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Here, Plaintiffs were employed as full-time firefighters with the Hastings Fire <br />Department and served as volunteers with the Hastings Relief Association froml 990 through <br />1997. The Plaintiffs received pay from the City of Hastings for all of their unscheduled overtime <br />�ti�ork. ��'ith respect to that work. both the City oEHastin�s and the Plaintiffs themselves made <br />contributions to the Public Employees Retirement Association ("PERA") in order to obtain <br />pension service credit. PERA's pension credits are substantially based on compensation <br />received by the employee rather than simply their length of service. <br />During the same years, the Hastings Relief Association also provided pension credit to <br />Plaintiffs. The Hastings Relief Association's pension system is governed by Minn. Stat. § 424A. <br />By law, relief associations are authorized to provide service pensions to members who have been <br />active ���ith the relief association for a period of five years and ha�e complied with a11 <br />requirements of the association's by-la�vs. Minn. Stat. � 424A.02, subd. I. Service pensions are <br />based on the number of years of service with the volunteer firefighters' relief association rather <br />than compensation paid to the members for their services. NTinn. Stat. 5 424A.03, subd. 1. <br />,.w <br />These t�vo pension systems, which operate independently and base their service credit on <br />different factors, provided firefighters who work as both salaried employees and volunteers with <br />the opportunity to accrue dual pension benefits. In response to this situation, the Minnesota <br />Legislature amended PERA in 1989 to prohibit firefighters from receiving PERA pension credit <br />for volunteer fire fighting activities. The 1989 amendments provide as follows: <br />