Relates to a child care leave credit for New York city uniformed correction officers who are members of the New York city uniformed correction/sanitation revised plan.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6293
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
April 12, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sen. JACKSON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to a
child care leave credit for New York city uniformed correction offi-
cers who are members of the New York city uniformed
correction/sanitation revised plan
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision h of section 513 of the retirement and social
2 security law, as amended by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, is amended
3 to read as follows:
4 h. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, any general
5 member in the uniformed correction force of the New York city department
6 of correction and any member of the uniformed force of the New York city
7 department of correction who is a New York city uniformed
8 correction/sanitation revised plan member, who is absent without pay for
9 a child care leave of absence pursuant to regulations of the New York
10 city department of correction shall be eligible for credit for such
11 period of child care leave provided such member files a claim for such
12 service credit with the retirement system by December thirty-first, two
13 thousand five or within ninety days of the termination of the child care
14 leave, whichever is later, and contributes to the retirement system an
15 amount which such member would have contributed during the period of
16 such child care leave, together with interest thereon. Service credit
17 provided pursuant to this subdivision shall not exceed one year of cred-
18 it for each period of authorized child care leave. In the event there is
19 a conflict between the provisions of this subdivision and the provisions
20 of any other law or code to the contrary, the provisions of this subdi-
21 vision shall govern[, provided, however, that the provisions of this
22 subdivision shall not apply to a member of the uniformed force of the
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08413-02-3
S. 6293 2
1 New York city department of correction who is a New York city uniformed
2 correction/sanitation revised plan member].
3 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
SUMMARY OF BILL: This proposed legislation would amend Section 513 of
the Retirement and Social Security Law (RSSL) to permit Correction
members in the Tier 3 Revised or Enhanced plans of the New York City
Employees' Retirement System (NYCERS) to apply for and purchase up to
one year of service credit for each period of authorized unpaid child
care leave.
Effective Date: Upon enactment.
BACKGROUND: Currently, provisions permitting Correction members to
purchase service credit for the time spent while on authorized unpaid
child care leave do not apply to Correction members in the Tier 3
Revised or Enhanced plans of NYCERS.
Under the proposed legislation, if enacted, Correction members in the
Tier 3 Revised or Enhanced plans of NYCERS who take authorized unpaid
child care leave would be eligible to apply for the purchase of service
credit for the period of leave within 90 days of the termination of such
leave. To purchase such leave, members must contribute to NYCERS the
amount which would have been contributed during the leave period,
including interest. The maximum service credit that can be purchased for
each period of authorized child care leave is one year.
FINANCIAL IMPACT - PRESENT VALUES: Based on the anticipated number of
members purchasing service and the assumed amount of service they
purchase each year, as well as the actuarial assumptions and methods
described herein, the enactment of this proposed legislation would
result in an increase in the present value of future employer contrib-
utions of approximately $92,500 each year.
This net increase is a result of an increase in the Present Value of
Future Benefits (PVFB) of approximately $98,200 each year and an
increase in the present value of member contributions of approximately
$5,700 which includes the member cost of the buyback.
FINANCIAL IMPACT - ANNUAL EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS: Enactment of this
proposed legislation would increase employer contributions, where such
amount would depend on the number of years of eligible child care leave
service credited as well as other characteristics including the age,
years of service, and salary history of the member purchasing the
service.
Based on the actuarial assumptions and methods described herein, the
enactment of this proposed legislation is estimated to increase annual
employer contributions by approximately $10,900 each year.
Since employer contributions to NYCERS generally do not anticipate
future purchases of service by members, the financial impact would be
recognized at the time of event. Consequently, changes in employer
contributions have been estimated assuming that the increase in the
present value of future employer contributions will be amortized over a
closed 15-year period (14 payments under the One-Year Lag Methodology)
using level dollar payments.
With respect to the timing, increases in employer contributions would
depend upon when members apply for and purchase the service. Generally,
increased employer contributions will first occur the second fiscal year
following processing and payment of the buyback application.
CENSUS DATA: The estimates presented herein are based on the census
data used in the June 30, 2022 actuarial valuation of NYCERS to deter-
mine the Preliminary Fiscal Year 2024 employer contributions.
S. 6293 3
There are currently 3,045 Correction members in Tier 3 Revised or
Enhanced plans who could immediately benefit from the proposed legis-
lation. To better reflect the future impact of the proposed legislation,
it was assumed that the population of the Correction workforce would
eventually consist entirely of Tier 3 Enhanced members with the same
characteristics as the current population of Correction members who
would benefit from the proposed legislation. There are currently 6,514
(out of 6,711) Correction members who have less than 25 years of service
and therefore could potentially benefit from the proposed legislation,
with an average age of approximately 41.8 years, an average service of
approximately 11.1 years, and an average salary of approximately
$120,000.
ACTUARIAL ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The estimates presented herein have
been calculated based on the actuarial assumptions and methods used for
the Preliminary Fiscal Year 2024 employer contributions of NYCERS.
Supplemental data for child care leave service purchased by Correction
Tiers 1, 2, and original Tier 3 members was provided by NYCERS. Based on
this data, an average frequency of four purchases per year was assumed
and an average of nine months of credited service was assumed for each
purchase.
RISK AND UNCERTAINTY: The costs presented in this Fiscal Note depend
highly on the realization of the actuarial assumptions used, demograph-
ics of the impacted population and other factors such as investment,
contribution, and other risks. If actual experience deviates from actu-
arial assumptions, the actual costs could differ from those presented
herein.
Costs are also dependent on the actuarial methods used, and therefore
different actuarial methods could produce different results. Quantifying
these risks is beyond the scope of this Fiscal Note.
Not measured in this Fiscal Note are the following:
* The initial additional administrative costs to implement the
proposed legislation.
* The impact of this proposed legislation on Other Postemployment
Benefit costs.
STATEMENT OF ACTUARIAL OPINION: I, Marek Tyszkiewicz, am the Chief
Actuary for, and independent of, the New York City Retirement Systems
and Pension Funds. I am an Associate of the Society of Actuaries and a
Member of the American Academy of Actuaries. I am a member of NYCERS but
do not believe it impairs my objectivity and I meet the Qualification
Standards of the American Academy of Actuaries to render the actuarial
opinion contained herein. To the best of my knowledge, the results
contained herein have been prepared in accordance with generally
accepted actuarial principles and procedures and with the Actuarial
Standards of Practice issued by the Actuarial Standards Board.
FISCAL NOTE IDENTIFICATION: This Fiscal Note 2023-26 dated April 11,
2023 was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City Employees'
Retirement System. This estimate is intended for use only during the
2023 Legislative Session.
