Purpose

To inform agencies of PayServ processing changes for the Additional Compensation Option (ACO) pursuant to Chapter 96 of the Laws of 1995 (see Bulletin CU-4, dated October 2, 1997) and new processing of Additional Compensation Option (ACO) for Campus Peace Officers pursuant to Chapter 582 of the Laws of 2001.

Affected Employees

NYCERS members in Tier 2 who are eligible for Chapter 96 ACO and NYCERS members in Tiers 1, 2 and 4 who are in Campus Peace Officer titles which are eligible for Chapter 582 ACO

Effective Date(s)

4/30/2004

Processing Changes

Chapter 96 Transactions

Chapter 96 ACO was previously available in PayServ for Tier 4 employees. Upon notification from NYCERS, agencies may now enroll Tier 2 employees who are covered by Chapter 96 in the Additional Compensation Option (ACO – 1.85%).

Campus Peace Officer (Chapter 582) Transactions

Upon notification from NYCERS, agencies may now enroll Tiers 1, 2 and 4 employees in Campus Peace Officer titles in the Chapter 582 Additional Compensation Option (ACO - 6.25%)

Processing Change to Prevent Agency Selection of Tier 3

As instructed in Payroll Bulletin No. 395, Tier 3 is not a valid selection for employees enrolled in NYCERS. A change has been implemented that will not allow agencies to Save a transaction when Tier 3 has been selected.

Taxability

The ACO option, which is used for both Chapter 96 and Campus Peace Officer (Chapter 582) (regular deductions), is only available as before tax.

ACO arrears deductions for both Chapter 96 and Campus Peace Officer (Chapter 582) may be either before tax or after tax. See below for details on new arrears codes.

Agency Actions

On-Line Entry

Because Campus Peace Officer (Chapter 582) ACO (6.25%) is available for employees in Tiers 1, 2 and 4, and Chapter 96 ACO (1.85%) is only available for employees in Tiers 2 and 4, there has been a change in the on-line entry of ACO transactions.

There will continue to be only one ACO selection in the Option Code Lookup. Previously, if the ACO option was selected, the percentage was populated automatically when tabbing out of the option field.

The automatic population of the percentage will continue for ACO in Tier 1. It can only be used for Campus Peace Officer (Chapter 582) ACO and will be populated automatically with 6.25%.

ACO in Tiers 2 and 4 can now be either Chapter 96 (1.85%) or Campus Peace Officer Chapter 582 (6.25%) and the percentage field must be populated manually by the agency.

New Edit Message

The new edit message ‘Percentage must be between 1.85% and 6.25%. The percentage chosen was outside of the valid range for this Option’ will be displayed if the option ACO is selected and the percentage in the Percentage field is not between 1.85% and 6.25% or is blank. No edit message will be displayed if an invalid percentage that falls between 1.85% and 6.25% is entered.

NYCERS Certification Letter

In the certification letter provided to the agency for each employee, NYCERS will identify the appropriate type of ACO, based on the employee’s retirement program election. The agency will be responsible for entering the correct percentage – either 1.85% (Chapter 96) or 6.25% (Campus Peace Officer - Chapter 582). Agencies should carefully review NYCERS’ certification letter before enrolling an employee in ACO, to ensure they are entering the correct percentage.

Physically Taxing Option (PTO)

Although Physically Taxing Option (PTO) may be used with Chapter 96 ACO (1.85%), it is not part of Chapter 582 legislation and should not be used with Campus Peace Officer (Chapter 582) ACO (6.25%).

An employee may have a deduction for PTO arrears along with a Campus Peace Officer ACO regular deduction.

OSC Actions

Correction to Existing Data

The following titles have been identified by CUNY Central Administration as eligible for the Campus Peace Officer (Chapter 582) program:

• College Security Director
• Assistant College Security Director
• Campus Public Safety Sergeant
• Campus Peace Officer
• College Security Specialist

At the request of NYCERS, OSC will not change ACO percentages already entered in PayServ from 1.85% to 6.25% for active employees in these titles. Agencies should contact NYCERS before making any changes to existing data for these employees.

OSC will insert a row to terminate Retirement for inactive employees in Campus Peace Officer eligible titles. If the employee is re-hired, the agency will need to re-start retirement with the correct options and percentages.

Arrears Codes

Two new deduction codes have been created to recover arrears for Campus Peace Officer (Chapter 582) ACO:

Code 649 – NYE CPO ACO Arrears Before Tax
Code 650 – NYE CPO ACO Arrears After Tax

These codes should be entered on the General Deduction Data page using the Flat Amount Deduction Calculation Routine. A Goal Amount may also be used.

Codes 638 and 640 should be used to recover Chapter 96 arrears only. The descriptions of the codes have been changed to read as follows:

Code 638 - NYE C96 ACO Arrears Before Tax
Code 640 - NYE C96 ACO Arrears After Tax

Questions

Questions regarding this bulletin may be directed to the University Manager of Payroll Systems and Operations at CUNY Central Office.