Provides that a member with credited service in excess of twenty-five years shall receive an additional retirement allowance equal to one-sixtieth of such member's final average salary for each year of creditable service in excess of twenty-five years; makes related provisions.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10548
IN ASSEMBLY
June 3, 2024
___________
Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A.
J. M. Giglio) -- read once and referred to the Committee on Govern-
mental Employees
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
certain benefits of sheriffs, undersheriffs, deputy sheriffs and
correction officers with credited service of more than twenty-five
years
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision c of section 89-p of the retirement and social
2 security law, as added by chapter 725 of the laws of 1994, is amended to
3 read as follows:
4 c. Upon completion of twenty-five years of such service and upon
5 retirement, each such member shall receive a pension which, together
6 with an annuity which shall be the actuarial equivalent of [his] such
7 member's accumulated contributions at the time of [his] such member's
8 retirement and an additional pension which is the actuarial equivalent
9 of the reserved-for-increased-take-home-pay to which [he] such member
10 may then be entitled shall be sufficient to provide [him] such member
11 with a retirement allowance equal to one-half of [his] such member's
12 final average salary, provided however that a member with credited
13 service in excess of twenty-five years shall receive an additional
14 retirement allowance equal to one-sixtieth of such member's final aver-
15 age salary for each year of creditable service in excess of twenty-five
16 years, provided, however that the pension payable pursuant to this
17 section shall not exceed three-quarters of such member's final average
18 salary.
19 § 2. Subdivision m of section 604 of the retirement and social securi-
20 ty law, as added by chapter 725 of the laws of 1994, is amended to read
21 as follows:
22 m. The early service retirement benefit for a member who is employed
23 in a county that makes the election provided for in subdivision j of
24 section eighty-nine-p of this chapter as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy
25 sheriff or correction officer as defined in section eighty-nine-p of
26 this chapter shall be a pension equal to one-fiftieth of final average
27 salary times years of credited service at the completion of twenty-five
28 years of service as such sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff or
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14582-05-4
A. 10548 2
1 correction officer, [but not exceeding one-half of his or her] plus an
2 additional retirement allowance equal to one-sixtieth of such member's
3 final average salary for each year of credited service in excess of
4 twenty-five years, provided, however that the pension payable pursuant
5 to such section shall not exceed three-quarters of such member's final
6 average salary.
7 § 3. All past service costs associated with implementing the
8 provisions of this act shall be borne by the county that makes the
9 election provided for in subdivision j of section 89-p of the retirement
10 and social security law.
11 § 4. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, none
12 of the provisions of this act shall be subject to the appropriation
13 requirement of section 25 of the retirement and social security law.
14 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to all
15 qualified members pursuant to sections one and two of this act who
16 retire on or after such date.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would modify the service retirement benefit for members of
the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System (NYSLERS)
covered by the provisions of Retirement and Social Security Law section
89-p. The modified service retirement benefit will be one-half of final
average salary (FAS) upon completion of twenty-five years of creditable
service with additional sixtieths for each year of creditable service in
excess of twenty-five years but not more than fifteen such years. The
current service retirement benefit is one-half of FAS upon completion of
twenty-five years of creditable service.
If this bill is enacted during the 2024 Legislative Session, we antic-
ipate that there will be an increase of approximately $4.4 million in
the annual contributions of the affected counties for the fiscal year
ending March 31, 2025. In future years this cost will vary but is
expected to average 1.1% of salary annually.
In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
an immediate past service cost of approximately $41.2 million which will
be shared by the affected counties and will be borne as a one-time
payment. This estimate assumes that payment will be made on February 1,
2025.
Detailed costs with a breakdown by affected counties are as follows:
Name of County Employer Past Future
Location Service Annual
Code Cost Cost
ALLEGANY COUNTY 10002 $ 919,000 $ 63,000
CATTARAUGUS COUNTY 10004 484,000 68,000
CAYUGA COUNTY 10005 765,000 70,000
CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY 10006 734,000 82,000
CHEMUNG COUNTY 10007 744,000 57,000
CHENANGO COUNTY 10008 343,000 63,000
CLINTON COUNTY 10009 578,000 67,000
COLUMBIA COUNTY 10010 327,000 45,000
CORTLAND COUNTY 10011 489,000 40,000
DELAWARE COUNTY 10012 243,000 35,000
DUTCHESS COUNTY 10013 3,003,000 324,000
ERIE COUNTY 10014 6,302,000 609,000
ESSEX COUNTY 10015 369,000 53,000
FULTON COUNTY 10017 340,000 76,000
GENESEE COUNTY 10018 288,000 47,000
A. 10548 3
HERKIMER COUNTY 10021 276,000 46,000
LEWIS COUNTY 10023 149,000 26,000
LIVINGSTON COUNTY 10024 626,000 66,000
MADISON COUNTY 10025 313,000 56,000
MONROE COUNTY 10026 24,000 7,000
MONTGOMERY COUNTY 10027 796,000 74,000
NIAGARA COUNTY 10029 1,342,000 139,000
ONEIDA COUNTY 10030 2,846,000 253,000
ONTARIO COUNTY 10032 1,178,000 133,000
ORANGE COUNTY 10033 4,228,000 340,000
OSWEGO COUNTY 10035 486,000 77,000
OTSEGO COUNTY 10036 307,000 36,000
PUTNAM COUNTY 10037 703,000 66,000
RENSSELAER COUNTY 10038 1,267,000 150,000
ROCKLAND COUNTY 10039 1,460,000 199,000
SARATOGA COUNTY 10041 882,000 104,000
SCHENECTADY COUNTY 10042 1,743,000 154,000
SCHOHARIE COUNTY 10043 409,000 33,000
SCHUYLER COUNTY 10044 166,000 24,000
SENECA COUNTY 10045 438,000 51,000
SULLIVAN COUNTY 10048 798,000 95,000
TIOGA COUNTY 10049 323,000 36,000
TOMPKINS COUNTY 10050 334,000 87,000
ULSTER COUNTY 10051 1,821,000 145,000
WARREN COUNTY 10052 605,000 86,000
WAYNE COUNTY 10054 1,199,000 117,000
WYOMING COUNTY 10056 217,000 41,000
YATES COUNTY 10057 $ 332,000 $ 37,000
Further, we anticipate some administrative costs to implement the
provisions of this legislation.
These estimated costs are based on 4,765 affected members of the
NYSLERS employed by certain counties, with annual salary of approximate-
ly $389 million as of March 31, 2023.
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.
This estimate, dated March 28, 2024, and intended for use only during
the 2024 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2024-125 Revised,
prepared by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement
System.
