Incentive & Pension
Beginning in July 1982 with KRS 95A.250 it was determined that eligible local governments shall be entitled to receive annually
a supplement for each qualified professional firefighter it employs; plus an amount
equal to the required employer s contribution on the supplement to the defined benefit
pension plan, or to a plan qualified under Section 401(a) or Section 457 of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1954 as amended.
The Incentive & Pension program is available to each local government which meets
the following requirements described by KRS 95A.230. To be eligible for incentive pay, firefighters must have a minimum of three hundred
(300) training hours, work at least two thousand eight (2,080) hours and earn at least
eight thousand dollars ($8,000) annually. To maintain eligibility all paid firefighters
in the department must complete one hundred (100) hours of training annually. A department
wishing to participate in the program should complete an application. These applications can only be submitted from February 1 through April 30 to become
eligible for participation in the Incentive & Pension program beginning July 1st.
Requests for funds must be submitted every month. Please submit your requests on the
Incentive & Pension Funds Request form by the 5th of the month for which you are requesting funds; also include your roster of the
firefighters being paid. Checks are ordered once a month, if we don't have your request
before the checks are ordered, you will not receive a check.
Effective July 1, 2009, the Incentive Eligibility Request form must be filled out
on any new firefighter that you are requesting to be added to the Professional Firefighter
Foundation Incentive & Pension Program.
Effective July 1, 2010, your department will have 30 days to notify the Fire Commission office in writing about a newly eligible certified firefighter (see Incentive Eligibility Request Form for requirements).
If a certified firefighter transfers to your department from a department that he/she
was receiving incentive pay, that firefighter will receive incentive pay from the
date the Fire Commission office is notified in writing from your department. If our
office is not notified within 30 days of their hire date with your department, the firefighter will not start receiving incentive pay until the date our office receives a letter of notification.
Partial months are pro-rated and calculated on a daily rate. Pension rates for a new
firefighter will be calculated at the rate of the majority of your department unless
a difference is specified in your letter. If you need help calculating the payment
for a firefighter who becomes eligible or leaves your department mid-month, please
call the Fire Commission office and the Incentive & Pension administrator will assist
you with any questions.
Please notify our office in writing when you add or remove a firefighter from your department. If a firefighter is called to or released from active duty in the military or off due to an allowable sickness or injury or other medical cause WE MUST HAVE DOCUMENTATION FOR OUR FILES; requests will not be processed without it. Include the name, firefighter number, effective date and the reason (newly eligible, military, terminated, retired, etc.).
For military activation, please include a copy of the activation/release orders. This can be sent by e-mail, fax or postal mail. Submitting these letters in a timely manner will allow all of us to keep adjustments, back-pay, and overpayments to a minimum. Effective January 1, 2012 we will stop monthly payments to firefighters on active military duty and will pay them their full amount when they return. Changes should be made within the month we receive the letter if possible, please call and check on it. Prior to receiving your check, you should receive a reply to your letter.
It is mandatory that fire departments notify the Kentucky Fire Commission in writing on any changes made to firefighters receiving Incentive Pay.
Do not round off your figures, they need to be exact. For example, if you request
the remaining .04 cents in June, please make a note on your request form so that the
administrator will know that it is not a mathematical error.
Incentive & Pension Quarterly Report and Incentive & Pension Quarterly Report Roster must be submitted quarterly. Please note that the form asks for the amount received
and not the amount requested. Please submit the quarterly reports as soon as possible
after you receive your checks for the months of: March, June, September and December. They will be considered delinquent after the 15th of the following months: May, August, November and February. Failure to submit these forms in a timely manner may result in your payments being
withheld or terminated as per KRS 95A.240 (2).
For more information, please email fireincentive@kctcs.edu
Please scan QR Code to download contact information directly to your phone.
Forms
- Incentive & Pension Application (PDF)
- Incentive & Pension Funds Request (PDF)
- Adjustment Worksheet (PDF)
- Incentive & Pension Quarterly Report (PDF)
- Incentive & Pension Quarterly Report Roster (Excel)
- Incentive Eligibility Request Form (PDF)
