New York State Assembly

 
•  Summary 
 
•  Actions 
 
•  Committee Votes 
 
•  Floor Votes 
 
•  Memo 
 
•  Text 
 
•  LFIN 
 
•  Chamber Video/Transcript 

S05956 Summary:

S05956 Actions:

S05956 Committee Votes:

S05956 Floor Votes:

S05956 Text:

 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          5956
 
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                    IN SENATE
 
                                      May 16, 2019
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  Sen.  MAY  --  read  twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
 
        AN ACT to authorize Morgan McDole, Baraaka J. Titus and David Dunlap, to
          elect to participate in the optional twenty year retirement  plan  for
          firefighters  employed  by the City of Syracuse Fire Department in the
          county of Onondaga
 
          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  Syracuse  Fire  Department,  in the county of Onondaga, a
     3  participating employer in the New York state and local police  and  fire
     4  retirement system, which previously elected to offer the optional twenty
     5  year  retirement  plan,  established  pursuant  to  section 384-d of the
     6  retirement and social security law, to  firefighters  employed  by  such
     7  fire  district,  is hereby authorized to make participation in such plan
     8  available to Morgan McDole, Baraaka J. Titus  and  David  Dunlap;  fire-
     9  fighters employed by such fire department, who, for reasons not ascriba-
    10  ble  to  their  own  negligence,  failed to make a timely application to
    11  participate in such optional twenty year  retirement  plan.  Thereafter,
    12  Morgan McDole, Baraaka J. Titus and David Dunlap may elect to be covered
    13  by the provisions of section 384-d of the retirement and social security
    14  law,  and  shall  be entitled to the full rights and benefits associated
    15  with coverage under such section, by filing a  request  to  that  effect
    16  with  the state comptroller within six months from the effective date of
    17  this act.
    18    §  2.  All  past  service  costs  associated  with  implementing   the
    19  provisions  of  this  act  shall  be  borne by the City of Syracuse Fire
    20  Department and may be amortized over a period of ten years.
    21    § 3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,  this
    22  act  shall be contingent upon the City of Syracuse Fire Department Board
    23  of Fire Commissioners passing a resolution requesting the  enactment  of

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD07045-04-9
        S. 5956                             2
 
     1  this  legislation  and providing copies of such resolution to each house
     2  of the legislature.
     3    § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
          FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
          This bill would allow the City of Syracuse to reopen the provisions of
        Section 384-d of the Retirement and Social Security Law for firefighters
        Morgan McDole, Baraaka J. Titus and David Dunlap.
          If  this bill is enacted during the 2019 legislative session and these
        members become covered under the provisions of Section 384-d, we  antic-
        ipate  that  there  will  be an increase of approximately $21,000 in the
        annual contributions of the City of Syracuse for the fiscal year  ending
        March  31,  2020.  In  future  years, this cost will vary as the billing
        rates and salary of these members change.
          In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
        an immediate past service cost of $339,000 which will be  borne  by  the
        City  of  Syracuse  as a one-time payment. This estimate is based on the
        assumption that payment will be made on February 1, 2020. If the City of
        Syracuse elects to amortize this cost over a 10 year  period,  the  cost
        for the first year would be $45,100.
          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, 2018  actuarial  valu-
        ation.    Distributions  and  other  statistics can be found in the 2018
        Report of the  Actuary  and  the  2018  Comprehensive  Annual  Financial
        Report.
          The  actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2015,
        2016, 2017 and 2018  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, 2018
        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  26,  2019, and intended for use only
        during the  2019  Legislative  Session,  is  Fiscal  Note  No.  2019-84,
        prepared  by  the  Actuary  for  the New York State and Local Retirement
        System.