2023 New York Laws › RSS - Retirement and Social Security › Article 2 - New York State Employees' Retirement System › Title 3 - Funds of the System; Members' Contributions and Employers' Contributions › 23 - Employers' Contributions and Their Use; Pension Accumulation Fund.

§  23.  Employers'  contributions  and their use; pension accumulation
fund.  a. Except as otherwise provided pursuant  to  this  article,  the
pension   accumulation  fund  shall  be  the  fund  in  which  shall  be
accumulated:
1. All contributions made by employers, and
2. All income received from the investments of the retirement  system,
and
3.  All  monies  received  from  all  other  sources and which are not
required to be credited to any other fund.
b. Each employer shall make three contributions annually.  They  shall
be  known  as  the normal contribution, the deficiency contribution, and
the administration contribution. The rates thereof shall be computed  by
the actuary.
1. Normal contribution. The rate of such contribution shall be applied
to  the  members'  annual compensation earned during the previous fiscal
year.  Such rate shall be a uniform and  constant  rate  per  centum  of
annual compensation. When applied to the compensation of the average new
entrant  during the remaining period of his or her membership, such rate
shall be computed to be sufficient to provide all  the  benefits,  other
than  those  on  account  of  prior service, granted by this article and
which are payable from funds contributed  to  the  pension  accumulation
fund.
Such  rate  shall  be  computed  each  year  by  means of an actuarial
valuation as prescribed  in  section  eleven  of  this  article  and  as
authorized by section twenty-three-a of this title.
2. Deficiency contribution.
(a)  In  the  case  of employers participating on July first, nineteen
hundred forty-eight, the rate of such contribution shall continue to  be
the  rate  theretofore  determined  pursuant  to  law.  Such rate may be
varied, however, if an adjustment  is  necessitated  by  reason  of  the
allowance of additional prior service credits.
(b)  In  the  case  of  an employer electing to participate after July
first, nineteen  hundred  forty-eight  and  before  March  thirty-first,
nineteen  hundred  ninety-nine,  an initial actuarial valuation shall be
made to determine the accrued liability of such employer by  reasons  of
the  prior  service  of  those  of  its employees who are members of the
retirement system. The rate of deficiency contribution for such employer
shall then be determined. Such rate shall  be  that  proportion  of  the
total annual compensation of such employees as is equivalent to four per
centum  of  such  accrued  liability.  Such rate shall be applied to the
employer's payroll of members, as used in the annual valuation. The cost
of making such initial valuation shall be assessed against and  paid  by
such employer.
Notwithstanding the above, for employers who commence participation in
the  retirement  system  on  or  after  April  first,  nineteen  hundred
ninety-nine, the accrued liability shall be amortized  in  equal  annual
installments  over  a  twenty-five  year  period.  With  respect to such
employers the cost of making such initial valuation  shall  be  assessed
against  and  paid  by the employer. The provisions of subdivisions c, d
and e of  this  section  shall  not  apply  to  employers  who  commence
participation in the retirement system on or after April first, nineteen
hundred ninety-nine.
(c) The amount of each annual deficiency contribution payable by every
employer  shall be at least three per centum greater than the amount for
the preceding year.
(d) The comptroller shall approve the discontinuance  of  the  state's
deficiency contribution on account of members employed by it when:
(1)  The  total  amount in the pension accumulation fund on account of
all members, and
(2)  The  present value of future deficiency contributions still to be
paid by other employers, and
(3) The present value of future normal contributions, on the basis  of
the  rate  of  normal  contribution then in effect, shall equal the then
present value of the total liability of such fund on the  basis  of  the
tables then in use.
(e)  Unless  previously discontinued, or unless hereafter discontinued
pursuant to other provisions of law, the deficiency  contribution  of  a
participating  employer  shall  be discontinued when the total amount of
deficiency contributions paid by such employer at least equals or  shall
hereafter equal such percentum of its initial accrued liability computed
by  the  actuary  as  shall  equal that percentum of the state's initial
accrued liability paid by deficiency  contributions  during  the  period
equal  to  the  period  last determined by the actuary as the deficiency
payment period. Nothing herein contained shall be  deemed  to  give  any
participating  employer any valid claim or cause of action for refund or
credit for any sum or sums paid or to be paid for fiscal years prior  to
and  including  the  fiscal  year  ending  March  thirty-first, nineteen
hundred sixty-six nor to excuse  any  participating  employer  from  the
payment of any contributions for such fiscal years.
3. Administration contribution.
(a)  The  expenses  of  the  retirement  system,  including  an amount
allocated to amortize over a period of thirty years, with interest,  the
cost  of construction of the retirement system building, and the cost of
maintenance of such building, for each fiscal year shall  be  determined
at  the close of each such year. The ratio of such expenses to the total
compensation of all members, as used in the actuarial  valuation,  shall
be  the  rate  of such administration contribution.   Such rate shall be
applied to each employer's payroll of members, as  used  in  the  annual
valuation.
(b)  All  such  expenses shall be paid out of the pension accumulation
fund which shall be reimbursed through administration contributions  and
other monies received from employers pursuant to this article.
(c)  Notwithstanding  any  other  provision of this subdivision or any
other law, the administrative contribution for  a  year,  as  determined
pursuant  to  paragraph  one  of subdivision b of this section, shall be
paid from the pension accumulation fund if payment from such  fund  will
not affect the normal contribution for such year.
c.  Additional  contributions shall be made in accordance therewith by
employers obligated to contribute to the retirement system  pursuant  to
any other section of this article.
d.  When a pension or a pension-providing-for-increased-take-home-pay,
if any, becomes payable to or on account of any member, a reserve, in an
amount computed by the actuary to be necessary to provide the pension or
pension-providing-for-increased-take-home-pay, if any, granted  in  each
such  case,  shall  be transferred from the pension accumulation fund to
the pension reserve fund.
e. Whenever the comptroller, upon recommendation by the actuary, shall
determine that it is necessary to increase  the  reserves  held  in  the
annuity reserve fund or the pension reserve fund, he may direct that the
amount   so  needed  shall  be  transferred  thereto  from  the  pension
accumulation fund.
f. The amount of regular interest which  is  to  be  credited  to  the
annuity  savings  fund, the annuity reserve fund and the pension reserve
fund, and the amount  of  special  interest,  if  any,  which  shall  be
credited  to  the  annuity savings accounts in the annuity savings fund,

shall be determined after the close  of  each  fiscal  year.  Each  such
amount thereupon shall be transferred from the pension accumulation fund
to each such fund.