Clarifies provisions related to the overtime ceiling for correction officers of the Westchester county correction department for the purposes of retirement benefits.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6400--A
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
April 18, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sen. JACKSON -- 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 to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
the overtime ceiling for correction officers of the Westchester county
correction department
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision l of section 601 of the retirement and social
2 security law is amended by adding a new paragraph (e) to read as
3 follows:
4 (e) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (c) and subparagraph
5 one of paragraph (d) of this subdivision, commencing on January first,
6 two thousand twenty-five "overtime ceiling" for any correction officer
7 of the Westchester county correction department as defined in section
8 eighty-nine-e of this chapter shall mean the greater of: (i) the over-
9 time ceiling as defined in this subdivision; or (ii) thirty percent of
10 the regular compensation earned by and paid to such member by Westches-
11 ter county for such member's service as a correction officer.
12 § 2. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, none of the
13 provisions of this act shall be subject to the appropriation requirement
14 of section 25 of the retirement and social security law.
15 § 3. All past service costs associated with implementing the
16 provisions of this act shall be borne by the county of Westchester and
17 may be amortized over a period of ten years.
18 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09747-06-4
S. 6400--A 2
This bill would change the allowable overtime compensation included in
the final average salary calculation beginning January 1, 2025 to thirty
percent of a member's annual wages if greater than the limits currently
defined in Section 601 of the Retirement and Social Security Law for
Tier 5 and Tier 6 Westchester County correction officers. Current limits
were set at $15,000 at the inception of each tier, with the Tier 5 limit
increasing 3% annually and the Tier 6 limit increasing annually with
inflation.
If this bill is enacted during the 2024 Legislative Session, we antic-
ipate that there will be an increase of approximately $500,000 in the
annual contributions of the County of Westchester for the fiscal year
ending March 31, 2025. In future years, this cost will vary as the bill-
ing rates and salary of the affected members change but is expected to
average 0.8% of salary annually.
In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
an immediate past service cost of approximately $3.05 million which will
be borne by the County of Westchester as a one-time payment. This esti-
mate assumes that payment will be made on February 1, 2025. If the Coun-
ty of Westchester elects to amortize this cost over a 10-year period,
the cost for each year including interest would be $389,000.
These estimated costs are based on 523 affected Tier 5 and Tier 6
correction officers employed by the County of Westchester, with annual
salary of approximately $51.9 million as of March 31, 2023.
Summary of relevant resources:
Membership data as of March 31, 2023 was used in measuring the impact
of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2023 actuari-
al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the
2023 Report of the Actuary and the 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial
Report.
The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2023
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, 2023
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 15, 2024, and intended for use only
during the 2024 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2024-19,
prepared by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement
System.