Date:                February 21, 2007

To:                   All Uniformed Members (Active/Retired)          

Re:                   Refund of FICA Taxes

                        The FDNY is aware of the settlement reached regarding refunds of FICA taxes. The Office of Payroll Administration (OPA) is in receipt of the most up-to-date FDNY Service Connected medical records for the years in question.  Members will be directed to call OPA at 212- 669-2333 or email them at LODIFICARefund@payroll.nyc.gov.
  We have formulated the following procedure for members to follow:

• Members are hereby directed to FIRST call the Office of Payroll Administration at
  212- 669-2333 || 212 669-2875 || 212 669-4133 || 212 669-3669
  to dispute the dates of LODI that they received in the initial letter from OPA.
• If the member continues to dispute the records held by OPA, they may request a review of the medical records in question to the FDNY Bureau of Health Services.
• The member must request a review of medical leaves in question in WRITING.  This letter must clearly give the members’ name, social security number, the start and end date(s) of the Service-Connected medical leave episode(s) along with verification that the dates are incorrect or omitted.  Copies of the BHS Duty Determination form (MD211), CD72 and/or journal entries will be the only acceptable documents of verification.  The request for review along with the necessary verification documents must be faxed to 718-999-0170.  Phone calls to BHS may be made to 718-999-1940 but only after the written request is received via fax.  Members will not receive a decision at this time as the information must be received and the review must be conducted. 
• Any request for review without supporting documentations will not be accepted.  Members are not to call BHS for copies of such documents.
• A decision will be emailed to the following officials at the Office of Payroll Administration, FICA Refund Claim Unit – Neil Matthew and Michael Kourelakos as well as Bill Romaka of the UFA and George Belnavis of the UFOA.
• The decision of the BHS review is FINAL.  No appeals will be granted. 
• Official notification to the member will be made by Bill Romaka of the UFA and George Belnavis of the UFOA for their respective memberships.

We realize that there is a deadline of April 5, 2007 as per the letter you received from OPA and we will do our best to review and render a decision as soon as possible.

We thank you for your cooperation.
Bureau of Health Services