STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5592--A
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
April 19, 2017
___________
Introduced by Sen. HOYLMAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
-- recommitted to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions in
accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill
amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
tee
AN ACT relating to granting Tier I status to Cynthia Falletta in the
Teachers' Retirement System of the City of New York with a membership
date of June 1, 1972
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, Cynthia
2 Falletta, a member of the Teachers' Retirement System of the City of New
3 York (TRSNYC) with Tier IV status, who was employed by the City Univer-
4 sity of New York from June 1, 1972 until April 8, 1976 and from June 22,
5 1976 to October 28, 1976, and was a member of the Board of Education
6 Retirement System from December 12, 1990 until February 28, 1994 at
7 which point she became a member of the Teachers' Retirement System of
8 the City of New York, and who for reasons not ascribable to her own
9 negligence was retroactively enrolled as a Tier IV member, shall, upon
10 submission of an application filed with the Board of Trustees of TRSNYC
11 on or before the thirty-first day of December next succeeding the date
12 on which this act shall have become a law, be reclassified as a Tier I
13 member with June 1, 1972 as her date of membership and shall be entitled
14 to every right, benefit and privilege which would have been available to
15 her in accordance with Tier I status, and the City of New York shall be
16 responsible for all costs to provide the Tier I benefit to Cynthia
17 Falletta, provided, however that Cynthia Falletta shall be responsible
18 for contributing the required member contributions for Tier I member-
19 ship.
20 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09751-03-8
S. 5592--A 2
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law Section 50:
SUMMARY OF BILL: The proposed legislation would permit Cynthia Fallet-
ta, a retired Tier 4 member of the New York City Teachers' Retirement
System (TRS), to elect, by filing an application with the Board of Trus-
tees of TRS within the end of the calendar year in which the proposed
legislation is passed, to be reclassified as a Tier 1 member and have
her retirement allowance recalculated and paid under Tier 1 (Plan A)
benefit calculation provisions.
Effective Date: Upon Enactment.
BACKGROUND - GENERAL: Ms. Falletta retired as a Tier 4 TRS member on
October 18, 2012. She currently receives an annual retirement allowance
of $48,243.
If the proposed legislation is passed, Ms. Falletta would be reclassi-
fied as a Tier 1 member and her retirement allowance would be recalcu-
lated as if she had joined a public retirement system within the state
upon her commencement of part-time employment as a college assistant
with the City University of New York in 1972. The additional cost, less
any required member contributions paid by Ms. Falletta, to fund the
increased retirement allowance associated with the proposed legislation
would fall upon the City of New York.
Because Tier 1 TRS members are generally permitted to take an actuari-
al reduction of their retirement allowance to account for deficits in
member contributions, for purposes of this fiscal note, it is assumed
that Ms. Falletta would not pay any owed member contributions resulting
from the reclassification. Based on this assumption and application of
other Tier 1 benefit calculation provisions, it is estimated that Ms.
Falletta's annual retirement allowance would increase to $64,822. This
annual increase would apply prospectively as well as retroactively, less
any payments previously made, to Ms. Falletta's October 18, 2012 date of
retirement.
FINANCIAL IMPACT - ACTUARIAL PRESENT VALUES: The estimated financial
impact of this proposal has been calculated based on the difference
between the actuarial present value of (1) the Tier 1 benefits Ms.
Falletta would receive if this proposed legislation were enacted (retro-
active to her October 18, 2012 retirement date) and (2) the Tier 4 bene-
fits that are currently and have been paid to Ms. Falletta.
Based on the actuarial assumptions and methods described herein, the
enactment of this proposed legislation would increase the Actuarial
Present Value of Benefits (APVB) and the Unfunded Accrued Liability
(UAL) of TRS by approximately $285,000 as of June 30, 2018.
FINANCIAL IMPACT - ANNUAL EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS: In accordance with
Section 13.638.2(k-2) of the Administrative Code of the City of New York
(ACCNY), new UAL attributable to benefit changes are to be amortized as
determined by the Actuary but generally over the remaining working life-
time of those impacted by the benefit changes.
For this proposed legislation, since Ms. Falletta is retired and
collecting a pension, and therefore has no remaining working lifetime,
the entire increase in UAL of $285,000 would be recognized in the first
year.
CONTRIBUTION TIMING: If enacted during the 2018 Legislative Session,
the retirement allowance payable to Ms. Falletta would likely first be
reflected in the June 30, 2018 census data. In accordance with the One-
Year Lag methodology used to determine employer contributions, the
increase in employer contributions would first be reflected for Fiscal
Year 2020.
S. 5592--A 3
OTHER COSTS: This Fiscal Note does not measure administrative costs
associated with implementing this proposed legislation.
CENSUS DATA: As of June 30, 2017 Ms. Falletta was approximately age
68, and receiving a pension of $48,243 per year under the maximum
payment option.
ACTUARIAL ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The additional APVB and UAL
presented herein have been calculated based on the same actuarial
assumptions and methods in effect for the June 20, 2016 (Lag) actuarial
valuation used to determine the Preliminary Fiscal Year 2018 employer
contributions of TRS. Please note these assumptions and methods are
subject to change as this valuation is not considered final until the
end of the Fiscal Year 2018.
STATEMENT OF ACTUARIAL OPINION: I, Sherry S. Chan, am the Chief Actu-
ary for, and independent of, the New York City Retirement Systems and
Pension Funds. I am a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, an Enrolled
Actuary under the Employee Retirement Income and Security Act of 1974
(ERISA), a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries, and a Fellow of
the Conference of Consulting Actuaries. I meet the Qualification Stand-
ards of the American Academy of Actuaries to render the actuarial opin-
ion contained herein. To the best of my knowledge, the results contained
herein have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted actuari-
al principles and procedures and with the Actuarial Standards of Prac-
tice issued by the Actuarial Standards Board.
FISCAL NOTE IDENTIFICATION: This Fiscal Note 2018-09 dated March 23,
2018, was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City Teachers'
Retirement System. This estimate is intended for use only during the
2018 Legislative Session.
