* § 445-f. Optional twenty-five year improved benefit retirement
program for special officer, parking control specialist, school safety
agent, campus peace officer, and New York city taxi and limousine
inspector 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 or the New York city board of education retirement
system.

2. "Special officers" shall mean all peace officers who are special
officers of any rank employed by a mayoral agency of the city of New
York or the New York city health and hospitals corporation or the city
of New York housing authority, and shall include all persons who are
employed by the city of New York in the title urban park ranger or
associate urban park ranger.

3. "Parking control specialist" shall mean a peace officer employed by
the New York city department of transportation as a parking control
specialist.

4. "School safety agent" shall mean a peace officer employed as a
school safety agent of any rank employed by the New York city police
department or the board of education of the city of New York.

5. "Campus peace officer" shall mean a peace officer employed as a
campus peace officer of any rank employed by the city university of New
York.

6. "Taxi and limousine inspector" shall mean a peace officer of any
rank employed by the New York city taxi and limousine commission.

7. "Twenty-five year improved benefit retirement program" shall mean
all the terms and conditions of this section; provided that, for persons
who are employed by the city of New York in the title urban park ranger
and associate urban park ranger "starting date of the twenty-five year
retirement program" shall mean the effective date of the amendment to
paragraph two of this subdivision made in section four of the chapter of
the laws of two thousand three which amended this paragraph.

8. "Starting date of the twenty-five year improved benefit retirement
program" shall mean the date of enactment of this section.

9. "Participant in the twenty-five year improved benefit retirement
program" shall mean any special officer, parking control specialist,
school safety agent, campus peace officer or taxi and limousine
inspector 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.

10. "Administrative code" shall mean the administrative code of the
city of New York.

11. "Accumulated deductions" shall mean accumulated deductions as
defined in subdivision eleven of section 13-101 of the administrative
code.

12. "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 special
officer, parking control specialist, school safety agent, campus peace
officer or taxi and limousine inspector member.

13. "Allowable service" as a special officer, parking control
specialist, school safety agent, campus peace officer or taxi and
limousine inspector member shall mean all service while employed by the
city of New York or by the New York city health and hospitals
corporation, the New York city board of education, the city university
of New York, the New York city taxi and limousine commission or the city
of New York housing authority in a title whose duties are those of a
peace officer under the criminal procedure law.

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 special officer, parking control
specialist, school safety agent, campus peace officer or taxi and
limousine inspector 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 special officer, parking control specialist, school
safety agent, campus peace officer or taxi and limousine inspector
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 special officer, parking control
specialist, school safety agent, campus peace officer or taxi and
limousine inspector 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 special
officer, parking control specialist, school safety agent, campus peace
officer and taxi and limousine inspector member, a duly executed
application for such participation with the retirement system, provided
he or she is such a special officer, parking control specialist, school
safety agent, campus peace officer or taxi and limousine inspector
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 special officer,
parking control specialist, school safety agent, campus peace officer or
taxi and limousine inspector 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 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 special officer, parking
control specialist, school safety agent, campus peace officer or taxi
and limousine inspector member and returns to such service as such a
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 special officer, parking control specialist, school safety
agent, campus peace officer or taxi and limousine inspector 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
special officer, parking control specialist, school safety agent, campus
peace officer or taxi and limousine inspector 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 special officer, parking control specialist, school safety agent,
campus peace officer or taxi and limousine inspector member during the
period from completion of twenty-five years of allowable service as such
a member to the date of retirement but not to exceed more than five
years of additional service as such a 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, 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, an
additional six and twenty-five one hundredths 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 article, 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 article.

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, 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 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 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 special officer, parking control
specialist, school safety agent, campus peace officer or taxi and
limousine inspector 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 13-157.3 of the administrative code, but who is
not governed by the provisions of this article.

* NB There are 3 § 445-f's