Provides a presumption for accidental disability benefits for certain deputy sheriff members in the sheriff's department of a city with a population of one million or more who in performance of their duties contract human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), tuberculosis or hepatitis.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8737
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
June 2, 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 and the general
municipal law, in relation to accidental disability benefits for
certain deputy sheriff members in the sheriff's department of a city
with a population of one million or more
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 section 607-m to read as follows:
3 § 607-m. Performance of duty disability retirement. a. Any member of
4 the New York city employees' retirement system who is employed by the
5 city of New York as a deputy sheriff, and who becomes physically or
6 mentally incapacitated as the natural and proximate result of an injury,
7 as described in subdivision b of this section, sustained in the perform-
8 ance or discharge of such member's duties, shall be paid a performance
9 of duty disability retirement allowance equal to three-quarters of final
10 average salary, subject to section 13-176 of the administrative code of
11 the city of New York.
12 b. Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter or of any general or
13 special law to the contrary, for purposes of this section, a member
14 covered by this section is injured when such member contracts HIV (where
15 the member may have been exposed to a bodily fluid of a person under
16 such member's care or treatment, or while such member examined, trans-
17 ported or otherwise had contact with such person, in the performance of
18 such member's duties), tuberculosis or hepatitis, will be presumed to
19 have contracted such disease in the performance or discharge of such
20 member's duties, unless the contrary be proved by competent evidence.
21 § 2. The general municipal law is amended by adding a new section
22 207-r to read as follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10889-05-5
A. 8737 2
1 § 207-r. Performance of duty disability retirement; New York city
2 deputy sheriffs. Notwithstanding the provisions of any general, special
3 or local law or administrative code to the contrary, a member who is a
4 deputy sheriff in the sheriff's department of a city with a population
5 of one million or more where such employees are drawn from competitive
6 civil service lists and who in performance of such member's duties
7 contracts human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (where such member may have
8 been exposed to a bodily fluid of a person under such member's care or
9 treatment, or while such member examined, transported, rescued or other-
10 wise had contact with such person, in the performance of such member's
11 duties), tuberculosis or hepatitis shall be presumed to have contracted
12 such disease as a natural and proximate result of an accidental injury
13 received in the performance or discharge of such member's duties, and
14 not resulting from such member's willful negligence, unless the contrary
15 be proved by competent evidence.
16 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
SUMMARY: This proposed legislation would provide to NYCERS Tier 4 and
Tier 6 Deputy Sheriffs a rebuttable statutory presumption that a quali-
fying disability or death related to HIV, Tuberculosis, and Hepatitis
was incurred in the performance of duty and provide a performance of
duty disability benefit equal to 75% of the member's Final Average Sala-
ry.
ILLUSTRATION - INCREASE (DECREASE) IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS
by Fiscal Year for the first 25 years ($ in Thousands)
One Incident One Incident Per Year
Year Disability Death Disability Death
2026 55 187 55 187
2027 55 187 112 379
2028 55 187 171 577
2029 55 187 231 780
2030 55 187 293 990
2031 55 187 357 1,207
2032 55 187 423 1,429
2033 55 187 491 1,659
2034 55 187 561 1,895
2035 55 187 633 2,138
2036 55 187 707 2,389
2037 55 187 784 2,647
2038 55 187 863 2,913
2039 55 187 944 3,187
2040 0 0 972 3,283
2041 0 0 1,001 3,381
2042 0 0 1,031 3,483
2043 0 0 1,062 3,587
2044 0 0 1,094 3,695
2045 0 0 1,127 3,805
2046 0 0 1,161 3,920
2047 0 0 1,196 4,037
2048 0 0 1,231 4,158
2049 0 0 1,268 4,283
2050 0 0 1,306 4,412
Employer contribution impact beyond Fiscal Year 2050 is not shown.
A. 8737 3
The potential increases 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, 2024 ($ in Thousands)
Present Value (PV) Per Disability Per Death
(1) PV of Employer Contributions: 467 1,577
(2) PV of Employee Contributions: (48)0
Total PV of Benefits (1) + (2): 419 1,577
UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY (UAL): Actuarial Accrued Liabilities are
the portion of the Present Value of Benefits allocated to past service.
Changes in UAL per incident would be recognized as ongoing gain/loss.
AMORTIZATION OF UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY
Recognized as Ongoing Gain/Loss Per Disability Per Death
Increase (Decrease) in UAL: 467 K 1,577 K
Number of Payments: 14 14
Amortization Payment: 55 K 187 K
CENSUS DATA: The number of members who will benefit in the future from
this proposed legislation is unknown. The estimates presented herein are
based on preliminary census data collected as of June 30, 2024. The
census data for the potentially impacted population used to develop the
average costs is summarized below.
NYCERS
Active Members
- Number Count: 132
- Average Age: 43.5
- Average Service: 11.9
- Average Salary: 94,600
IMPACT ON MEMBER BENEFITS: Currently, active Tier 4 or Tier 6 members
of NYCERS who are employed as Deputy Sheriffs and become disabled due to
HIV, Tuberculosis, or Hepatitis would generally be eligible for an
applicable ordinary disability retirement after attaining 10 years of
service. The disability benefit is a lifetime payment equal to the
greatest of 1/3 of Final Average Salary (FAS), 1/60th of FAS times
service, or the service retirement benefit, if eligible.
Under the proposed legislation, the performance of duty disability
benefit for Tier 4 or Tier 6 Deputy Sheriff members who are disabled
from HIV, Tuberculosis, or Hepatitis would be equal to 75% of FAS with
an offset for Workers' Compensation.
The ordinary death benefit for NYCERS Deputy Sheriffs is a lump sum
payment generally equal to three times the member's salary, plus a
refund of member contributions.
The performance of duty death benefit would generally be equal to a
lifetime benefit of 50% of a member's wages earned during their last
year of service, plus, if applicable, the Special Accidental Death Bene-
fit (SADB) payable under General Municipal Law section 208-f.
SADB for Deputy Sheriffs was enacted by Chapter 720 of the Laws of
2023 and all accidental deaths are assumed to qualify for SADB.
A. 8737 4
ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The estimates presented herein have been
calculated based on the Revised 2021 Actuarial Assumptions and Methods
of the impacted retirement systems.
The number of members who will benefit from this proposed legislation
is unknown. The cost of this proposed legislation could vary greatly
depending on the number of future members who benefit and on their
length of service, age, and salary history. In particular, the increase
would be greater for a member who is not yet eligible for an ordinary
disability benefit when disabled.
The estimated financial impact for disabled members has been calcu-
lated assuming 50% would have retired under the current ordinary disa-
bility benefit, and 50% would have continued working if the proposed
legislation were not passed.
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.
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 2025-66 dated May 20,
2025 was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City Retirement
Systems and Pension Funds and is intended for use only during the 2025
Legislative Session.
