Terms Used In Vermont Statutes > Title 24 > Chapter 125 - Municipal Employees' Retirement System of Vermont

• Accumulated contributions: means the sum of all the amounts deducted for Municipal Employees' Retirement System purposes from the compensation of a member with interest thereon, as provided in subsection 5063(b) of this title. See
• Actuarial equivalent: means a benefit of equal value under actuarial assumptions last adopted by the Retirement Board under subsection 5063a(h) of this title. See
• Advanced emergency medical treatment: means those portions of emergency medical treatment as defined by the Department of Health, which may be performed by licensed emergency medical services personnel acting under the supervision of a physician within a system of medical control approved by the Department of Health. See
• Affiliated agency: means an ambulance service or first responder service licensed under this chapter, including a fire department, rescue squad, police department, ski patrol, hospital, or other entity licensed to provide emergency medical services under this chapter. See
• Ambulance: means any vehicle, whether air, ground, or water, that is designed, constructed, used, or intended for use in transporting ill or injured persons. See
• Ambulance service: means a person licensed by the Department of Health to provide emergency medical treatment and transportation to ill or injured persons. See
• Annual meeting: when applied to towns shall mean the annual town meeting in March or an adjournment thereof. See
• Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
• Annuity: means annual payments for life actuarially derived from the accumulated contributions of a member. See
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
• Basic emergency medical treatment: means those portions of emergency medical treatment, as defined by the Department of Health, which may be exercised by licensed emergency medical services personnel acting under their own authority. See
• Beneficiary: means any person in receipt of a pension, an annuity, a retirement allowance, or other benefit as provided by this chapter. See
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Board: means the Board of Trustees of the System provided for in section 5062 of this title to administer the System. See
• Continuous service: means those periods of service as an employee with all employers, provided all of the following conditions are met:

• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Creditable service: means that period of continuous service subsequent to an employee joining the System and prior to his or her termination of service, during which an employee makes contributions. See
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• District board: means the board of directors of a district appointed under section 2653 of this title. See
• Domestic: when applied to a corporation, company, association, or copartnership shall mean organized under the laws of this State; "foreign" when so applied, shall mean organized under the laws of another state, government, or country. See
• Earnable compensation: means the total amounts paid to an employee for his or her position. See
• Emergency medical personnel: means persons, including volunteers, licensed by the Department of Health to provide emergency medical treatment on behalf of an affiliated agency whose primary function is the provision of emergency medical treatment. See
• Emergency medical services: means an integrated system of personnel, equipment, communication, and services to provide emergency medical treatment. See
• Emergency medical services district: means a political subdivision established to facilitate the provision of pre-hospital emergency medical treatment within a given area. See
• Emergency medical treatment: means pre-hospital, in-hospital, and interhospital medical treatment rendered by emergency medical personnel given to individuals who have experienced sudden illness or injury in order to prevent loss of life, the aggravation of the illness or injury, or to alleviate suffering. See
• Employee: means the following persons employed on a regular basis by a school district or by a supervisory union for no fewer than 1,040 hours in a year and for no fewer than 30 hours a week for the school year, as defined in 16 V. See
• Employer: means a municipality, a library at least one-half of whose operating expenses are paid from municipal funds, or a supervisory union. See
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• Fees: shall mean earnings due for official services, aside from salaries or per diem compensation. See
• First responder service: means a person licensed by the Department of Health to provide emergency medical treatment. See
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• following: when used by way of reference to a section of the law shall mean the next preceding or following section. See
• Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
• Group A member: means a person employed by a participating municipality who does not elect to become a Group B, C, or D member under section 5068 of this title or does not become a Group B or C member pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement. See
• Group B member: means a person employed by a municipality who elects to become a Group B member under section 5068 of this title or becomes a Group B member pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement. See
• Group C member: means a person employed by a municipality who elects to become a Group C member under section 5068 of this title or becomes a Group C member pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement. See
• Group D member: means a person employed by a participating municipality who elects to become a Group D member under section 5068 of this title. See
• inhabitants: shall mean the population of the political division referred to, as ascertained by the national census last completed before the time when such population is a material fact. See
• Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. ^{Source: OCC}
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• maximum allowance: means the sum of the annuity and the pension. See
• Medical Board: means the board of physicians provided for in section 5062 of this title. See
• Medical control: means the entire system of quality assurance and medical accountability for basic and advanced emergency medical treatment as prescribed by this chapter. See
• Medical facilities: means a hospital providing emergency services to an emergency medical services district. See
• Member: means any employee included in the membership of the Retirement System under section 5053 of this title. See
• Month: shall mean a calendar month and "year" shall mean a calendar year and be equivalent to the expression "year of our Lord. See
• Municipality: means a city, town, county, incorporated village, fire district, consolidated water district, housing authority, union municipal district, school district, incorporated school district, union school district, or any of their instrumentalities. See
• Municipality: shall include a city, town, town school district, incorporated school or fire district or incorporated village, and all other governmental incorporated units. See
• Normal retirement date: means :

• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Pension: means annual payments for life derived from contributions by the State and municipality. See
• Person: means any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, municipality, or political subdivision, including emergency medical services districts as provided for in this subchapter. See
• Person: shall include any natural person, corporation, municipality, the State of Vermont or any department, agency, or subdivision of the State, and any partnership, unincorporated association, or other legal entity. See
• Personal estate: shall include all property other than real estate. See
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Probate: Proving a will
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• real estate: shall include lands, tenements, and hereditaments and all rights thereto and interests therein, and pews or slips in places of public worship shall be treated as real estate. See
• Regular interest: means interest at such rate or rates as may be established from time to time by the Board as provided in subsection 5063(b) of this title. See
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Retirement: means withdrawal from active service with a retirement allowance granted under the provisions of this chapter. See
• said: when used by way of reference to a person or thing shall apply to the same person or thing last mentioned. See
• Service: means service as an employee for which compensation is paid by an employer as defined in subdivision (11) of this section, service recognized under section 5054 of this title, or service prior to the effective date of the plan. See
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States may apply to the District of Columbia and any territory and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See
• sworn: shall include affirmed. See
• System: means the Municipal Employees' Retirement System of Vermont, as defined in section 5052 of this title. See
• Town: shall include city and wards or precincts therein; "selectboard members" and "board of civil authority" shall extend to and include the mayor and aldermen of cities; "trustees" shall extend to and include bailiffs of incorporated villages; and the laws applicable to the inhabitants and officers of towns shall be applicable to the inhabitants and similar officers of all municipal corporations. See
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Vermont Municipal Retirement Fund: means the fund created by section 5064 of this title, which shall contain the assets of the Retirement System and from which shall be paid the benefits due to beneficiaries and the expenses of the Retirement System. See
• Village: shall mean an incorporated village. See
• Volunteer personnel: means persons who are licensed by the Department of Health to provide emergency medical treatment on behalf of an affiliated agency without expectation of remuneration for the treatment rendered other than nominal payments and reimbursement for expenses, and who do not depend in any significant way on the provision of such treatment for their livelihood. See