STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7342
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 5, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ABBATE -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Governmental Employees
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
disability retirement benefits for sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, undersh-
eriffs, and correction officers in Nassau county
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 607-c of the retirement and social security law is
2 amended by adding a new subdivision g to read as follows:
3 g. Any sheriff, deputy sheriff, undersheriff, or correction officer as
4 defined in subdivision a of section sixty-three-b of this chapter, and
5 who is employed in Nassau county, who becomes physically or mentally
6 incapacitated for the performance of duties as the natural and proximate
7 result of an injury, sustained in the performance or discharge of his or
8 her duties by, or as the natural and proximate result of an intentional
9 or reckless act of any civilian visiting, or otherwise present at, an
10 institution under the jurisdiction of such county where such injury was
11 sustained and documented after the enactment of this section, shall be
12 paid a performance of duty disability retirement allowance equal to that
13 which is provided in section sixty-three of this chapter, subject to the
14 provisions of section sixty-four of this chapter. Notwithstanding any
15 other provision of law to the contrary, none of the provisions of this
16 subdivision shall be subject to section twenty-five of this chapter.
17 § 2. All past service costs associated with implementing the
18 provisions of this act will be borne by Nassau county, and may be amor-
19 tized over a ten year period.
20 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.-- Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would allow any Tier 3, 4, 5 or 6 sheriff, undersheriff,
deputy sheriff, or correction officer employed by Nassau County to
become eligible to receive a performance of duty benefit due to the
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11060-02-1
A. 7342 2
intentional or reckless act of a civilian visiting an institution under
the jurisdiction of such county. The benefit will be 75% of final aver-
age salary less worker's compensation. Currently, to be eligible for
such improved benefit, it is required that such injuries be sustained as
the result of an "act of an inmate". Such injuries must be sustained and
documented after the enactment of this legislation.
If this bill is enacted during the 2021 legislative session, we antic-
ipate that there will be an increase of approximately $220,000 in the
annual contributions of Nassau County for the fiscal year ending March
31, 2022. In future years, this cost will vary as the billing rates and
salary of the affected members change.
In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
an immediate past service cost of approximately $1.27 million which will
be borne by Nassau County as a one-time payment. This estimate is based
on the assumption that payment will be made on February 1, 2022. If
Nassau County elects to amortize this cost over a 10 year period, the
cost for the first year including interest would be $167,000.
These estimated costs are based on 845 affected members employed by
Nassau County, with annual salary of approximately $101 million as of
March 31, 2020.
Summary of relevant resources:
Membership data as of March 31, 2020 was used in measuring the impact
of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2020 actuari-
al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the
2020 Report of the Actuary and the 2020 Comprehensive Annual Financial
Report.
The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2020
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, 2020
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 April 27, 2021, and intended for use only during
the 2021 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2021-134, prepared by
the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.