Section 219-D. Authorization to adopt service award programs

1.  No
  political subdivision  shall  be  required  to  adopt  a  service  award
  program.  Any  service  award  program  adopted pursuant to this section
  shall be governed by the provisions of this article.
    2. A political subdivision may adopt a service award program  for  the
  volunteer ambulance workers of ambulance companies which are either:
    (a) a municipal ambulance service of the political subdivision; or
    (b)  a  voluntary  ambulance  service  which  provides  service to the
  political subdivision under contract with the  governing  board  thereof
  and has its principal headquarters in the political subdivision.
    3.  A  service  award program may be adopted only by resolution of the
  governing board of a political  subdivision  receiving  the  affirmative
  vote  of  at least sixty percent of the governing board and the approval
  of a proposition authorizing the adoption of the program at a referendum
  of the electors of the political subdivision.
    4. The resolution authorizing adoption  of  a  service  award  program
  shall state:
    (a)  the  name  of  each  volunteer ambulance company having volunteer
  ambulance workers who are potential participants in the program;
    (b) the entitlement age under the program;
    (c) the number of years of ambulance  service  required  to  obtain  a
  nonforfeitable right to a service award;
    (d)  the activities for which points shall be granted toward a year of
  ambulance service;
    (e) the amount of the contribution to the program to be  made  by  the
  sponsor  on behalf of each participant credited with a year of ambulance
  service;
    (f) the extent to which the program  provides  for  contributions  for
  ambulance  service  rendered  by a participant during one or more of the
  five calendar years immediately preceding the adoption of the program;
    (g) in the  case  of  a  service  award  program  which  provides  for
  contributions for ambulance service rendered by a participant during one
  or more of the five calendar years immediately preceding the adoption of
  the program, the timing and method of financing such contributions;
    (h) the date as of which the program shall take effect;
    (i)  in  the  case  of a service award program to take effect on a day
  other than the first day of January, whether points  toward  a  year  of
  ambulance service shall be granted for activities performed prior to the
  effective  date of the program and on or after the immediately preceding
  first day of January; and
    (j) the date on which the proposition authorizing the adoption of  the
  program shall be submitted to referendum.
    5.  The  proposition authorizing adoption of the service award program
  shall be submitted to referendum not less than thirty days and not  more
  than  ninety  days  after  the  governing  board  votes to authorize the
  adoption of the program. Notice of the referendum shall be published  at
  least  once,  not  less  than  fourteen  days  prior  to the date of the
  referendum, in the official newspaper of the political  subdivision  or,
  if the political subdivision does not have an official newspaper, in one
  or   more   newspapers  having  general  circulation  in  the  political
  subdivision. The referendum shall be  conducted  and  the  cost  thereof
  charged  in  the  same  manner  as other referenda held by the political
  subdivision.
    6. The proposition shall state: (a) the estimated annual cost  of  the
  service award program;
    (b)   the portion of the estimated annual cost of the program, if any,
  to be paid by one or more other political subdivisions;
    (c)  the estimated annual cost per participant;

    (d)  in the case of a proposition to be voted on at a referendum  held
  on  or  after January first, nineteen hundred ninety-five, the estimated
  annual administration fee;
    (e)  the  extent  to  which the program provides for contributions for
  ambulance service rendered by a participant during one or  more  of  the
  five  calendar  years  immediately preceding the adoption of the program
  and the estimated cost thereof; and
    (f) in the case of a service award program to take  effect  on  a  day
  other  than  the  first  day of January, whether points toward a year of
  ambulance service shall be granted for activities performed prior to the
  effective date of the program and on or after the immediately  preceding
  first day of January.
    7.  Upon  approval of the proposition, the service award program shall
  be deemed adopted by the political subdivision in  accordance  with  the
  terms of the resolution adopted by the governing board.
    8.  (a)  Once  a service award program has been adopted, participation
  therein by the sponsor may be terminated, or the amount of the sponsor's
  contribution to the program may  be  changed,  or  the  program  may  be
  amended to provide for contributions for ambulance service rendered by a
  participant  during  one  or more of the five calendar years immediately
  preceding the adoption of the program, by resolution  of  the  governing
  board  of  the  sponsor receiving the affirmative vote of at least sixty
  percent of the governing board and the approval of a  proposition  at  a
  referendum of the electors of the sponsor.
    (b)  The  entitlement  age,  the  number of years of ambulance service
  required to obtain a nonforfeitable right to a service  award,  and  the
  activities  for which points shall be granted toward a year of ambulance
  service may be changed by resolution adopted by the affirmative vote  of
  at  least  sixty  percent  of the governing board of the sponsor without
  referendum.
    (c) The sponsor's participation in a service award program adopted for
  the volunteer ambulance workers  of  one  or  more  ambulance  companies
  described  in  paragraph (b) of subdivision two of this section shall be
  suspended to the extent that service credit shall  not  be  granted  for
  activities  performed  by  the  volunteer  ambulance workers of any such
  ambulance company during any period  in  which  the  company  ceases  to
  provide  service  to the sponsor under contract with the governing board
  thereof.