S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
2438--A
2009-2010 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
January 15, 2009
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ABBATE, PERALTA, SCHROEDER, PHEFFER, COLTON --
Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. COOK, CUSICK, ENGLEBRIGHT, WEISENBERG
-- read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Employees
-- recommitted to the Committee on Governmental Employees in accord-
ance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill
amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
tee
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
the computation of final average salary
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 431 of the retirement and social
security law, as added by chapter 503 of the laws of 1971, is amended to
read as follows:
1. lump sum payments for deferred compensation, sick leave, accumu-
lated vacation or other credits for time not worked, PROVIDED, HOWEVER,
THAT WITH RESPECT TO INDIVIDUALS WHO JOINED THE NEW YORK STATE AND LOCAL
EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM BEFORE JULY FIRST, NINETEEN HUNDRED SEVEN-
TY-THREE, PAYMENT FOR UP TO THIRTY DAYS OF UNUSED ACCUMULATED VACATION
TIME CREDITED TO SUCH MEMBER AT THE TIME OF RETIREMENT MAY BE INCLUDED
IN DETERMINING FINAL AVERAGE SALARY,
S 2. Subdivisions a and b of section 443 of the retirement and social
security law, subdivision a as amended and subdivision b as added by
chapter 379 of the laws of 1986, are amended to read as follows:
a. The salary base used for the computation of benefits upon retire-
ment, hereinafter called in this article final average salary, applica-
ble to all members of the retirement systems who are subject to the
provisions of this article, shall be the average salary earned by such a
member during any three consecutive years which provide the highest
average salary, exclusive of any form of termination pay (which shall
include any compensation in anticipation of retirement), or any lump sum
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05433-03-0
A. 2438--A 2
payment for deferred compensation, sick leave, or ANY accumulated vaca-
tion credit IN EXCESS OF THIRTY DAYS, or any other payment for time not
worked (other than compensation received while on sick leave or author-
ized leave of absence); provided, however, if the salary or wages earned
during any year included in the period used to determine final average
salary exceeds that of the average of the previous two years by more
than twenty percentum, the amount in excess of twenty percentum shall be
excluded from the computation of final average salary. Where the period
used to determine final average salary is the period which immediately
precedes the date of retirement, any month or months (not in excess of
twelve) which would otherwise be included in computing final average
salary but during which the member was on authorized leave of absence at
partial pay or without pay shall be excluded from the computation of
final average salary and the month or an equal number of months imme-
diately preceding such period shall be substituted in lieu thereof.
b. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision a of this section,
with respect to the members of the New York state AND LOCAL employees'
retirement system and New York state [policemen's and firemen's] AND
LOCAL POLICE AND FIRE retirement system, the final average salary, shall
be equal to one-third of the highest total salary earned during any
continuous period of employment for which the member was credited with
three years of service credit, exclusive of any form of termination pay
(which shall include any compensation in anticipation of retirement),
any lump sum payment for deferred compensation, sick leave, or ANY accu-
mulated vacation credit IN EXCESS OF THIRTY DAYS, or any other payment
for time not worked (other than compensation received while on sick
leave or authorized leave of absence); provided, however, if the salary
earned during any year of credited service included in the period used
to determine final average salary exceeds the average of the salaries of
the previous two years of credited service by more than twenty per
centum, the amount in excess of twenty per centum shall be excluded from
the computation of final average salary.
S 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE. -- Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill will allow Tier 1 members with membership dates on or after
April 1, 1972, and all Tier 2 members of the New York State and Local
Employees' Retirement System (NYSLERS) or the New York State and Local
Police and Fire Retirement System (NYSLPFRS) to receive credit for up to
thirty (30) days of unused accumulated vacation time in the calculation
of their final average salary.
Insofar as this bill will affect employers in the NYSLERS, if this
bill is enacted, there will be an estimated increase in the annual
contributions of the State of New York of approximately $11 million and
$16 million to the participating employers in the NYSLERS. Insofar as
this bill would affect the NYSLPFRS, there will also be an estimated
increase in the annual contributions of approximately $8.0 million to
the State of New York and $38 million to the participating employers in
the NYSLPFRS.
This estimate, dated December 11, 2009 and intended for use only
during the 2010 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2010-18,
prepared by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Employees'
Retirement System and the New York State and Local Police and Fire
Retirement System.