§ 6-P — Employee benefit accrued liability reserve fund

§ 6-p. Employee benefit accrued liability reserve fund. 1. The\nfollowing terms when used or referred to in this section, shall have the\nfollowing meaning:\n (a) "Municipal corporation" shall mean a municipal corporation, as\ndefined in section two of this chapter, school district, except a school\ndistrict in a city with a population of one hundred twenty-five thousand\nor more, board of cooperative educational services, fire district, a\ndistrict corporation and a special improvement district governed by a\nseparate board of commissioners.\n (b) "Employee benefits" shall mean the cash payment of the monetary\nvalue of accrued and accumulated but unused and unpaid sick leave,\npersonal leave, holiday leave, vacation time, time allowances granted in\nlieu of overtime compensation and any other forms of payment for accrued\nbut unliquidated time earned by municipal employees and payable to\nmunicipal employees upon termination of service, whether by retirement\nor otherwise, as authorized by ordinance, local law, or collective\nbargaining agreement or section six of the civil service law for which\nexpenditures may be made pursuant to subdivision two of this section.\n 2. (a) The governing board of any municipal corporation may establish\na reserve fund to be known as the employee benefit accrued liability\nreserve fund. Upon the creation of the fund, the municipality may make\nexpenditures from the fund for any accrued employee benefit payment due\nan employee of the municipal corporation upon termination of the\nemployee's service, provided however, that no municipality shall make an\nexpenditure from such fund for any employee benefit for which the\nmunicipal corporation has established a reserve fund under any other\nprovision of law.\n (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, where\na municipal corporation has previously established a reserve fund for a\ntype of accrued employee benefits for which expenditures may be made\nunder paragraph (a) of this subdivision, the municipal corporation may,\nby resolution, discontinue such other reserve fund and transfer any\nunexpended balance to the reserve fund established under this section;\nprovided, however, that to the extent such unexpended balance is subject\nto any liabilities incurred or accrued against the other reserve fund,\nany unexpended balances so transferred shall only be used for such\nincurred or accrued liabilities including expenses in connection\ntherewith. Prior to the discontinuance of the other reserve fund, the\nfiscal and legal officers of the municipal corporation shall certify to\nthe governing board thereof the amount that may be necessary to satisfy\nall liabilities incurred or accrued against it.\n 3. There may be paid into such fund:\n (a) such amounts as may be provided by budgetary appropriations;\n (b) amounts from any other fund authorized by this chapter by\nresolution subject to permissive referendum; and\n (c) such other funds as may be legally appropriated.\n 4. The moneys in such fund shall be deposited and secured in the\nmanner provided by section ten of this article. The governing board, or\nthe chief fiscal officer of such municipal corporation, if the governing\nboard shall delegate such duty to him, may invest the moneys in such\nfund in the manner provided by section eleven of this article. Any\ninterest earned or capital gain realized on the money so deposited or\ninvested shall accrue to and become part of such fund.\n 5. The chief fiscal officer shall account for this fund separate and\napart from all other funds of the municipal corporation. Such accounting\nshall show: the source, date and amount of each sum paid into the fund;\nthe interest earned by such fund; capital gains or losses resulting from\nthe sale of investments of this fund; the order, purpose thereof, date\nand amount of each payment from this fund; the assets of the fund,\nindicating cash balance and a schedule of investments. The chief fiscal\nofficer, within sixty days of the end of each fiscal year, shall furnish\na detailed report of the operation and condition of this fund to the\ngoverning board. The chief fiscal officer shall also keep a separate\naccount for each kind of employee benefit funded pursuant to subdivision\ntwo of this section.\n 6. Any action or claim for accrued employee benefits shall be\ncompromised or settled by the governing board, officer or employee of\nthe municipal corporation authorized to settle or compromise actions or\nclaims on behalf of the municipal corporation.\n 7. An expenditure may be made from this fund for the payment of all or\npart of the cost, including interest, of:\n (a) the cash payment of the monetary value of accumulated or accrued\nand unused sick leave, holiday leave, vacation leave, time allowance\ngranted in lieu of overtime compensation and other forms of payment for\naccrued leave time and benefits due to a municipal employee upon\ntermination of municipal employment and separation from service as\nrequired by ordinance, local law, collective bargaining agreement or\nsection six of the civil service law.\n (b) the reasonable costs of the administration of the reserve fund.\n (c) expert or professional services rendered in connection with the\ninvestigation, adjustment or settlement of claims, actions or judgments\nrelating to claims for accrued employee benefits as defined in this\nsection.\n 8. No member of the governing board shall:\n (a) authorize a withdrawal from this fund for any purpose except as\nprovided in this section; or\n (b) expend any money withdrawn from this fund for a purpose other than\nas provided in this section.\n Any member of the governing board who violates the provision of this\nsubdivision shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.\n 9. If, after the establishment of such fund, the municipality\ndetermines that such fund is no longer needed, the moneys remaining in\nsuch fund may be transferred to any other reserve fund of the municipal\ncorporation authorized by this chapter that is comprised of moneys which\nwere raised on the same tax base as the moneys in the reserve fund\nestablished under this section or section thirty-six hundred fifty-one\nof the education law, only to the extent that the moneys in this fund\nshall exceed the sum sufficient to pay all liabilities incurred or\naccrued against it. Prior to the discontinuance of such fund, the fiscal\nand legal officers of such municipal corporation shall certify to the\ngoverning board thereof the amount that may be necessary to retain in\nsuch fund to satisfy all liabilities incurred or accrued against it and\nsuch sum shall be retained in the fund for payment of such amounts or\nuntil later certified that such funds are no longer needed.\n 10. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the\ngoverning board of a school district may, during the two thousand\nfifteen--two thousand sixteen school year, authorize a withdrawal from\nthis fund in an amount not to exceed the lesser of: (a) the dollar value\nof excess funding in the fund as determined by the comptroller pursuant\nto section thirty-three of this chapter or (b) the amount of the school\ndistrict's remaining gap elimination adjustment as calculated by the\ncommissioner of education pursuant to subdivision seventeen of section\nthirty-six hundred two of the education law. Funds withdrawn pursuant to\nthis subdivision may only be used for the purpose of maintaining\neducational programming during the two thousand fifteen--two thousand\nsixteen school year which otherwise would have been reduced as a result\nof such gap elimination adjustment. Governing boards which make such a\nwithdrawal shall submit, in a form prescribed by the commissioner of\neducation, relevant information about the withdrawal, which shall\ninclude but not be limited to, the amount of such withdrawal, the date\nof withdrawal, and the use of such withdrawn funds.\n 11. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, a\nboard of cooperative educational services that has been determined upon\nstate audit or in its annual independent audit to have accumulated an\nexcess in such fund over the sum sufficient to pay all liabilities\nincurred or accrued against it shall withdraw the amount of such excess\nas of the date of withdrawal and shall distribute such amount to all\nschool districts that paid to such board of cooperative educational\nservices moneys that were deposited to such fund in the same proportion\nas the total payments from such school district into such fund bears to\nthe total payments from all school districts into such fund, or, at the\nrequest of the school district, may use such amount to offset the\nadministrative and capital expenses payable by the school district in\nthe current school year, and any such amount attributable to an approved\ncost of service computed pursuant to subdivision five of section\nnineteen hundred fifty of the education law shall not be included in the\napproved cost of services computed pursuant to subdivision five of\nsection nineteen hundred fifty of the education law. Such withdrawal\nshall be made within thirty days after the audit becomes final or within\nthirty days after this subdivision takes effect, whichever is later.\n