Section 445-E. Optional twenty-five year improved benefit retirement program for dispatcher members

a. Definitions. The following words  and
  phrases as used in this section shall have the following meanings unless
  a different meaning is plainly required by the context.
    1.  "Retirement  system"  shall  mean  the  New  York  city employees'
  retirement system.
    2. "Dispatcher member" shall mean a member of  the  retirement  system
  who is subject to the provisions of this article, who is employed by the
  city  of  New  York as a fire alarm dispatcher, a supervising fire alarm
  dispatcher, level one, a supervising fire alarm dispatcher,  level  two,
  director   of  dispatch  operations,  or  deputy  director  of  dispatch
  operations.
    3. "Twenty-five year improved benefit retirement program"  shall  mean
  all the terms and conditions of this section.
    4.  "Starting date of the twenty-five year improved benefit retirement
  program" shall mean the date of enactment of this section.
    5. "Participant in the twenty-five year  improved  benefit  retirement
  program"  shall  mean  any  dispatcher  member who, under the applicable
  provisions of subdivision b of this section, is entitled to the  rights,
  benefits  and  privileges  and  is  subject  to  the  obligations of the
  twenty-five year improved benefit retirement program, as  applicable  to
  him or her.
    6.  "Administrative  code"  shall  mean the administrative code of the
  city of New York.
    7. "Accumulated  deductions"  shall  mean  accumulated  deductions  as
  defined  in  subdivision  eleven of section 13-101 of the administrative
  code of the city of New York.
    8. "Optional retirement provisions" shall mean the right to retire and
  receive a retirement allowance under this section upon the completion of
  twenty-five years of allowable service as a dispatcher member.
    9. "Allowable service as a dispatcher member" shall mean  (i)  service
  as  a  dispatcher  member and all service in the following civil service
  titles:  chief  fire  alarm  dispatcher,   administrative   fire   alarm
  dispatcher,   bus   operator   (transit),  train  dispatcher  (transit),
  firefighter, police officer, correction officer, fire marshal, probation
  officer,   police   communications   technician,   supervising    police
  communications  technician,  principal police communications technician,
  police administrative aide, senior police administrative aide, emergency
  medical technician, advanced  emergency  medical  technician,  emergency
  medical  service  specialist level I, emergency medical specialist level
  II, fire prevention inspector, fire protection  inspector,  senior  fire
  prevention  inspector,  principal  fire  prevention inspector, associate
  fire protection inspector, county detective, detective (NYPD), detective
  investigator, senior  detective  investigator,  deputy  sheriff,  senior
  deputy  sheriff,  inspector  of  fire alarm boxes, radio operator, radio
  repair technician, supervisor  of  radio  repair  operations,  taxi  and
  limousine  inspector,  senior  taxi  and limousine inspector, triborough
  bridge and tunnel officer; and(ii) a member of the retirement system who
  is employed by the city of New York in a title whose duties require  the
  supervision  of  employees  whose  civil  service  title  is included in
  subparagraph (i) of this paragraph.
    b. Election of twenty-five year improved benefit  retirement  program.
  1.    Subject  to  the  provisions  of  paragraphs  five and six of this
  subdivision, any person who is a dispatcher member on the starting  date
  of the twenty-five year improved benefit retirement program may elect to
  become a participant in the twenty-five year improved benefit retirement
  program  by  filing,  within one hundred eighty days after such starting
  date, a duly  executed  application  for  such  participation  with  the

  retirement system, provided he or she is such a dispatcher member on the
  date such application is filed.
    2.  Subject  to  the  provisions  of  paragraphs  five and six of this
  subdivision, any person  who  becomes  a  dispatcher  member  after  the
  starting  date  of  the  twenty-five  year  improved  benefit retirement
  program may elect to  become  a  participant  in  the  twenty-five  year
  improved benefit retirement program by filing, within one hundred eighty
  days   after   becoming  such  a  dispatcher  member,  a  duly  executed
  application for such participation with the retirement system,  provided
  he  or  she  is such a dispatcher member on the date such application is
  filed.
    3. Any election to be a participant in the twenty-five  year  improved
  benefit retirement program shall be irrevocable.
    4.  Where  any  participant  in  the twenty-five year improved benefit
  retirement program shall cease  to  hold  a  position  as  a  dispatcher
  member,  he  or she shall cease to be such a participant and, during any
  period in which such a person does not hold such a dispatcher  position,
  he  or  she  shall not be a participant in the twenty-five year improved
  benefit retirement program and shall not be eligible for the benefits of
  subdivision c of this section.
