(1) In any municipality or district that maintains a regularly organized volunteer fire department, there is created a board of trustees of the volunteer firefighter pension fund. The board:
(a) Shall manage, use, and disburse moneys in the fund according to its rules and bylaws and this part 11;
(b) Shall supervise and control the fund;
(c) May take all necessary steps and pursue all necessary remedies to preserve the fund.
Source: L. 95: Entire part added, p. 1365, § 2, effective June 5.
ANNOTATION
Annotator's note. The following annotations include cases decided under former provision similar to this section.
Board does not have discretionary power to alter pension eligibility requirements mandated by the general assembly. Agee v. Trustees of Pension Bd., 33 Colo. App. 268, 518 P.2d 301 (1974).
Standard of review in case of pension eligibility is whether the criteria applied by the board conform with statutory provisions, not whether the board abused its discretion in granting the pensions. Agee v. Trustees of Pension Bd., 33 Colo. App. 268, 518 P.2d 301 (1974).
The Public Employee Retirement Association (PERA) and the Policemen's and Firemen's Pension Reform Act statutory provisions have established a defined benefit contributory pension system in which most public employees are required to participate. By making these contributions, employees obtain a limited vesting of pension rights, which ripen into vested pension rights upon attainment of the respective eligibility requirements. Colo. Springs Fire Fighters v. Colo. Springs, 784 P.2d 766 (Colo. 1989).