Amd §§448, 508 & 606, R & SS L; amd §13-148, NYC Ad Cd
Relates to death benefits for members of the uniformed force of the New York city department of sanitation and members of the uniformed force of the New York city department of correction; establishes that the beneficiaries of a member who would have been entitled to a service retirement benefit at the time of such member's death may elect to receive, in a lump sum, an amount payable which shall be equal to the pension reserve that would have been established had the member retired on the date of such member's death, or the value of the death benefit and the reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay, if any, whichever is greater.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6401
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
March 13, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sen. JACKSON -- 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 and the adminis-
trative code of the city of New York, in relation to death benefits
for members of the uniformed force of the New York city department of
sanitation and members of the uniformed force of the New York city
department of correction
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision b of section 448 of the retirement and social
2 security law is amended by adding a new paragraph 3 to read as follows:
3 3. Provided further, notwithstanding any other provision of this arti-
4 cle to the contrary, where a member is in the uniformed force of the New
5 York city department of sanitation or the uniformed force of the New
6 York city department of correction, and would have been entitled to a
7 service retirement benefit at the time of such member's death and where
8 such member's death occurs on or after July first, two thousand twenty-
9 five, the beneficiary or beneficiaries may elect to receive, in a lump
10 sum, an amount payable which shall be equal to the pension reserve that
11 would have been established had the member retired on the date of such
12 member's death, or the value of the death benefit and the reserve-for-
13 increased-take-home-pay, if any, whichever is greater.
14 § 2. Subdivision b of section 508 of the retirement and social securi-
15 ty law, as amended by chapter 476 of the laws of 2018, is amended to
16 read as follows:
17 b. A member of a retirement system subject to the provisions of this
18 article who is a police officer, firefighter, correction officer, inves-
19 tigator revised plan member or sanitation worker and is in a plan which
20 permits immediate retirement upon completion of a specified period of
21 service without regard to age or who is subject to the provisions of
22 section five hundred four or five hundred five of this article, shall
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05921-02-5
S. 6401 2
1 upon completion of ninety days of service be covered for financial
2 protection in the event of death in service pursuant to this subdivi-
3 sion.
4 1. Such death benefit shall be equal to three times the member's sala-
5 ry raised to the next highest multiple of one thousand dollars, but in
6 no event shall it exceed three times the maximum salary specified in
7 section one hundred thirty of the civil service law or, in the case of a
8 member of a retirement system other than the New York city employees'
9 retirement system, or in the case of a member of the New York city
10 employees' retirement system who is a New York city uniformed
11 correction/sanitation revised plan member or an investigator revised
12 plan member, the specific limitations specified for age of entrance into
13 service contained in subparagraphs (b), (c), (d), (e) and (f) of para-
14 graph two of subdivision a of this section.
15 2. Provided further, notwithstanding any other provision of this arti-
16 cle to the contrary, where a member is in the uniformed force of the New
17 York city department of sanitation or the uniformed force of the New
18 York city department of correction, and would have been entitled to a
19 service retirement benefit at the time of such member's death and where
20 such member's death occurs on or after July first, two thousand twenty-
21 five, the beneficiary or beneficiaries may elect to receive, in a lump
22 sum, an amount payable which shall be equal to the pension reserve that
23 would have been established had the member retired on the date of such
24 member's death, or the value of the death benefit and the reserve-for-
25 increased-take-home-pay, if any, whichever is greater.
26 § 3. Subdivision b of section 606 of the retirement and social securi-
27 ty law, as amended by chapter 476 of the laws of 2018, is amended to
28 read as follows:
29 b. A member of a retirement system subject to the provisions of this
30 article who is a police officer, firefighter, correction officer or
31 sanitation worker and is in a plan which permits immediate retirement
32 upon completion of a specified period of service without regard to age
33 or who is subject to the provisions of section six hundred four of this
34 article, shall upon completion of ninety days of service be covered for
35 financial protection in the event of death in service pursuant to this
36 subdivision.
