment is statutorily appropriated as provided in 17-7-502.

(5) The treasurer of each city or town receiving funds under subsection (4) shall immediately deposit them to the credit of the city or town's police retirement fund. The board of trustees of the fund shall use the funds to supplement the monthly payments to persons described in subsections (2)(a) through (2)(c) so that the requirements of subsection (1) are met.

(6) If more than one minor child is entitled to supplementary payments under this section by virtue of the death of a common parent police officer, the minimum payment to the minor children under this section must be determined as if there were one minor child and the supplementary payment must be made to the minor children collectively.

History: En. 11-1846.1 by Sec. 2, Ch. 406, L. 1977; R.C.M. 1947, 11-1846.1(part); amd. Sec. 28, Ch. 114, L. 1979; amd. Sec. 24, Ch. 703, L. 1985; Sec. 19-10-506, MCA 1991; redes. 19-19-506 by Code Commissioner, 1993; amd. Sec. 32, Ch. 532, L. 1997.