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A07601 Summary:

BILL NOA07601A
 
SAME ASNo Same As
 
SPONSORPheffer Amato
 
COSPNSR
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Add Art 14-C §§561 - 564, R & SS L
 
Relates to providing county correction officers with a special optional twenty year retirement plan.
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A07601 Actions:

BILL NOA07601A
 
05/25/2023referred to governmental employees
01/03/2024referred to governmental employees
02/21/2024amend and recommit to governmental employees
02/21/2024print number 7601a
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A07601 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                         7601--A
 
                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                      May 25, 2023
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  M.  of A. PHEFFER AMATO -- read once and referred to the
          Committee on Governmental Employees -- recommitted to the Committee on
          Governmental Employees in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec.  2  --
          committee  discharged,  bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
          recommitted to said committee

        AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in  relation  to
          providing  county  correction  officers with a special optional twenty
          year retirement plan
 
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section 1. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding
     2  a new article 14-C to read as follows:
     3                                ARTICLE 14-C
     4      OPTIONAL RETIREMENT PLAN FOR COUNTY CORRECTION OFFICERS OR DEPUTY
     5                 SHERIFFS PERFORMING AS CORRECTION OFFICERS
     6  Section 561. Definitions.
     7          562. Optional  twenty  year  retirement plan for certain members
     8                 whose employer elects to provide same.
     9          563. Additional pension benefit for members of  optional  twenty
    10                 year retirement plan.
    11          564. Consistent provisions.
    12    § 561. Definitions. For purposes of this article:
    13    (a)  "Member"  shall  mean  a  person  who  is  employed  as  a county
    14  correction officer or a  deputy  sheriff  who  is  engaged  directly  in
    15  correction  officer  duties  that  aggregate  fifty  per centum of their
    16  service by a county which  elects  by  resolution  or  local  law,  duly
    17  adopted, to provide the benefits as authorized by this article.
    18    (b)  "Retirement  system"  shall  mean  the  New  York state and local
    19  employees' retirement system.
    20    (c) "Creditable service" shall include any and all services  performed
    21  as  a  sheriff,  undersheriff  or deputy sheriff, or correction officer.
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD05836-03-4

        A. 7601--A                          2
 
     1  Credit for service as a member or officer of the state police  or  as  a
     2  paid  fireman,  policeman or officer of any organized fire department or
     3  police force or department of any  county,  city,  village,  town,  fire
     4  district  or  police  district,  shall  also  be deemed to be creditable
     5  service and shall be included in computing years of  total  service  for
     6  retirement pursuant to this section, provided such service was performed
     7  by  the  member  while contributing to the retirement system pursuant to
     8  the provisions of this article or article eight of this chapter.
     9    § 562. Optional twenty year retirement plan for certain members  whose
    10  employer elects to provide same. (a) Any member of the retirement system
    11  may  elect to become a member pursuant to the provisions of this section
    12  within one year after he or she becomes a member, if his or her employer
    13  has elected to make the benefits provided by this section  available  to
    14  members, or within one year after his or her employer elects to make the
    15  benefits provided by this section available to its members.
    16    (b)  Elections  made  pursuant to this section shall be in writing and
    17  shall be duly acknowledged and filed with the  comptroller.  Any  member
    18  who  files  such  an  election  pursuant to this section may withdraw it
    19  after it has been filed for at least a year. Such withdrawal shall be by
    20  written notice duly acknowledged and filed with the comptroller.
    21    (c) A member participating on the basis of this section at the time of
    22  retirement shall be entitled to retire after the  completion  of  twenty
    23  years  of  total creditable service or upon the attainment of age sixty-
    24  two, by filing an application therefor  in  a  manner  similar  to  that
    25  provided in this chapter.
    26    (i)  Upon  completion of twenty years of such service and upon retire-
    27  ment, each such member shall receive a pension sufficient to provide him
    28  or her with a retirement allowance equal to one-fortieth of his  or  her
    29  final  average  salary  for  each  year of total creditable services for
    30  which he or she is otherwise entitled but not exceeding in the aggregate
    31  one-half of his or her final average salary.
    32    (ii) Upon attainment of age  sixty-two  and  upon  retirement  without
    33  completion  of  twenty  years  of  such  service, each such member shall
    34  receive a pension sufficient to provide him or  her  with  a  retirement
    35  allowance  equal  to one-fortieth of his or her final average salary for
    36  each year of creditable service. Every such member shall also  be  enti-
    37  tled to an additional pension equal to the pension for any other credit-
    38  able  service  rendered as otherwise provided for in this chapter.  This
    39  latter pension shall not increase the total allowance to more than  one-
    40  half of his or her final average salary.
    41    (d)  The  increased  pensions  to  such  members,  as provided by this
    42  section, shall be paid from additional contributions made by the partic-
    43  ipating employer on account of such members. The actuary of the  retire-
    44  ment  system shall compute the additional contribution required for each
    45  member who elects to receive the special benefits  provided  under  this
    46  section. Such additional contributions shall be computed on the basis of
    47  contributions  during  the prospective service of such member which will
    48  cover the liability of the retirement system for  such  extra  pensions.
    49  Upon approval of the comptroller, such additional contributions shall be
    50  certified by him or her to the chief fiscal officer or the participating
    51  employer.  The  amount thereof shall be included in the annual appropri-
    52  ation of the participating employer. Such amount shall be  paid  on  the
    53  warrant of the chief fiscal officer of the participating employer to the
    54  pension accumulation fund of the retirement system.
    55    (e)  In  computing  the twenty years of completed service of a member,
    56  full credit shall be given for military service as defined  in  subdivi-

