STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5928
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
March 4, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sen. MARTINS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
AN ACT granting retroactive membership with Tier IV status in the New
York state and local employees' retirement system to Dawn Ward
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 Dawn Ward, who was employed with the village of Kensington with a start
3 date of November 1, 1993, and who is currently a member of the New York
4 state and local employees' retirement system, who through no fault of
5 her own did not become a member of the New York state and local employ-
6 ees' retirement system on November 1, 1993 when first employed by the
7 village of Kensington, shall be deemed to have been a member of the New
8 York state and local employees' retirement system on such date she
9 commenced her employment and shall be granted Tier IV status, provided
10 that an application is filed with the head of the New York state and
11 local employees' retirement system within one year from the effective
12 date of this act. Upon the granting of such retroactive membership,
13 Dawn Ward shall not be granted a refund of any employee contribution
14 made by her to the New York state and local employees' retirement
15 system.
16 § 2. All past services costs associated with the implementation of
17 this act shall be borne by the village of Kensington.
18 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would provide Dawn Ward with a date of membership of Novem-
ber 11, 1993, their date of first employment with the Village of Kens-
ington, resulting in Tier 4 status in the New York State and Local
Employees' Retirement System. Dawn Ward is currently a Tier 5 member.
There will be no refund of member contributions.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05951-02-5
S. 5928 2
If this bill is enacted during the 2025 Legislative Session, we antic-
ipate that there will be an increase of approximately $2,900 in the
annual contributions of the Village of Great Neck, $850 in the annual
contributions of the Village of Kensington, and $290 in the annual
contributions of the Village of Baxter Estates for the fiscal year
ending March 31, 2026. In the future years this cost will vary as the
billing rates and salary of Dawn Ward change.
In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
an immediate past service cost of approximately $10,900 which will be
borne by the Village of Kensington 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 February 3, 2025, and intended for use only
during the 2025 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2025-41. As
Chief Actuary of the New York State and Local Retirement System, I,
Aaron Schottin Young, hereby certify that this analysis complies with
applicable 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.