    5. Where any participant in  the  twenty-five  year  improved  benefit
  retirement program terminates service as a dispatcher member and returns
  to  such service as a dispatcher member at a later date, he or she shall
  again become such a participant on that date.
    6. Notwithstanding any other provision of law  to  the  contrary,  any
  person  who  is eligible to become a participant in the twenty-five year
  improved benefit retirement program pursuant to paragraph one or two  of
  this subdivision for the full one hundred eighty day period provided for
  in  such  applicable  paragraph  and  who  fails  to  timely file a duly
  executed application for such participation with the retirement  system,
  shall  not  thereafter  be  eligible  to  become  a  participant in such
  program.
    c. Service retirement benefits. Notwithstanding any other provision of
  law to the  contrary,  where  a  participant  in  the  twenty-five  year
  improved  benefit  retirement  program, who is otherwise qualified for a
  retirement allowance pursuant to the optional retirement provisions  set
  forth  in  subdivision a of this section, has made and/or paid, while he
  or she is a dispatcher member, all additional member  contributions  and
  interest (if any) required by subdivision d of this section, then:
    1.  that participant, while he or she remains a participant, shall not
  be subject to the provisions of subdivision a of  section  four  hundred
  forty-five of this article; and
    2. if that participant, while such a participant, retires for service,
  he or she shall not be subject to the provisions of section four hundred
  forty-four of this article; and
    3.  his  or her retirement allowance shall be an amount, on account of
  the required minimum period of service, equal  to  the  sum  of  (i)  an
  annuity  which  shall  be  the  actuarial  equivalent of the accumulated
  deductions for his or her pay during such period,  (ii)  a  pension  for
  increased-take-home-pay  which  shall be the actuarial equivalent of the
  reserve for increased-take-home-pay to which he or she may  be  entitled
  for  such  period, and (iii) a pension which, when added to such annuity
  and such pension  for  increased-take-home-pay,  produces  a  retirement
  allowance  equal  to  fifty  percent of his or her final average salary,
  plus an amount for each  additional  year  of  allowable  service  as  a
  dispatcher  member,  or  fraction  thereof, beyond such required minimum
  period of service equal to two percent  of  his  or  her  final  average
  salary  for  such  allowable  service  as a dispatcher member during the

  period from completion of twenty-five years of allowable  service  as  a
  dispatcher  member to the date of retirement but not to exceed more than
  five years of additional service as a dispatcher member.
    d.  Additional  member  contributions.  1.  In  addition to the member
  contributions required pursuant to section 13-125 or section  13-162  of
  the administrative code of the city of New York, each participant in the
  twenty-five  year  improved benefit retirement program shall contribute,
  subject  to  the  applicable  provisions  of  section  13-125.2  of  the
  administrative  code  of the city of New York, an additional six percent
  of his or her compensation earned  from  all  allowable  service,  as  a
  participant in the twenty-five year improved benefit retirement program,
  rendered  on  and  after  the  starting  date  of  the  improved benefit
  retirement program, and all allowable service after such  person  ceases
  to  be  a  participant, but before he or she again becomes a participant
  pursuant  to  paragraph  five  of  subdivision  b  of  this  section.  A
  participant  in the twenty-five year improved benefit retirement program
  shall contribute additional member contributions until the later of  the
  date  as  of  which he or she is eligible to retire with thirty years of
  allowable  service  under  such  retirement  program,   or   the   first
  anniversary  of  the  starting  date  of  the  twenty-five year improved
  benefit retirement program. The  additional  contributions  required  by
  this  paragraph  shall  be  in  lieu  of additional member contributions
  required by subdivision (d) of section four hundred forty-five-d of this
  chapter, as added by chapter ninety-six of the laws of nineteen  hundred
  ninety-five,  and  no member paying additional contributions pursuant to
  this section shall be required to pay additional contributions  pursuant
  to  such  subdivision  (d)  of section four hundred forty-five-d of this
  chapter.
    2. Commencing with the first full payroll  period  after  each  person
  becomes   a   participant  in  the  twenty-five  year  improved  benefit
  retirement  program,  additional  member  contributions  at   the   rate
  specified  in  paragraph  one  of  this  subdivision  shall be deducted,
  subject  to  the  applicable  provisions  of  section  13-125.2  of  the
  administrative  code  of  the city of New York, from the compensation of
  such participant on each and every payroll of such participant for  each
  and every payroll period for which he or she is such a participant.
