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S07748 Summary:

S07748 Actions:

S07748 Committee Votes:

S07748 Floor Votes:

S07748 Text:

 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          7748
 
                               2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                    IN SENATE
 
                                       May 5, 2025
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  Sen. JACKSON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Cities 1
 
        AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation  to  disabilities
          of deputy sheriff members of a retirement system in certain cities
 
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section 1. The general municipal  law  is  amended  by  adding  a  new
     2  section 207-r to read as follows:
     3    § 207-r. Disabilities of deputy sheriff members of a retirement system
     4  in  certain  cities.  1.  Notwithstanding the provisions of any general,
     5  special or local law or administrative code to the contrary, but  except
     6  for the purposes of the workers' compensation law and the labor law, any
     7  condition  of  impairment  of  health  caused  by  diseases of the lung,
     8  resulting in total or partial disability or death  to  a  paid  employee
     9  performing the duties of a deputy sheriff in the sheriff's department of
    10  a  city  with a population of one million or more where such employee is
    11  drawn from competitive civil service lists, or  any  retired  member  of
    12  such  department  who  retired  from a title whose duties are those of a
    13  deputy sheriff and has been retired for five or less years, who success-
    14  fully passed a physical examination on entry into the  service  of  such
    15  department,  which  examination  failed  to  reveal any evidence of such
    16  condition, shall be presumptive evidence that it  was  incurred  in  the
    17  performance  and  discharge  of  duty,  unless the contrary be proved by
    18  competent evidence.
    19    2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a deputy sheriff member
    20  retiring pursuant to the provisions of subdivision one of  this  section
    21  shall  receive  a  pension equal to three-fourths of such member's final
    22  average salary, and a retired member who has been retired for five years
    23  or less and would have been able to retire pursuant to the provisions of
    24  subdivision one of this section if such subdivision had been in force at
    25  the time of such retired  member's  retirement,  shall  be  entitled  to
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD09779-02-5
        S. 7748                             2
 
     1  receive  a pension equal to three-fourths of such member's final average
     2  salary and have their pension recalculated commencing with the later  of
     3  the effective date of this section or the first day that diseases of the
     4  lung resulted in the full or partial disability of such retired member.
     5    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
          FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
          SUMMARY: The proposed legislation would provide certain Deputy Sheriff
        members  or  retirees  (within five years of their respective retirement
        date) of the New York  City  Employees'  Retirement  System  (NYCERS)  a
        rebuttable  statutory  presumption  that  a  qualifying partial or total
        disability or death related to  a  lung  disease  was  incurred  in  the
        performance of duty.
              ILLUSTRATION - INCREASE (DECREASE) IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS
                 by Fiscal Year for the first 25 years ($ in Thousands)
 
                      One Incident          One Incident Per Year
             Year    Disability  Death      Disability    Death
             2026    50          194        50            194
             2027    50          194        102           393
             2028    50          194        156           598
             2029    50          194        211           810
             2030    50          194        268           1,028
             2031    50          194        326           1,252
             2032    50          194        386           1,483
             2033    50          194        448           1,721
             2034    50          194        512           1,966
             2035    50          194        578           2,219
             2036    50          194        646           2,479
             2037    50          194        715           2,747
             2038    50          194        787           3,023
             2039    50          194        861           3,307
             2040    0           0          887           3,406
             2041    0           0          914           3,509
             2042    0           0          941           3,614
             2043    0           0          969           3,722
             2044    0           0          998           3,834
             2045    0           0          1,028         3,949
             2046    0           0          1,059         4,067
             2047    0           0          1,091         4,189
             2048    0           0          1,124         4,315
             2049    0           0          1,157         4,445
             2050    0           0          1,192         4,578
           Employer contribution impact beyond Fiscal Year 2050 is not shown.
 
          The potential increases in employer contributions will be allocated to
        New York City.
          PRESENT  VALUE  OF  BENEFITS:  The  Present  Value  of Benefits is the
        discounted expected value of benefits paid to  current  members  if  all
        assumptions are met, including future service accrual and pay increases.
        Future new hires are not included in this present value.
 
                  INITIAL INCREASE (DECREASE) IN ACTUARIAL PRESENT VALUES
                          as of June 30, 2024 ($ in Thousands)
             Present Value (PV)                   Per Disability    Per Death
             (1) PV of Employer Contributions:              426         1,636
             (2) PV of Employee Contributions:              (38)          0
        S. 7748                             3
 
             Total PV of Benefits (1) + (2):                388         1,636
 
          UNFUNDED  ACCRUED  LIABILITY  (UAL): Actuarial Accrued Liabilities are
        the portion of the Present Value of Benefits allocated to past  service.
        Changes in UAL per incident would be recognized as ongoing gain/loss.
 
