Relates to obtaining military credit for members of the New York state and local police and fire retirement system, the New York city police pension fund, and the New York city fire pension fund; provides that the calculation for military credit shall be equal to the product of the number of years of military service being claimed and three percent of such member's compensation earned during the twelve months of credited service.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7114--A
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
April 1, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sens. SCARCELLA-SPANTON, ASHBY, COONEY, GRIFFO, JACKSON,
RHOADS, SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to
be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions -- recom-
mitted to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions in accordance
with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended,
ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
obtaining military service credit for members of the New York state
and local police and fire retirement system, the New York city police
pension fund, and the New York city fire pension fund
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 9 of section 1000 of the retirement and social
2 security law, as amended by chapter 41 of the laws of 2016, is amended
3 to read as follows:
4 9. (a) Anything to the contrary in subdivision three of this section
5 notwithstanding, to obtain such credit, a member who first joins a
6 public retirement system of the state on or after April first, two thou-
7 sand twelve shall pay such retirement system, for deposit in the fund
8 used to accumulate employer contributions, a sum equal to the product of
9 the number of years of military service being claimed and six percent of
10 such member's compensation earned during the twelve months of credited
11 service immediately preceding the date that the member made application
12 for credit pursuant to this section.
13 (b) Beginning with applications received by members of the New York
14 state and local police and fire retirement system, the New York city
15 police pension fund, and the New York city fire pension fund on and
16 after April first, two thousand twenty-six, for members who first become
17 members of the New York state and local police and fire retirement
18 system, the New York city police pension fund, and the New York city
19 fire pension fund on or after April first, two thousand twelve, the sum
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08377-05-6
S. 7114--A 2
1 required in paragraph (a) of this subdivision shall be equal to the
2 product of the number of years of military service being claimed and
3 three percent of such member's compensation earned during the twelve
4 months of credited service immediately preceding the date the member
5 made application pursuant to this section.
6 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law Section 50:
SUMMARY: This proposed legislation, as it relates to the New York City
Retirement Systems and Pension Funds (NYCRS), would reduce the cost of
purchasing pre-membership military service for Tier 3 members of POLICE
and FIRE who joined on or after April 1, 2012, from 6% of compensation
per year of military service to 3% of compensation per year of military
service.
ILLUSTRATION - INCREASE (DECREASE) IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS
by Fiscal Year for the first 25 years ($ in Thousands)
Year Per One Year of Per One Year of Service
Service Purchased Purchased per Year
2027 400 400
2028 400 800
2029 400 1,200
2030 400 1,600
2031 400 2,000
2032 400 2,500
2033 400 2,900
2034 400 3,400
2035 400 3,900
2036 400 4,400
2037 400 4,900
2038 400 5,400
2039 400 5,900
2040 400 6,500
2041 0 6,700
2042 0 6,900
2043 0 7,100
2044 0 7,300
2045 0 7,500
2046 0 7,800
2047 0 8,000
2048 0 8,200
2049 0 8,500
2050 0 8,700
2051 0 9,000
Employer contribution impact beyond Fiscal Year 2051 is not shown.
The potential increases in employer contribution 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, 2025 ($)
Present Value (PV) Per One Year of
Service Purchased
S. 7114--A 3
(1) PV of Employer Contributions: 3,200
(2) PV of Employee Contributions: (4,100)
Total PV of Benefits (1) + (2): (900)
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 One Year of
Service Purchased
Increase (Decrease) in UAL: 3,200
Number of Payments: 14
Amortization Payment: 400
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, 2025. The
census data for the potentially impacted population used to develop the
average costs is summarized below.
NYCERS
Active Members
- Number Count: 15,397
- Average Age: 35.7
- Average Service: 9.0
- Average Salary: 145,000
IMPACT ON MILITARY BUYBACK CONTRIBUTIONS: Currently, Tier 3 members of
POLICE and FIRE who joined on or after April 1, 2012 must pay 6% of the
compensation earned during the twelve months of service preceding the
application date for each year of pre-membership military service they
want to purchase (up to three years).
The proposed legislation would reduce the required contribution to 3%
for each year of pre-membership military service, effective for applica-
tions made on or after April 1, 2026.
ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The estimates presented herein have been calcu-
lated 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 purchase military buyback
service, and on their salary history.
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 Zelikovsky
are members of the Society of Actuaries and the American Academy of
S. 7114--A 4
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 2026-75 dated May 4, 2026
was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City Retirement
Systems and Pension Funds and is intended for use only during the 2026
Legislative Session.
