Section 532-A. Cost-of-living adjustment

a. A cost-of-living adjustment
  shall be payable on the basis provided for in this section to:  (i)  all
  pensioners  who  have  attained  age sixty-two and have been retired for
  five years; (ii) all pensioners who have  attained  age  fifty-five  and
  have  been  retired  for  ten  years;  (iii)  all  disability pensioners
  regardless of age who have been retired for five  years;  and  (iv)  all
  recipients  of  an  accidental  death benefit regardless of age who have
  been receiving such benefit for five years.
    b. Said cost-of-living adjustment shall be a percentage of the  annual
  retirement   allowance  otherwise  payable,  computed  without  optional
  modification, excluding any annuity derived from voluntary contributions
  made  by  members,  except  those  made  pursuant  to  elections   under
  subdivision  one  of  section  five  hundred  eleven-a or paragraph c of
  subdivision three of section five hundred sixteen of this  article,  but
  including any benefit derived from subdivision f of this section and any
  prior  year's  cost-of-living adjustment derived from this section. Said
  percentage is set forth in subdivision d of this section.
    c. Said cost-of-living adjustment shall be computed on a base  benefit
  amount  not to exceed eighteen thousand dollars of the annual retirement
  allowance defined in subdivision b of this section.
    d. The percentage referred to in  this  section  shall  be  determined
  annually  by reference to the consumer price index (all urban consumers,
  CPI-U, U.S. city average, all  items,  1982-84=100),  published  by  the
  United  States  bureau of labor statistics, for each applicable calendar
  year. Said percentage shall equal fifty percent of the annual inflation,
  as determined from the increase in the consumer price index in  the  one
  year period ending on the March thirty-first prior to the cost-of-living
  adjustment  effective  on  the  ensuing September first. Said percentage
  shall then be rounded up to the next higher one-tenth of one percent and
  shall not exceed three percent nor be less than one percent.
    e.  Said  cost-of-living  adjustment  shall  be  payable  in   monthly
  installments  and  shall  take  effect  September  first  of  each  year
  commencing with a payment for the month of September, two thousand  one,
  or,  if  later,  as  soon  as practicable after the retired member first
  becomes eligible to receive the benefits provided pursuant to  paragraph
  a of this section.
    f.  Commencing  September first, two thousand, all retired members who
  have retired prior to the calendar year  nineteen  hundred  ninety-seven
  and who meet the eligibility criteria set forth in subdivision a of this
  section shall be paid an adjusted benefit in monthly installments on the
  basis  provided  for in this subdivision. Said adjusted benefit shall be
  equal to a percentage of the change in consumer price index  (all  urban
  consumers,  CPI-U, U.S. city average, all items, 1982-84=100), published
  by the United States bureau of labor statistics, measured from the  year
  of  retirement  through  calendar  year  nineteen  hundred  ninety-seven
  according to the following schedule:
        Year of retirement                     Percentage
        1968 through 1996                      50%
        1966 and 1967                          55%
        1965                                   60%
        1964                                   65%
        1963                                   70%
        1962                                   80%
        1961                                   90%
        prior to 1961                          100%
  Said adjusted benefit shall be computed on a base benefit amount not  to
  exceed  eighteen  thousand dollars of the retirement allowance otherwise
  payable, computed without optional modification  excluding  any  annuity

  derived  from voluntary contributions made by members, except those made
  pursuant to elections under subdivision  one  of  section  five  hundred
  eleven-a  or  paragraph  c  of subdivision three of section five hundred
  sixteen  of  this  article.  Any  benefits  received  pursuant  to  this
  subdivision shall be in  lieu  of  any  benefits  received  pursuant  to
  section  five  hundred  thirty-two of this article, unless such benefits
  are in excess of those provided by this  section,  in  which  case  such
  benefits  shall  be  paid  by  the  retirement  system  pursuant to such
  provision.
    g. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the surviving spouse of
  a deceased retired member who retired under  an  option  which  provides
  that benefits are to be continued for life to the surviving spouse after
  the  death  of the retired member, shall be entitled to receive benefits
  pursuant to this section. Said benefits shall be fifty  percent  of  the
  monthly benefits which the pensioner would be receiving pursuant to this
  section  if  living, and shall commence (i) with a payment for the month
  of September, two thousand, or (ii) the month following the death of the
  deceased retired member, whichever is later.
    h. The benefits provided pursuant to this section shall be in lieu  of
  the  benefits  presently provided by section five hundred ten or article
  four or six of the  retirement  and  social  security  law  unless  such
  benefits  are in excess of those provided by this section, in which case
  such benefits shall be paid by the retirement system  pursuant  to  such
  provision.
    i.  The  liability created by this section shall be funded through the
  normal rate of contribution  in  accordance  with  subparagraph  two  of
  paragraph f of subdivision two of section five hundred seventeen of this
  article.