Establishes alternative retirement benefits for peace officers in the department of motor vehicles; permits such officers to retire upon completion of twenty-five years of creditable service.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5733--A
2011-2012 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 28, 2011
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ABBATE -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Governmental Employees -- recommitted to the Committee on Govern-
mental Employees in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- commit-
tee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recom-
mitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
retirement benefits for certain employees
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding
2 a new section 89-x to read as follows:
3 § 89-x. Alternative retirement benefits for peace officers in the
4 department of motor vehicles. a. Definitions. For purposes of this
5 section:
6 1. "Qualifying member" shall mean any member who is in service as an
7 employee of the New York state department of motor vehicles who is a
8 peace officer as defined in article two of the criminal procedure law.
9 2. "Qualifying creditable service" shall mean creditable service
10 rendered while a member is a member of a public retirement system
11 employed in a position which is designated as a police officer pursuant
12 to article one of the criminal procedure law or as a peace officer
13 pursuant to article two of the criminal procedure law.
14 3. "Public retirement system" shall mean the New York state and local
15 employees' retirement system, the New York state and local police and
16 fire retirement system, the New York state teachers' retirement system,
17 the New York city employees' retirement system, the New York city teach-
18 ers' retirement system, the New York city police pension fund, the New
19 York city fire department pension fund and the New York city board of
20 education retirement system.
21 b. Eligibility. 1. Any qualifying member, as defined in subdivision a
22 of this section, shall be eligible to retire pursuant to the provisions
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09084-02-2
A. 5733--A 2
1 of this section. Such eligibility shall be an alternative to the eligi-
2 bility provisions available under any other plan of this article to
3 which such member is subject. The comptroller may request certifications
4 from agency officials, as appropriate, to identify such eligible
5 members.
6 2. Any such qualifying member shall be entitled to retire after the
7 completion of twenty-five years of qualifying creditable service by
8 filing an application therefor in a manner similar to that provided in
9 section seventy of this article; provided, however, no such member shall
10 be eligible to retire until he or she has a minimum of ten years of
11 qualifying creditable service.
12 c. Retirement allowance. A member retiring under the provisions of
13 this section shall receive a retirement allowance consisting of a
14 pension equal to one-fiftieth of his or her final average salary for
15 each year of qualifying creditable service. This retirement allowance
16 shall not exceed fifty percent of such member's final average salary.
17 d. Computation of service. In computing the twenty-five years of
18 completed service of a qualifying member for purposes of this section,
19 full credit shall be given and full allowance shall be made for service
20 of such member in war after World War I, as defined in subdivision thir-
21 ty of section two of this chapter, provided such member at the time of
22 his or her entrance into the armed forces was in state service.
23 e. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent a member, who
24 does not retire pursuant to the provisions of this section, from utiliz-
25 ing service which is creditable service pursuant to the provisions of
26 this section for the service credit pursuant to any other plan of this
27 article to which such member is subject.
28 f. The increased costs of the benefits provided for in this section
29 shall be paid from additional contributions made by the employer.
30 g. The provisions in this section shall be controlling notwithstanding
31 any other provision in this article to the contrary.
