24 tee, such tie vote shall be decided by casting lots, or in any 25 other way which may be agreed upon by the persons for whom 26 such tie vote was cast. The result of such election shall be 27 entered in the record of the proceedings of said board and the 28 members so elected shall serve for one year and until their 29 successors are elected. The election for such members of the 30 board of trustees shall be held annually upon the second Mon31 day of the same month upon which the first election occurred. 32 In case of vacancy by death, resignation, or otherwise, among 33 the members so elected, the remaining members shall choose 34 the successor, or successors, until the next annual election. 35 The presiding officer of the board of trustees shall be the execu36 tive officer of the municipal corporation availing itself of the 37 benefits of this act, and the secretary thereof shall be appointed 38 by said board.

39 It shall be the duty of such secretary to keep a full and per40 manent record of all the proceedings of the board, and said 41 trustees may fix his compensation for this work, which shall 42 be paid out of the funds of said firemen's pension or relief 43 fund.

Sec. 4. Where it is desired to establish also a policemen's 2 pension or relief fund, the method of procedure shall be in all 3 respects the same as provided for the formation of the fire4 men's pension or relief fund in the preceding section; pro5 vided, however, that there shall be a separate board of trus6 tees, composed of the executive officer of the municipal cor7 poration, the chief of police and three members from the police 8 department, the three members to be elected in the same man9 ner as provided for the election of firemen to the firemen's 10 pension or relief fund in the preceding section.

Sec. 5. In every municipality availing itself of the pro2 visions of this section, there shall be a firemen's pension or re3 lief fund or a policemen's pension or relief fund, or both, as 4 the case may be, which shall be maintained as follows:

5

The council or other legislative body of such municipality 6 is hereby authorized to levy annually, and in the manner pro7 vided by law for other municipal levies, and in addition to all 8 of such municipal levies, a tax not to exceed seven and one-half 9 mills on each one hundred dollars of all the real and personal 10 property as listed for taxation in such municipality for the 11 firemen's pension fund, and a like levy not to exceed seven

12 and one-half mills on each one hundred dollars of all the real 13 and personal property as listed for taxation in said munici14 pality for a policemen's pension fund, or either of them. The 15 amount of tax to be levied shall be fixed and determined by 16 said board of trustees as aforesaid, and certified to the coun17 cil or other legislative body of such municipality.

18 All fines imposed upon any member of the fire department 19 and the police department, or either of them, by way of dis20 cipline or punishment shall be credited to said pension or re21 lief fund of the department to which the member so fined 22 belongs; and said corporation is authorized to take by gift, 23 grant, devise or bequest, any money or real or personal prop24 erty, upon such terms as to the investment and expenditure 25 thereof as may be fixed by the grantor or determined by said 26, trustees.

27 In addition to all other sums provided for pension in this 28 section, it shall be the duty of the municipal corporation avail29 ing itself of the privileges of this act to assess and collect from 30 each member of said fire department or police department, or -31 both of them, as the case may be, the sum of one dollar each 32 month, which sum shall be deducted from the monthly pay of 33 said person and the amount so collected shall become a regular 34 part of the firemen's pension fund, if collected from a fire35 men, and of the policemen's pension fund, if collected from a 36 policeman; provided, however, that all sums assessed against 37 and collected from any employee shall, in case said employee 38 be discharged or voluntarily leave his employment with said 39 municipal corporation without receiving the benefit of said 40 pension fund, be returned to him together with all its accrued 41 interest, and no fireman or policeman shall be entitled to the 42 benefits of this act unless and until he pay into his respective 43 pension or relief fund the said sum of one dollar per month, 44 as provided in this section.

Sec. 6. The treasurer of every municipality having a fire2 men's or a policemen's pension or relief fund, or both, shall 3 be the custodian of said fund, or funds, and shall pay out 4 the same upon the proper order of the board of trustees, who 5 shall be liable upon his official bond as treasurer for the faith6 ful performance of his duties in respect to this fund or funds. 7 This fund or funds shall not be used for any other purpose 8 than provided herein.

