Authorizes a thirty year retirement benefit for certain members in Nassau county; provides a retirement allowance equal to 60 percent of a member's final average salary.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8863
IN SENATE
January 12, 2026
___________
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
authorizing a thirty year retirement benefit for certain members in
Nassau county
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivisions c, g and h of section 89-g of the retirement
2 and social security law, as added by chapter 653 of the laws of 1988 and
3 such section as renumbered by chapter 771 of the laws of 1988, are
4 amended to read as follows:
5 c. (1) Upon completion of twenty-five years of such service and upon
6 retirement, each such member shall receive a pension which, together
7 with an annuity which shall be the actuarial equivalent of [his] such
8 member's accumulated contributions at the time of [his] such member's
9 retirement and an additional pension which is the actuarial equivalent
10 of the reserved-for-increased-take-home-pay to which [he] such member
11 may then be entitled shall be sufficient to provide [him] such member
12 with a retirement allowance equal to one-half of [his] such member's
13 final average salary.
14 (2) For a member employed by Nassau county with a title of correction
15 recruit, correction officer, correction corporal, correction sergeant,
16 correction lieutenant, or correction captain, upon completion of thirty
17 years of such service and upon retirement, each such member shall
18 receive a pension which, together with an annuity which shall be the
19 actuarial equivalent of such member's accumulated contributions at the
20 time of such member's retirement and an additional pension which is the
21 actuarial equivalent of the reserved-for-increased-take-home-pay to
22 which such member may then be entitled shall be sufficient to provide
23 such member with a retirement allowance equal to sixty percent of such
24 member's final average salary.
25 g. A member, contributing on the basis of this section at the time of
26 retirement, shall retire after the completion of twenty-five years or
27 thirty years of total creditable service. Application therefor may be
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09321-05-6
S. 8863 2
1 filed in a manner similar to that provided in section seventy of this
2 article. Upon completion of twenty-five years or thirty years of such
3 service and upon retirement, each such member shall receive a pension
4 which, together with an annuity which shall be the actuarial equivalent
5 of [his] such member's accumulated contributions at the time of [his]
6 such member's retirement and an additional pension which is the actuari-
7 al equivalent of the reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay to which [he]
8 such member may then be entitled shall be sufficient to provide [him]
9 such member with a retirement allowance equal to one-half of [his] such
10 member's final average salary for a member retiring after the completion
11 of twenty-five years of such service, or a retirement allowance equal to
12 sixty percent of such member's final average salary for a member retir-
13 ing after the completion of thirty years of such service.
14 h. In computing the twenty-five years or thirty years of total service
15 of a member pursuant to this section full credit shall be given and full
16 allowance shall be made for service of such member in time of war after
17 World War I as defined in section two of this chapter, provided such
18 member at the time of [his] such member's entrance into the armed forces
19 was in the service of the county of Nassau.
20 § 2. Subdivision e of section 604 of the retirement and social securi-
21 ty law, as amended by chapter 771 of the laws of 1988, is amended to
22 read as follows:
23 e. 1. The early service retirement for a member who is employed in
24 Nassau county as a correction officer, uniformed correction division
25 personnel, sheriff, undersheriff or deputy sheriff, as defined in
26 section eighty-nine-g of this chapter, shall be a pension equal to one-
27 fiftieth of final average salary times years of credited service at the
28 completion of twenty-five years of service as such correction officer,
29 uniformed correction division personnel, sheriff, undersheriff or deputy
30 sheriff, but not exceeding one-half of [his or her] such member's final
31 average salary.
32 2. The early service retirement for a member who is employed by Nassau
33 county with a title of correction recruit, correction officer,
34 correction corporal, correction sergeant, correction lieutenant, or
35 correction captain, shall be a pension equal to one-fiftieth of final
36 average salary times years of credited service at the completion of
37 thirty years of service as such correction officer, but not exceeding
38 sixty percent of such member's final average salary.
39 § 3. All past service costs associated with implementing the
40 provisions of this act shall be borne by the county of Nassau and may be
41 amortized over a period of ten years.
42 § 4. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, none
43 of the provisions of this act shall be subject to the appropriation
44 requirement of section 25 of the retirement and social security law.
45 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to all
46 members who retire on or after such date.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would modify the service retirement benefit for members of
the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System employed by
the county of Nassau as correction officers. The modified service
retirement benefit will be one-half of final average salary (FAS) upon
completion of twenty-five years of creditable service and sixty percent
of FAS upon completion of thirty years of creditable service. The
current service retirement benefit is one-half of FAS upon completion of
twenty-five years of creditable service.
S. 8863 3
We estimate that the county of Nassau's annual contributions will
increase $418,000 beginning FYE 2027. Annual costs will vary but are
expected to average 0.3% of salary.
In addition, there will be an immediate past service cost of $7.31
million borne by the county of Nassau as a one-time payment. This cost
assumes that payment will be made on February 1, 2027. If the county of
Nassau elects to amortize this cost over 10 years, the cost for each
year will be $933,000.
These estimated costs are based on 729 affected members employed by
the county of Nassau, with annual salary of approximately $112 million
as of March 31, 2025.
Summary of relevant resources:
Membership data as of March 31, 2025 was used to measure the impact of
the bill, the same data used in the Actuarial Valuations dated April 1,
2025. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2025 Report
of the Actuary and the 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. The
actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2025 Annual
Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assumptions, and the Codes, Rules
and Regulations of the State of New York: Audit and Control. The fair
value of assets and GASB disclosures can be found in the 2025 Financial
Statements and Supplementary Information.
Assumptions, demographics, and other considerations may have been
modified to better reflect specific provisions of any proposed benefit
change(s).
This fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the viability
of the bill, nor is it intended to serve as a substitute for the profes-
sional judgment of an attorney.
This estimate, dated January 9, 2026, and intended for use only during
the 2026 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note Number 2026-51. As Chief
Actuary of the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS), 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. I am a member of NYSLRS but do not believe it
impairs my objectivity.