        A. 7601--A                          3
 
     1  sions  twenty-nine-a  and  thirty  of  section three hundred two of this
     2  chapter.
     3    (f)  Every  member participating on the basis of this section shall be
     4  separated from the service on the last day of the  calendar  month  next
     5  succeeding  the calendar month in which he or she attains age sixty-two,
     6  provided, however, that such a member who attained the age of  sixty-two
     7  before his or her employer elected to make the benefits provided by this
     8  section  available  to  him  or her, or who attains the age of sixty-two
     9  within one month after his or her employer makes  such  benefits  avail-
    10  able,  to  be  eligible  for  a  pension computed in accordance with the
    11  provisions of this section, shall be separated from the  service  within
    12  three months after his or her employer makes such benefits available.
    13    (g)  The provisions of this section shall be controlling notwithstand-
    14  ing any other provision of this article to the contrary.
    15    (h) The benefits of this section shall  be  available  only  to  those
    16  members  whose  employer  elects  to provide such benefits by adopting a
    17  resolution or local law to such effect and filing a certified copy ther-
    18  eof with the comptroller.
    19    (i) The benefits provided by  this  section  shall  be  payable  to  a
    20  member,  unless at the date of retirement such member would otherwise be
    21  entitled to a greater benefit under other provisions of this chapter had
    22  he or she withdrawn from this section, in which event such greater bene-
    23  fits shall be payable.
    24    § 563. Additional pension benefit for members of optional twenty  year
    25  retirement  plan.  (a)  A  participating  employer which has elected, or
    26  which elects to provide the benefits of the optional twenty year retire-
    27  ment plan for its employees as specified in this article  may  elect  to
    28  make  contributions  for  the purpose of providing an additional pension
    29  pursuant to this section for members in its employ who are entitled to a
    30  pension pursuant to section five  hundred  sixty-two  of  this  article.
    31  Every member employed by an employer which has elected the provisions of
    32  section  five  hundred  sixty-two  of  this article and this section may
    33  elect to be covered by the provisions of this section by filing with the
    34  comptroller, a duly executed and acknowledged form prepared by the comp-
    35  troller for that purpose.
    36    (b) Upon retirement, each such member shall receive, for each year  of
    37  service  in excess of twenty, an additional pension which shall be equal
    38  to one-sixtieth of his or her final average salary;  provided,  however,
    39  that  the  total  allowance  payable  pursuant to this section shall not
    40  exceed three-quarters of such member's final average salary.
    41    § 564. Consistent provisions. Nothing contained in this article  shall
    42  be  construed  to  otherwise affect the applicability of article eleven,
    43  fourteen or fifteen of this chapter. Any other provisions of this  chap-
    44  ter  relating  to  mandatory contribution to the retirement system based
    45  upon a member's date of membership in such system shall not be deemed to
    46  be affected by the provisions of this article, and any member who on the
    47  effective date of this article is not required to contribute  shall  not
    48  be  required  to make any contributions as a result of this section. For
    49  those members required to contribute  to  the  retirement  system,  such
    50  contribution  shall  be treated in the same manner as specified for such
    51  members in article fourteen or fifteen of this chapter.
    52    § 2. Any past service payments required of a county as a result of the
    53  adoption of the benefits permitted by this act may be amortized  over  a
    54  period of up to ten years at the option of such county.
    55    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
          FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:

        A. 7601--A                          4
 
          This bill would add Article 14-C to the Retirement and Social Security
        Law,  creating  county  electable  twenty-year plans covering any county
        correction officers and deputy sheriffs engaged directly  in  correction
        officer duties that aggregate at least fifty percent of their service. A
        county  may elect to provide a retirement benefit equal to fifty percent
        of final average salary after twenty years  of  service.  A  county  may
        further  elect to provide for additional sixtieths for service in excess
        of twenty years. All service rendered as a correction officer,  sheriff,
        deputy sheriff or undersheriff, a member or officer of the State Police,
        a  paid  firefighter,  a  police officer, or an officer of any organized
        fire department or police force will be creditable. The retirement bene-
        fit is not to exceed seventy-five percent of final average salary.
          If this bill is enacted during the  2024  Legislative  Session,  there
        will  be  an increase in the annual contributions of any electing county
        for the fiscal year ending  March  31,  2025,  as  approximated  in  the
        following  table.  In future years, these costs will vary as the billing
        rates of the affected members change.
 
        Current Plan                  Article 14-C        Article 14-C
                                      20-Year Plan        20-Year Plan
                                                          with additional sixtieths
        Article 14 or Article 15      9.0%                10.3%
        89*, 25-Year Plans            4.9%                6.4%
        County Law Enforcement
        Article 14-B 25-Year Plan     3.7%                5.2%
        Article 14-B 25-Year Plan     2.1%                3.6%
        25-Year Plan
        with additional sixtieths
 
          In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
        an immediate past service  cost  that  will  depend  upon  the  affected
        members' service, salary, tier, current retirement plan, and new retire-
        ment plan.  Once a county elects to provide this coverage, an exact cost
        will be determined based on a roster of eligible members provided by the
        county.    The past service cost may be amortized over a period of up to
        ten years.
          Further, we anticipate additional administrative  costs  to  implement
        the provisions of this legislation.
          Summary of relevant resources:
          Membership  data as of March 31, 2023 was used in measuring the impact
        of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2023 actuari-
        al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can  be  found  in  the
        2023  Report  of the Actuary and the 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial
        Report.
          The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in  the  2023
        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, 2023
        New  York  State  and  Local  Retirement System Financial Statements and
        Supplementary Information.
          I am a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and meet the Quali-
        fication Standards to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
          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.

        A. 7601--A                          5
 
          This estimate, dated February 16, 2024,  and  intended  for  use  only
        during  the  2024  Legislative  Session,  is  Fiscal  Note  No. 2024-50,
        prepared by the Actuary for the New  York  State  and  Local  Retirement
        System.
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