Relates to eligibility for participants in the automotive 25 year/age 50 pension plan with more than 30 years of credited service who remain in active service after age 62 to receive a service retirement benefit equivalent to the standard service retirement benefit received by Tier IV members with the same age and service.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6702
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
March 20, 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, in relation to
eligibility for participants in the automotive 25 year/age 50 pension
plan with more than 30 years of credited service who remain in active
service after age 62 to receive a service retirement benefit equiv-
alent to the standard service retirement benefit received by Tier IV
members with the same age and service
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision a of section 603 of the retirement and social
2 security law, as amended by section 3 of part EE of chapter 55 of the
3 laws of 2024, is amended to read as follows:
4 a. The service retirement benefit specified in section six hundred
5 four of this article shall be payable to members who have met the mini-
6 mum service requirements upon retirement and attainment of age sixty-
7 two, other than members who are eligible for early service retirement
8 pursuant to subdivision c of section six hundred four-b of this article,
9 subdivision c of section six hundred four-c of this article, subdivision
10 d of section six hundred four-d of this article, subdivision c of
11 section six hundred four-e of this article, subdivision c of section six
12 hundred four-f of this article, [subdivision c of section six hundred
13 four-g of this article,] subdivision c of section six hundred four-h of
14 this article subdivision c of section six hundred four-i of this arti-
15 cle, or subdivision c of section six hundred four-j of this article,
16 provided, however, a member of a teachers' retirement system or the New
17 York state and local employees' retirement system who first joins such
18 system before January first, two thousand ten or a member who is a
19 uniformed court officer or peace officer employed by the unified court
20 system who first becomes a member of the New York state and local
21 employees' retirement system before April first, two thousand twelve may
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10045-02-5
S. 6702 2
1 retire without reduction of their retirement benefit upon attainment of
2 at least fifty-five years of age and completion of thirty or more years
3 of service, provided, however, that a uniformed court officer or peace
4 officer employed by the unified court system who first becomes a member
5 of the New York state and local employees' retirement system on or after
6 January first, two thousand ten and retires without reduction of their
7 retirement benefit upon attainment of at least fifty-five years of age
8 and completion of thirty or more years of service pursuant to this
9 section shall be required to make the member contributions required by
10 subdivision f of section six hundred thirteen of this article for all
11 years of credited and creditable service, provided further that the
12 preceding provisions of this subdivision shall not apply to a New York
13 city revised plan member.
14 § 2. Subdivision a of section 603 of the retirement and social securi-
15 ty law, as amended by section 3-a of chapter 19 of the laws of 2008, is
16 amended to read as follows:
17 a. The service retirement benefit specified in section six hundred
18 four of this article shall be payable to members who have met the mini-
19 mum service requirements upon retirement and attainment of age sixty-
20 two, other than members who are eligible for early service retirement
21 pursuant to subdivision c of section six hundred four-b of this article,
22 subdivision c of section six hundred four-c of this article, subdivision
23 d of section six hundred four-d of this article, subdivision c of
24 section six hundred four-e of this article, subdivision c of section six
25 hundred four-f of this article, [subdivision c of section six hundred
26 four-g of this article,] subdivision c of section six hundred four-h of
27 this article or subdivision c of section six hundred four-i of this
28 article provided, however, a member who is a peace officer employed by
29 the unified court system or a member of a teachers' retirement system or
30 the New York state and local employees' retirement system may retire
31 without reduction of [his or her] their retirement benefit upon attain-
32 ment of at least fifty-five years of age and completion of thirty or
33 more years of service.
34 § 3. Paragraph 3 of subdivision b of section 604-g of the retirement
35 and social security law, as added by chapter 414 of the laws of 2002, is
36 amended to read as follows:
37 3. Any election to be a participant in the twenty-five year/age fifty
38 retirement program shall be irrevocable; provided that a participant who
39 has more than thirty years of credited service and who has remained in
40 active service after reaching sixty-two years of age may elect to
41 receive a service retirement benefit calculated in accordance with
42 subdivision b of section six hundred four of this article in lieu of a
43 service retirement benefit calculated in accordance with subdivision c
44 of this section.
