86.583. 1. Any municipality in any county of the firstclass, and any other municipality in this state which nowcontains or may hereafter contain not more than one hundredthousand inhabitants nor less than three thousand inhabitants asdetermined by the last preceding federal census is herebyauthorized to provide for the pensioning of the salaried membersof its organized police force or fire department and the widowsand minor children of deceased members; provided, however, thatnothing in this section shall be construed to affect any pensionor retirement system for members of an organized police force orfire department, and their widows or minor children, which hasbeen established previously under authority of an act of thegeneral assembly and which is in operation at the time of thepassage of this section, and the provisions of law applicable toany such pension or retirement system shall not be deemed to berepealed or superseded by the provisions of this section. Thissection shall not take effect in any such city until approved bythe voters thereof as herein provided. On order of the citycouncil, or on petition of five percent of the voters of saidcity, the question shall be submitted to the voters.
2. The question shall be submitted in substantially thefollowing form:
Shall the (police or firemen's insert one) pension plan be
approved?
3. If a majority of the voters casting votes thereon is infavor of the question, this section shall take effect in saidcity thirty days after the submission of the question.
(L. 1945 p. 1267 ยง 1, A.L. 1955 p. 276, A.L. 1978 H.B. 971)