2006 New York Code - Optional Twenty-year Improved Benefit Retirement Program For New York City Sanitation Members.

 
    §  445-b. Optional twenty-year improved benefit retirement program for
  New York city sanitation 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.  "New  York  city  sanitation  member"  shall  mean a member of the
  retirement system who is subject to the provisions of this article,  who
  is  a  member  of the uniformed force of the New York city department of
  sanitation and who has elected to contribute to the retirement system on
  the basis of a minimum retirement period of twenty  years  of  allowable
  service  rendered  in  such  sanitation  force  pursuant to the optional
  retirement provisions of section 13-159 or 13-160 of the  administrative
  code.
    3.  "Twenty-year  improved  benefit retirement program" shall mean all
  the terms and conditions of this section.
    4. "Starting date  of  the  twenty-year  improved  benefit  retirement
  program"  shall  mean  the commencement date of the payroll period which
  includes July first, nineteen hundred ninety-two.
    5. "Enactment date of  the  twenty-year  improved  benefit  retirement
  program"  shall  mean  the date of enactment of the act which added this
  section, as such date is certified pursuant to section forty-one of  the
  legislative law.
    6.   "Participant  in  the  twenty-year  improved  benefit  retirement
  program" shall mean any New York city sanitation 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-year improved benefit retirement program,  as  applicable  to
  him or her.
    7.  "Administrative  code"  shall  mean the administrative code of the
  city of New York.
    8. "Accumulated  deductions"  shall  mean  accumulated  deductions  as
  defined  in  subdivision  eleven of section 13-101 of the administrative
  code.
    b. Election of twenty-year improved  benefit  retirement  program.  1.
  Subject  to  the  provisions  of paragraph five of this subdivision, any
  person who is a New York city sanitation member on the enactment date of
  the twenty-year improved benefit retirement program may elect to  become
  a  participant in the twenty-year improved benefit retirement program by
  filing, within ninety days after such enactment date,  a  duly  executed
  application  for such participation with the retirement system, provided
  he or she is such a sanitation member on the date  such  application  is
  filed.
    2.  Subject  to  the provisions of paragraph five of this subdivision,
  any person who becomes a New  York  city  sanitation  member  after  the
  enactment  date  of  the twenty-year improved benefit retirement program
  may elect to become a participant in the  twenty-year  improved  benefit
  retirement  program  by filing, within ninety days after becoming such a
  sanitation member, a duly executed application  for  such  participation
  with  the  retirement  system,  provided  he or she is such a sanitation
  member on the date such application is filed.
    3. Any election to  be  a  participant  in  the  twenty-year  improved
  benefit retirement program shall be irrevocable.
    4.   Where   any  participant  in  the  twenty-year  improved  benefit
  retirement program shall cease to hold a position in the uniformed force
  of the New York city department of sanitation, he or she shall cease  to
  be  such  a participant and, during any period in which such person does
  not hold such a uniformed sanitation position, he or she shall not be  a
  participant  in  the twenty-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-year  improved  benefit
  retirement program terminates service in the uniformed force of the  New
  York  city department of sanitation and returns to such service as a New
  York city sanitation member at a later  date,  he  or  she  shall  again
  become such a participant on that date.
    c. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, where a
  participant  in the twenty-year improved benefit retirement program, who
  is otherwise qualified for a retirement allowance  pursuant  to  section
  13-159,  13-160  or 13-173.1 of the administrative code, has made and/or
  paid, while he or  she  is  a  New  York  city  sanitation  member,  all
  additional  member  contributions  and  interest  (if  any)  required by
  subdivision d of this section, then:
    (i) 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 chapter; and
    (ii)  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 chapter; and
    (iii)   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  13-159  or 13-160 of the
  administrative  code,  each  participant  in  the  twenty-year  improved
  benefit  retirement  program shall contribute (subject to the applicable
  provisions of section 13-125.1 of the administrative code) an additional
  five and thirty-five one-hundredths percent of his or  her  compensation
  earned  from all service as a New York city sanitation member (including
  service creditable as such sanitation service) rendered on and after the
  starting date of the twenty-year improved benefit retirement program.  A
  participant in the twenty-year improved benefit retirement program shall
  contribute  additional  member  contributions  only  until  he or she is
  eligible to retire  with  twenty  years  of  allowable  service  in  the
  uniformed force of the New York city department of sanitation under such
  retirement program.
    2. (i) Commencing with the payroll period which begins on the starting
  date  of  the  twenty-year  improved  benefit  retirement program (for a
  person who elects to become a participant prior to such starting  date),
  or  commencing with the first full payroll period after a person becomes
  such a participant (for a person who becomes a participant on  or  after
  such  starting  date),  additional  member  contributions  at  the  rate
  specified in  paragraph  one  of  this  subdivision  shall  be  deducted
  (subject  to  the  applicable  provisions  of  section  13-125.1  of the
  administrative code) from the compensation of such participant  on  each
  and every payroll of such participant for each and every payroll period.
