2023 New York Laws › RSS - Retirement and Social Security › Article 11 - Limitations Applicable to New Entrants › 445-H - Optional Twenty-Five Year Improved Benefit Retirement Program for Police Communications Members.

§ 445-h. Optional twenty-five year improved benefit retirement program
for  police  communications members. a. Definitions. The following words
and phrases as used in this section shall have  the  following  meanings
unless a different meaning is plainly required by the context.
1.  "Retirement  system"  shall  mean  the  New  York  city employees'
retirement system.
2.  "Police  communications  member"  shall  mean  a  member  of   the
retirement  system  employed  by  the  police  department  as  a  police
communications   technician,   a   supervising   police   communications
technician or a principal police communications technician.
3.  "Twenty-five  year improved benefit retirement program" shall mean
all the terms and conditions of this section.
4. "Starting date of the twenty-five year improved benefit  retirement
program"  shall mean the date of enactment of this section, as such date
is certified pursuant to section forty-one of the legislative law.
5. "Participant in the twenty-five year  improved  benefit  retirement
program"  shall  mean  any  police  communications member who, under the
applicable provisions of subdivision b of this section, is  entitled  to
the rights, benefits and privileges and is subject to the obligations of
the  twenty-five year improved benefit retirement program, as applicable
to him or her.
6. "Administrative code" shall mean the  administrative  code  of  the
city of New York.
7.  "Accumulated  deductions"  shall  mean  accumulated  deductions as
defined in subdivision eleven of section 13-101  of  the  administrative
code.
8. "Optional retirement provisions" shall mean the right to retire and
receive a retirement allowance under this section upon the completion of
twenty-five years of credited service.
b. Election of twenty-five year improved benefit retirement program.
1.  Subject  to  the  provisions  of  paragraphs  five and six of this
subdivision, any person who is a police  communications  member  on  the
starting  date  of  the  twenty-five  year  improved  benefit retirement
program may elect to  become  a  participant  in  the  twenty-five  year
improved benefit retirement program by filing, within one hundred eighty
days  after  such  starting  date,  a duly executed application for such
participation with the retirement system, provided he or she is  such  a
police communications member on the date such application is filed.
2.  Subject  to  the  provisions  of  paragraphs  five and six of this
subdivision, any person who becomes a police communications member after
the starting date of the twenty-five year  improved  benefit  retirement
program  may  elect  to  become  a  participant  in the twenty-five year
improved benefit retirement program by filing, within one hundred eighty
days after becoming such a police communications member, a duly executed
application for such participation with the retirement system,  provided
he  or  she  is  such  a  police  communications member on the date such
application is filed.
3. Any election to be a participant in the twenty-five  year  improved
benefit retirement program shall be irrevocable.
4.  Where  any  participant  in  the twenty-five year improved benefit
retirement  program  shall  cease  to  hold  a  position  as  a   police
communications  member,  he  or she shall cease to be such a participant
and, during any period in which such a  person  does  not  hold  such  a
police  communications position, he or she shall not be a participant in
the twenty-five year improved benefit retirement program and  shall  not
be eligible for the benefits of subdivision c of this section.
5.  Where  any  participant  in  the twenty-five year improved benefit
retirement program terminates service as a police communications  member

and returns to such service as a police communications member at a later
date, he or she shall again become such a participant on that date.
6.  Notwithstanding  any  other  provision of law to the contrary, any
person who is eligible to become a participant in the  twenty-five  year
improved  benefit retirement program pursuant to paragraph one or two of
this subdivision for the full one hundred eighty day period provided for
in such applicable paragraph  and  who  fails  to  timely  file  a  duly
executed  application for such participation with the retirement system,
shall not thereafter  be  eligible  to  become  a  participant  in  such
program.
c. Service retirement benefits. Notwithstanding any other provision of
law  to  the  contrary,  where  a  participant  in  the twenty-five year
improved benefit retirement program, who is otherwise  qualified  for  a
retirement  allowance pursuant to the optional retirement provisions set
forth in subdivision a of this section, has made and/or paid,  while  he
or  she  is  a  police  communications  member,  all  additional  member
contributions and interest (if any) required by subdivision  d  of  this
section, then:
1.  that participant, while he or she remains a participant, shall not
be subject to the provisions of subdivision a of  section  four  hundred
forty-five of this article; and
2.  if  that  participant,  while  such  a  participant,  retires from
service, he or she shall not be subject to  the  provisions  of  section
four hundred forty-four of this article; and
3.  his  or her retirement allowance shall be an amount, on account of
the required minimum period of service, equal  to  the  sum  of  (i)  an
annuity  which  shall  be  the  actuarial  equivalent of the accumulated
deductions from his or her pay during such period, (ii)  a  pension  for
increased-take-home-pay  which  shall be the actuarial equivalent of the
reserve for increased-take-home-pay to which he or she may  be  entitled
for  such  period, and (iii) a pension which, when added to such annuity
and such pension  for  increased-take-home-pay,  produces  a  retirement
allowance  equal  to  fifty  percent of his or her final average salary,
plus an amount  for  each  additional  year  of  allowable  service,  or
fraction  thereof,  beyond such required minimum period of service equal
to two percent of his or her final average salary; and
4.  the  maximum  retirement   benefit   computed   without   optional
modification  payable to that participant upon his or her retirement for
service as such a participant shall equal that payable  upon  completion
of thirty years of service.
