STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10954
IN ASSEMBLY
August 17, 2020
___________
Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. McDonald) --
read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Employees
AN ACT to authorize William Schumaker and Mark Hennessy to receive
certain service credit under section 384-d of the retirement and
social security law
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,
2 the city of Rensselaer, in the county of Rensselaer, a participating
3 employer in the New York state and local police and fire retirement
4 system, which previously elected to offer the optional twenty year
5 retirement plan, established pursuant to section 384-d of the retirement
6 and social security law, to firefighters employed by such city, is here-
7 by authorized to make participation in such plan available to William
8 Schumaker, a firefighter employed by the city of Rensselaer with a start
9 date of October 10, 1996, who, for reasons not ascribable to his own
10 negligence, failed to make a timely application to participate in such
11 optional twenty year retirement plan. The city of Rensselaer may so
12 elect by filing with the state comptroller, within six months from the
13 effective date of this act, a resolution of its local city common coun-
14 cil together with certification that such firefighter did not bar
15 himself from participation in such retirement plan as a result of his
16 own negligence. Thereafter, such firefighter may elect to be covered by
17 the provisions of sections 384-d and 384-e of the retirement and social
18 security law, and shall be entitled to the full rights and benefits
19 associated with coverage under such section, by filing a request to that
20 effect with the state comptroller within the effective date of such
21 resolution.
22 § 2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the
23 city of Rensselaer, in the county of Rensselaer, a participating employ-
24 er in the New York state and local police and fire retirement system,
25 which previously elected to offer the optional twenty year retirement
26 plan, established pursuant to section 384-d of the retirement and social
27 security law, to firefighters employed by such city, is hereby author-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14481-02-0
A. 10954 2
1 ized to make participation in such plan available to Mark Hennessy, a
2 firefighter employed by the city of Rensselaer with a start date of
3 September 1, 2005, who for reasons not ascribable to his own negligence,
4 failed to make a timely application to participate in such optional
5 twenty year retirement plan. The city of Rensselaer may so elect by
6 filing with the state comptroller, within six months from the effective
7 date of this act, a resolution of its city common council together with
8 certification that such firefighter did not bar himself from partic-
9 ipation in such retirement plan as a result of his own negligence.
10 Thereafter, such firefighter may elect to be covered by the provisions
11 of sections 384-d and 384-e of the retirement and social security law,
12 and shall be entitled to the full rights and benefits associated with
13 coverage under such section, by filing a request to that effect with the
14 state comptroller within the effective date of such resolution.
15 § 3. All past costs associated with implementing the provisions of
16 this act shall be borne by the city of Rensselaer.
17 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would allow the city of Rensselaer to reopen the provisions
of Section 384-d together with Section 384-e of the Retirement and
Social Security Law for firefighters William Schumaker and Mark Hennes-
sy, current members of the New York State and Local Police and Fire
Retirement System (PFRS).
If this bill is enacted during the 2020 legislative session and these
two firefighters become covered under the provisions of sections 384-d
and 384-e, we anticipate there will be an increase of approximately
$12,000 in the annual contributions of the city of Rensselaer for the
fiscal year ending March 31, 2021. In future years, this cost will vary
as the billing rates and salaries of these firefighters change.
In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
an immediate past service cost of approximately $179,000 which will be
borne by the city of Rensselaer as a one-time payment. This estimate is
based on the assumption that payment will be made on February 1, 2021.
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 January 2, 2020, and intended for use only during
the 2020 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2020-20, prepared by
the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.