Establishes a death benefit for deputy sheriffs employed by Nassau county entitling the sheriff's beneficiaries to receive in a lump sum an amount payable which shall equal the pension reserve that would have been established had the member retired on the date of his or her death.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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9858
IN ASSEMBLY
February 20, 2020
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ABBATE -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Governmental Employees
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
establishing a death benefit for deputy sheriffs employed by Nassau
county
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 508-b to read as follows:
3 § 508-b. Death benefit for deputy sheriffs employed by Nassau county.
4 Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, where a deputy
5 sheriff would have been entitled to a service retirement benefit at the
6 time of his or her death and where his or her death occurs on or after
7 the effective date of this section, the beneficiary or beneficiaries may
8 elect to receive, in a lump sum, an amount payable which shall be equal
9 to the pension reserve that would have been established had the member
10 retired on the date of his or her death, or the value of the death bene-
11 fit and the reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay, if any, whichever is
12 greater.
13 § 2. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding a new
14 section 606-b to read as follows:
15 § 606-b. Death benefit for deputy sheriffs employed by Nassau county.
16 Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, where a deputy
17 sheriff would have been entitled to a service retirement benefit at the
18 time of his or her death and where his or her death occurs on or after
19 the effective date of this section, the beneficiary or beneficiaries may
20 elect to receive, in a lump sum, an amount payable which shall be equal
21 to the pension reserve that would have been established had the member
22 retired on the date of his or her death, or the value of the death bene-
23 fit and the reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay, if any, whichever is
24 greater.
25 § 3. All past service costs associated with implementing the
26 provisions of this act shall be borne by Nassau County and may be amor-
27 tized over a period of ten years.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14790-03-0
A. 9858 2
1 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would modify the in-service death benefit for Nassau County
Deputy Sheriffs who are retirement eligible in tiers 3 through 6 of the
New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System. The in-service
death benefit will be the value of the pension reserve as if the member
had retired on their date of death.
If this legislation is enacted during the 2020 legislative session, we
anticipate that there will be an increase in the annual contributions of
Nassau County of approximately $8,100 for the fiscal year ending March
31, 2021. In the future, this cost will vary as the billing rates and
salaries of those affected change.
In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
an immediate past service cost of approximately $141,000 which will be
borne by Nassau County as a one-time payment. This estimate is based on
the assumption that payment will be made on February 1, 2021. If Nassau
County elects to amortize this cost over a 10-year period, the cost for
the first year would be $18,600.
These estimated costs are based on 58 affected members employed by
Nassau County, with annual salary of approximately $5.7 million as of
March 31, 2019.
Summary of relevant resources:
The membership data used in measuring the impact of the proposed
change was the same as that used in the March 31, 2019 actuarial valu-
ation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2019
Report of the Actuary and the 2019 Comprehensive Annual Financial
Report.
The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2015,
2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 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, 2019
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 6, 2020, and intended for use only
during the 2020 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2020-40,
prepared by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement
System.
