Removes the twenty-five year requirement for tier three escalation for service retirement of members of the New York city fire department pension fund.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9203
IN SENATE
February 13, 2026
___________
Introduced by Sens. JACKSON, MARTINEZ, MARTINS, PALUMBO, RHOADS, CANZON-
ERI-FITZPATRICK, WEIK -- 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
service retirement of members of the New York city fire department
pension fund
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph 2 of subdivision b of section 510 of the retire-
2 ment and social security law, as amended by chapter 18 of the laws of
3 2012, is amended to read as follows:
4 2. (i) The first day of the month following the date on which a member
5 completes or would have completed twenty-five years of credited service,
6 with respect to service retirement benefits for police/fire members and
7 their beneficiaries, New York city uniformed correction/sanitation
8 revised plan members and their beneficiaries or investigator revised
9 plan members and their beneficiaries, except for uniformed members of
10 the New York city fire department pension fund and their beneficiaries.
11 (ii) The first day of the month following the date on which the
12 uniformed member becomes eligible for service retirement benefits for
13 uniformed members of the New York city fire department pension fund.
14 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
SUMMARY: This proposed legislation grants earlier Escalation eligibil-
ity for Tier 3 FIRE members who retire for service by allowing for Full
Escalation at 20 years of service instead of 25 years of service.
EXPECTED INCREASE (DECREASE) IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS
by Fiscal Year for the first 25 years ($ in Millions)
Year FIRE
2027 22.6
2028 23.3
2029 24.8
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13847-02-6
S. 9203 2
2030 26.4
2031 28.1
2032 29.9
2033 31.8
2034 33.7
2035 35.7
2036 37.9
2037 40.2
2038 42.6
2039 44.7
2040 46.7
2041 48.8
2042 50.7
2043 52.4
2044 46.1
2045 48.1
2046 49.9
2047 51.7
2048 53.5
2049 55.3
2050 57.2
2051 59.2
Projected contributions include future new hires that may be impacted.
For Fiscal Year 2052 and beyond, the expected increase in normal cost as
a level percent of pay for impacted new entrants is approximately 1.82%.
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
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 ($ in Millions)
Present Value (PV) FIRE
(1) PV of Employer Contributions: 246.5
(2) PV of Employee Contributions: (7.5)
Total PV of Benefits (1) + (2): 239.0
UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY (UAL): Actuarial Accrued Liabilities are
the portion of the Present Value of Benefits allocated to past service.
Changes in UAL for active members were amortized over the expected
remaining working lifetime of those impacted using level dollar
payments. UAL attributable to inactive members was recognized in the
first year.
AMORTIZATION OF UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY
FIRE
Increase (Decrease) in UAL: 79.3 M
Number of Payments: 17
Amortization Payment: 8.3 M
Additional One-time Payment: 0.8 M
S. 9203 3
CENSUS DATA: The estimates presented herein are based on preliminary
census data collected as of June 30, 2025. The census data for the
impacted population is summarized below.
FIRE
Active Members
- Number Count: 6,510
- Average Age: 34.5
- Average Service: 6.4
- Average Salary: 118,200
Term. Vested Members
- Number Count: 16
- Average Age: 38.3
IMPACT ON MEMBER BENEFITS: Tier 3 FIRE members who retire for service
are potentially eligible for the following benefit adjustments after
retirement:
* Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLA) which are based on 50% of the
change in Consumer Price Index (CPI), limited to between 1% and 3%, and
applied to the first $18,000 of the maximum retirement allowance.
* Escalation which is based on 100% of the change in CPI and is
applied to the entire benefit. Yearly increases (or decreases) are
limited to 3%, although any such excess is banked and applied cumula-
tively to the benefit in subsequent years. Members eligible for Esca-
lation are also eligible for COLA, if COLA is greater.
Currently, Tier 3 FIRE members who retire for service are eligible
for:
* Full Escalation, if commencing their service retirement benefit on
or after the date they attain (or would have attained) 25 years of
service.
* Partial Escalation, if commencing their service retirement benefit
up to three years prior to their Full Escalation date, wherein 1/36th of
Full Escalation is granted for each month that commencement succeeds 22
years of service.
* COLA, if commencing their service benefit at 22 years or fewer.
Under the proposed legislation, Tier 3 FIRE members who commence their
service retirement benefit on or after the date they attain (or would
have attained) 20 years of service would be eligible for Full Esca-
lation.
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:
* Retirement rates were adjusted to reflect the earlier payability of
Full Escalation granted by the proposed legislation.
* 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.
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.
S. 9203 4
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.
This Fiscal Note does not include cost analyses relating to provisions
contained in Retirement and Social Security Law Section 500(c).
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 2026-09 dated February 6,
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.