d.  Additional  member  contributions.  1.  In  addition to the member
contributions required pursuant to section 13-125 or section  13-162  of
the  administrative  code,  each  participant  in  the  twenty-five year
improved benefit retirement program shall  contribute,  subject  to  the
applicable provisions of section 13-125.2 of the administrative code, an
additional  six  percent  of his or her compensation earned from (i) all
credited service, as a participant  in  the  twenty-five  year  improved
benefit  retirement  program, rendered on and after the starting date of
the improved benefit retirement program, and (ii) all  credited  service
after such person ceases to be a participant, but before he or she again
becomes  a  participant  pursuant  to paragraph five of subdivision b of
this section. A participant in the  twenty-five  year  improved  benefit
retirement  program  shall  contribute  additional  member contributions
until the later of (i) the date as of which he or  she  is  eligible  to
retire  with twenty-five years of credited service under such retirement
program, or (ii) the first anniversary  of  the  starting  date  of  the
twenty-five  year  improved  benefit  retirement program. The additional
contributions required by this paragraph shall be in lieu of  additional

member  contributions  required by subdivision d of section four hundred
forty-five-d of this article, as added by chapter ninety-six of the laws
of  nineteen  hundred  ninety-five,  and  no  member  paying  additional
contributions  pursuant  to  this  section  shall  be  required  to  pay
additional contributions pursuant to such subdivision d of section  four
hundred forty-five-d of this article.
2.  Commencing  with  the  first full payroll period after each person
becomes  a  participant  in  the  twenty-five  year   improved   benefit
retirement   program,   additional  member  contributions  at  the  rate
specified in paragraph  one  of  this  subdivision  shall  be  deducted,
subject  to  the  applicable  provisions  of  section  13-125.2  of  the
administrative code, from the compensation of such participant  on  each
and  every payroll of such participant for each and every payroll period
for which he or she is such a participant.
3. (i)  Subject  to  the  provisions  of  subparagraph  (ii)  of  this
paragraph,   where  any  additional  member  contributions  required  by
paragraph one of this subdivision are not  paid  by  deductions  from  a
participant's   compensation   pursuant   to   paragraph   two  of  this
subdivision:
(A) that participant shall be charged with a  contribution  deficiency
consisting  of  such  unpaid  amounts,  together  with interest thereon,
compounded annually; and
(B) such interest on each amount  of  undeducted  contributions  shall
accrue  from  the  end of the payroll period for which such amount would
have been deducted from compensation if he or she had been a participant
at the beginning of that payroll period and  such  deductions  had  been
required  for  such  payroll  period  until  such  amount is paid to the
retirement system; and
(C) (1) interest on each such amount included  in  such  participant's
contribution   deficiency   pursuant   to  this  subparagraph  shall  be
calculated as if such additional member  contributions  never  had  been
paid by such participant, and such interest shall accrue from the end of
the  payroll  period  to  which  an  amount  of  such  additional member
contributions is attributable, compounded annually, until such amount is
paid to the retirement system.
(2) the rate of interest to be applied to each such amount during  the
period  for  which interest accrues on that amount shall be equal to the
rate or rates of interest required by law to be used  during  that  same
period  to  credit  interest on the accumulated deductions of retirement
system members.
(ii) Except as provided in subparagraph (iii) of  this  paragraph,  no
interest  shall  be due on any unpaid additional contributions which are
not attributable to the period prior to the first  full  payroll  period
referred to in paragraph two of this subdivision.
(iii)  Should  any  person  who,  pursuant  to paragraph seven of this
subdivision, has withdrawn any additional member contributions (and  any
interest  paid  thereon)  again  become a participant in the twenty-five
year improved benefit retirement program pursuant to paragraph  five  of
subdivision  b  of this section, an appropriate amount shall be included
in  such  participant's  contribution  deficiency  (including   interest
thereon  as  calculated  pursuant  to  subclause  two  of  clause (C) of
subparagraph (i) of  this  paragraph)  for  any  credited  service  with
respect  to  which  such  person  received a refund of additional member
contributions (including any amount of an unpaid loan balance deemed  to
have  been  returned  to such person pursuant to paragraph seven of this
subdivision), as if such additional member contributions never had  been
paid.
4. The board of trustees of the retirement system may, consistent with
the  provisions  of  this  subdivision,  promulgate  regulations for the
payment  of  the  additional  member  contributions  required  by   this
subdivision,   and  any  interest  thereon,  by  a  participant  in  the
twenty-five  year  improved  benefit  retirement  program (including the
deduction of such contributions, and any interest thereon, from  his  or
her compensation).