                        AMORTIZATION OF UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY
             Recognized as Ongoing Gain/Loss    Per Disability      Per Death
             Increase (Decrease) in UAL:                426 K         1,636 K
             Number of Payments:                           14              14
             Amortization Payment:                       50 K           194 K
 
          CENSUS DATA: The number of members who will benefit in the future from
        this proposed legislation is unknown. The estimates presented herein are
        based  on  preliminary  census  data  collected as of June 30, 2024. The
        census data for the potentially impacted population used to develop  the
        average costs is summarized below.
 
                                                          NYCERS
                            Active Members
                            - Number Count:                  132
                            - Average Age:                  43.5
                            - Average Service:              11.9
                            - Average Salary:             94,600
                            Receiving Members
                            - Number Count:                   32
                            - Average Age:                  60.3
 
          IMPACT  ON  MEMBER BENEFITS: Currently, a New York City Deputy Sheriff
        who becomes disabled due to lung disease would generally be eligible for
        an applicable ordinary disability retirement benefit after attaining  10
        years  of service. The disability benefit is a lifetime payment equal to
        the greatest of 1/3 of Final Average Salary (FAS), 1/60th of  FAS  times
        service, or the service retirement benefit, if eligible.
          Under  the  proposed  legislation,  the performance of duty disability
        benefit for NYCERS Deputy Sheriff members who  are  disabled  from  lung
        disease  would  be  equal  to  75% of FAS without an offset for Workers'
        Compensation.
          The ordinary death benefit New York City Deputy Sheriff members  is  a
        lump sum payment generally equal to three times the member's salary plus
        a  return  of  member contributions. Under the proposed legislation, the
        performance of duty death benefit would generally be equal to a lifetime
        benefit of 50% of a member's  wages  earned  during  the  last  year  of
        service,  plus,  if  applicable,  the  Special  Accidental Death Benefit
        (SADB) payable under General Municipal Law section 208-f.
          SADB for Deputy Sheriffs was enacted by Chapter 720  of  the  Laws  of
        2023 and all accidental deaths are assumed to qualify for SADB.
          ASSUMPTIONS  AND  METHODS:  The  estimates  presented herein have been
        calculated based on the Revised 2021 Actuarial Assumptions  and  Methods
        of the impacted retirement systems.
          The  number  of  members and eligible retirees who will benefit in the
        future from this fiscal note is  unknown.  The  cost  of  this  proposed
        legislation could vary greatly depending on the number of future members
        who  benefit and on their length of service, age, and salary history. In
        particular, the increase would be greater for a member who  is  not  yet
        S. 7748                             4
 
        eligible  for  an  ordinary  disability  benefit when the disabling lung
        disease is diagnosed.
          The  estimated  financial  impact for disabled members has been calcu-
        lated assuming 50% would have retired under an ordinary disability bene-
        fit, and 50% would have continued working if  the  proposed  legislation
        were not passed.
          RISK  AND  UNCERTAINTY: The costs presented in this Fiscal Note depend
        highly on the actuarial assumptions, methods,  and  models  used,  demo-
        graphics  of  the impacted population, and other factors such as invest-
        ment, contribution, and other risks. If actual experience deviates  from
        actuarial   assumptions,  the  actual  costs  could  differ  from  those
        presented herein. Quantifying these risks is beyond the  scope  of  this
        Fiscal Note.
          This  Fiscal  Note  is intended to measure pension-related impacts and
        does not include other potential costs (e.g., administrative  and  Other
        Postemployment  Benefits). This Fiscal Note does not reflect any chapter
        laws that may have been enacted during the current legislative session.
          STATEMENT OF ACTUARIAL OPINION: Marek Tyszkiewicz and Gregory Zelikov-
        sky are members of the Society of Actuaries and the American Academy  of
        Actuaries.  We  are members of NYCERS, but do not believe it impairs our
        objectivity, and we meet the Qualification  Standards  of  the  American
        Academy  of  Actuaries to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
        To the best of our knowledge, the results  contained  herein  have  been
        prepared  in accordance with generally accepted actuarial principles and
        procedures and with the Actuarial Standards of Practice  issued  by  the
        Actuarial Standards Board.
          FISCAL NOTE IDENTIFICATION: This Fiscal Note 2025-53 dated May 2, 2025
        was  prepared  by  the  Chief  Actuary  for the New York City Retirement
        Systems and Pension Funds and is intended for use only during  the  2025
        Legislative Session.