Section 160-JJ. Assessment of fund members; customer surcharges; audit powers of the fund, the board and the fund's insurer

1. To pay (a)  the
  costs  of  the  insurance  purchased  pursuant  to  subdivision three of
  section one hundred sixty-ii of this article or  (b)  the  benefits  due
  under  the  workers' compensation law in the event the fund self-insures
  pursuant to subdivision two of section  one  hundred  sixty-ii  of  this
  article,  and  to  pay  (c)  its expenses in carrying out its powers and
  duties under this article and (d) its liabilities, if any,  pursuant  to
  section  fourteen-a  of  the  workers'  compensation law, the fund shall
  ascertain by reasonable estimate the total funding necessary to carry on
  its operations.
    2. Based upon its  estimation  of  operating  costs,  the  fund  shall
  establish a proposed uniform percentage surcharge to be added to (a) the
  invoices  or  billings for covered services sent to the customers of the
  fund's members by a member or its agent and (b) the credit payments  for
  covered  services  received  by  a  member  or  its  agent. The proposed
  surcharge shall become effective thirty days after being filed with  the
  department. Notwithstanding the foregoing, beginning on the first day of
  the  first calendar month that shall commence at least seventy-five days
  after the effective date of this article, and until the fund shall  have
  filed  with the department a different surcharge amount, a three percent
  surcharge shall be  added  to  every  invoice  or  billing  for  covered
  services  sent by a member or its agent to, and every credit payment for
  covered services received by a member or its agent from,  the  customers
  of  the  fund's  members.  Each  member  of the fund shall be liable for
  payment to the fund of an  amount  equal  to  the  product  of  (i)  the
  percentages  surcharge  due  pursuant  to  this  article, divided by one
  hundred and (ii) all payments received by the member or  its  agent  for
  covered  services  from  the  member's  customers,  as  provided in this
  subdivision, regardless of whether the surcharge was billed or charged.
    3. No  local  licensing  authority  or  the  department  shall  issue,
  continue  or  renew  any  license  or  registration  certificate for the
  operation of any central dispatch facility unless such central  dispatch
  facility,  as a condition of maintaining its license and/or registration
  certificate, adds the  surcharge  required  by  this  section  to  every
  invoice  and  billing  for  covered  services  sent to, and every credit
  payment for covered services received from, its customers  and  pays  to
  the  fund  no  later  than  the  fifteenth  day  of each month the total
  surcharges due pursuant to this article.
    4. Each central dispatch facility shall submit to the  fund  with  its
  monthly  payment  a  detailed  accounting  of  the  charge and surcharge
  amounts charged to and received  from  customers  for  covered  services
  during  the  previous month. The first such payment and accounting shall
  be due on the fifteenth day of the month following the imposition of the
  surcharge pursuant to subdivision two of this section.
    5. Should the fund determine that the surcharge amounts that have been
  paid to it are inadequate to meet its obligations under this article, it
  shall determine the surcharge rate required to eliminate such deficiency
  and shall file such  revised  surcharge  rate  with  the  department  in
  accordance  with subdivision two of this section. Commencing thirty days
  after such filing, the members of the  fund  shall  charge  the  revised
  surcharge  rate and shall pay to the fund the total amount of surcharges
  in accordance with this article.
    6. The fund shall have the power directly  or  through  its  agent  to
  conduct  financial audits of its members to verify their compliance with
  the requirements of this  article.  The  fund  or  its  agent  shall  be
  afforded convenient access at all reasonable hours to all books, records
  and other documents of its members that may be relevant to such audits.

    7. For the purposes of conducting payroll audits, an insurer providing
  coverage  to  the fund pursuant to this article may treat the members of
  the fund as policyholders. Members of the fund shall be required  to  do
  all  things  required  of  employers  pursuant  to  section  one hundred
  thirty-one  of  the  workers' compensation law, and shall be required to
  provide the board access to any  and  all  records  and  information  as
  otherwise  required by the workers' compensation law and the regulations
  promulgated thereunder, and shall be liable as provided in the  workers'
  compensation law for any failure so to do.