5.   Where  a  participant  who  is  otherwise  eligible  for  service
retirement pursuant to subdivision c of this section did not,  prior  to
the   effective   date  of  retirement,  pay  the  entire  amount  of  a
contribution deficiency chargeable to him or her pursuant  to  paragraph
three  of  this subdivision, or repay the entire amount of a loan of his
or her additional member contributions pursuant to  paragraph  eight  of
this  subdivision  (including  accrued  interest  on  such  loan),  that
participant, nevertheless, shall  be  eligible  to  retire  pursuant  to
subdivision  c  of  this  section,  provided,  however,  that where such
participant  is  not  entitled  to  a  refund   of   additional   member
contributions  pursuant  to  paragraph  seven  of this subdivision, such
participant's service retirement  benefit  calculated  pursuant  to  the
applicable  provisions of subdivision c of this section shall be reduced
by a life annuity (calculated in accordance with the method set forth in
subdivision i of section six hundred thirteen-b of this  chapter)  which
is actuarially equivalent to:
(i)  the  amount  of  any unpaid contribution deficiency chargeable to
such member pursuant to paragraph three of this subdivision; plus
(ii) the amount of any  unpaid  balance  of  a  loan  of  his  or  her
additional  member  contributions  pursuant  to  paragraph eight of this
subdivision (including accrued interest on such loan).
6. Subject to the provisions of paragraph five  of  this  subdivision,
where  a  participant  has  not paid in full any contribution deficiency
chargeable  to  him  or  her  pursuant  to  paragraph  three   of   this
subdivision,   and  a  benefit,  other  than  a  refund  of  a  member's
accumulated deductions or a refund of  additional  member  contributions
pursuant  to paragraph seven of this subdivision, becomes payable by the
retirement system to  the  participant  or  to  his  or  her  designated
beneficiary  or  estate,  the  actuarial  equivalent  of any such unpaid
amount shall be deducted from the benefit otherwise payable.
7.  (i)  All  additional  member  contributions   required   by   this
subdivision  (and  any  interest  thereon)  which  are  received  by the
retirement system shall be paid into its  contingent  reserve  fund  and
shall  be  the property of the retirement system. Such additional member
contributions (and any interest thereon) shall not for  any  purpose  be
deemed  to be member contributions or accumulated deductions of a member
of the retirement system under section 13-125 or section 13-162  of  the
administrative  code while he or she is a participant in the twenty-five
year improved benefit retirement program or otherwise.
(ii) Should a participant in the  twenty-five  year  improved  benefit
retirement  program,  who  has rendered less than five years of credited
service cease to hold a position as a police communications  member  for
any   reason  whatsoever,  his  or  her  accumulated  additional  member
contributions made pursuant  to  this  subdivision  (together  with  any
interest thereon paid to the retirement system) which remain credited to
such  participant's  account  may be withdrawn by him or her pursuant to
procedures promulgated in regulations of the board of  trustees  of  the
retirement  system,  together  with  interest  thereon  at  the  rate of
interest  required  by  law  to  be  used  to  credit  interest  on  the
accumulated deductions of retirement system members compounded annually.
(iii)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, (A)
no person shall be permitted to withdraw from the retirement system  any
additional member contributions paid pursuant to this subdivision or any
interest  paid  thereon,  except  pursuant to and in accordance with the
preceding  subparagraphs  of this paragraph; and (B) no person, while he
or she is  a  participant  in  the  twenty-five  year  improved  benefit
retirement  program,  shall be permitted to withdraw any such additional
member contributions or any interest paid thereon pursuant to any of the
preceding subparagraphs of this paragraph or otherwise.
8. A participant in the twenty-five year improved  benefit  retirement
program  shall  be permitted to borrow from his or her additional member
contributions, including any interest paid thereon, which  are  credited
to the additional contributions account established for such participant
in  the  contingent reserve fund of the retirement system. The borrowing
from such additional member contributions  pursuant  to  this  paragraph
shall  be  governed  by  the  same  rights,  privileges, obligations and
procedures set forth in section six hundred thirteen-b of  this  chapter
which govern the borrowing by members subject to article fifteen of this
chapter  of  member  contributions  made pursuant to section six hundred
thirteen of this chapter. The board of trustees of the retirement system
may,  consistent  with  the  provisions  of  this  subdivision  and  the
provisions  of  section  six  hundred thirteen-b of this chapter as made
applicable to this subdivision,  promulgate  regulations  governing  the
borrowing of such additional member contributions.
9.  Wherever  a  person  has an unpaid balance of a loan of his or her
additional member contributions pursuant  to  paragraph  eight  of  this
subdivision at the time he or she becomes entitled to a refund of his or
her  additional  member  contributions  pursuant to subparagraph (ii) of
paragraph seven of this subdivision, the  amount  of  such  unpaid  loan
balance  (including  accrued  interest)  shall  be  deemed  to have been
returned to such member, and the refund of such additional contributions
shall be the net amount of such contributions,  together  with  interest
thereon in accordance with the provisions of such subparagraph.
10.  Notwithstanding  any  other provision of law to the contrary, the
provisions of section one hundred thirty-eight-b of this  chapter  shall
not  be  applicable  to  the  additional  member contributions which are
required by this subdivision.
11. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to  the  contrary,  the
additional  member  contributions which are required by this subdivision
shall not be reduced under any program for increased-take-home-pay.