32 § 2. Subdivision a of section 445 of the retirement and social securi-
33 ty law, as amended by chapter 295 of the laws of 2007, is amended to
34 read as follows:
35 a. No member of a retirement system who is subject to the provisions
36 of this article shall retire without regard to age, exclusive of retire-
37 ment for disability, unless he is a policeman, an investigator member of
38 the New York city employees' retirement system, fireman, correction
39 officer, a qualifying member as defined in section eighty-nine-t, as
40 added by chapter six hundred fifty-seven of the laws of nineteen hundred
41 ninety-eight, of this chapter, a qualifying member as defined in section
42 eighty-nine-x of this chapter, sanitation man, a special officer
43 (including persons employed by the city of New York in the title urban
44 park ranger or associate urban park ranger), school safety agent, campus
45 peace officer or a taxi and limousine commission inspector member of the
46 New York city employees' retirement system or the New York city board of
47 education retirement system, a dispatcher member of the New York city
48 employees' retirement system, a police communications member of the New
49 York city employees' retirement system, an EMT member of the New York
50 city employees' retirement system, a deputy sheriff member of the New
51 York city employees' retirement system, a correction officer of the
52 Westchester county correction department as defined in section eighty-
53 nine-e of this chapter or employed in Suffolk county as a peace officer,
54 as defined in section eighty-nine-s, as added by chapter five hundred
55 eighty-eight of the laws of nineteen hundred ninety-seven, of this chap-
56 ter, employed in Suffolk county as a correction officer, as defined in
A. 5733--A 3
1 section eighty-nine-f of this chapter, or employed in Nassau county as a
2 correction officer, uniformed correction division personnel, sheriff,
3 undersheriff or deputy sheriff, as defined in section eighty-nine-g of
4 this chapter, or employed in Nassau county as an ambulance medical tech-
5 nician, an ambulance medical technician/supervisor or a member who
6 performs ambulance medical technician related services, as defined in
7 section eighty-nine-s, as amended by chapter five hundred seventy-eight
8 of the laws of nineteen hundred ninety-eight, of this chapter, or
9 employed in Nassau county as a peace officer, as defined in section
10 eighty-nine-s, as added by chapter five hundred ninety-five of the laws
11 of nineteen hundred ninety-seven, of this chapter, or employed in Albany
12 county as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff, correction officer or
13 identification officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-h of this
14 chapter or is employed in St. Lawrence county as a sheriff, undersher-
15 iff, deputy sheriff or correction officer, as defined in section eight-
16 y-nine-i of this chapter or is employed in Orleans county as a sheriff,
17 undersheriff, deputy sheriff or correction officer, as defined in
18 section eighty-nine-l of this chapter or is employed in Jefferson county
19 as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff or correction officer, as
20 defined in section eighty-nine-j of this chapter or is employed in Onon-
21 daga county as a deputy sheriff-jail division competitively appointed or
22 as a correction officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-k of this
23 chapter or is employed in a county which makes an election under subdi-
24 vision j of section eighty-nine-p of this chapter as a sheriff, under-
25 sheriff, deputy sheriff or correction officer as defined in such section
26 eighty-nine-p or is employed in Broome County as a sheriff, undersher-
27 iff, deputy sheriff or correction officer, as defined in section eight-
28 y-nine-m of this chapter or is a Monroe county deputy sheriff-court
29 security, or deputy sheriff-jailor as defined in section eighty-nine-n,
30 as added by chapter five hundred ninety-seven of the laws of nineteen
31 hundred ninety-one, of this chapter or is employed in Greene county as a
32 sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff or correction officer, as defined
33 in section eighty-nine-o of this chapter or is a traffic officer with
34 the town of Elmira as defined in section eighty-nine-q of this chapter
35 or is employed by Suffolk county as a park police officer, as defined in
36 section eighty-nine-r of this chapter or is a peace officer employed by
37 a county probation department as defined in section eighty-nine-t, as
38 added by chapter six hundred three of the laws of nineteen hundred nine-
39 ty-eight, of this chapter or is employed in Rockland county as a deputy
40 sheriff-civil as defined in section eighty-nine-v of this chapter as
41 added by chapter four hundred forty-one of the laws of two thousand one,
42 or is employed in Rockland county as a superior correction officer as
43 defined in section eighty-nine-v of this chapter as added by chapter
44 five hundred fifty-six of the laws of two thousand one or is a paramedic
45 employed by the police department in the town of Tonawanda and retires
46 under the provisions of section eighty-nine-v of this chapter, as added
47 by chapter four hundred seventy-two of the laws of two thousand one, or
48 is a county fire marshal, supervising fire marshal, fire marshal,
49 assistant fire marshal, assistant chief fire marshal or chief fire
50 marshal employed by the county of Nassau as defined in section eighty-
51 nine-w of this chapter and is in a plan which permits immediate retire-
52 ment upon completion of a specified period of service without regard to
53 age. Except as provided in subdivision c of section four hundred forty-
54 five-a of this article, subdivision c of section four hundred forty-
55 five-b of this article, subdivision c of section four hundred forty-
56 five-c of this article, subdivision c of section four hundred
A. 5733--A 4
1 forty-five-d of this article, subdivision c of section four hundred
2 forty-five-e of this article, subdivision c of section four hundred
3 forty-five-f of this article and subdivision c of section four hundred
4 forty-five-h of this article, a member in such a plan and such an occu-
5 pation, other than a policeman or investigator member of the New York
6 city employees' retirement system or a fireman, shall not be permitted
7 to retire prior to the completion of twenty-five years of credited
8 service; provided, however, if such a member in such an occupation is in
9 a plan which permits retirement upon completion of twenty years of
10 service regardless of age, he may retire upon completion of twenty years
11 of credited service and prior to the completion of twenty-five years of
12 service, but in such event the benefit provided from funds other than
13 those based on such a member's own contributions shall not exceed two
14 per centum of final average salary per each year of credited service.
