STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4779
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 11, 2021
___________
Introduced by Sen. HINCHEY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
AN ACT to authorize the village of Athens, in the county of Greene, to
offer an optional twenty-year retirement plan to police officer Edward
Tercasio, Jr.
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 to the contrary,
2 the village of Athens, in the county of Greene, a participating employer
3 in the New York state and local police and fire retirement system, which
4 previously elected to offer the optional twenty-year retirement plan,
5 established pursuant to section 384-d of the retirement and social secu-
6 rity law, to police officers employed by such village, is hereby author-
7 ized to make participation in such plan available to Edward Tercasio,
8 Jr., a police officer employed by the village of Athens, who, for
9 reasons not ascribable to his own negligence, failed to make a timely
10 application to participate in such optional twenty-year retirement plan.
11 The village of Athens may so elect by filing with the state comptroller,
12 within 12 months of the effective date of this act, a resolution of the
13 village board of trustees together with certification that such police
14 officer did not bar himself from participation in such retirement plan
15 as a result of his own negligence. Thereafter, such police officer may
16 elect to be covered by the provisions of section 384-d of the retirement
17 and social security law, and shall be entitled to the full rights and
18 benefits associated with coverage under such section, by filing a
19 request to that effect with the state comptroller within 18 months of
20 the effective date of this act.
21 § 2. All past costs associated with implementing the provisions of
22 this act shall be borne by the village of Athens and may be amortized
23 over a period of ten years.
24 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09084-02-1
S. 4779 2
FISCAL NOTE.-- Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would allow the Village of Athens to elect to reopen the
provisions of Section 384-d of the Retirement and Social Security Law
for police officer Edward Tercasio Jr.
If this bill is enacted during the 2021 legislative session and Offi-
cer Tercasio becomes covered under the provisions of Section 384-d, we
anticipate that there will be an increase of approximately $810 in the
annual contributions of the Village of Athens for the fiscal year ending
March 31, 2022. In future years, this cost will vary as the billing
rates and salary of Officer Tercasio change.
In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
an immediate past service cost of approximately $41,600 which will be
borne by the Village of Athens as a one-time payment. This estimate is
based on the assumption that payment will be made on February 1, 2022.
If the Village of Athens elects to amortize this cost over a 10-year
period, the cost for the first year including interest would be $5,490.
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 February 10, 2021, and intended for use only
during the 2021 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2021-69,
prepared by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement
System.
