STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8321
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 13, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BURKE -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Governmental Employees
AN ACT to authorize James Unger to receive certain credit under section
384-d of the retirement and social security law
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, James Unger,
2 currently a town of West Seneca police officer and member of the New
3 York state and local police and fire retirement system covered by
4 section 384-d of the retirement and social security law, who between
5 January 21, 2003 and September 6, 2006 was employed by the Erie county
6 sheriff's department where he was a member of the New York state and
7 local employees' retirement system, and who, for reasons not ascribable
8 to his own negligence, was not granted service credit under section
9 384-d of the retirement and social security law for his period of
10 employment with the Erie county sheriff's department, shall be granted
11 such service credit under section 384-d of the retirement and social
12 security law and shall be entitled to the full rights and benefits asso-
13 ciated with coverage under such section, provided a request to that
14 effect is filed with the state comptroller within one year from the
15 effective date of this act. Prior to James Unger submitting such
16 request, he must first file an application for tier reinstatement with
17 the New York state and local police and fire retirement system, as he
18 has previously withdrawn his membership with the New York state and
19 local employees' retirement system. Once any costs associated with James
20 Unger's tier reinstatement to his prior membership are paid in full by
21 him, he may be granted the service credit and such service credit will
22 be creditable service under section 384-d of the retirement and social
23 security law for James Unger.
24 § 2. All past service costs incurred in implementing the provisions of
25 this act shall be borne by the town of West Seneca.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07024-02-5
A. 8321 2
1 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would grant service credit under section 384-d, together
with section 384-e, of the Retirement and Social Security Law to James
Unger, a Tier 2 member of the New York State and Local Police and Fire
Retirement System (NYSLPFRS) employed by the Town of West Seneca, for
the period January 21, 2003 through September 6, 2006, during which time
they were employed as a deputy sheriff in Erie County. Currently, deputy
sheriff service is not creditable in a NYSLPFRS twenty-year retirement
plan.
This bill will not increase the future annual contributions of the
Town of West Seneca.
In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, if this bill
is enacted during the 2025 Legislative Session, there will be an immedi-
ate past service cost of approximately $176,000 which will be borne by
the Town of West Seneca as a one-time payment. This estimate assumes
that payment will be made on February 1, 2026.
James Unger must complete and file an application for tier rein-
statement with NYSLPFRS for service credit to be granted.
Summary of relevant resources:
Membership data as of March 31, 2024 was used in measuring the impact
of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2024 actuari-
al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the
2024 Report of the Actuary and the 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial
Report. The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the
2024 Annual Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assumptions, and the
Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York: Audit and
Control. The Market Assets and GASB Disclosures are found in the March
31, 2024 New York State and Local Retirement System Financial Statements
and Supplementary Information.
This fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the viability
of the proposed change nor is it intended to serve as a substitute for
the professional judgment of an attorney.
This estimate, dated March 24, 2025, and intended for use only during
the 2025 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2025-117. As Chief
Actuary of the New York State and Local Retirement System, I, Aaron
Schottin Young, hereby certify that this analysis complies with applica-
ble Actuarial Standards of Practice as well as the Code of Professional
Conduct and Qualification Standards for Actuaries Issuing Statements of
Actuarial Opinion of the American Academy of Actuaries, of which I am a
member.
