STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7521
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
April 1, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. P. CARROLL -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Governmental Employees
AN ACT granting retroactive tier IV membership in the New York state and
local employees' retirement system to Raymond Ruckel
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,
2 Raymond Ruckel, a tier VI member of the New York state and local employ-
3 ees' retirement system employed by the Rockland county sheriff's office
4 correction division and who was employed as a full-time employee with
5 Clarkstown Central School District from August 1, 1990 through December
6 1, 1990 and who, through no fault of his own, did not become a member of
7 the New York state and local employees' retirement system on August 1,
8 1990 when he became eligible for membership in such system, shall be
9 deemed to have a date of membership with the New York state and local
10 employees' retirement system of August 1, 1990 if he shall file an
11 application therefore with the state comptroller within one year of the
12 effective date of this act. Upon the receipt of such application,
13 Raymond Ruckel shall be granted tier IV status in the New York state and
14 local employees' retirement system and shall be eligible for all the
15 rights and benefits thereof.
16 § 2. All past service costs of implementing the provisions of this act
17 shall be borne by Clarkstown Central School District, and there shall be
18 no refund of member contributions to Raymond Ruckel.
19 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would grant Tier 4 status in the New York State and Local
Employees' Retirement System to Raymond Ruckel, a current Tier 6 member
employed by Rockland County, by changing their date of membership to
August 1, 1990, their first date of employment with the Clarkstown
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03470-02-5
A. 7521 2
Central School District. There will be no refund of member contrib-
utions.
If this bill is enacted during the 2025 Legislative Session, we antic-
ipate that there will be an increase of approximately $8,000 in the
annual contributions of Rockland County for the fiscal year ending March
31, 2026. In future years this cost will vary as the billing rates and
salary of Raymond Ruckel change.
In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
an immediate past service cost of approximately $65,100 which will be
borne by Clarkstown Central School District as a one-time payment. This
estimate assumes that payment will be made on February 1, 2026.
Summary of relevant resources:
Membership data as of March 31, 2024 was used in measuring the impact
of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2024 actuari-
al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the
2024 Report of the Actuary and the 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial
Report. The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the
2024 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, 2024 New York State and Local Retirement System Financial Statements
and Supplementary Information.
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 27, 2025, and intended for use only during
the 2025 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2025-102. As Chief
Actuary of the New York State and Local Retirement System, I, Aaron
Schottin Young, hereby certify that this analysis complies with applica-
ble Actuarial Standards of Practice as well as the Code of Professional
Conduct and Qualification Standards for Actuaries Issuing Statements of
Actuarial Opinion of the American Academy of Actuaries, of which I am a
member.
