For the purpose of paying the pensions a fund shall be created in each city where this article takes effect, as follows:
If there shall not be sufficient money in the fund so created, the governing body of such city shall include in any tax levy a sum sufficient to meet the requirements of the fund for the time being.
All pensions granted under this article shall be exempt from any State or municipal tax, levy and sale, garnishment or attachment or any other process whatsoever, and shall be unassignable, except for the purpose and to the extent necessary to authorize, with the member's or pensioner's consent, deductions of premiums for group hospitalization and medical-surgical insurance.
N.J.S. § 43:13-9