Sec. 2.01. BOARD OF TRUSTEES. (a) The firefighters' and police officers' retiree health care fund of a municipality is governed by a board of trustees consisting of the following nine members:

(1) the mayor of the municipality or the mayor's designee;

(2) two members of the municipal governing body, appointed by that governing body;

(3) two members of the fund who are firefighters below the rank of fire chief, elected by secret ballot by a majority of the votes cast by the members of the fund who are firefighters;

(4) two members of the fund who are police officers below the rank of police chief, elected by secret ballot by a majority of the votes cast by the members of the fund who are police officers;

(5) a retiree representative of the fire department, elected by secret ballot by a majority of the votes cast by the retirees of the fire department who are beneficiaries of the fund and the surviving spouses of deceased firefighters who are beneficiaries of the fund; and

(6) a retiree representative of the police department, elected by secret ballot by a majority of the votes cast by the retirees of the police department who are beneficiaries of the fund and the surviving spouses of deceased police officers who are beneficiaries of the fund.

(b) The board, through its secretary, shall administer the required elections of the members and retiree trustees. The board shall hold a runoff election between the two candidates receiving the most votes if no candidate receives a majority of the votes cast for a trustee position. On the executive director's certification that a candidate for trustee is eligible for office and is unopposed for election, the board shall certify the candidate as elected to the board.

(c) The fund is independent of the control of the municipality.