STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7620
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 19, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. STERN, ABBATE -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Governmental Employees
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
death benefits for deputy sheriffs employed by Suffolk county
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding
2 a new section 508-b to read as follows:
3 § 508-b. Death benefits for deputy sheriffs employed by Suffolk coun-
4 ty. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, where a deputy
5 sheriff would have been entitled to a service retirement benefit at the
6 time of his or her death and where his or her death occurs on or after
7 the effective date of this section, the beneficiary or beneficiaries may
8 elect to receive, in a lump sum, an amount payable which shall be equal
9 to the pension reserve that would have been established had the member
10 retired on the date of his or her death, or the value of the death bene-
11 fit and the reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay, if any, whichever is
12 greater.
13 § 2. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding a new
14 section 606-b to read as follows:
15 § 606-b. Death benefits for deputy sheriffs employed by Suffolk coun-
16 ty. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, where a deputy
17 sheriff would have been entitled to a service retirement benefit at the
18 time of his or her death and where his or her death occurs on or after
19 the effective date of this section, the beneficiary or beneficiaries may
20 elect to receive, in a lump sum, an amount payable which shall be equal
21 to the pension reserve that would have been established had the member
22 retired on the date of his or her death, or the value of the death bene-
23 fit and the reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay, if any, whichever is
24 greater.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06764-02-1
A. 7620 2
1 § 3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, none
2 of the provisions of this act shall be subject to the appropriation
3 requirement of section 25 of the retirement and social security law.
4 § 4. All past service costs associated with this act shall be paid by
5 Suffolk county.
6 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would modify the in-service death benefit for Suffolk County
Deputy Sheriffs who are retirement eligible in Tiers 3 through 6 of the
New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System. The in-service
death benefit will be the value of the pension reserve as if the member
had retired on their date of death.
If this bill is enacted during the 2021 legislative session, we antic-
ipate that there will be an increase of approximately $29,000 in the
annual contributions of Suffolk County for the fiscal year ending March
31, 2022. In future years, this cost will vary as the billing rates and
salaries of those affected change.
In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
an immediate past service cost of approximately $384,000 which will be
borne by Suffolk County as a one-time payment. This estimate is based on
the assumption that payment will be made on February 1, 2022.
These estimated costs are based on 247 affected members employed by
Suffolk County, with annual salary of approximately $35 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 May 11, 2021, and intended for use only during
the 2021 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2021-136, prepared by
the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.
