N.Y. General Municipal Law 219 – Requirements and benefits under a defined benefit plan service award program
§ 219. Requirements and benefits under a defined benefit plan service award program. (a) An active volunteer firefighter's service award program that is a defined benefit plan shall be subject to minimum and maximum retirement benefit requirements as set forth in subdivision (b) of this section. In determining whether such minimum and maximum benefit requirements have been satisfied, all benefits provided under all service award programs instituted by a sponsor shall be considered as one program.
Terms Used In N.Y. General Municipal Law 219
- Active volunteer firefighter: means a person who has been approved by the authorities in control of a duly organized volunteer fire company or volunteer fire department as an active volunteer firefighter of such fire company or department and who is faithfully and actually performing service in the protection of life and property from fire or other emergency, accident or calamity in connection with which the services of such fire company or fire department are required. See N.Y. General Municipal Law 215
- Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
- Defined benefit plan: means any service award program that provides to eligible volunteer firefighters, a benefit that is definitely determinable under the program without reference to the amount contributed to the program on the participant's behalf or to any income, expenses, gains or losses or forfeitures of other participants under the program. See N.Y. General Municipal Law 215
- Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
- Entitlement age: means the age designated by the sponsor at which a program participant is entitled to begin receiving an unreduced service award. See N.Y. General Municipal Law 215
- Nonforfeitable: means the unconditional and legally enforceable right to receive benefits attributable to service as an active volunteer firefighter under the program that will begin at the entitlement age specified in the program. See N.Y. General Municipal Law 215
- Participant: means an active volunteer firefighter who is eligible for a benefit under a service award program. See N.Y. General Municipal Law 215
- Political subdivision: means a county, city, town, town on behalf of a fire protection district, village, village on behalf of fire service area or fire district. See N.Y. General Municipal Law 215
- program: means a defined benefit plan or defined contribution plan established or maintained under this article to provide service awards for active volunteer firefighters, pursuant to the benefit options specified by the sponsoring organization. See N.Y. General Municipal Law 215
- Service award: means the benefit payable to a participant in a service award program. See N.Y. General Municipal Law 215
- Year of firefighting service: means a twelve month period during which an active volunteer firefighter participates in the fire service and satisfies the minimum requirements of participation established by the sponsoring organization maintaining the program which shall be applied on a consistent and uniform basis, subject to the minimum standards established by the sponsoring organization. See N.Y. General Municipal Law 215
(b) The minimum and maximum retirement benefit requirements for a service award program that is a defined benefit plan shall be defined as follows. Each participating active volunteer firefighter shall be entitled to a minimum service award benefit of five dollars per month for each year of firefighting service completed after satisfying the program's eligibility requirement and after establishment of the program. The maximum benefit amount payable to a participating active volunteer firefighter entitled to a benefit shall be determined on the basis of an actuarial valuation. The valuation shall take into account the age, and such other factors as the actuary deems appropriate, of the eligible participating active volunteer firefighters and the amount of available financing available per active covered volunteer firefighter. The maximum service award under a service award program shall be a monthly payment, payable for life, that does not exceed an amount equal to thirty dollars for each year of firefighting service credited under the terms of the program to a maximum of forty years of firefighting service. The governing board of a political subdivision may extend the maximum number of years of service for which a participant may receive a contribution for up to an additional ten years, to a maximum of fifty years, and such increases in the number of years may be added in multiple increments or in a single action, pursuant to the adoption of the required resolution or resolutions of the governing board, receiving the affirmative vote of at least sixty percent of the governing board of the political subdivision, and the approval of any mandatory referendum or referenda authorizing the extension of benefits under the program by eligible voters within such political subdivision.
(c) No benefit payments may be made under any service award program that is a defined benefit plan until the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the service award program. The foregoing sentence shall not preclude a service award program from providing for additional benefit payments after the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the service award program to reflect the fact that the payment of benefits could not commence until that date.
Notwithstanding the preceding paragraph, if a program sponsor has been authorized pursuant to section two hundred sixteen or two hundred sixteen-a of this article to provide benefits prior to the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the service award program, it may provide for the payment of service awards from the date of establishment of the service award program or from such other date as is set forth in the authorization.
(d) The governing board shall engage the services of an actuary for the purpose of determining the annual amount required to be contributed to a defined benefit service award program, which amount shall be based on the interest and mortality tables or other appropriate assumptions and methods selected by actuary. The sum so determined shall be appropriated annually by the political subdivision. The governing board may also retain an actuary to provide advice with respect to any other aspect of the program.
(e) In the event that any active volunteer firefighter becomes disabled and in the event that the disability prevents the active volunteer firefighter from pursuing such volunteer's normal occupation and if the disability is total and of a permanent nature as certified by the workers' compensation board or other competent authority as approved by the program sponsor, the volunteer firefighter is entitled to receive the benefits described in this section, regardless of age or length of service. Such benefits shall begin on the first day of the first month following the establishment of such disability.
At the option of the sponsor of the service award program, if the active volunteer firefighter becomes disabled during the course of service as a volunteer while actively engaged in providing line of duty services as defined in subdivision one of section five of the volunteer firefighters' benefit law, an additional disability benefit may be authorized. Additional disability benefit shall be equal to the amount of additional benefits that the volunteer firefighter would have been entitled to had he continued to earn years of firefighting service through his entitlement age if the rate of benefits being provided under the service award program at the time of disability continued to be provided through the entitlement age.
(f) A volunteer firefighter's retirement income plan may provide that, in the event of the death of an active volunteer firefighter who has a right to a nonforfeitable percentage of retirement income pursuant to subdivision (b) of this section, the designated beneficiaries of such active volunteer firefighter (or his estate if no beneficiary is so designated) shall be entitled to receive death benefits under the service award plan. Such death benefits shall be payable in the form of a lump sum amount designated by the sponsor as payable at death or a percentage of the retirement benefits otherwise payable. Such benefits shall be equal to the amount of benefits earned by the volunteer firefighter under the plan at the date of death.
At the option of the sponsor of the service award program, if the active volunteer firefighter dies during the course of service as a volunteer while actively engaged in providing line of duty services, as defined in subdivision one of section five of the volunteer firefighters' benefit law, additional death benefits may be provided.
(g) In the case of a state-administered service award program, a service award shall be paid only after an application is made to the program administrator and the administrator approves the application.