15 § 3. Section 603 of the retirement and social security law is amended
16 by adding a new subdivision u to read as follows:
17 u. The service retirement benefit specified in section six hundred
18 four of this article shall be payable without regard to age to qualify-
19 ing members, as defined in subdivision a of section eighty-nine-x of
20 this chapter, with twenty-five years of qualifying service as defined in
21 such section, if such members have met the minimum service requirements
22 upon retirement. Any such member shall be entitled to retire after the
23 completion of twenty-five years of qualifying creditable service by
24 filing an application therefor in a manner similar to that provided in
25 section seventy of this chapter.
26 § 4. Section 604 of the retirement and social security law is amended
27 by adding a new subdivision u to read as follows:
28 u. The early service retirement benefit for a member who is a qualify-
29 ing member as defined in subdivision a of section eighty-nine-x of this
30 chapter shall be a pension equal to one-fiftieth of final average salary
31 times years of qualifying service, as defined in section eighty-nine-x
32 of this chapter, at the completion of twenty-five years of such service,
33 but not exceeding one-half of his or her final average salary.
34 § 5. Implementation provisions. (a) Amortization of past service cost.
35 The comptroller shall prepare and file with the director of the budget
36 an estimate of the past service cost resulting from implementation of
37 this act, at the same time and in the same manner as the annual esti-
38 mates required under section 16 of the retirement and social security
39 law, on the first such annual date for which it is practicable to
40 provide such an estimate. Notwithstanding section 430 of the retirement
41 and social security law, the past service cost as so determined shall be
42 paid by the state, with interest as defined in section 16 of the retire-
43 ment and social security law, in ten equal annual installments. Such
44 payments shall be made at the same time and in the same manner as other
45 payments by the state pursuant to section 16 of the retirement and
46 social security law, beginning with the first payment date that is at
47 least 60 days after the preparation and filing of the estimate of past
48 service cost with the director of the budget.
49 (b) Increased employer contributions. All other contribution increases
50 resulting from implementation of this act (exclusive of those resulting
51 from past service cost) shall also be estimated by the comptroller and
52 paid by the state at the same time and in the same manner as contrib-
53 utions are estimated and paid under section 16 of the retirement and
54 social security law, notwithstanding provisions of section 430 of the
55 retirement and social security law to the contrary.
56 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately.
A. 5733--A 5
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would permit certain peace officers in the New York State
Department of Motor Vehicles to retire upon completion of twenty-five
(25) years of creditable service. For all eligible officers, the benefit
upon retirement would be an allowance of one-half final average salary.
There would be no reduction due to early service retirement for these
members.
If this bill is enacted, we anticipate that there would be an esti-
mated increase in the annual contributions of the State of New York of
approximately $104,000 for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2013.
In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
an immediate past service cost to the State of New York of approximately
$681,000 assuming a payment date of March 1, 2013. If this cost were
amortized over a period of ten (10) years, the cost for the first year
including interest would be approximately $92,300.
These estimated costs are based on ninety-eighty (98) officers
employed by the Department of Motor Vehicles with a total salary of
approximately $6.4 million for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2012.
Summary of relevant resources:
Data: March 31, 2011 Actuarial Year End File with distributions of
membership and other statistics displayed in the 2011 Report of the
Actuary and 2011 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report.
Assumptions and Methods: 2010 and 2011 Annual Report to the Comp-
troller on Actuarial Assumptions, Codes Rules and Regulations of the
State of New York: Audit and Control.
Market Assets and GASB Disclosures: March 31, 2011 New York State and
Local Retirement System Financial Statements and Supplementary Informa-
tion.
Valuations of Benefit Liabilities and Actuarial Assets: summarized in
the 2011 Actuarial Valuations report.
I am a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and meet the Quali-
fication Standards to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
This estimate, dated December 13, 2011, and intended for use only
during the 2012 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2012-21,
prepared by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Employees'
Retirement System.