    3.  (i)  Subject  to  the  provisions  of  subparagraph  (ii)  of this
  paragraph,  where  any  additional  member  contributions  required   by
  paragraph  one  of  this  subdivision  are not paid by deductions from a
  participant's  compensation  pursuant   to   paragraph   two   of   this
  subdivision:
    (A)  that  participant shall be charged with a contribution deficiency
  consisting of such  unpaid  amounts,  together  with  interest  thereon,
  compounded annually; and
    (B)  such  interest  on  each amount of undeducted contributions shall
  accrue from the end of the payroll period for which  such  amount  would
  have been deducted from compensation if he or she had been a participant
  at  the  beginning  of  that payroll period and such deductions had been
  required for such payroll period  until  such  amount  is  paid  to  the
  retirement system; and
    (C)  (1)  interest  on each such amount included in such participant's
  contribution  deficiency  pursuant  to  this   subparagraph   shall   be
  calculated  as  if  such  additional member contributions never had been
  paid by such participant, and such interest shall accrue from the end of
  the payroll  period  to  which  an  amount  of  such  additional  member
  contributions is attributable, compounded annually, until such amount is
  paid to the retirement system.

    (2)  the rate of interest to be applied to each such amount during the
  period for which interest accrues on that amount shall be equal  to  the
  rate  or  rates  of interest required by law to be used during that same
  period to credit interest on the accumulated  deductions  of  retirement
  system members.
    (ii)  Except  as  provided in subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph, no
  interest shall be due on any unpaid additional contributions  which  are
  not  attributable  to  the period prior to the first full payroll period
  referred to in paragraph two of this subdivision.
    (iii) Should any person who,  pursuant  to  paragraph  seven  of  this
  subdivision,  has withdrawn any additional member contributions (and any
  interest paid thereon) again become a  participant  in  the  twenty-five
  year  improved  benefit retirement program pursuant to paragraph five of
  subdivision b of this section, an appropriate amount shall  be  included
  in   such  participant's  contribution  deficiency  (including  interest
  thereon as calculated pursuant  to  this  paragraph)  for  any  credited
  service  with  respect  to  which  such  person  received  a  refund  of
  additional member contributions (including any amount of an unpaid  loan
  balance  deemed  to  have  been  returned  to  such  person  pursuant to
  paragraph seven of this  subdivision),  as  if  such  additional  member
  contributions never had been paid.
    4. The board of trustees of the retirement system may, consistent with
  the  provisions  of  this  subdivision,  promulgate  regulations for the
  payment  of  the  additional  member  contributions  required  by   this
  subdivision,   and  any  interest  thereon,  by  a  participant  in  the
  twenty-five year improved  benefit  retirement  program  (including  the
  deduction  of  such contributions, and any interest thereon, from his or
  her compensation).
    5.  Where  a  participant  who  is  otherwise  eligible  for   service
  retirement  pursuant  to subdivision c of this section did not, prior to
  the  effective  date  of  retirement,  pay  the  entire  amount   of   a
  contribution  deficiency  chargeable to him or her pursuant to paragraph
  three of this subdivision, or repay the entire amount of a loan  of  his
  or  her  additional  member contributions pursuant to paragraph eight of
  this  subdivision  (including  accrued  interest  on  such  loan),  that
  participant,  nevertheless,  shall  be  eligible  to  retire pursuant to
  subdivision c of  this  section,  provided,  however,  that  where  such
  participant   is   not   entitled  to  a  refund  of  additional  member
  contributions pursuant to paragraph  seven  of  this  subdivision,  such
  participant's  service  retirement  benefit  calculated  pursuant to the
  applicable provisions of subdivision c of this section shall be  reduced
  by a life annuity (calculated in accordance with the method set forth in
  subdivision  i  of section six hundred thirteen-b of this chapter) which
  is actuarially equivalent to:
    (i) the amount of any unpaid  contribution  deficiency  chargeable  to
  such member pursuant to paragraph three of this subdivision; plus
    (ii)  the  amount  of  any  unpaid  balance  of  a  loan of his or her
  additional member contributions pursuant  to  paragraph  eight  of  this
  subdivision (including accrued interest on such loan).