    (ii)  (A)  Where  any  additional  member  contributions  required  by
  paragraph one of this subdivision are not  paid  by  deductions  from  a
  participant's   compensation   pursuant  to  subparagraph  (i)  of  this
  paragraph because such contributions  are  for  service  rendered  in  a
  payroll  period  prior to the actual commencement of deductions pursuant
  to such subparagraph (i), such amounts shall be paid by deductions  from
  the  compensation  of  such  participant  pursuant  to  item (B) of this
  subparagraph.
    (B)  Commencing  with  the  payroll  period  in  which  deductions  of
  additional  member  contributions  from a participant's compensation are
  begun pursuant to subparagraph (i) of this paragraph, addition  to  such
  deductions  required  by  such  subparagraph (i), there shall be another
  deduction of additional member contributions made from the  compensation
  of  such  participant  at  the  rate  specified in paragraph one of this
  subdivision (subject to the applicable provisions of section 13-125.1 of
  the administrative code) on each and  every  payroll  period  until  the
  total amount of unpaid additional member contributions described in item
  (A)  of  this  subparagraph,  if  any,  has been paid by deductions from
  compensation pursuant to this subparagraph.
    3. (i) (A) 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,  that  participant  shall  be  charged  with a contribution
  deficiency consisting of such unpaid  amounts,  together  with  interest
  thereon  as  required  by subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph compounded
  annually.
    (B) Except as provided in subparagraph  (ii)  of  this  paragraph,  no
  participant  shall  be  required  to  pay  any  interest  on  his or her
  contribution deficiency.
    (ii) (A) 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-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 item (B) of this subparagraph)  as  if
  such additional contributions had never been made.
    (B)  Interest  on  the  amounts  of  additional  member  contributions
  included in a participant's contribution deficiency pursuant to item (A)
  of this subparagraph shall be calculated as if  such  additional  member
  contributions  had  never  been paid by a participant, and such interest
  shall accrue from the end of the payroll period to which  an  amount  of
  additional  member  contributions  is attributable, until such amount is
  paid to the retirement system.
    (C) 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, compounded annually.
    4. A participant, while he or  she  is  a  New  York  city  sanitation
  member, shall pay the total amount of his or her contribution deficiency
  to  the  retirement  system  in accordance with payment procedures which
  shall be established by the executive director of the retirement system,
  and approved by the board of trustees of the retirement system.
    5.  Where  a  contribution  deficiency  chargeable  to  a  participant
  pursuant  to  paragraph  three  of this subdivision has not been paid in
  full while the participant is a New York city  sanitation  member,  that
  participant   shall   not  be  entitled  to  the  benefits  provided  in
  subdivision c of this section.
    6.  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 accumulated deductions of a member of the retirement system
  while he or she is a participant in  the  twenty-year  improved  benefit
  retirement program or otherwise.
    (ii)  (A)  Should  a  participant  in the twenty-year improved benefit
  retirement program, who has rendered less than fifteen years of  service
  in  the  uniformed  force  of the New York city department of sanitation
  cease to hold  a  position  in  such  uniformed  force  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) 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  eight
  and one-quarter percent per annum, compounded annually.
    (B)  Upon  the  death  of  a  participant  in the twenty-year improved
  benefit retirement program, there shall be paid to such person as he  or
  she  has  nominated  or shall nominate to receive his or her accumulated
  deductions by written designation  duly  executed  and  filed  with  the
  retirement system during the lifetime of such participant, or, to his or
  her  estate  if  no  such  person  is  nominated, his or her accumulated
  additional  member  contributions  made  pursuant  to  this  subdivision
  (including any interest thereon paid to the retirement system), together
  with  interest  thereon at the rate of eight and one-quarter percent per
  annum, compounded annually.
    (iii) Except as  otherwise  provided  in  subparagraph  (ii)  of  this
  paragraph,  no  member  of  the  retirement system, while he or she is a
  participant in such retirement program or otherwise, shall have a  right
  to withdraw such additional member contributions or any interest thereon
  from the retirement system.
    8. No member of the retirement system shall be permitted to borrow any
  portion  of  the additional member contributions (including any interest
  paid thereon) which are subject to this subdivision.
    9. 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.
    10.  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.
    e.  The  provisions  of this section shall not be construed to provide
  benefits  to  any  participant  in  the  twenty-year  improved   benefit
  retirement  program which are greater than those which would be received
  by a similarly situated member of the uniformed force of  the  New  York
  city  department  of  sanitation  who  is  governed by the provisions of
  section 13-159 or 13-160 of the administrative  code,  but  who  is  not
  governed by the provisions of this article.