45 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that the amend-
46 ments to subdivision a of section 603 of the retirement and social secu-
47 rity law made by section one of this act shall be subject to the expira-
48 tion and reversion of such subdivision pursuant to subdivision (b) of
49 section 13 of chapter 683 of the laws of 2003, as amended, when upon
50 such date the provisions of section two of this act shall take effect.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
SUMMARY: This proposed legislation would permit certain Tier 4 members
in NYCERS and BERS Automotive 25-Year/Age 50 Plans (Auto 25-Year Plan)
with 30 or more years of service to receive a service retirement benefit
calculated under the Tier 4 basic plan, if greater.
S. 6702 3
EXPECTED INCREASE (DECREASE) IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS
by Fiscal Year for the first 25 years ($ in Thousands)
Year NYCERS BERS TOTAL
2026 1,552 18 1,570
2027 1,554 18 1,572
2028 1,556 18 1,574
2029 1,558 18 1,576
2030 1,559 18 1,577
2031 1,560 18 1,578
2032 1,559 1 1,560
2033 1,557 1 1,558
2034 1,553 0 1,553
2035 213 0 213
2036 208 0 208
2037 202 0 202
2038 195 0 195
2039 187 0 187
2040 177 0 177
2041 168 0 168
2042 158 0 158
2043 149 0 149
2044 138 0 138
2045 128 0 128
2046 117 0 117
2047 106 0 106
2048 95 0 95
2049 85 0 85
2050 74 0 74
Employer Contribution impact beyond Fiscal Year 2050 is not shown.
The initial increase in employer contributions of $1.6 million is
estimated to be $1.5 million for New York City and $0.1 million for the
other obligors of NYCRS.
PRESENT VALUE OF BENEFITS: The Present Value of Benefits is the
discounted expected value of benefits paid to current members if all
assumptions are met, including future service accrual and pay increases.
Future new hires are not included in this present value.
INITIAL INCREASE (DECREASE) IN ACTUARIAL PRESENT VALUES
as of June 30, 2024 ($ in Thousands)
Present Value (PV) NYCERS BERS
(1) PV of Employer Contributions: 10,659 85
(2) PV of Employee Contributions: 00
Total PV of Benefits (1) + (2): 10,659 85
UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY (UAL): Actuarial Accrued Liabilities are
the portion of the Present Value of Benefits allocated to past service.
Changes in UAL members were amortized over the expected remaining work-
ing lifetime of those impacted using level dollar payments.
AMORTIZATION OF UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY
NYCERS BERS
Increase (Decrease) in UAL: 8,412 K 79 K
Number of Payments: 9 6
Amortization Payment: 1,336 K 17 K
S. 6702 4
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 BERS
Active Members
- Number Count: 438 3
- Average Age: 54.0 54.3
- Average Service: 17.5 21.3
- Average Salary: 127,700 125,500
IMPACT ON MEMBER BENEFITS: Currently, Tier 4 Auto 25-Year Plan members
who never previously participated in either the 55/25 plan or 57/5 plan
enacted by Chapter 96 of the Laws of 1995 and who retire with 30 or more
years of service, receive a service retirement benefit that is equal to
60% of Final Average Salary (FAS).
Under the proposed legislation, the service retirement benefit for
such members with 30 or more years of service would be calculated as the
greater of the above, and:
* For those at least age 62, 60% of FAS plus 1.5% of FAS for each
year of service beyond 30 years.
* For those age 55 through 61, 60% of FAS plus 1.5% of FAS for each
year of service beyond 30 years, multiplied by the applicable early
retirement age reduction factor.
The service retirement benefits for Tier 6 Auto 25-Year Plan members
and Tier 4 members with previous Tier 4 55/25 plan or 57/5 plan partic-
ipation are assumed to remain unchanged.
ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The estimates presented herein have been
calculated based on the Revised 2021 Actuarial Assumptions and Methods
of the impacted retirement systems.
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 2025-33 dated March 19,
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.
