N.Y. Retirement & Social Security Law § 604-c*3: Twenty-year retirement program for Triborough bridge and tunnel members

* § 604-c. Twenty-year retirement program for Triborough bridge and

tunnel 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. "Triborough bridge and tunnel member" shall mean a member (as

defined in subdivision e of section six hundred one of this article) who

is employed by the Triborough bridge and tunnel authority as a bridge

and tunnel officer, sergeant, or lieutenant in a non-managerial

position.

2. "Twenty-year retirement program" shall mean all the terms and

conditions of this section.

3. "Starting date of the twenty-year 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.

4. "Participant in the twenty-year retirement program" shall mean any

Triborough bridge and tunnel 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

retirement program, as applicable to him or her.

5. "Discontinued member" shall mean a participant in the twenty-year

retirement program who, while he or she was a Triborough bridge and

tunnel member, discontinued service as such a member and has a right to

a deferred vested benefit under subdivision d of this section.

6. "Administrative code" shall mean the administrative code of the

city of New York.

b. Participation in twenty-year retirement program. 1. Subject to the

provisions of paragraph six of this subdivision, any person who is a

Triborough bridge and tunnel member on the starting date of the

twenty-year retirement program and who, as such a bridge and tunnel

member or otherwise, last became subject to the provisions of this

article prior to such starting date, may elect to become a participant

in the twenty-year retirement program by filing, within one hundred

eighty days after the starting date of the twenty-year retirement

program, a duly executed application for such participation with the

retirement system of which such person is a member, provided he or she

is such a bridge and tunnel member on the date such application is

filed.

2. Subject to the provisions of paragraph six of this subdivision, any

person who becomes a Triborough bridge and tunnel member after the

starting date of the twenty-year retirement program and who, as such a

bridge and tunnel member or otherwise, last became subject to the

provisions of this article prior to such starting date, may elect to

become a participant in the twenty-year retirement program by filing,

within one hundred eighty days after becoming such a bridge and tunnel

member, a duly executed application for such participation with the

retirement system of which such person is a member, provided he or she

is such a bridge and tunnel member on the date such application is

filed.

3. Any election to be a participant in the twenty-year retirement

program shall be irrevocable.

4. Each Triborough bridge and tunnel member who becomes subject to the

provisions of this article on or after the starting date of the

twenty-year retirement program shall become a participant in the

twenty-year retirement program on the date he or she becomes such a

bridge and tunnel member.

5. Where any participant in the twenty-year retirement program shall

cease to be employed by the Triborough bridge and tunnel authority as a

bridge and tunnel member, he or she shall cease to be such a participant

and, during any period in which such person is not so employed, he or

she shall not be a participant in the twenty-year retirement program and

shall not be eligible for the benefits of subdivision c of this section.

6. Where any participant in the twenty-year retirement program

terminates service as a Triborough bridge and tunnel member and returns

to such service as a Triborough bridge and tunnel member at a later

date, he or she shall again become such a participant on that date.

c. Service retirement benefits. 1. A participant in the twenty-year

retirement program:

(i) who has completed twenty or more years of credited service; and

(ii) who has paid, before the effective date of retirement, all

additional member contributions and interest (if any) required by

subdivision e of this section; and

(iii) who files with the retirement system of which he or she is a

member an application for service retirement setting forth at what time

he or she desires to be retired; and

(iv) who shall be a participant in the twenty-year retirement program

at the time so specified for his or her retirement; shall be retired

pursuant to the provisions of this section affording early service

retirement.

2. (i) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the

early service retirement benefit for participants in the twenty-year

retirement program who retire pursuant to paragraph one of this

subdivision shall be a pension consisting of:

(A) an amount, on account of the required minimum period of service,

equal to one-half of his or her final average salary; plus

(B) an amount of credited service, or fraction thereof, beyond such

required minimum period of service equal to one and one-half percent of

his or her final average salary.

(ii) The maximum pension computed without optional modification

payable pursuant to subparagraph (i) of this paragraph shall equal that

payable upon completion of thirty years of service.

d. Vesting. 1. A participant in the twenty-year retirement program

shall be entitled to receive a deferred vested benefit as provided in

this subdivision if such participant:

(i) discontinues service as a Triborough bridge and tunnel member,

other than by death or retirement; and

(ii) prior to such discontinuance, completed five but less than twenty

years of credited service; and

(iii) has paid, prior to such discontinuance, all additional member

contributions and interest (if any) required by subdivision e of this

section; and

(iv) does not withdraw in whole or in part his or her accumulated

member contributions pursuant to section six hundred thirteen of this

article unless such participant thereafter returns to public service and

repays the amounts so withdrawn, together with interest, pursuant to

such section six hundred thirteen.

2. (i) Upon such discontinuance under the conditions and in compliance

with the provisions of paragraph one of this subdivision, such deferred

vested benefit shall vest automatically.

(ii) In the case of a participant who is not a New York city revised

plan member, such vested benefit shall become payable on the earliest

date on which such discontinued member could have retired for service if

such discontinuance had not occurred or, in the case of a participant

who is a New York city revised plan member, such vested benefit shall

become payable at age sixty-three.

3. Such deferred vested benefit shall be a pension consisting of an

amount equal to two and one-half percent of such discontinued member's

final average salary, multiplied by the number of years of credited

service.

e. Additional member contributions. 1. In addition to the member

contributions required by section six hundred thirteen of this article,

each participant in the twenty-year retirement program in the rank of

bridge and tunnel officer shall contribute to the retirement system of

which he or she is a member (subject to the applicable provisions of

subdivision d of section six hundred thirteen of this article) an

additional five and fifty one-hundredths percent of his or her

compensation and each participant in the twenty-year retirement program

in the rank of sergeant or lieutenant shall contribute to the retirement

system an additional six percent of his or her compensation earned from

all allowable service as a Triborough bridge and tunnel member rendered

on and after the date which is one hundred eighty days prior to the

starting date of the twenty-year retirement program. A participant in

the twenty-year retirement program shall contribute additional member

contributions until the later of (i) the date as of which he or she has

twenty years of credited service as a bridge and tunnel officer, or (ii)

the third anniversary of the date that he or she last became a

participant in the twenty-year retirement program.

2. Commencing with the first full payroll period after each person

becomes a participant in the twenty-year retirement program, additional

member contributions at the rate specified in paragraph one of this

subdivision shall be deducted (subject to the applicable provisions of

subdivision d of section six hundred thirteen of this article) from the

compensation of such participant on each and every payroll of such

participant for each and every payroll period.

3. (i) Subject to the provisions of subparagraph (ii) of this

paragraph, 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:

(A) that participant shall be charged with a contribution deficiency

consisting of such unpaid amounts, together with interest thereon at the

rate of five percent per annum, compounded annually; and

(B) such interest on each amount of undeducted contributions shall

accrue from the end of the payroll period for which such amount would

have been deducted from compensation if he or she had been a participant

at the beginning of that payroll period, until such amount is paid to

the retirement system.

(ii) Except as provided in subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph, no

interest shall be due on any such unpaid additional contributions which

are not attributable to the period prior to the first full payroll

period referred to in paragraph two of this subdivision.

(iii) Should any person who, pursuant to paragraph eight of this

subdivision, has withdrawn any additional member contributions (and any

interest paid thereon) again become a participant in the twenty-year

retirement program pursuant to paragraph six 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 subparagraph (i) of this paragraph) as if such additional

contributions had never been made.

(iv) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this paragraph, no

participant shall be charged interest for any period prior to March

twenty-fifth, nineteen hundred ninety-eight with respect to any

contributions owed with respect to any payroll period beginning prior to

such date.

4. The head of a retirement system which includes participants in the

twenty-year retirement program in its membership may, consistent with

the provisions of this subdivision, promulgate regulations for the

payment of such additional member contributions, and any interest

thereon, by such participants (including the deduction of such

contributions, and any interest thereon, from the participant's

compensation).

5. Where a contribution deficiency chargeable to a participant

pursuant to paragraph three of this subdivision has not been paid in

full before the effective date of retirement, that participant shall not

be eligible to retire pursuant to subdivision c of this section.

6. Where a contribution deficiency chargeable to a participant

pursuant to paragraph three of this subdivision has not been paid in

full before the date of discontinuance of service, that participant

shall not be entitled to a deferred vested benefit pursuant to

subdivision d of this section.

7. 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 member contributions

pursuant to section six hundred thirteen of this article or a refund of

additional member contributions pursuant to paragraph eight of this

subdivision, becomes payable under this article 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-a. Notwithstanding paragraph six or seven of this subdivision, where

a deficiency chargeable to a participant pursuant to paragraph three of

this subdivision has not been paid in full while the participant is a

Triborough bridge and tunnel member and such participant retires prior

to July first, two thousand eleven, such participant may elect to be

covered by this paragraph. Such participant shall be entitled to the

benefits provided in subdivision c of this section provided that

participant authorizes the retirement system to deduct from such

benefits an amount which will result in the deficiency, plus associated

interest to date of final payment, being paid in full no later than July

first, two thousand eleven or such earlier date as agreed to by the

participant. Such amount will be deducted in equal installments on a

monthly basis. Nothing in this paragraph shall prevent the participant

from making a partial payment of the amount of the deficiency at the

time of retirement so as to reduce the monthly payment nor to make a

lump sum payment equal to the amount of the total unpaid balance at any

time during the period of repayment.

8. (i) Such additional member contributions (and any interest thereon)

shall be paid into the contingent reserve fund of the retirement system

of which the participant is a member and shall not for any purpose be

deemed to be member contributions or accumulated contributions of a

member under section six hundred thirteen of this article or otherwise

while he or she is a participant in the twenty-year retirement program

or otherwise, except that, a surplus of such additional member

contributions that are paid into the retirement system's contingent

reserve fund may be used for the sole purpose of offsetting a deficit of

basic member contributions.

(ii) Should a participant in the twenty-year retirement program who

has rendered less than fifteen years of allowable service as a

Triborough bridge and tunnel member cease to hold a position as a

Triborough bridge and tunnel member 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 five percent per

annum, compounded annually.

(iii) Except as provided in subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph, no

member, while he or she is a participant or otherwise, shall have a

right to withdraw such additional member contributions or any interest

thereon from the retirement system.

9. A member who has made the additional contributions specified by

this subdivision may borrow a portion of such contributions, pursuant to

the provisions of section six hundred thirteen-b of this article.

* NB There are 3 § 604-c's