    6.  Subject  to  the provisions of paragraph five of this subdivision,
  where a participant has not paid in  full  any  contribution  deficiency
  chargeable   to   him  or  her  pursuant  to  paragraph  three  of  this
  subdivision,  and  a  benefit,  other  than  a  refund  of  a   member's
  accumulated  deductions  or  a refund of additional member contributions
  pursuant to paragraph seven of this subdivision, becomes payable by  the
  retirement  system  to  the  participant  or  to  his  or her designated
  beneficiary or estate, the  actuarial  equivalent  of  any  such  unpaid
  amount shall be deducted from the benefit otherwise payable.

    7.   (i)   All   additional  member  contributions  required  by  this
  subdivision (and  any  interest  thereon)  which  are  received  by  the
  retirement  system  shall  be  paid into its contingent reserve fund and
  shall be the property of the retirement system. Such  additional  member
  contributions  (and  any  interest thereon) shall not for any purpose be
  deemed to be member contributions or accumulated deductions of a  member
  of  the  retirement system under section 13-125 or section 13-162 of the
  administrative code of the city of  New  York  while  he  or  she  is  a
  participant  in the twenty-five year improved benefit retirement program
  or otherwise.
    (ii) Should a participant in the  twenty-five  year  improved  benefit
  retirement program, who has rendered less than fifteen years of credited
  service  cease  to hold a position as a dispatcher member for any reason
  whatsoever, his or her accumulated additional member contributions  made
  pursuant to this subdivision (together with any interest thereon paid to
  the  retirement  system)  which  remain  credited  to such participant's
  account  may  be  withdrawn  by  him  or  her  pursuant  to   procedures
  promulgated  in  regulations  of the board of trustees of the retirement
  system, together with interest thereon at the rate of interest  required
  by  law  to  be used to credit interest on the accumulated deductions of
  retirement system members compounded annually.
    (iii) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,  (A)
  no  person shall be permitted to withdraw from the retirement system any
  additional member contributions paid pursuant to this subdivision or any
  interest paid thereon, except pursuant to and  in  accordance  with  the
  preceding  subparagraphs  of this paragraph; and (B) no person, while he
  or she is  a  participant  in  the  twenty-five  year  improved  benefit
  retirement  program,  shall be permitted to withdraw any such additional
  member contributions or any interest paid thereon pursuant to any of the
  preceding subparagraphs of this paragraph or otherwise.
    8. A participant in the twenty-five year improved  benefit  retirement
  program  shall  be permitted to borrow from his or her additional member
  contributions, including any interest paid thereon, which  are  credited
  to the additional contributions account established for such participant
  in  the  contingent reserve fund of the retirement system. The borrowing
  from such additional member contributions  pursuant  to  this  paragraph
  shall  be  governed  by  the  same  rights,  privileges, obligations and
  procedures set forth in section six hundred thirteen-b of  this  chapter
  which govern the borrowing by members subject to article fifteen of this
  chapter  of  member  contributions  made pursuant to section six hundred
  thirteen of this chapter. The board of trustees of the retirement system
  may,  consistent  with  the  provisions  of  this  subdivision  and  the
  provisions  of  section  six  hundred thirteen-b of this chapter as made
  applicable to this subdivision,  promulgate  regulations  governing  the
  borrowing of such additional member contributions.
    9.  Wherever  a  person  has an unpaid balance of a loan of his or her
  additional member contributions pursuant  to  paragraph  eight  of  this
  subdivision at the time he or she becomes entitled to a refund of his or
  her  additional  member  contributions  pursuant to subparagraph (ii) of
  paragraph seven of this subdivision, the  amount  of  such  unpaid  loan
  balance  (including  accrued  interest)  shall  be  deemed  to have been
  returned to such member, and the refund of such additional contributions
  shall be the net amount of such contributions,  together  with  interest
  thereon in accordance with the provisions of such subparagraph.
    10.  Notwithstanding  any  other provision of law to the contrary, the
  provisions of section one hundred thirty-eight-b of this  chapter  shall
  not  be  applicable  to  the  additional  member contributions which are
  required by this subdivision.

    11. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to  the  contrary,  the
  additional  member  contributions which are required by this subdivision
  shall not be reduced under any program for increased-take-home-pay.
    e.  The  provisions  of this section shall not be construed to provide
  benefits to any participant in the  twenty-five  year  improved  benefit
  retirement  program which are greater than those which would be received
  by a similarly situated member who is entitled  to  benefits  under  the
  provisions of section 13-157.2 of the administrative code of the city of
  New York, but who is not governed by the provisions of this article.
    * NB There are 2 § 445-e's