§ 218 — Requirements and benefits under a defined contribution plan service award program

§ 218. Requirements and benefits under a defined contribution plan\nservice award program. (a) An active volunteer firefighter's service\naward program that is a defined contribution plan shall be subject to\nminimum and maximum contribution requirements as set forth in\nsubdivision (b) of this section. In determining whether such minimum and\nmaximum contribution requirements have been satisfied, all benefits\nprovided under all service award programs instituted by a sponsor shall\nbe considered as one program.\n (b) The sponsor of a defined contribution plan shall contribute to the\nplan a fixed amount of money, as determined by the sponsor, on behalf of\neach participant who is credited with a year of service. The minimum and\nmaximum contribution requirements for a defined contribution service\naward program shall be as follows. The minimum contribution shall be one\nhundred twenty dollars per year of service. The maximum contribution\nshall be twelve hundred dollars per year of service. The maximum number\nof years of service for which a participant may receive a contribution\nshall be forty years. The sponsor shall appropriate annually an amount\nsufficient to pay the contributions. The governing board of a political\nsubdivision may extend the maximum number of years of service for which\na participant may receive a contribution for up to an additional ten\nyears, to a maximum of fifty years, and such increases in the number of\nyears may be added in multiple increments or in a single action,\npursuant to the adoption of the required resolution or resolutions of\nthe governing board, receiving the affirmative vote of at least sixty\npercent of the governing board of the political subdivision, and the\napproval of any mandatory referendum or referenda authorizing the\nextension of benefits under the program by eligible voters within such\npolitical subdivision.\n (c) The benefit payable to a participant in a defined contribution\nplan shall be the resulting amount from a defined annual contribution\nmade by the sponsor less necessary administrative costs and shall\ninclude interest and/or other earnings resulting from investment of the\nannual contribution. The governing board of the sponsor may retain an\nactuary to provide advice with respect to the investment of annual\ncontributions or any other aspect of the program and the cost thereof\nshall constitute a necessary administrative cost of the program.\nBenefits shall be available when the participating volunteer firefighter\nreaches entitlement age or at the time permanent total disability is\nestablished.\n (d) In the event that any active volunteer firefighter becomes\ndisabled and in the event that the disability prevents the active\nvolunteer firefighter from pursuing such volunteer's normal occupation\nand if the disability is total and of a permanent nature as certified by\nthe workers' compensation board or other competent authority approved by\nthe sponsor of the service award program, the volunteer firefighter is\nentitled to receive the benefits described in this section, regardless\nof age or length of service. Such benefits shall begin on the first day\nof the first month following the establishment of such disability.\n At the option of the sponsor of the service award program, the sponsor\nmay provide an additional disability benefit in the event that any\nactive volunteer firefighter becomes disabled during the course of\nservice as a volunteer while actively engaged in providing a line of\nduty services, as defined in subdivision one of section five of the\nvolunteer firefighters' benefit law. The additional disability benefit\nshall be an amount equal to an amount stated in the referendum under\nwhich the program was established or amended and payable to the disabled\nfirefighter monthly for life. The plan sponsor shall provide the plan\nannually with the additional funds necessary to accommodate this\nadditional disability benefit or the sponsor may purchase an annuity or\nmake other provisions to effectuate the additional disability benefit.\n (e) A volunteer firefighter's retirement income plan shall provide\nthat, in the event of the death of an active volunteer firefighter who\nhas a right to a nonforfeitable percentage of retirement income pursuant\nto subdivision (b) of this section, the designated beneficiaries of such\nactive volunteer firefighter (or his estate if no beneficiary is so\ndesignated) shall be entitled to receive death benefits under the\nservice award plan. Such benefits shall be equal to the amount of\nbenefits earned by the volunteer firefighter under the plan at the date\nof death.\n At the option of the sponsor of the services award program, if the\nactive volunteer firefighter dies during the course of service as a\nvolunteer while actively engaged in providing line of duty services, as\ndefined in subdivision one of section five of the volunteer\nfirefighters' benefit law, additional death benefits may be provided by\nthe sponsor. The amount of such death benefit shall be stated in the\nreferendum under which the program was established or amended. In the\nevent of the death of an active volunteer firefighter during the course\nof service as a volunteer while actively engaged in providing line of\nduty services, as defined in subdivision one of section five of the\nvolunteer firefighters' benefit law, such death benefit amount shall be\npaid by the sponsor to the plan for distribution to the beneficiary or\nthe estate if no beneficiary is designated.\n (f) In the case of a state-administered service award program, a\nservice award shall be paid only after an application is made to the\nprogram administrator and the administrator approves the application.\n