Provides for a line of duty disability presumption for any condition of impairment of health caused by diseases of the lung, resulting in total or partial disability or death of certain deputy sheriff members of a retirement system in certain cities.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7748
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
May 5, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sen. JACKSON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Cities 1
AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation to disabilities
of deputy sheriff members of a retirement system in certain cities
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The general municipal law is amended by adding a new
2 section 207-r to read as follows:
3 § 207-r. Disabilities of deputy sheriff members of a retirement system
4 in certain cities. 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of any general,
5 special or local law or administrative code to the contrary, but except
6 for the purposes of the workers' compensation law and the labor law, any
7 condition of impairment of health caused by diseases of the lung,
8 resulting in total or partial disability or death to a paid employee
9 performing the duties of a deputy sheriff in the sheriff's department of
10 a city with a population of one million or more where such employee is
11 drawn from competitive civil service lists, or any retired member of
12 such department who retired from a title whose duties are those of a
13 deputy sheriff and has been retired for five or less years, who success-
14 fully passed a physical examination on entry into the service of such
15 department, which examination failed to reveal any evidence of such
16 condition, shall be presumptive evidence that it was incurred in the
17 performance and discharge of duty, unless the contrary be proved by
18 competent evidence.
19 2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a deputy sheriff member
20 retiring pursuant to the provisions of subdivision one of this section
21 shall receive a pension equal to three-fourths of such member's final
22 average salary, and a retired member who has been retired for five years
23 or less and would have been able to retire pursuant to the provisions of
24 subdivision one of this section if such subdivision had been in force at
25 the time of such retired member's retirement, shall be entitled to
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09779-02-5
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1 receive a pension equal to three-fourths of such member's final average
2 salary and have their pension recalculated commencing with the later of
3 the effective date of this section or the first day that diseases of the
4 lung resulted in the full or partial disability of such retired member.
5 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
SUMMARY: The proposed legislation would provide certain Deputy Sheriff
members or retirees (within five years of their respective retirement
date) of the New York City Employees' Retirement System (NYCERS) a
rebuttable statutory presumption that a qualifying partial or total
disability or death related to a lung disease was incurred in the
performance of duty.
ILLUSTRATION - INCREASE (DECREASE) IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS
by Fiscal Year for the first 25 years ($ in Thousands)
One Incident One Incident Per Year
Year Disability Death Disability Death
2026 50 194 50 194
2027 50 194 102 393
2028 50 194 156 598
2029 50 194 211 810
2030 50 194 268 1,028
2031 50 194 326 1,252
2032 50 194 386 1,483
2033 50 194 448 1,721
2034 50 194 512 1,966
2035 50 194 578 2,219
2036 50 194 646 2,479
2037 50 194 715 2,747
2038 50 194 787 3,023
2039 50 194 861 3,307
2040 0 0 887 3,406
2041 0 0 914 3,509
2042 0 0 941 3,614
2043 0 0 969 3,722
2044 0 0 998 3,834
2045 0 0 1,028 3,949
2046 0 0 1,059 4,067
2047 0 0 1,091 4,189
2048 0 0 1,124 4,315
2049 0 0 1,157 4,445
2050 0 0 1,192 4,578
Employer contribution impact beyond Fiscal Year 2050 is not shown.
The potential increases 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
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) Per Disability Per Death
(1) PV of Employer Contributions: 426 1,636
(2) PV of Employee Contributions: (38) 0
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Total PV of Benefits (1) + (2): 388 1,636
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 Disability Per Death
Increase (Decrease) in UAL: 426 K 1,636 K
Number of Payments: 14 14
Amortization Payment: 50 K 194 K
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, 2024. The
census data for the potentially impacted population used to develop the
average costs is summarized below.
NYCERS
Active Members
- Number Count: 132
- Average Age: 43.5
- Average Service: 11.9
- Average Salary: 94,600
Receiving Members
- Number Count: 32
- Average Age: 60.3
IMPACT ON MEMBER BENEFITS: Currently, a New York City Deputy Sheriff
who becomes disabled due to lung disease would generally be eligible for
an applicable ordinary disability retirement benefit after attaining 10
years of service. The disability benefit is a lifetime payment equal to
the greatest of 1/3 of Final Average Salary (FAS), 1/60th of FAS times
service, or the service retirement benefit, if eligible.
Under the proposed legislation, the performance of duty disability
benefit for NYCERS Deputy Sheriff members who are disabled from lung
disease would be equal to 75% of FAS without an offset for Workers'
Compensation.
The ordinary death benefit New York City Deputy Sheriff members is a
lump sum payment generally equal to three times the member's salary plus
a return of member contributions. Under the proposed legislation, the
performance of duty death benefit would generally be equal to a lifetime
benefit of 50% of a member's wages earned during the last year of
service, plus, if applicable, the Special Accidental Death Benefit
(SADB) payable under General Municipal Law section 208-f.
SADB for Deputy Sheriffs was enacted by Chapter 720 of the Laws of
2023 and all accidental deaths are assumed to qualify for SADB.
ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The estimates presented herein have been
calculated based on the Revised 2021 Actuarial Assumptions and Methods
of the impacted retirement systems.
The number of members and eligible retirees who will benefit in the
future from this fiscal note is unknown. The cost of this proposed
legislation could vary greatly depending on the number of future members
who benefit and on their length of service, age, and salary history. In
particular, the increase would be greater for a member who is not yet
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eligible for an ordinary disability benefit when the disabling lung
disease is diagnosed.
The estimated financial impact for disabled members has been calcu-
lated assuming 50% would have retired under an ordinary disability bene-
fit, and 50% would have continued working if the proposed legislation
were not passed.
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 2025-53 dated May 2, 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.
