§ 552 — Optional twenty year retirement plan for certain members whose employer elects to provide same

§ 552. Optional twenty year retirement plan for certain members whose\nemployer elects to provide same. a. Any member of the retirement system\nmay elect to become a member pursuant to the provisions of this section\nwithin one year after he or she becomes a member, if his or her employer\nhas elected to make the benefits provided herein available to members,\nor within one year after his or her employer elects to make the benefits\nprovided herein available to its members.\n b. Elections made pursuant to this section shall be in writing and\nshall be duly acknowledged and filed with the comptroller. Any member\nwho files such an election pursuant to this section may withdraw it\nafter it has been filed for at least a year. Such withdrawal shall be by\nwritten notice duly acknowledged and filed with the comptroller.\n c. A member participating on the basis of this section at the time of\nretirement, shall be entitled to retire after the completion of twenty\nyears of total creditable service or upon the attainment of age\nsixty-two, by filing an application therefor in a manner similar to that\nprovided in this chapter.\n 1. Upon completion of twenty years of such service and upon\nretirement, each such member shall receive a pension sufficient to\nprovide him or her with a retirement allowance equal to one-fortieth of\nhis or her final average salary for each year of total creditable\nservice for which he or she is otherwise entitled but not exceeding in\nthe aggregate one-half of his or her final average salary.\n 2. Upon attainment of age sixty-two and upon retirement without\ncompletion of twenty years of such service, each such member shall\nreceive a pension sufficient to provide him or her with a retirement\nallowance equal to one-fortieth of his or her final average salary for\neach year of creditable service. Every such member shall also be\nentitled to an additional pension equal to the pension for any other\ncreditable service rendered as otherwise provided for in this chapter.\nThis latter pension shall not increase the total allowance to more than\none-half of his or her final average salary.\n d. The increased pensions to such members, as provided by this\nsection, shall be paid from additional contributions made by the\nparticipating employer on account of such members. The actuary of the\nretirement system shall compute the additional contribution required for\neach member who elects to receive the special benefits provided under\nthis section. Such additional contributions shall be computed on the\nbasis of contributions during the prospective service of such member\nwhich will cover the liability of the retirement system for such extra\npensions. Upon approval of the comptroller, such additional\ncontributions shall be certified by him or her to the chief fiscal\nofficer of the participating employer. The amount thereof shall be\nincluded in the annual appropriation of the participating employer. Such\namount shall be paid on the warrant of the chief fiscal officer of the\nparticipating employer to the pension accumulation fund of the\nretirement system.\n e. In computing the twenty years of completed service of a member,\nfull credit shall be given for military service as defined in\nsubdivisions twenty-nine-a and thirty of section three hundred two of\nthis chapter.\n f. Every member participating on the basis of this section shall be\nseparated from the service on the last day of the calendar month next\nsucceeding the calendar month in which he or she attains age sixty-two,\nprovided, however, that such a member who attained the age of sixty-two\nbefore his or her employer elected to make the benefits provided herein\navailable to him or her, or who attains the age of sixty-two within one\nmonth after his or her employer makes such benefits available, to be\neligible for a pension computed in accordance with the provisions of\nthis section, shall be separated from the service within three months\nafter his or her employer makes such benefits available.\n g. The provisions of this section shall be controlling notwithstanding\nany provision in this article to the contrary.\n h. The benefits of this section shall be available only to those\nmembers whose employer elects to provide such benefits by adopting a\nresolution to such effect and filing a certified copy thereof with the\ncomptroller.\n i. The benefits hereinabove provided shall be payable to a member,\nunless at the date of retirement, such member would otherwise be\nentitled to a greater benefit under other provisions of this chapter had\nhe or she withdrawn from this section, in which event such greater\nbenefits shall be payable.\n j. 1. As used in this section "creditable service" shall include, any\nand all services performed as a sheriff, undersheriff or deputy sheriff,\nprovided, however, that criminal law enforcement service shall only be\ncreditable when it aggregates fifty per centum or more of his or her\nservice as a deputy sheriff.\n 2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph one of this\nsubdivision, a participating employer may elect on a form filed with the\ncomptroller for that purpose to provide that creditable service shall\nalso include any and all service performed by a deputy sheriff who is a\npolice officer pursuant to subdivision thirty-four of section 1.20 of\nthe criminal procedure law as certified by the municipal police council\nor as certified by the police department of the city of New York upon\nsatisfactory completion of the basic training program and graduation\nfrom the New York city police academy.\n 3. Credit for service as a member or officer of the state police or as\na paid firefighter, police officer or officer of any organized fire\ndepartment or police force or department of any county, city, village,\ntown, fire district or police district, or as a criminal investigator in\nthe office of a district attorney, provided that service as such\ninvestigator shall have been rendered prior to January first, nineteen\nhundred sixty and that credit therefor shall not exceed five years,\nshall also be deemed to be creditable service and shall be included in\ncomputing years of total service for retirement pursuant to this\nsection, provided such service was performed by the member while\ncontributing to the retirement system pursuant to the provisions of this\narticle or article eight of this chapter.\n k. As used in this section, "creditable service" shall also include\nany and all services performed as an employee of the Columbia county\nsheriff's department, provided that such employment was performed on or\nbefore December thirty-first, nineteen hundred ninety-five and provided\nthat on that date the employee was performing criminal law enforcement\nduties in the Columbia county sheriff's department.\n