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 154.8 - Distributions

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
(a) A service award
				shall equal a participant's account balance as of the valuation date
				immediately succeeding application for distribution of the service award plus
				any unscheduled prior service contributions received by the administrator
				pursuant to section
				154.7 
				of this Part. A service award shall be paid in the form of a lump sum
				distribution or in such other manner selected by the participant in his or her
				application for distribution of the service award as may be permitted by the
				terms and conditions of the program document.
(b) Except as otherwise provided in this
				section, a participant shall be entitled to apply for and receive distribution
				of a service award only when the participant has reached entitlement
				age.
(c) A service award shall be
				payable only after an application for distribution is filed with the
				administrator and the administrator approves the application, and shall be paid
				as soon as practicable following approval of the application and the valuation
				date next succeeding the date the application is received by the administrator.
				The administrator shall determine whether to approve an application based on
				the terms of the sponsor's adoption agreement, the records maintained by the
				administrator and, in the case of disability or death, such additional records
				or information as the administrator may require. The administrator, in its sole
				discretion, may require the sponsor, the appropriate volunteer fire company or
				volunteer fire department or the participant to verify or supply any
				information the administrator deems necessary to determine entitlement to
				distribution of a service award.
(d) In the event that a participant becomes
				totally and permanently disabled as certified by the workers' compensation
				board or by any other competent authority approved by the administrator, and
				the disability prevents the participant from pursuing his or her normal
				occupation, the participant shall be entitled to apply for and receive
				distribution of a service award regardless of whether the participant has
				reached entitlement age or has acquired a nonforfeitable right to a service
				award. If a State-administered defined contribution volunteer firefighter
				service award program includes an optional additional disability benefit that
				the sponsor has elected to provide for a participant who becomes disabled
				during the course of service as an active volunteer firefighter while actively
				engaged in providing a line of duty service, then, in the event that a
				participant becomes totally and permanently disabled as a result of such cause
				and such total and permanent disability is certified by the workers'
				compensation board or by any other competent authority approved by the
				administrator, the participant shall be entitled to apply for and receive
				distribution of such optional additional disability benefit in the form of a
				monthly payment for life in the amount stated in the referendum authorizing
				such benefit.
(e) In the event of
				the death of a participant who has acquired a nonforfeitable right to a service
				award and who has not previously received distribution of all or any portion of
				a service award, the beneficiary or beneficiaries designated by the participant
				or, if no beneficiary has been designated, the participant's estate, shall be
				entitled to apply for and receive distribution of the participant's service
				award regardless of whether the participant had reached entitlement age before
				death. If a participant dies after receiving distribution of less than the full
				amount of the service award, the remaining portion, if any, shall be paid in
				accordance with the distribution option selected by the participant in his or
				her application for distribution of the service award made pursuant to this
				section. If a State-administered defined contribution volunteer firefighter
				service award program includes an optional additional death benefit that the
				sponsor has elected to provide for a participant who dies during the course of
				service as an active volunteer firefighter while actively engaged in providing
				a line of duty service, then, in the event that a participant dies as a result
				of such cause, the beneficiary or beneficiaries designated by the participant
				or, if no beneficiary has been designated, the participant's estate, shall be
				entitled to apply for and receive distribution of such additional optional
				death benefit in the amount stated in the referendum authorizing such
				benefit.
(f) In the event that the
				sponsor has elected to pay prior service contributions in installments as
				provided in section
				154.7 
				of this Part and the administrator determines that a participant is eligible
				for a distribution of a service award prior to the payment of all annual
				installments of the participant's prior service contribution, the administrator
				shall promptly notify the sponsor of the amount of the unscheduled prior
				service contribution which must be paid to the administrator.