NY Ret & SS L § 78-A (2021)
2021 New York Laws RSS - Retirement and Social Security Article 2 - New York State Employees' Retirement System Title 8 - General Provisions Relating to Retirement; Retirement Plans Applicable to Members Generally 78-A - Cost-of-Living Adjustment.

§  78-a.  Cost-of-living  adjustment.  a.  A cost-of-living adjustment   shall be payable on the basis provided for in this section to:  (i)  all   pensioners  who  have  attained  age sixty-two and have been retired for   five years; (ii) all pensioners who have  attained  age  fifty-five  and   have  been  retired  for  ten  years;  (iii)  all  disability pensioners   regardless of age who have been retired for five  years;  and  (iv)  all   recipients  of  an  accidental  death benefit regardless of age who have   been receiving such benefit for five years.b. Said cost-of-living adjustment shall be a percentage of the  annual   retirement   allowance  otherwise  payable,  computed  without  optional   modification, but including any benefit derived from  subdivision  f  of   this section and any prior year's cost-of-living adjustment derived from   this  section.  Said  percentage  is  set forth in subdivision d of this   section.c. Said cost-of-living adjustment shall be computed on a base  benefit   amount  not to exceed eighteen thousand dollars of the annual retirement   allowance defined in subdivision b of this section.d. The percentage referred to in  this  section  shall  be  determined   annually  by reference to the consumer price index (all urban consumers,   CPI-U, U.S. city average, all  items,  1982-84=100),  published  by  the   United  States  bureau of labor statistics, for each applicable calendar   year. Said percentage shall equal fifty percent of the annual inflation,   as determined from the increase in the consumer price index in  the  one   year period ending on the March thirty-first prior to the cost-of-living   adjustment  effective  on  the  ensuing September first. Said percentage   shall then be rounded up to the next higher one-tenth of one percent and   shall not exceed three percent nor be less than one percent.e.  Said  cost-of-living  adjustment  shall  be  payable  in   monthly   installments  and  shall  take  effect  September  first  of  each  year   commencing with a payment for the month of September, two thousand  one,   or,  if  later,  as  soon  as practicable after the retired member first   becomes  eligible  to  receive  the  benefits   provided   pursuant   to   subdivision a of this section.f.  Commencing  September first, two thousand, all retired members who   have retired prior to the calendar year  nineteen  hundred  ninety-seven   and who meet the eligibility criteria set forth in subdivision a of this   section shall be paid an adjusted benefit in monthly installments on the   basis  provided  for in this subdivision. Said adjusted benefit shall be   equal to a percentage of the change in consumer price index  (all  urban   consumers,  CPI-U, U.S. city average, all items, 1982-84=100), published   by the United States bureau of labor statistics, measured from the  year   of  retirement  through  calendar  year  nineteen  hundred  ninety-seven   according to the following schedule: Year of retirement                     Percentage1968 through 1996                      50%1966 and 1967                          55%1965                                   60%1964                                   65%1963                                   70%1962                                   80%1961                                   90%prior to 1961                          100%   Said adjusted benefit shall be computed on a base benefit amount not  to   exceed  eighteen  thousand dollars of the retirement allowance otherwise   payable, computed without optional modification.  Any  benefit  received   pursuant  to  this  subdivision shall be in lieu of any benefit received   pursuant to section seventy-eight of this title. g. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the surviving spouse of   a deceased retired member who retired under  an  option  which  provides   that benefits are to be continued for life to the surviving spouse after   the  death  of the retired member, shall be entitled to receive benefits   pursuant  to  this  section. Said benefits shall be fifty percent of the   monthly benefits which the pensioner would be receiving pursuant to this   section if living, and shall commence (i) with a payment for  the  month   of September, two thousand, or (ii) the month following the death of the   deceased retired member, whichever is later.h.  The benefits provided pursuant to this section shall be in lieu of   the benefits presently provided by section five hundred ten  or  article   four  or six of this chapter unless such benefits are in excess of those   provided by this section, in which case such benefits shall be  paid  by   the retirement system pursuant to such provision.