New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 2 - DEPARTMENT OF AUDIT AND CONTROL › Chapter IV - Miscellaneous Rules › Part 154 - State-administered Defined Contribution Service Award Programs For Volunteer Firefighters › Section 154.4 - Adoption or transfer agreement

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
(a)
(1)
				State administration of a newly adopted defined contribution 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 contribution volunteer firefighter
				service award program.
(2) No
				transfer to the State of responsibility for administration of a defined
				contribution 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 contribution 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 administrator to be necessary to fully
				finance all existing obligations of such program, up to and including
				contributions for credit for years 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
				154.7(a) 
				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
				154.3 
				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 such
				additional information as may be necessary to make the records of the defined
				contribution 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
				annual contributions, fees, charges, or assessments determined by the
				administrator;
(iii) in the case of
				a defined contribution volunteer firefighter service award program being
				transferred from local administration to State administration, a statement of
				the payment to be made to the administrator by the sponsor for the purpose of
				fully financing the obligations of the defined contribution volunteer
				firefighter service award program, together with an express agreement by the
				sponsor to make such payment to the administrator at the time that the adoption
				or transfer agreement is submitted to the administrator pursuant to subdivision
				(c) of this section, and an express agreement by the sponsor 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 State administration of a defined
				contribution 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 contribution 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 amount
				to be contributed to the program by the sponsor on behalf of each participant
				who is credited with a year of firefighting service;
(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
				154.7 
				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 contribution volunteer firefighter service award
				program shall take effect;
(g) if
				the State-administered defined contribution 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
				contribution volunteer firefighter service award program; and
(vi) a certification that, prior
				to the approval of a resolution by a governing board and the approval of a
				proposition by voters authorizing the transfer of a locally-administered
				defined contribution volunteer firefighter service award program to State
				administration, the sponsor fully disclosed to each participant in the
				locally-administered program the estimated effects of such transfer on the
				value of such participant's defined contribution account, including, but not
				limited to, any investment losses incurred during local administration, any
				investment losses anticipated as a result of trading or liquidating program
				assets in order to acquire assets acceptable to the State program
				administrator, and any fees and expenses incident to the transfer;
				and
(vii) such other provisions as
				the Comptroller may deem necessary and advisable to assure the proper financing
				and management of the State-administered defined contribution volunteer
				firefighter service award program.