New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 2 - DEPARTMENT OF AUDIT AND CONTROL › Chapter IV - Miscellaneous Rules › Part 155 - State-administered Defined Benefit Service Award Programs For Volunteer Firefighters › Section 155.5 - Adoption or transfer agreement

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
(a)
(1)
				State administration of a newly adopted defined benefit volunteer firefighter
				service award program shall not be effective until the sponsor and the
				administrator deliver to each other duly executed originals of an adoption or
				transfer agreement setting forth the obligations of the sponsor and the
				locally-determined features of the defined benefit volunteer firefighter
				service award program.
(2) No
				transfer to the State of responsibility for administration of a defined benefit
				volunteer firefighter service award program shall be effective until:
(i) the sponsor and the administrator deliver
				to each other duly executed originals of an adoption or transfer agreement
				setting forth the obligations of the sponsor and the locally determined
				features of the defined benefit volunteer firefighter service award program,
				and
(ii) the sponsor pays in full
				to the administrator the cash value of all program assets plus any additional
				amount determined by the program actuary to be necessary to fully finance all
				existing obligations of such program, up to and including contributions for
				credit for a year of firefighting service performed during the calendar year
				immediately preceding the year in which State administration commences and any
				unpaid prior service costs payable in a lump sum pursuant to section
				155.8(c) 
				of this Part. Such payment shall be made in cash or cash equivalents acceptable
				to the administrator, and the administrator shall not be obligated to accept an
				insurance contract, a security, or any other asset that is not cash or a cash
				equivalent. Such payment shall be made at the time that the adoption or
				transfer agreement is submitted to the administrator pursuant to subdivision
				(c) of this section.
(3)
				An adoption or transfer agreement shall include, but shall not be limited to,
				the following provisions:
(i) an original or
				copy of the notice of adoption or transfer submitted by the sponsor pursuant to
				section
				155.4 
				of this Part, together with a warranty by the sponsor of the accuracy and
				completeness of the information set forth in such notice and an express
				agreement by the sponsor to submit promptly to the administrator and program
				actuary such additional information as may be necessary to make the records of
				the defined benefit volunteer firefighter service award program accurate and
				complete;
(ii) an express agreement
				by the sponsor to pay to the administrator on time and in full all required
				contributions, fees, charges, or assessments determined by the
				administrator;
(iii) in the case of
				a defined benefit volunteer firefighter service award program being transferred
				from local administration to State administration, a statement of the payments
				required by subdivision (a) of this section to be made by the sponsor to the
				administrator as a condition precedent to the commencement of State
				administration, together with an express agreement by the sponsor to make such
				payments at the time that the adoption or transfer agreement is submitted to
				the administrator pursuant to subdivision (c) of this section, and to turn over
				to the administrator in a timely manner such records as the administrator deems
				necessary to effectuate such transfer;
(iv) an express agreement by the sponsor:
(a) that the Comptroller shall have the
				authority to suspend or terminate the operation of any State-administered
				volunteer firefighter service award program at any time the Comptroller
				determines that the sponsor has failed, for more than 30 days beyond the due
				date, to make any required payment or to satisfy any other material obligation
				of the adoption or transfer agreement;
(b) that the Comptroller may elect, at his or
				her sole option, to collect any required payment or other material obligation
				owed by the sponsor by delivering to the sponsor a duly executed order
				specifying the overdue amount and requiring the sponsor to pay such amount from
				any funds available therefor;
(c)
				that the Comptroller may elect, at his or her sole option, to collect any
				required payment or other material obligation owed by the sponsor by
				intercepting the requisite amount from any State aid payment or other amount
				otherwise due to the sponsor from the State and applying the same to satisfy
				the overdue obligation; and
(d)
				that, notwithstanding such suspension or termination, the sponsor shall
				continue to be obligated to make all required payments and to satisfy all other
				material obligations of the adoption or transfer agreement;
(v) a statement that the sponsor
				agrees to abide by the provisions of article 11-A of the General Municipal Law,
				the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder and the program document, as
				amended from time to time. The adoption or transfer agreement shall be
				completed by incorporating the following locally-determined features of the
				State-administered defined benefit volunteer firefighter service award program:
(a) entitlement age;
(b) the number of years of volunteer
				firefighter service required for a participant to obtain a nonforfeitable right
				to a service award;
(c) the benefit
				under the State-administered defined benefit volunteer firefighter service
				award program;
(d) whether the
				sponsor shall make prior service contributions and, if so, the number of years
				for which such contributions shall be made and, if such prior service
				contributions have not been fully paid prior to commencement of State
				administration, an irrevocable election to pay prior service contributions in
				the form of a single lump sum payment or in annual installments as provided in
				section
				155.8 
				of this Part;
(e) the amount of any
				optional additional line of duty disability or death benefit;
(f) the date as of which the newly adopted
				State-administered defined benefit volunteer firefighter service award program
				shall take effect;
(g) if the
				State-administered defined benefit volunteer firefighter service award program
				is to take effect on a day other than the first day of January, a statement
				setting forth whether points toward a year of firefighting service shall be
				granted for activities performed between the immediately preceding first day of
				January and the effective date of the State-administered defined benefit
				volunteer firefighter service award program; and
(vi) such other provisions as the Comptroller
				may deem necessary and advisable to assure the proper financing and management
				of the State-administered defined benefit volunteer firefighter service award
				program.