37 1. Such death benefit shall be equal to three times the member's sala-
38 ry raised to the next highest multiple of one thousand dollars, but in
39 no event shall it exceed three times the maximum salary specified in
40 section one hundred thirty of the civil service law or, in the case of a
41 member of a retirement system other than the New York city employees'
42 retirement system, the specific limitations specified for age of
43 entrance into service contained in subparagraphs (b), (c), (d), (e) and
44 (f) of paragraph two of subdivision a of this section.
45 2. Provided further, notwithstanding any other provision of this arti-
46 cle to the contrary, where a member is in the uniformed force of the New
47 York city department of sanitation or the uniformed force of the New
48 York city department of correction, and would have been entitled to a
49 service retirement benefit at the time of such member's death and where
50 such member's death occurs on or after July first, two thousand twenty-
51 five, the beneficiary or beneficiaries may elect to receive, in a lump
52 sum, an amount payable which shall be equal to the pension reserve that
53 would have been established had the member retired on the date of such
54 member's death, or the value of the death benefit and the reserve-for-
55 increased-take-home-pay, if any, whichever is greater.
S. 6401 3
1 § 4. Section 13-148 of the administrative code of the city of New York
2 is amended by adding a new subdivision d to read as follows:
3 d. Notwithstanding any other provision of this article to the contra-
4 ry, where a member is in the uniformed force of the department of sani-
5 tation or the uniformed force of the department of correction, and would
6 have been entitled to a service retirement benefit at the time of such
7 member's death and where such member's death occurs on or after July
8 first, two thousand twenty-five, the beneficiary or beneficiaries may
9 elect to receive, in a lump sum, an amount payable which shall be equal
10 to the pension reserve that would have been established had the member
11 retired on the date of such member's death, or the value of the death
12 benefit and the reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay, if any, whichever
13 is greater.
14 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
SUMMARY: This proposed legislation would provide an alternative death
benefit for Correction and Sanitation members in all Tiers and Plans of
the New York City Employees' Retirement System (NYCERS) who die on or
after July 1, 2025.
EXPECTED INCREASE (DECREASE) IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS
by Fiscal Year for the first 25 years ($ in Millions)
Year NYCERS
2026 2.3
2027 2.3
2028 2.3
2029 2.3
2030 2.4
2031 2.4
2032 2.4
2033 2.4
2034 2.4
2035 2.4
2036 2.5
2037 0.9
2038 0.9
2039 0.9
2040 0.9
2041 0.9
2042 0.9
2043 0.9
2044 0.9
2045 0.9
2046 1.0
2047 1.0
2048 1.0
2049 1.0
2050 1.0
Projected contributions include future new hires that may be impacted.
For Fiscal Year 2051 and beyond, the expected increase in normal cost as
a level percent of pay for impacted new entrants is approximately 0.02%.
The entire increase 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
S. 6401 4
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: 18.4
(2) PV of Employee Contributions: 0.0
Total PV of Benefits (1) + (2): 18.4
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
NYCERS
Increase (Decrease) in UAL: 11.6 M
Number of Payments: 11
Amortization Payment: 1.6 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: 13,752
- Average Age: 43.3
- Average Service: 11.8
- Average Salary: 118,700
IMPACT ON MEMBER BENEFITS: Currently, NYCERS Correction and Sanitation
members are generally entitled to a lump sum ordinary death benefit
equal to three times their final year's salary plus the return of member
accumulated contributions, if any, and may be subject to salary caps and
other reductions.
Under the proposed legislation, the ordinary death benefit for members
who are eligible to receive a service retirement benefit would be the
greater of their current death benefit or the value of the pension
reserve that would have been established had they retired on the date of
their death.
The pension reserve is the actuarial present value of all pension
payments expected to be made had the member retired for service. This
type of lump sum pension reserve death benefit is sometimes referred to
as a Death Gamble, and is afforded, in a similar form, to Tier 1 NYCERS
members.
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 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.
S. 6401 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.
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 2025-25 dated March 4,
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.
