Promotions shall be based on merits to be ascertained by examinations to be prescribed by the commission. All questions relative to promotions shall be practical in character and such as will fairly test the merit and fitness of persons seeking promotion. The appointing officer or body shall notify the commission of a vacancy in the police force which is to be filled by promotion and shall request the certification of an eligibility list. The commission shall certify for each existing vacancy the names of three persons on the eligibility list who have received the highest average in the last preceding promotional examination held within a period of two years next preceding the date of the request for the eligibility list for each vacancy. If three names are not available, the commission shall certify the names remaining on the eligibility list. The appointing officer or body shall make an appointment from the names certified based solely on the merits and fitness of the candidates unless the appointing officer or body makes objections to the commission regarding one or more of the persons certified for any reason provided in section 13 of this act.¹

The appointing officer or body shall have power to determine in each instance whether an increase in salary shall constitute a promotion.