STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6574--A
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
April 19, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PHEFFER AMATO, LUPARDO, PAULIN, BURDICK, STECK,
LUNSFORD, DICKENS, WALLACE, SLATER -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Governmental Employees -- recommitted to the Committee on
Governmental Employees in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 --
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
the limitation of overtime compensation in final average salary calcu-
lations
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 1203 of the retirement and social security law, as
2 added by section 1 of part A of chapter 504 of the laws of 2009, is
3 amended to read as follows:
4 § 1203. Overtime. A member's final average salary shall be calculated
5 in accordance with such provisions of article eight or article eleven of
6 this chapter as govern the member's benefits including overtime, except
7 that earnings classified as overtime compensation in an amount in excess
8 of [fifteen] thirty percent of a member's annual wages not classified as
9 overtime compensation shall be excluded from such calculation. "Overtime
10 compensation" shall mean, for purposes of this section, compensation
11 paid under any law or policy under which employees are paid at a rate
12 greater than their standard rate for additional hours worked beyond
13 those required, including compensation paid under section one hundred
14 thirty-four of the civil service law and section ninety of the general
15 municipal law.
16 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would increase the allowable overtime compensation included
in the final average salary calculation to 30 percent of a member's
annual wages for Tier 5 and Tier 6 members in the New York State and
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08426-03-4
A. 6574--A 2
Local Police and Fire Retirement System (NYSLPFRS). The current limit is
15 percent.
Insofar as this bill affects the NYSLPFRS, the increased costs would
be shared by the State of New York and the local participating employers
in the NYSLPFRS. If this bill were enacted during the 2024 Legislative
Session, the increase in the present value of benefits would be approxi-
mately $493 million.
NYSLPFRS Increase in present Increase in required
value benefits contributions
Tiers 1-5 $31 million $75 million
Tier 6 $462 million $418 million
Total $493 million $493 million
In the NYSLPFRS, this benefit improvement will be funded by increasing
the billing rates charged annually to cover both retrospective and
prospective benefit increases. The annual contribution required of all
participating employers in NYSLPFRS is 1.0% of billable salary, or
approximately $8.6 million to the State of New York and approximately
$35 million to the local participating employers. This permanent annualcost will increase as Tier 6 salary grows and will vary by employer
based upon the plan coverage and salary reported in Tier 6.
Summary of relevant resources:
Membership data as of March 31, 2023 was used in measuring the impact
of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2023 actuari-
al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the
2023 Report of the Actuary and the 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial
Report.
The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2023
Annual Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assumptions, and the
Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York: Audit and
Control.
The Market Assets and GASB Disclosures are found in the March 31, 2023
New York State and Local Retirement System Financial Statements and
Supplementary Information.
I am a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and meet the Quali-
fication Standards to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
This fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the viability
of the proposed change nor is it intended to serve as a substitute for
the professional judgment of an attorney.
This estimate, dated February 16, 2024, and intended for use only
during the 2024 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2024-42,
prepared by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement
System.
