N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 2 § 155.9

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 50, December 11, 2024

Section 155.9 - Sponsor contributions

(a) Commencing on November 15th of the year in which State administration begins, and each November 15th thereafter, the program actuary shall estimate the amount that each sponsor is required to contribute to a State-administered defined benefit volunteer firefighter service award program for the current calendar year, including the actuarially determined normal cost of the program, any prior service contributions required to be paid in such year pursuant to section 155.8 of this Part, and any additional amounts determined by the program actuary to be necessary to fully finance all existing obligations of such program. The administrator shall submit to the fiscal officer of each sponsor a statement of the amount so payable plus any administrative costs payable by the sponsor. For good cause shown, the program actuary may recalculate the contribution, and, in such case, the administrator shall issue a corrected statement. If, as a result of the amount determined to be paid for any calendar year, a sponsor overpaid its actual obligation for that year, the amount to be determined by the program actuary for the next succeeding November 15th shall reflect the amount of the overpayment, plus interest, as a reduction in the amount otherwise required to be paid by such sponsor.

(b) Within 60 days after the date of a statement issued pursuant to subdivision (a) of this section, the sponsor shall pay to the administrator the total amount due as shown on such statement.

(c) The actuarial methodology and assumptions used by the program actuary to calculate such contributions shall be the same for all State-administered defined benefit volunteer firefighter service award programs.

(d) Interest shall accrue and be paid by the sponsor on all amounts due, but not received by the administrator within 60 days after the date of the statement issued pursuant to subdivision (a) of this section. The interest rate or rates used to calculate such interest shall be the greater of:

(1) the investment return rate (or rates) assumed by the program actuary in the calculation of the normal cost component of such unpaid contribution; or

(2) the actual investment return rate earned by the volunteer firefighters' defined benefit service award program trust fund during the calendar year (or years) in which such unpaid contributions were due to be paid.

(e) The administrator shall notify the Comptroller of any amounts remaining unpaid more than 90 days after the date of the statement issued pursuant to subdivision (a) of this section.

(f) In the event that a sponsor does not submit to the administrator an approved list in accordance with section 155.7 of this Part, the administrator shall bill the sponsor for the contribution due for the calendar year in which the list should have been submitted in an amount calculated by the program actuary equal to the estimated contribution due during such year. Such estimated contribution shall be calculated by the program actuary as if all volunteer firefighters named on the latest year's approved list received by the administrator continued to be volunteer firefighters and all such persons earned a year of service credit during the calendar year for which the list should have been prepared in accordance with section 155.7 of this Part. Payment of such contribution shall be made in accordance with subdivisions (b) and (d) of this section as if the program actuary's cost calculations were based upon the actual certified listings prepared in accordance with section 155.7 of this Part. Upon receipt by the administrator of the actual approved certified list prepared in accordance with section 155.7 of this Part, the program actuary shall estimate the contributions due for such calendar year. In the event that additional contributions are owed by the sponsor (including any additional administration costs), the administrator shall bill the sponsor for such additional amounts. Interest shall be paid by the sponsor on all additional amounts owed and shall accrue from the due date of the payment of the estimated contribution billed to the sponsor by the administrator with such interest calculated in accordance with subdivision (d) of this section. Any excess of the estimated contributions over the actual contributions shall be treated as an overpayment by the sponsor in the manner provided in subdivision (a) of this section. The amount of such overpayment shall be reduced by any related additional administration costs charged by the administrator or the program actuary. The assessment of any extra additional administration charges payable by the sponsor to either the administrator or the program actuary because of the failure to comply with section 155.7 of this Part shall be in accordance with the contract(s) between the Comptroller and the administrator/program actuary.

(g) Forfeitures shall be treated by the program actuary as an actuarial gain in the program cost calculations in the same manner as any other forfeiture of a service award. The funds accumulated to pay the participant or the participant's beneficiary shall remain within the defined benefit service award program trust fund as if such funds were the accumulated funds associated with the forfeiture of a non-vested service award. Should the person to whom service award payments are owed subsequently file an application for payment with the administrator, the administrator shall determine and pay the amount of the service award owed to the person and the actuarial liability for such payments shall be included in subsequent actuarial calculations of the sponsor's funding costs of the State-administered defined benefit volunteer firefighter service award program by the program actuary.

N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 2 § 155.9