Section 13-380
§ 13-380 Life insurance fund. a. The life insurance fund shall consist
of all moneys in such fund on the first day of January, nineteen hundred
forty.
b. The board of trustees of the New York fire department pension funds
shall be the head of the New York fire department life insurance fund
and shall have power and authority, from time to time, to establish and
amend rules and regulations for the administration and transaction of
the business of such fund and for the control and disposition thereof in
accordance with the provisions of this code and all laws applicable
thereto. The chairperson and first vice-chairperson of such board,
respectively, shall be the treasurer and assistant treasurer of the
fund. They shall make a semi-annual report verified by the members of
such board of the condition of such fund, containing a statement of the
accumulated cash and securities in such fund and of all receipts and
disbursements for or on account of such fund, together with the names of
all beneficiaries and the amount paid to each, and file such report in
the office of the comptroller.
c. (1) There shall be deducted from the monthly pay of each
firefighter, officer and probationary firefighter of such department,
and from the monthly pension of retired members of such department, a
monthly sum not exceeding nine dollars, but not less than one dollar,
which shall be received and deposited by such board to the credit of the
New York fire department life insurance fund, in banks or trust
companies to be selected by the board. Such board shall, subject to the
provisions of paragraph two of this subdivision, have full power to
invest such fund, subject to the terms, conditions, limitations and
restrictions imposed by law upon savings banks in the making and
disposing of investments by savings banks; and subject to like terms,
conditions, limitations and restrictions, such board shall have full
power to hold, purchase, sell, assign, transfer or dispose of any of the
securities or investments in which any of such funds shall have been
invested. The comptroller shall be the custodian of all investments
purchased pursuant to the authority vested herein.
(2) The members of the board shall have the same investment powers and
power to delegate such powers as are vested by this code and the
retirement and social security law in the members of the board of
trustees of the fire department pension fund, subchapter two.
d. (1) In case of the death of any active member or of any pensioned
or retired member of such department, and so contributing, there shall
be paid to the beneficiary or beneficiaries named in a written
designation filed with the board of trustees, or if there be no such
written designation, then to the surviving spouse, or if there be no
surviving spouse, then to the legal representatives of such deceased
active member or pensioned and retired member out of the monies so
assessed, a sum as hereinafter in this paragraph one provided:
(i) subject to the provisions of subdivision g of this section, the
sum of five thousand dollars, if such member was an active member at the
time of his or her death; or
(ii) subject to the provisions of subdivision g of this section, the
sum of two thousand dollars, if such member was a pensioned or retired
member of such department at the time of his or her death.
(2) The assessment, in the discretion of the board, may be increased
to not exceeding the sum of nine dollars in each month's pay, or each
month's pension or pensioned and retired members of such department.
(3) None but active and retired members of the uniformed force and
probationary firefighters shall be eligible to membership in this fund.
e. Such treasurer and assistant treasurer shall give bond for the
faithful and honest performance of their respective duties under this
subchapter in such sum as may be fixed and with sureties to be approved
by the comptroller. Any such bond shall run to the New York fire
department life insurance fund.
f. Any member of such fund who is on leave of absence from the fire
department for military duty as defined in sections two hundred
forty-two and two hundred forty-three of the military law of the state
of New York shall continue to be a member of such fund during such
military duty. Upon his or her restoration to his or her position in the
fire department, there shall be deducted monthly from his or her salary
and paid to the New York fire department life insurance fund, such sum,
as will over a period of five years, equal the amount which he or she
would have been required to contribute if he or she had been
continuously employed in the fire department during such period of
service, or any part of such amount remaining unpaid at the date of such
restoration. In lieu of such deduction, however, such amount or any part
thereof may be paid by such member at any time or from time to time
while in such service, or, in a lump sum or by larger monthly
deductions, after his or her restoration to his or her position in the
fire department, or by any other method of deduction which will complete
the payment of such amount in a period less than five years from the
date of such restoration. In the event such member has failed or shall
fail to complete full payment of such amount of contributions remaining
due and unpaid within the time herein specified, there shall be deducted
monthly from the salary of such member or by any other method of
deduction and paid to the New York fire department life insurance fund
within a period of eighteen months, such sum as will equal the amount
which he or she would have been required to contribute if he or she had
been continuously employed in the fire department during such period of
service, or any part of such amount remaining unpaid, plus interest at
the rate of two and one-half per centum per annum computed from either
five years after the date of such restoration or January first, nineteen
hundred fifty-three, whichever date is later. In case of death of any
member during his or her absence in such service or at any time prior to
the full payment by him or her of the contributions due and payable to
such fund during his or her absence, his or her beneficiary or
beneficiaries or his or her surviving spouse or legal representatives,
as the case may be, shall receive the sum required to be paid pursuant
to subdivision d or g of this section in the case of the death of an
active member, less the amount of such contributions remaining due and
unpaid.
g. From time to time, but not longer than every three years, the board
of trustees may request the actuary of the fire department pension fund
to make a valuation of the assets and liabilities of the fund in order
to determine whether (i) an increase in the sums payable under this
section would be consistent with operations of the life insurance fund
on a basis whereby the cost of sums payable is met from deductions made
pursuant to the provisions of this section from the pay or pensions of
members or retired members or assessments made pursuant to the
provisions of this section against members or retired members, or (ii) a
decrease in sums payable is required in order to maintain the life
insurance fund on such basis. If the actuary certifies to the board of
trustees that an increase in such sums payable is warranted or that a
decrease in such sums payable is required, the board shall, by
resolution, increase or decrease such sums payable in accordance with
the certification of the actuary. Such resolution and the actuarial data
upon which an increase or decrease of sums is justified shall be public
information.