NYC not required to make “increased-take-home-pay" retirement contributions for police officers and firefighters appointed after June 30, 2009
Lynch v City of New York, 2014 NY Slip Op 04873, Court of Appeals
The bottom line of a very comprehensive opinion in which the Court of Appeals addressed whether Retirement and Social Security Law §480 (b) requires the City of New York (the City) to make "Increased-Take-Home-Pay" (ITHP) pension contributions on behalf of New York City police officers and firefighters appointed on or after July 1, 2009 -- the City is not required to make such contributions.
The Court of Appeals ruled that “For the reasons that follow, we conclude that section 480 (b) only encompasses temporary programs in place as of 1974 for tier 1 and 2 members of a public employee retirement system. Stated another way, section 480 (b) does not obligate a public employer to pay any portion of a tier 3 public employee's statutorily required pension contribution. Accordingly, the City has properly deducted 3% from the gross annual wages of its tier 3 police officers and firefighters as mandatory employee pension contributions.”
The text of the decision is posted on the Internet at:
http://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2014/2014_04873.htm