STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7504
IN SENATE
May 30, 2012
___________
Introduced by Sen. STEWART-COUSINS -- read twice and ordered printed,
and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and
Pensions
AN ACT to authorize the New York city employees' retirement system to
consider the application for disability retirement benefits from Peter
DiMario
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, the application
2 for disability retirement benefits of Peter DiMario, who was employed by
3 the New York city off-track betting corporation from June 1984 until
4 December 2010 when such corporation closed, and is a member of the New
5 York city employees' retirement system, which for reasons not ascribable
6 to his own negligence has been denied a disability retirement from the
7 New York city employees' retirement system, shall be accepted for
8 consideration by the New York city employees' retirement system as if
9 such application had been filed in a timely manner on March 7, 2011.
10 § 2. All costs associated with the implementation of this act shall be
11 borne by the state.
12 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE: PROVISIONS OF PROPOSED LEGISLATION: The proposed legis-
lation would authorize the New York City Employees' Retirement System
("NYCERS") to accept for consideration an application for Disability
Retirement benefits from Peter DiMario.
BACKGROUND: Mr. DiMario became a Tier IV member of NYCERS on June 18,
1984 and is covered under the provisions of Retirement and Social Secu-
rity Law (RSSL") Article 15.
RSSL Article 15, Section 605 provides that an application for Disabil-
ity Retirement must be filed either:
(a) By a vested member incapacitated as the result of a qualifying
World Trade Center condition as defined in RSSL Section 2, at any time,
or
(b) Within three months from the last date the member was being paid
on the payroll or,
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14637-04-2
S. 7504 2
(c) In the case of a member who was placed on a leave of absence for
medical reasons without pay, either voluntarily or involuntarily, at the
time he/she ceased being paid, not later than twelve months after the
date the employee receives notice that his/her employment status has
been terminated.
In the case of Mr. DiMario, under current law, he would have had to
file pursuant to the preceding basis (b) (i.e., within three months of
his last day of pay). His last day of pay was December 7, 2010.
However, Mr. DiMario filed for Disability Retirement on October 25,
2011, more than three months after his last day of pay. Since his appli-
cation was not timely filed, NYCERS informed Mr. DiMario that it could
not be processed.
The proposed legislation, if enacted, would authorize NYCERS to accept
for consideration his application for Disability Retirement as if it had
been filed in a timely manner on March 7, 2011.
All costs associated with the implementation of this proposed legis-
lation would be borne by New York State.
The Effective Date of the proposed legislation would be the Date of
Enactment.
FINANCIAL IMPACT - ACTUARIAL PRESENT VALUES: The estimated financial
impact has been calculated based on the difference between (1) the bene-
fits Mr. DiMario would receive if this proposed legislation were enacted
and his application for Disability Retirement were approved and (2) the
benefits Mr. DiMario would otherwise be entitled to receive.
The difference in estimated costs is intended to provide a sense of
the ultimate financial impact.
The difference in first year employer contributions reflects both the
difference in costs and the impact of the actuarial valuation assump-
tions initially in use.
Based on the actuarial assumptions and methods described herein, on an
estimated cost basis, the enactment of this proposed legislation would
increase the Actuarial Present Value of Benefits ("APVB") of NYCERS by
approximately $180,000 as of June 30, 2012.
On an actuarial valuation basis where, as of June 30, 2010, Mr. DiMar-
io is considered to be entitled to a Vested Benefit and assumed to have
a life expectance similar to a Service (rather than Disability) retiree,
the proposed legislation would increase the APVB of NYCERS by approxi-
mately $150,000.
FINANCIAL IMPACT - ANNUAL EMPLOYER COSTS AND ANNUAL EMPLOYER CONTRIB-
UTIONS: Based on the Actuary's actuarial assumptions and methods in
effect on June 30, 2010, the enactment of this proposed legislation
would increase the Actuarial Present Value ("APV") of future employer
costs by approximately $180,000 and annual employer costs to NYCERS by
approximately $24,000.
As of June 20, 2010, based on the actuarial valuation assumptions and
methods then in effect, the proposed legislation would increase the APV
of future employer contributions by approximately $150,000 and the first
year employer contributions by approximately $20,000.
CONTRIBUTION TIMING
If enacted during the 2012 Legislative Session and if his application
for Disability Retirement were approved on or before June 30, 2012, his
status as a Disability Retiree would likely first be reflected in the
June 30, 2012 census data. In accordance with the One-Year Lag methodol-
ogy used to determine employer contributions, increased employer
contributions would be consistent with the increased employer costs and
would be determined for Fiscal Year 2014.
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If enacted during the 2012 Legislative Session, and if his application
for Disability Retirement were approved after June 30, 2012 but on or
before June 30, 2013, his status as a Disability Retiree would likely be
first be reflected in the June 30, 2013 census data and increased
employer contributions would be determined for Fiscal Year 2015.
ACTUARIAL ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The additional APVB for employer
contribution purposes (i.e., additional APV of future employer contrib-
utions and first year additional employer contributions) presented here-
in have been calculated by comparing the APVB of a Vested Benefit as
determined for actuarial valuation purposes (i.e., using a Service
Retirement mortality table) which the APVB of a Disability Retirement
benefit as determined for actuarial valuation purposes (i.e., using a
Disability Retirement mortality table).
The additional APVB for employer cost purposes (i.e., additional APV
of future employer costs and additional annual employer costs) reflect
an assumption that Mr. DiMario's life expectancy is more consistent with
a Disability Retirement mortality table.
In addition, no optional form of benefit has been assumed payable.
In addition to the actuarial assumptions described above, all results
presented herein have been calculated based on the actuarial assumptions
and methods in effect for the June 30, 2010 (Lag) actuarial valuations
used to determine Preliminary Fiscal Year 2012 employer contributions of
NYCERS.
FINANCIAL IMPACT - POTENTIAL CHANGES IN ACTUARIAL ASSUMPTIONS AND
METHODS: The impact of enactment of the proposed legislation provided in
this Fiscal Note has been based on the continued use of the current
actuarial assumptions and methods.
However, the Actuary has proposed a new package of actuarial assump-
tions and methods for use in determining employer contributions to
NYCERS for Fiscal Year 2012 and after, as the current actuarial assump-
tions no longer represent the Actuary's best estimates.
It is anticipated that the proposed new package of actuarial assump-
tions and methods would likely result in a greater increase in APVB than
the amount determined under the current actuarial assumptions and meth-
ods. Annual employer costs and contributions would increase similarly
assuming that the prior service obligation associated with this increase
in APVB were amortized over a period comparable to that required under
the current actuarial methodology.
Hence, the estimated financial impact of proposed legislation incorpo-
rating the new package of actuarial assumptions and methods is expected
to differ from the financial impact computed using the actuarial assump-
tions and methods and continued from Fiscal Year 2011.
ECONOMIC VALUES OF BENEFITS: The actuarial assumptions used to deter-
mine the financial impact of the proposed legislation discussed in this
Fiscal note are those appropriate for budgetary models and determining
annual employer contributions to NYCERS.
However, the economic assumptions (current and proposed) that are used
for determining employer contributions do not develop risk-adjusted,
economic values of benefits. Such risk-adjusted, economic values of
benefits would likely differ significantly from those developed by the
budgetary models.
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.
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FISCAL NOTE IDENTIFICATION: This estimate is intended for use only
during the 2012 Legislative Session. It is Fiscal Note 2012-12, dated
May 29, 2012 prepared by the Chief Actuary of the New York City Employ-
ees' Retirement System.
