Licopoli v. New York State Teachers' Retirement System

*1229In petitioner’s case, respondent must determine his retirement benefits based upon a calculation of his final average salary, that is, the actual compensation earned during either the last three or five years of his employment, whichever is higher (see Education Law § 501 [11] [a], [b]; Matter of Cooper v New York State Teachers’ Retirement Sys., 19 AD3d 724, 725 [2005]). To prevent artificial inflation of this figure, any form of extra payment made in anticipation of retirement must be excluded (see Matter of Palandra v New York State Teachers’ Retirement Sys., 84 AD3d 1689, 1690 [2011];…