§ 219-A — Administration, reporting and disclosure

§ 219-a. Administration, reporting and disclosure. 1. The sponsor or\nthe designated program administrator shall provide each active volunteer\nfirefighter who participates in a service award program maintained under\nthis article with a summary of the program's provisions, including the\nprogram's provisions relating to the participation requirements, the\nrate at which a nonforfeitable interest in program benefits increases\nand the program's service awards formula. This summary shall be provided\nto each service award program participant within six months from the\ndate the program participation commences. In addition, any material\nmodification to such program provisions shall be communicated in writing\nto each participant within six months after the later of the date\nmodification is adopted or the date it is effective. The designated\nprogram administrator shall cause a statement of contributions to be\nprovided to sponsors at least once annually. A copy of this program, the\nsummary of the program, and documents related to the funding or\ninvestment of the assets of the program and of any contracts or\nagreements with service providers to the program shall be provided to\nparticipants annually and a copy shall be made available for inspection\nor copying by a program participant or beneficiary at the sponsor's main\noffice. The plan document and the summary of the plan document shall be\nmade available for public inspection and copying.\n 2. (a) This program shall be administered by such political\nsubdivisions in accordance with standards and procedures established by\nthem. Payment shall be made when certified by such political\nsubdivisions; provided, however, that in the case of a\nstate-administered program, the procedures for administration and\npayment shall be consistent with the rules and regulations governing the\nstate-administered program.\n (b) It shall be the responsibility of each participating volunteer\nfire company to maintain all required records on forms prescribed by the\ngoverning board of such political subdivision of the state; provided,\nhowever, that in the case of a state-administered program, each\nparticipating fire company shall compile and maintain such records in a\nmanner consistent with the rules and regulations governing the\nstate-administered program.\n (c) Each volunteer fire company shall furnish to the governing board\nof such political subdivision a list of all volunteer members, certified\nunder oath, and shall identify those volunteer members who have\nqualified for credit under the award program for the previous year. Such\nlist shall be submitted annually by March thirty-first. In the case of\nstate-administered plans, such list shall be submitted annually by March\nthirty-first or otherwise as provided in the rules and regulations\ngoverning the state-administered program. Notwithstanding the provisions\nof this paragraph a volunteer firefighter may request that his name be\ndeleted from said list as a "participant" in said "defined benefit plan"\nor "defined contribution plan". Such request for deletion shall be in\nwriting and shall remain effective until withdrawn in the same manner.\n (d) The governing board of each such political subdivision shall\nreview the list of each volunteer fire company and approve the final\nannual certification. The approved list of certified members shall then\nbe returned to each company and posted for at least thirty days for\nreview by members.\n 3. The sponsor or designated program administrator shall obtain an\nannual audit of its records by an independent certified public\naccountant or an independent public accountant. Such audit shall examine\nthe program's financial conditions, actuarial assumptions, fiduciary\ninvestment and control, and asset allocations, including whether current\nassets are adequate to fund future liabilities. A copy of the audit\nshall be presented to the program sponsor and to the state comptroller\nby such accountant. Copies of the audit shall also be made available for\npublic inspection and copying. The audit must be completed within two\nhundred seventy days of the program sponsor's fiscal year.\n