§ 219. Requirements and benefits under a defined benefit plan service
award program. (a) An active volunteer firefighter's service award
program that is a defined benefit plan shall be subject to minimum and
maximum retirement benefit requirements as set forth in subdivision (b)
of this section. In determining whether such minimum and maximum benefit
requirements have been satisfied, all benefits provided under all
service award programs instituted by a sponsor shall be considered as
one program.

(b) The minimum and maximum retirement benefit requirements for a
service award program that is a defined benefit plan shall be defined as
follows. Each participating active volunteer firefighter shall be
entitled to a minimum service award benefit of five dollars per month
for each year of firefighting service completed after satisfying the
program's eligibility requirement and after establishment of the
program. The maximum benefit amount payable to a participating active
volunteer firefighter entitled to a benefit shall be determined on the
basis of an actuarial valuation. The valuation shall take into account
the age, and such other factors as the actuary deems appropriate, of the
eligible participating active volunteer firefighters and the amount of
available financing available per active covered volunteer firefighter.
The maximum service award under a service award program shall be a
monthly payment, payable for life, that does not exceed an amount equal
to thirty dollars for each year of firefighting service credited under
the terms of the program to a maximum of forty years of firefighting
service. The governing board of a political subdivision may extend the
maximum number of years of service for which a participant may receive a
contribution for up to an additional ten years, to a maximum of fifty
years, and such increases in the number of years may be added in
multiple increments or in a single action, pursuant to the adoption of
the required resolution or resolutions of the governing board, receiving
the affirmative vote of at least sixty percent of the governing board of
the political subdivision, and the approval of any mandatory referendum
or referenda authorizing the extension of benefits under the program by
eligible voters within such political subdivision.

(c) No benefit payments may be made under any service award program
that is a defined benefit plan until the tenth anniversary of the
establishment of the service award program. The foregoing sentence shall
not preclude a service award program from providing for additional
benefit payments after the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the
service award program to reflect the fact that the payment of benefits
could not commence until that date.

Notwithstanding the preceding paragraph, if a program sponsor has been
authorized pursuant to section two hundred sixteen or two hundred
sixteen-a of this article to provide benefits prior to the tenth
anniversary of the establishment of the service award program, it may
provide for the payment of service awards from the date of establishment
of the service award program or from such other date as is set forth in
the authorization.

(d) The governing board shall engage the services of an actuary for
the purpose of determining the annual amount required to be contributed
to a defined benefit service award program, which amount shall be based
on the interest and mortality tables or other appropriate assumptions
and methods selected by actuary. The sum so determined shall be
appropriated annually by the political subdivision. The governing board
may also retain an actuary to provide advice with respect to any other
aspect of the program.

(e) In the event that any active volunteer firefighter becomes
disabled and in the event that the disability prevents the active
volunteer firefighter from pursuing such volunteer's normal occupation
and if the disability is total and of a permanent nature as certified by
the workers' compensation board or other competent authority as approved
by the program sponsor, the volunteer firefighter is entitled to receive
the benefits described in this section, regardless of age or length of
service. Such benefits shall begin on the first day of the first month
following the establishment of such disability.

At the option of the sponsor of the service award program, if the
active volunteer firefighter becomes disabled during the course of
service as a volunteer while actively engaged in providing line of duty
services as defined in subdivision one of section five of the volunteer
firefighters' benefit law, an additional disability benefit may be
authorized. Additional disability benefit shall be equal to the amount
of additional benefits that the volunteer firefighter would have been
entitled to had he continued to earn years of firefighting service
through his entitlement age if the rate of benefits being provided under
the service award program at the time of disability continued to be
provided through the entitlement age.

(f) A volunteer firefighter's retirement income plan may provide that,
in the event of the death of an active volunteer firefighter who has a
right to a nonforfeitable percentage of retirement income pursuant to
subdivision (b) of this section, the designated beneficiaries of such
active volunteer firefighter (or his estate if no beneficiary is so
designated) shall be entitled to receive death benefits under the
service award plan. Such death benefits shall be payable in the form of
a lump sum amount designated by the sponsor as payable at death or a
percentage of the retirement benefits otherwise payable. Such benefits
shall be equal to the amount of benefits earned by the volunteer
firefighter under the plan at the date of death.

At the option of the sponsor of the service award program, if the
active volunteer firefighter dies during the course of service as a
volunteer while actively engaged in providing line of duty services, as
defined in subdivision one of section five of the volunteer
firefighters' benefit law, additional death benefits may be provided.

(g) In the case of a state-administered service award program, a
service award shall be paid only after an application is made to the
program administrator and the administrator approves the application.