STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2710
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 22, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sen. SCARCELLA-SPANTON -- read twice and ordered printed,
and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and
Pensions
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
the restoration of 20 year service retirement for New York city police
officers
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 17 of section 501 of the retirement and social
2 security law, as amended by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, is amended
3 to read as follows:
4 17. "Normal retirement age" shall be age sixty-two, for general
5 members, and the age at which a member completes or would have completed
6 twenty-two years of service, for police/fire members, New York city
7 uniformed correction/sanitation revised plan members and investigator
8 revised plan members, except that for police/fire members of the New
9 York city police pension fund, normal retirement age shall be the age at
10 which a member completes or would have completed twenty years of
11 service.
12 § 2. Subdivision d of section 503 of the retirement and social securi-
13 ty law, as amended by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, is amended to read
14 as follows:
15 d. The normal service retirement benefit specified in section five
16 hundred five of this article shall be paid to police/fire members, New
17 York city uniformed correction/sanitation revised plan members and
18 investigator revised plan members without regard to age upon retirement
19 after twenty-two years of service, except that the normal service
20 retirement benefit specified in section five hundred five of this arti-
21 cle shall be paid to police/fire members of the New York city police
22 pension fund, after twenty years of service. Early service retirement
23 shall be permitted upon retirement after twenty years of credited
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05882-02-5
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1 service or attainment of age sixty-two, provided, however, that New York
2 city police/fire revised plan members, New York city uniformed
3 correction/sanitation revised plan members and investigator revised plan
4 members shall not be eligible to retire for service prior to the attain-
5 ment of twenty years of credited service.
6 § 3. Section 505 of the retirement and social security law is amended
7 by adding a new subdivision d to read as follows:
8 d. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any other law,
9 police/fire members of the New York city police pension fund shall be
10 eligible for a normal service retirement benefit in lieu of an early
11 service retirement benefit upon completing twenty years of service
12 pursuant to subdivision d of section five hundred three of this article.
13 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
SUMMARY: This proposed legislation would reduce the Normal Retirement
Age for Tier 3 members of the New York City Police Pension Fund (POLICE)
to be the age at which a member completes or would have completed twenty
years of service.
EXPECTED IMPACT ON EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS
($ in Millions)
Year POLICE
2026 16.3
2027 17.4
2028 18.7
2029 20.0
2030 21.3
2031 22.5
2032 23.5
2033 24.5
2034 25.5
2035 26.4
2036 27.3
2037 28.2
2038 29.1
2039 29.9
2040 30.8
2041 31.7
2042 25.8
2043 26.7
2044 27.6
2045 28.5
2046 29.4
2047 30.3
2048 31.2
2049 32.1
2050 33.1
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 0.33%).
The entire increase in employer contributions will be allocated to New
York City.
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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) POLICE
(1) PV of Employer Contributions: 122.9
(2) PV of Employee Contributions: (10.6)
Total PV of Benefits (1) + (2): 112.3
UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY (UAL): Actuarial Accrued Liabilities are the
portion of the Present Value of Benefits allocated to past service.
Changes in UAL were amortized over the expected remaining working life-
time of those impacted using level dollar payments.
AMORTIZATION OF UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY
POLICE
Increase (Decrease) in UAL: 61.6 M
Number of Payments: 16
Amortization Payment: 6.8 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.
POLICE
Active Members
- Number Count: 21,782
- Average Age: 33.2
- Average Service: 6.5
- Average Salary: 116,200
IMPACT ON MEMBER BENEFITS: Currently, Tier 3 POLICE members who retire
with at least 20 years of service are eligible to receive an annual
benefit that is equal to 42% of Final Average Salary (FAS), increasing
to a maximum benefit of 50% of FAS after 22 years of service.
Under the proposed legislation, Tier 3 POLICE members who retire with
at least 20 years of service would be eligible to receive an annual
benefit that is equal to 50% of FAS.
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:
o Retirement rates were adjusted to reflect the earlier payability of
the service retirement benefit associated with the proposed legislation.
o 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
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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 2025-02 dated January 17,
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.