Sec. 7. The said board of trustees shall invest any moneys 2 received by them either in interest-bearing bonds of the United 3 States, of the State of West Virginia, or of county, school dis4 trict or municipal corporation in which said municipality may 5 be situated, or upon approved real estate security to the extent 6 of not more than fifty per cent of the assessed value of such 7 real estate. Said board of trustees shall make a report to the 8 council, or other legislative body of the municipality on the 9 condition of said fund on the thirty-first day of December of 10 each year.

Sec. 8. Until the expiration of five years from the time of 2 the creation of said corporation, unless otherwise authorized 3 by ordinance of said municipal corporation, no payment shall 4 be made to any member except from the income arising from 5 said fund; and if at any time there shall not be sufficient 6 money to the credit of said pension fund to pay each person 7 entitled to the benefit thereof the full amount per month, as 8 herein provided, then, and in that event, an equal percentage 9 of said monthly payments shall be made to each beneficiary 10 thereof, until said fund is so replenished as to warrant pay11 ment in full to each of said beneficiaries.

Sec. 9. Any member of a municipal fire department or 2 police department who is entitled to the benefits under this 3 act, and who has been in continuous service of such depart4 ment for twenty-three years, may, upon written application. 5 to the chief of said department, be retired from all service. 6 from such department without medical examination or dis7 ability, and on such retirement the board of trustees shall 8 authorize the payment to such retired member during the re9 mainder of his life of a sum equal to one-half the wages or 10 salary he received upon retirement from such department. 11 but no member of such department may be retired until he 12 shall have attained the age of fifty years. A member of such 13 department who may have served twenty-three years, but not 14 continuously, will be entitled to the benefits of this act, pro15 vided he shall not have been out of the service for a period 16 longer than two years.

17 In no event shall the sum to be paid to permanently dis18 abled members exceed the following amount: Those in con19 tinuous service of the fire department or police department 20 over one and under ten years, shall, upon retirement, receive

21 not to exceed one dollar and twenty-five cents per day; and 22 those in the service continuously for over ten years and under 23 twenty years, shall, upon retirement, received ten-sixteenths 24 of their salary per month; and those in the service over twenty 25 years, shall, upon retirement, receive, eleven-sixteenths of 26 their salary per month.

Sec. 10. In case any such municipal employee who has 2 been in continuous service for over five years shall be killed or 3 die, then, and in that case, the board of trustees of said pen4 sion fund shall pay to the dependent wife or dependent minor 5 children or dependent mother or father, or brothers and sis6 ters, if there be any such one or ones, the following pensions, 7 viz:

8 To the widow, the sum of twenty dollars per month until 9 her death or re-marriage; for the support and maintenance 10 of any dependent children, the sum of five dollars per month 11 for each child until said child shall have attained the age of 12 sixteen years; provided that said widow shall not receive from 13 said fund for the support and maintenance of herself and 14 said children an amount in excess of thirty dollars per month; 15 to a dependent mother and father, or either, the sum of ten 16 dollars per month to each; to dependent brothers and sisters, 17 until they shall have attained the age of sixteen years, the 18 sum of five dollars per month for each, but in no case to ex19 ceed the total amount paid to brothers and sisters the sum of 20 thirty dollars per month. And provided further that the 21 total payments to the dependents of any such municipal em22 ployee shall not exceed an amount in the sum of thirty dollars 23 per month.

Sec. 11. The dependent wife, child or children, or de2 pendent father or mother, brothers or sisters of any such muni3 cipal employee who shall be killed in the performance of his 4 duties shall, regardless of the length of his service, receive a 5 pension as provided for in that portion of section ten fixing 6 the amount to be paid to the dependents, but in no case to 7 exceed the sum of thirty dollars per month.

8. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereby 9 repealed.

CHAPTER 45

(House Bill No. 91—Mr. Everhart)

AN ACT to amend section twenty-seven of chapter sixteen of the acts of the legislature of one thousand nine hundred and fifteen, as amended by section twenty-seven of chapter fiftythree of the acts of one thousand nine hundred and nineteen, relating to weights and measures.

[Passed April 25, 1923. In effect ninety days from passage. Became a law without the approval of the Governor]

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That section twenty-seven of chapter sixteen of the acts of the legislature of one thousand nine hundred and fifteen as amended by section twenty-seven of the acts of one thousand nine hundred and nineteen, chapter fifty-three, be amended and re-enacted to read as follows: