N.Y. Retirement & Social Security Law § 89-t: Optional twenty-five year retirement plan for county probation officers

* § 89-t. Optional twenty-five year retirement plan for county

probation officers. a. A member employed by a county shall be eligible

to retire pursuant to the provisions of this section if the county

elects to make the benefits provided herein available as provided in

subdivision j of this section and if he or she is a peace officer

employed by a county probation department. Such eligibility shall be an

alternative to the eligibility provisions available under any other plan

of this article to which such member is subject. The comptroller shall

have the authority to include positions herein that comprehend the same

duties and responsibilities, but are named differently.

b. Such member shall be entitled to retire upon the completion of

twenty-five years of total creditable service by filing an application

therefor in the manner provided for in section seventy of this article.

c. Upon completion of twenty-five years of such service and upon

retirement, each such member shall receive a pension which, together

with an annuity which shall be the actuarial equivalent of his

accumulated contributions at the time of his retirement and an

additional pension which is the actuarial equivalent of the

reserved-for-increased-take-home-pay to which he may then be entitled

shall be sufficient to provide him with a retirement allowance equal to

one-half of his or her final average salary.

d. As used in this section "creditable service" shall include any and

all services performed as a peace officer within a county probation

department.

e. Credit for service as a member or officer of the state police or as

a paid firefighter, police officer or officer of any organized fire

department or police force or department of any county, city, village,

town, fire district or police district, or as a criminal investigator in

the office of a district attorney, or as a probation assistant in a

county probation department, shall also be deemed to be creditable

service and shall be included in computing years of total service for

retirement pursuant to this section.

f. The chief executive officer in each county shall certify to the

comptroller, periodically and at such intervals of time as may be

required and in such fashion as may be prescribed, the identity of the

eligible probation officers.

g. A member contributing on the basis of this section at the time of

retirement shall retire after the completion of twenty-five years of

total creditable service. Application therefor may be filed in a manner

similar to that provided in section seventy of this article. Upon

completion of twenty-five years of such service and upon retirement,

each such member shall receive a pension which, together with an annuity

which shall be the actuarial equivalent of his accumulated contributions

at the time of his retirement and an additional pension which is the

actuarial equivalent of the reserved-for-increased-take-home-pay to

which he may then be entitled, shall be sufficient to provide him with a

retirement allowance equal to one-half of his final average salary.

h. In computing the twenty-five years of total service of a member

pursuant to this section full credit shall be given and full allowance

shall be made for service of such member in time of war after World War

I as defined in section two of this chapter, provided such member at the

time of his entrance into the armed forces was in the service of the

county of his or her employer that makes the election provided for

herein.

i. Nothing herein shall be construed to prevent a member, who does not

retire pursuant to the provisions of this section, from utilizing

service which is creditable service pursuant to the provisions of this

section for service credit pursuant to the provisions of any other plan

of this article to which such member is subject.

j. (1) Each county that elects pursuant to the provisions of this

subdivision shall pay the cost attributable therefor.

(2) The benefits of this section shall be available only to those

members defined in subdivisions a and d of this section whose employer

elects to provide such benefits by adopting a resolution to such effect

and filing a certified copy thereof with the comptroller. Such

resolution may also contain an election that any past service cost be

paid over either a five-year or ten-year period. Such resolution shall

be accompanied by the affidavit of the chief executive officer of the

county that the county has received an estimate from the retirement

system of the cost of the benefit provided by this section.

(3) Such resolution shall apply to all members defined in subdivisions

a and d of this section, except those already subject to a retirement

plan which permits immediate retirement with a benefit upon a specified

period of service of twenty-five years or less without regard to age.

k. The provisions of this section shall be controlling notwithstanding

any other provision in this article to the contrary.

* NB There are 2 § 89-t's