Relates to the right of vested members to withdraw from the New York city teachers' retirement system; allows a member who has permanently ceased teaching in New York to elect to withdraw his/her accumulated contributions to enable the member to obtain credit for the teaching service in another state provided such member has at least five years of service credit in that system, and the withdrawal must be necessary in order for the member to obtain credit in the other system.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6224--A
IN SENATE
January 13, 2012
___________
Introduced by Sen. GOLDEN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Cities -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee
AN ACT to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in
relation to the right of vested members to withdraw from the New York
city teachers' retirement system
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 13-541 of the administrative code of the city of
2 New York, as amended by chapter 854 of the laws of 1985, is amended to
3 read as follows:
4 § 13-541 Termination of membership; resignation, transfer or dismiss-
5 al. 1. Withdrawals from the retirement association shall be by resigna-
6 tion, by transfer, or by dismissal. Should a contributor resign from the
7 position by virtue of which he or she is a contributor under the
8 provisions of this chapter, or should he or she, upon transferring from
9 such a position to another position in the city-service, fail to become
10 a transferred-contributor as provided in section 13-523 of this chapter,
11 his or her membership in such association shall cease except as provided
12 in section 13-556 of this code and he or she shall be paid forthwith the
13 full amount of the accumulated deductions standing to the credit of his
14 or her individual account in the annuity savings fund.
15 2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, any
16 member of the retirement association subject to article fourteen or
17 fifteen of the retirement and social security law who has permanently
18 ceased teaching shall have the right to elect the return of his or her
19 accumulated contributions and thereby terminate his or her membership in
20 the retirement association without regard to the amount of service to
21 his or her credit, provided a public employee retirement system in
22 another state has certified in a manner satisfactory to the system that
23 such member is a member of such other retirement system, has at least
24 five years of retirement credit in such other system, and is eligible,
25 upon the termination of his or her membership in the system, to obtain
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13999-03-2
S. 6224--A 2
1 retirement credit in such other retirement system for the service which
2 has been credited to his or her membership in the system. Upon refund of
3 such accumulated contributions, any and all obligations of the retire-
4 ment association to such member shall be totally discharged. The teach-
5 ers' retirement board is authorized to adopt such rules and regulations
6 as may be necessary to implement this subdivision.
7 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
PROVISIONS OF PROPOSED LEGISLATION: This proposed legislation would
amend Administrative Code of the City of New York ("ACNY") Section
13-541 to allow certain Tier III and Tier IV members of the New York
City Teacher's Retirement System ("TRS") to withdraw their memberships
from TRS under certain conditions.
For purposes of this Fiscal Note, the references herein to Tier IV
include those TRS members who dates of membership are on or after April
1, 2012 (a.k.a., Tier VI members).
Specifically, this proposed legislation would permit a Tier III or
Tier IV member of TRS who has permanently ceased teaching to elect the
return of his or her accumulated member contributions and terminate his
or her membership in TRS without regard to the amount of service to his
or her credit.
As a condition necessary to this election, a Public Employee Retire-
ment System ("PERS") in another state must certify in a manner satisfac-
tory to TRS that such member is a member of such other PERS, has at
least five years of retirement credit in such other PERS, and is eligi-
ble, upon the termination of his or her membership in TRS, to obtain
retirement credit in such other PERS for the service which has been
credited to his or her membership in TRS.
Upon refund to the member of his or her accumulated member contrib-
utions, any and all obligations of TRS to the member would be totally
discharged.
The TRS Retirement Board would be authorized to adopt such rules and
regulations as may be necessary to implement this subdivision.
Note: One of the consequences to a member withdrawing from TRS would
be to eliminate the opportunity of the member to receive any Other
Postemployment Benefits ("OPEB") from the City of New York or other
former employer participating in TRS.
FINANCIAL IMPACT - ACTUARIAL PRESENT VALUE OF BENEFITS AND EMPLOYER
CONTRIBUTIONS: For most members likely to elect the provisions of this
proposed legislation, enactment would result in a modest reduction in
the Actuarial Present Value of Benefits ("APVB") and employer contrib-
utions to TRS.
OTHER COSTS: The enactment of this proposed legislation would result
in some administrative expenses for TRS.
The enactment of this proposed legislation would, for certain members,
result in a reduction in the obligations for OPEB benefits from their
former employers.
STATEMENT OF ACTUARIAL OPINION: I, Robert C. North, Jr., am the Chief
Actuary for the New York City Retirement Systems. I am a Fellow of the
Society of Actuaries and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries.
I meet the Qualification Standards of the American Academy of Actuaries
to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
FISCAL NOTE IDENTIFICATION: This estimate is intended for use only
during the 2012 Legislative Session. It is Fiscal Note 2012-11, dated
May 24, 2012 prepared by the Chief Actuary of the New York City Teach-
ers' Retirement System.
