§ 219-D — Authorization to adopt service award programs

New York § 219-D

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law GMU: General Municipal
• Art. 11-AA: Defined Contribution Service Award Programs For Volunteer Ambulance Workers

Text

§ 219-d. Authorization to adopt service award programs. 1. No\npolitical subdivision shall be required to adopt a service award\nprogram. Any service award program adopted pursuant to this section\nshall be governed by the provisions of this article.\n 2. A political subdivision may adopt a service award program for the\nvolunteer ambulance workers of ambulance companies which are either:\n (a) a municipal ambulance service of the political subdivision; or\n (b) a voluntary ambulance service which provides service to the\npolitical subdivision under contract with the governing board thereof\nand has its principal headquarters in the political subdivision.\n 3. A service award program may be adopted only by resolution of the\ngoverning board of a political subdivision receiving the affirmative\nvote of at least sixty percent of the governing board and the approval\nof a proposition authorizing the adoption of the program at a referendum\nof the electors of the political subdivision.\n 4. The resolution authorizing adoption of a service award program\nshall state:\n (a) the name of each volunteer ambulance company having volunteer\nambulance workers who are potential participants in the program;\n (b) the entitlement age under the program;\n (c) the number of years of ambulance service required to obtain a\nnonforfeitable right to a service award;\n (d) the activities for which points shall be granted toward a year of\nambulance service;\n (e) the amount of the contribution to the program to be made by the\nsponsor on behalf of each participant credited with a year of ambulance\nservice;\n (f) the extent to which the program provides for contributions for\nambulance service rendered by a participant during one or more of the\nfive calendar years immediately preceding the adoption of the program;\n (g) in the case of a service award program which provides for\ncontributions for ambulance service rendered by a participant during one\nor more of the five calendar years immediately preceding the adoption of\nthe program, the timing and method of financing such contributions;\n (h) the date as of which the program shall take effect;\n (i) in the case of a service award program to take effect on a day\nother than the first day of January, whether points toward a year of\nambulance service shall be granted for activities performed prior to the\neffective date of the program and on or after the immediately preceding\nfirst day of January; and\n (j) the date on which the proposition authorizing the adoption of the\nprogram shall be submitted to referendum.\n 5. The proposition authorizing adoption of the service award program\nshall be submitted to referendum not less than thirty days and not more\nthan ninety days after the governing board votes to authorize the\nadoption of the program. Notice of the referendum shall be published at\nleast once, not less than fourteen days prior to the date of the\nreferendum, in the official newspaper of the political subdivision or,\nif the political subdivision does not have an official newspaper, in one\nor more newspapers having general circulation in the political\nsubdivision. The referendum shall be conducted and the cost thereof\ncharged in the same manner as other referenda held by the political\nsubdivision.\n 6. The proposition shall state: (a) the estimated annual cost of the\nservice award program;\n (b) the portion of the estimated annual cost of the program, if any,\nto be paid by one or more other political subdivisions;\n (c) the estimated annual cost per participant;\n (d) in the case of a proposition to be voted on at a referendum held\non or after January first, nineteen hundred ninety-five, the estimated\nannual administration fee;\n (e) the extent to which the program provides for contributions for\nambulance service rendered by a participant during one or more of the\nfive calendar years immediately preceding the adoption of the program\nand the estimated cost thereof; and\n (f) in the case of a service award program to take effect on a day\nother than the first day of January, whether points toward a year of\nambulance service shall be granted for activities performed prior to the\neffective date of the program and on or after the immediately preceding\nfirst day of January.\n 7. Upon approval of the proposition, the service award program shall\nbe deemed adopted by the political subdivision in accordance with the\nterms of the resolution adopted by the governing board.\n 8. (a) Once a service award program has been adopted, participation\ntherein by the sponsor may be terminated, or the amount of the sponsor's\ncontribution to the program may be changed, or the program may be\namended to provide for contributions for ambulance service rendered by a\nparticipant during one or more of the five calendar years immediately\npreceding the adoption of the program, by resolution of the governing\nboard of the sponsor receiving the affirmative vote of at least sixty\npercent of the governing board and the approval of a proposition at a\nreferendum of the electors of the sponsor.\n (b) The entitlement age, the number of years of ambulance service\nrequired to obtain a nonforfeitable right to a service award, and the\nactivities for which points shall be granted toward a year of ambulance\nservice may be changed by resolution adopted by the affirmative vote of\nat least sixty percent of the governing board of the sponsor without\nreferendum; provided, that, consistent with the provisions of\nsubdivision three of section two hundred nineteen-e of this article, if\nthe effect of the amendment is to increase the number of points granted\nfor the performance of the activity, decrease the amount of an activity\nrequired to earn the points granted for the performance of the activity,\nor both, such amendment shall be subject to a mandatory referendum. Any\namendment to a service award program shall only take effect as of the\nfirst of January next succeeding completion of the proceedings required\nfor adoption of the amendment and shall only apply prospectively.\n (c) The sponsor's participation in a service award program adopted for\nthe volunteer ambulance workers of one or more ambulance companies\ndescribed in paragraph (b) of subdivision two of this section shall be\nsuspended to the extent that service credit shall not be granted for\nactivities performed by the volunteer ambulance workers of any such\nambulance company during any period in which the company ceases to\nprovide service to the sponsor under contract with the governing board\nthereof.\n