Provides that for New York city uniformed correction revised plan members of the New York city employees' retirement system, the service retirement benefit shall not be reduced by the primary social security retirement benefit commencing at age sixty-two.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5548--A
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 14, 2025
___________
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
service retirement benefits for uniformed correction members of the
New York city employees' retirement system
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 505 of the retirement and social security law, as
2 amended by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, subdivision d as added by
3 section 3 of part SS of chapter 55 of the laws of 2025, is amended to
4 read as follows:
5 § 505. Service retirement benefits; police/fire members, New York city
6 uniformed correction/sanitation revised plan members and investigator
7 revised plan members. a. The normal service retirement benefit for
8 police/fire members, New York city uniformed correction/sanitation
9 revised plan members and investigator revised plan members at normal
10 retirement age shall be a pension equal to fifty percent of final aver-
11 age salary, less fifty percent of the primary social security retirement
12 benefit commencing at age sixty-two, as provided in section five hundred
13 eleven of this article, except that for New York city uniformed
14 correction revised plan members of the New York city employees' retire-
15 ment system, the normal service retirement benefit shall not be reduced
16 by the primary social security retirement benefit commencing at age
17 sixty-two as provided in section five hundred eleven of this article.
18 b. The early service retirement benefit for police/fire members, New
19 York city uniformed correction/sanitation revised plan members and
20 investigator revised plan members shall be a pension equal to two and
21 one-tenths percent of final average salary times years of credited
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04068-06-6
A. 5548--A 2
1 service at the completion of twenty years of service or upon attainment
2 of age sixty-two, increased by one-third of one percent of final average
3 salary for each month of service in excess of twenty years, but not in
4 excess of fifty percent of final average salary, less fifty percent of
5 the primary social security retirement benefit commencing at age sixty-
6 two as provided in section five hundred eleven of this article,
7 provided, however, that New York city police/fire revised plan members,
8 New York city uniformed correction/sanitation revised plan members and
9 investigator revised plan members shall not be eligible to retire for
10 service prior to the attainment of twenty years of credited service, and
11 provided further that for New York city uniformed correction revised
12 plan members of the New York city employees' retirement system, the
13 early service retirement benefit shall not be reduced by the primary
14 social security retirement benefit commencing at age sixty-two as
15 provided in section five hundred eleven of this article.
16 c. A police/fire member, a New York city uniformed
17 correction/sanitation revised plan member or an investigator revised
18 plan member who retires with twenty-two years of credited service or
19 less may become eligible for annual escalation of the service retirement
20 benefit if [he] such member elects to have the payment of [his] their
21 benefit commence on the date [he] such member would have completed twen-
22 ty-two years and one month or more of service. In such event, the
23 service retirement benefit shall equal two percent of final average
24 salary for each year of credited service, less fifty percent of the
25 primary social security retirement benefit commencing at age sixty-two
26 as provided in section five hundred eleven of this article, except that
27 for New York city uniformed correction revised plan members of the New
28 York city employees' retirement system, the service retirement benefit
29 shall not be reduced by the primary social security retirement benefit
30 commencing at age sixty-two as provided in section five hundred eleven
31 of this article.
32 d. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any other law,
33 police/fire members of the New York city police pension fund shall be
34 eligible for a normal service retirement benefit in lieu of an early
35 service retirement benefit upon completing twenty years of service
36 pursuant to subdivision d of section five hundred three of this article.
37 § 2. Section 511 of the retirement and social security law is amended
38 by adding a new subdivision h to read as follows:
39 h. This section shall not apply to New York city uniformed correction
40 revised plan members of the New York city employees' retirement system
41 who receive a service retirement benefit pursuant to section five
42 hundred five of this article or a deferred vested benefit pursuant to
43 section five hundred sixteen of this article.
44 § 3. Subdivision c of section 516 of the retirement and social securi-
45 ty law, as amended by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, is amended to read
46 as follows:
47 c. The deferred vested benefit of police/fire members, New York city
48 police/fire revised plan members, New York city uniformed
49 correction/sanitation revised plan members or investigator revised plan
50 members shall be a pension commencing at early retirement age equal to
51 two and one-tenths percent of final average salary times years of cred-
52 ited service, less fifty percent of the primary social security retire-
53 ment benefit commencing at age sixty-two, as provided in section five
54 hundred eleven of this article, except that for New York city uniformed
55 correction revised plan members of the New York city employees' retire-
56 ment system, the deferred vested benefit shall not be reduced by the
A. 5548--A 3
1 primary social security retirement benefit commencing at age sixty-two
2 as provided in section five hundred eleven of this article. A
3 police/fire member, a New York city police/fire revised plan member, a
4 New York city uniformed correction/sanitation revised plan member or
5 investigator revised plan member may elect to receive [his] their vested
6 benefit commencing at early retirement age or age fifty-five. If the
7 vested benefit commences before early retirement age, the benefit shall
8 be reduced by one-fifteenth for each year, if any, that the member's
9 early retirement age is in excess of age sixty, and by one-thirtieth for
10 each additional year by which the vested benefit commences prior to
11 early retirement age. If such vested benefit is deferred until after
12 such member's normal retirement age, the benefit shall be computed and
13 subject to annual escalation in the same manner as provided for an early
14 retirement benefit pursuant to subdivision c of section five hundred
15 five of this article.
