Grants retroactive Tier IV membership in the New York city teachers' retirement system to certain employees employed by the city of Yonkers parks department for the period beginning in 2009 and ending in 2014.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A7745B
SPONSOR: Tannousis
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act granting retroactive Tier IV membership in the New York city
teachers' retirement system to certain employees
 
PURPOSE:
This bill would grant retroactive membership in the New York City Teach-
ers' Retirement System to certain employees
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section one allows certain employees to file an application within one
year of this act taking effect for Tier IV status with the New York City
Teachers' Retirement System.
Section two states all past service cost associated with this act shall
be borne by the City of New York.
Section three is the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
This bill would allow certain employees, who were employed by the City
of Yonkers Parks Department beginning in 2009 and ending in 2014 and who
are now employed by the New York City Department of Education and are
members of the New York City Teachers' Retirement System (NYC TRS) to
apply for retroactive Tier IV membership. This bill grants this benefit
to certain employees, for reasons not ascribable to their own negli-
gence. This bill would grant certain employees service credit in the NYC
TRS for their employment with the city of Yonkers Parks Department for
the period beginning in 2009 and ending in 2014. Additionally, the bill
grants these certain employees Tier IV status in NYC TRS, provided that
an application is filed with the head of the NYC TRS within one year
from the effective date of this act.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023: Similar to S.7520 - Referred to Rules / A.7745 - Governmental
Employees
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
See fiscal note contained in bill.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7745--B
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
June 6, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. TANNOUSIS -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Governmental Employees -- recommitted to the Committee on
Governmental Employees in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 --
committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
recommitted to said committee -- recommitted to the Committee on
Governmental Employees in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 --
committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
recommitted to said committee
AN ACT granting retroactive Tier IV membership in the New York city
teachers' retirement system to certain employees
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, any person, who
2 is currently employed by the New York city department of education and a
3 member of the New York city teachers' retirement system, and who was
4 employed by the city of Yonkers parks department for the period begin-
5 ning in 2009 and ending in 2014, and who, for reasons not ascribable to
6 their own negligence, failed to become a member of the New York state
7 and local employees' retirement system during such employment with the
8 city of Yonkers parks department in 2009, shall be granted service cred-
9 it in the New York city teachers' retirement system for their employment
10 with the city of Yonkers parks department for the period beginning in
11 2009 and ending in 2014 and shall be granted Tier IV status in such
12 retirement system, provided that an application is filed with the head
13 of the New York city teachers' retirement system within one year from
14 the effective date of this act.
15 § 2. All past service costs associated with the implementation of this
16 act shall be borne by the city of New York.
17 § 3. 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.
LBD08665-09-4
A. 7745--B 2
SUMMARY: This proposed legislation would permit active members of the
New York City Teachers' Retirement System (TRS) who were employed by the
City of Yonkers Parks Department for a defined period to purchase
service and to elect, by filing an application with TRS within one year
of the effective date, retroactive membership in Tier 4.
EXPECTED INCREASE (DECREASE) IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS
by Fiscal Year for the first 25 years ($)
Year TRS
2025 0
2026 14,700
2027 15,000
2028 15,300
2029 15,400
2030 15,700
2031 15,900
2032 16,300
2033 16,700
2034 17,000
2035 17,300
2036 17,600
2037 18,200
2038 19,000
2039 19,500
2040 20,100
2041 20,500
2042 20,900
2043 21,300
2044 14,600
2045 12,600
2046 8,400
2047 4,700
2048 1,600
2049 (800)
Employer Contribution impact beyond Fiscal Year 2049 is not shown.
The entire increase in employer contributions will be allocated to New
York City.
EXPECTED INCREASE (DECREASE) IN ACTUARIAL LIABILITIES
as of June 30, 2024 ($)
Present Value (PV) TRS
PV of Benefits: 90,000
PV of Employee Contributions: (81,000)
PV of Employer Contributions: 171,000
Unfunded Accrued Liabilities: 68,000
PV of Benefits includes the assumed refund of past contributions.
AMORTIZATION OF UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY
TRS
Number of Payments: 18
Fiscal Year of Last Payment: 2043
Amortization Payment: 7,000
A. 7745--B 3
Unfunded Accrued Liability increases for active members were amortized
over the expected remaining working lifetime of those impacted by the
benefit changes using level dollar payments.
CENSUS DATA: The estimates presented herein are based on one member
who was specifically identified as being impacted by this proposed
legislation. However, the actual number of members who may benefit from
this proposed legislation is unknown.
TRS
Active Members
- Number Count: 1
- Average Age: 36.0
- Average Service: 7.0
- Average Salary: 92,200
BACKGROUND: The proposed legislation would apply to TRS members
currently employed by the New York City Department of Education, who
were employed by the City of Yonkers Parks Department for the period
beginning in 2009 and ending in 2014 and did not join the New York State
and Local Employees' Retirement System during such employment.
Under this proposed legislation, such members would receive service
credit in TRS for their employment with the Yonkers Parks Department and
would be granted retroactive Tier 4 membership. A change from Tier 6 to
Tier 4 would result in an earlier date of retirement eligibility, lower
overall employee contribution rates, and a larger benefit.
ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The estimates presented herein have been
calculated based on the Revised 2021 Actuarial Assumptions and Methods
of the impacted retirement systems.
For the purposes of this Fiscal Note, it was assumed that members will
get a refund of past Tier 6 contributions that exceeded their applicable
Tier 4 contribution rate, net of the amount required for the purchase of
their prior service with the City of Yonkers Parks Department.
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 2024-67 dated May 23,
2024 was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City Retirement
Systems and Pension Funds. This estimate is intended for use only during
the 2024 Legislative Session.