Relates to service retirement benefits for certain members of the New York city employees' retirement system; provides that for New York city uniformed correction/sanitation 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
________________________________________________________________________
5561
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
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
service retirement benefits for certain 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, is amended to read as
3 follows:
4 § 505. Service retirement benefits; police/fire members, New York city
5 uniformed correction/sanitation revised plan members and investigator
6 revised plan members. a. The normal service retirement benefit for
7 police/fire members, New York city uniformed correction/sanitation
8 revised plan members and investigator revised plan members at normal
9 retirement age shall be a pension equal to fifty percent of final aver-
10 age salary, less fifty percent of the primary social security retirement
11 benefit commencing at age sixty-two, as provided in section five hundred
12 eleven of this article, except that for New York city uniformed
13 correction/sanitation revised plan members of the New York city employ-
14 ees' retirement system, the normal service retirement benefit shall not
15 be reduced by the primary social security retirement benefit commencing
16 at age sixty-two as provided in section five hundred eleven of this
17 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
22 service at the completion of twenty years of service or upon attainment
23 of age sixty-two, increased by one-third of one percent of final average
24 salary for each month of service in excess of twenty years, but not in
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04080-03-5
A. 5561 2
1 excess of fifty percent of final average salary, less fifty percent of
2 the primary social security retirement benefit commencing at age sixty-
3 two as provided in section five hundred eleven of this article,
4 provided, however, that New York city police/fire revised plan members,
5 New York city uniformed correction/sanitation revised plan members and
6 investigator revised plan members shall not be eligible to retire for
7 service prior to the attainment of twenty years of credited service, and
8 provided further that for New York city uniformed correction/sanitation
9 revised plan members of the New York city employees' retirement system,
10 the early service retirement benefit shall not be reduced by the primary
11 social security retirement benefit commencing at age sixty-two as
12 provided in section five hundred eleven of this article.
13 c. A police/fire member, a New York city uniformed
14 correction/sanitation revised plan member or an investigator revised
15 plan member who retires with twenty-two years of credited service or
16 less may become eligible for annual escalation of the service retirement
17 benefit if [he] such member elects to have the payment of [his] their
18 benefit commence on the date [he] such member would have completed twen-
19 ty-two years and one month or more of service. In such event, the
20 service retirement benefit shall equal two percent of final average
21 salary for each year of credited service, less fifty percent of the
22 primary social security retirement benefit commencing at age sixty-two
23 as provided in section five hundred eleven of this article, except that
24 for New York city uniformed correction/sanitation revised plan members
25 of the New York city employees' retirement system, the service retire-
26 ment benefit shall not be reduced by the primary social security retire-
27 ment benefit commencing at age sixty-two as provided in section five
28 hundred eleven of this article.
29 § 2. Section 511 of the retirement and social security law is amended
30 by adding a new subdivision h to read as follows:
31 h. This section shall not apply to New York city uniformed
32 correction/sanitation revised plan members of the New York city employ-
33 ees' retirement system who receive a service retirement benefit pursuant
34 to section five hundred five of this article or a deferred vested bene-
35 fit pursuant to section five hundred sixteen of this article.
36 § 3. Subdivision c of section 516 of the retirement and social securi-
37 ty law, as amended by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, is amended to read
38 as follows:
39 c. The deferred vested benefit of police/fire members, New York city
40 police/fire revised plan members, New York city uniformed
41 correction/sanitation revised plan members or investigator revised plan
42 members shall be a pension commencing at early retirement age equal to
43 two and one-tenths percent of final average salary times years of cred-
44 ited service, less fifty percent of the primary social security retire-
45 ment benefit commencing at age sixty-two, as provided in section five
46 hundred eleven of this article, except that for New York city uniformed
47 correction/sanitation revised plan members of the New York city employ-
48 ees' retirement system, the deferred vested benefit shall not be reduced
49 by the primary social security retirement benefit commencing at age
50 sixty-two as provided in section five hundred eleven of this article. A
51 police/fire member, a New York city police/fire revised plan member, a
52 New York city uniformed correction/sanitation revised plan member or
53 investigator revised plan member may elect to receive [his] their vested
54 benefit commencing at early retirement age or age fifty-five. If the
55 vested benefit commences before early retirement age, the benefit shall
56 be reduced by one-fifteenth for each year, if any, that the member's
A. 5561 3
1 early retirement age is in excess of age sixty, and by one-thirtieth for
2 each additional year by which the vested benefit commences prior to
3 early retirement age. If such vested benefit is deferred until after
4 such member's normal retirement age, the benefit shall be computed and
5 subject to annual escalation in the same manner as provided for an early
6 retirement benefit pursuant to subdivision c of section five hundred
7 five of this article.
8 § 4. Notwithstanding any provision of law, rule or regulation to the
9 contrary, any effect on a participating employer's contribution rate due
10 to the provisions of this act shall not apply to the calculation of such
11 participating employer's contribution rate for the purposes of subdivi-
12 sion c of section 500 of the retirement and social security law.
13 § 5. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
14 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 Sanitation
and Correction members of NYCERS.
EXPECTED INCREASE (DECREASE) IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS
by Fiscal Year for the first 25 years ($ in Millions)
Year NYCERS
2026 57.1
2027 41.4
2028 44.3
2029 47.2
2030 50.3
2031 53.3
2032 55.9
2033 58.6
2034 61.5
2035 64.0
2036 66.4
2037 68.7
2038 70.9
2039 73.2
2040 75.6
2041 60.6
2042 63.0
2043 65.6
2044 68.2
2045 71.0
2046 73.7
2047 76.4
2048 79.2
2049 82.1
2050 85.0
Projected contributions include future new hires that may be impacted.
For Fiscal Year 2051 and beyond, the increase in normal cost for new
entrants will remain level as a percent of pay for the impacted popu-
lation (approximately 2.58%).
The entire increase in employer contributions will be allocated to New
York City.
A. 5561 4
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, 2024 ($ in Millions)
Present Value (PV) NYCERS
(1) PV of Employer Contributions: 446.8
(2) PV of Employee Contributions: 0.0
Total PV of Benefits (1) + (2): 446.8
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: 169.4 M
Number of Payments: 15
Amortization Payment: 17.4 M
Additional One-time Payment: 18.2 M
CENSUS DATA: The estimates presented herein are based on preliminary
census data collected as of June 30, 2024. The census data for the
impacted population is summarized below.
NYCERS
Active Members
- Number Count: 8,239
- Average Age: 39.8
- Average Service: 7.2
- Average Salary: 106,200
Term. Vested Members
- Number Count: 785
- Average Age: 40.3
IMPACT ON MEMBER BENEFITS: Currently, Tier 3 normal service retire-
ment, early service retirement, and vested retirement benefits for Sani-
tation and Correction 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.
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 demographics were developed based on data for recent new
hires and actuarial judgement.
A. 5561 5
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 2025-07 dated February
10, 2025 was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City Retire-
ment Systems and Pension Funds and is intended for use only during the
2025 Legislative Session.
