March 2019 – Firefly Admin Inc.

THE VOLUNTEER FIRE SERVICE IS CHANGING BUT LOSAP STAYS MOSTLY THE SAME

March 29, 2019

A little background on me, from December 1998 to September 7, 2001, I worked at One Park Avenue in NY. My wife worked for a company that took care of plants in office buildings all over metro NYC, including the Twin Towers. My last day of work was the Friday before 9/11 – I was…

PLAY BALL!

March 28, 2019

Today is opening day. Everyone in my house knows all the words to take me out the ballgame. Now you will too: Katie Casey was baseball mad,Had the fever and had it bad.Just to root for the home town crew,Ev’ry souKatie blew.On a Saturday her young beauCalled to see if she’d like to goTo see…

ELIGIBILITY TO PARTICIPATE IN LOSAP

March 27, 2019

We’ve been asked several times over the last two-three weeks about the eligibility to participate in LOSAP. In particular, if “administrative only” members are eligible to participate. So we thought we would address it now. As usual, we cannot give legal advice – this is meant to help guide you and your attorney in making…

LINE OF DUTY DISABILITY POINTS

March 26, 2019

Were you aware that awarding points for periods of line-of-duty disability is actually optional? It is true, but not well known! This section of the statute is actually one of the point system categories. Since it is a point system category, it is technically optional – a sponsor does not have to include every category.…

I DON’T THINK THAT IS WHAT CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS DO PRIOR TO THE SEASON

March 25, 2019

So for today I’m going to go a little off topic. Those that know me, know I’m a very big Mets fan. I’m tempted to say there is no bigger fan than me, but there is always someone bigger. But I’m a former season ticket holder, watch/listen/follow every game, and you can guarantee the only…

WHO IS ELIGIBLE FOR MILITARY LEAVE POINTS?

March 22, 2019

General Municipal Law § 217 (h) states the following regarding military leave: (i) A participant whose volunteer fire service is interrupted by full-time extended obligatory military service or by a single voluntary enlistment not to exceed four years in the armed forces of the United States shall be considered on military leave. During such period of military…

POINTS FOR TEACHING A TRAINING CLASS?

March 21, 2019

A question came in regarding a volunteer member of a fire department teaching a training class, and if points can be awarded to that member for teaching the class rather than attending the class. This is not an easy one with a black-and-white answer. It mostly comes down to interpretation and determining what is in the spirit of the…

MAXIMUM YEARS OF LOSAP SERVICE CREDIT

March 20, 2019

Under New York State Law, the maximum years of service credit (i.e., 50 points) that can be earned is 40 years. Since the first year of the LOSAP was 1990, calendar year 2019 is the 30th year of the availability of the program. Including the 5-year buyback, this means that some firefighters are earning their…

AMENDING THE LOSAP POINT SYSTEM

March 19, 2019

The sponsor of a LOSAP can amend the point system. The Board must adopt a resolution approving the new point system. If the change makes it easier to earn 50 points by either increasing the number of points awarded for an activity, or decreasing the amount of activity required to earn points for the activity,…

LOSAP POINTS FOR MEETINGS

March 18, 2019

A question was raised about points for meetings. Here is the applicable section of the statute: (v)Attendance at meetings—twenty points maximum.Attendance at any official meetings of the volunteer fire company—one point per meeting. The Office of the State Comptroller has issued two legal opinions about this point system category. Comptroller Opinion 94-25 states that points…

Month: March 2019