16 § 4. Notwithstanding any provision of law, rule or regulation to the
17 contrary, any effect on a participating employer's contribution rate due
18 to the provisions of this act shall not apply to the calculation of such
19 participating employer's contribution rate for the purposes of subdivi-
20 sion c of section 500 of the retirement and social security law.
21 § 5. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
22 have become a law.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
SUMMARY: This proposed legislation would eliminate the offset equal to
50% of the primary social security benefit in the service, early
service, and vested retirement benefits for certain Tier 3 Correction
members of NYCERS.
EXPECTED INCREASE (DECREASE) IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS
by Fiscal Year for the first 25 years ($ in Millions)
Year NYCERS
2027 26.8
2028 18.3
2029 19.5
2030 20.8
2031 22.1
2032 23.1
2033 24.1
2034 25.2
2035 26.1
2036 26.8
2037 27.6
2038 28.3
2039 29.0
2040 20.6
2041 21.3
2042 22.0
2043 22.8
2044 23.6
2045 24.5
2046 25.3
2047 26.1
2048 27.0
2049 27.8
2050 28.7
A. 5548--A 4
2051 29.7
Projected contributions include future new hires that may be
impacted. For Fiscal Year 2052 and beyond, the expected increase in
normal cost as a level percent of pay for impacted new entrants is
approximately 1.99%.
The entire increase in employer contributions will be allocated to New
York City.
PRESENT VALUE OF BENEFITS: The Present Value of Benefits is the
discounted expected value of benefits paid to current members if all
assumptions are met, including future service accrual and pay increases.
Future new hires are not included in this present value.
INITIAL INCREASE (DECREASE) IN ACTUARIAL PRESENT VALUES
as of June 30, 2025 ($ in Millions)
Present Value (PV) NYCERS
(1) PV of Employer Contributions: 171.7
(2) PV of Employee Contributions: 0.0
Total PV of Benefits (1) + (2): 171.7
UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY (UAL): Actuarial Accrued Liabilities are
the portion of the Present Value of Benefits allocated to past service.
Changes in UAL for active members were amortized over the expected
remaining working lifetime of those impacted using level dollar
payments. UAL attributable to inactive members was recognized in the
first year.
AMORTIZATION OF UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY
NYCERS
Increase (Decrease) in UAL: 82.3 M
Number of Payments: 13
Amortization Payment: 9.1 M
Additional One-time Payment: 9.6 M
CENSUS DATA: The estimates presented herein are based on preliminary
census data collected as of June 30, 2025. The census data for the
impacted population is summarized below.
NYCERS
Active Members
- Number Count: 3,127
- Average Age: 40.7
- Average Service: 9.1
- Average Salary: 126,100
Term. Vested Members
- Number Count: 705
- Average Age: 40.3
IMPACT ON MEMBER BENEFITS: Currently, Tier 3 normal service retire-
ment, early service retirement, and vested retirement benefits for
Corrections members in 22-Year Plans are subject to an offset equal to
50% of the primary social security benefit as defined in Retirement and
Social Security Law (RSSL) Section 511 beginning at age 62.
A. 5548--A 5
Under the proposed legislation, the offset for such benefits would be
eliminated resulting in an increase in benefits.
ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The estimates presented herein have been
calculated based on the Revised 2021 Actuarial Assumptions and Methods
of the impacted retirement systems. In addition:
* New entrants were assumed to replace exiting members so that total
payroll increases by 3% each year for impacted groups. New entrant demo-
graphics were developed based on data for recent new hires and actuarial
judgement.
RISK AND UNCERTAINTY: The costs presented in this Fiscal Note depend
highly on the actuarial assumptions, methods, and models used, demo-
graphics of the impacted population, and other factors such as invest-
ment, contribution, and other risks. If actual experience deviates from
actuarial assumptions, the actual costs could differ from those
presented herein. Quantifying these risks is beyond the scope of this
Fiscal Note.
This Fiscal Note is intended to measure pension-related impacts and
does not include other potential costs (e.g., administrative and Other
Postemployment Benefits). This Fiscal Note does not reflect any chapter
laws that may have been enacted during the current legislative session.
This Fiscal Note does not include cost analyses relating to provisions
contained in RSSL Section 500(c).
STATEMENT OF ACTUARIAL OPINION: Marek Tyszkiewicz and Gregory Zelikov-
sky are members of the Society of Actuaries and the American Academy of
Actuaries. We are members of NYCERS, but do not believe it impairs our
objectivity, and we meet the Qualification Standards of the American
Academy of Actuaries to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
To the best of our 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 2026-33 dated March 9,
2026 was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City Retirement
Systems and Pension Funds and is intended for use only during the 2026
Legislative Session.
