S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
9914--A
I N A S S E M B L Y
February 11, 2010
___________
Introduced by M. of A. MARKEY, SPANO, M. MILLER, MAISEL, PHEFFER,
JAFFEE, BENEDETTO, BOYLAND, SCHIMEL, PERRY, CASTRO, HOOPER, MILLMAN,
ZEBROWSKI, STIRPE, ESPAILLAT -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. COOK,
DenDEKKER, GIBSON, HEASTIE, HYER-SPENCER, JOHN, MENG, NOLAN, SWEENEY,
WEISENBERG -- read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental
Employees -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as
amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the general municipal law and the retirement and social
security law, in relation to increasing certain special accidental
death benefits
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Subdivision c of section 208-f of the general municipal
law, as amended by chapter 305 of the laws of 2009, is amended to read
as follows:
c. Commencing July first, two thousand [nine] TEN the special acci-
dental death benefit paid to a widow or widower or the deceased member's
children under the age of eighteen or, if a student, under the age of
twenty-three, if the widow or widower has died, shall be escalated by
adding thereto an additional percentage of the salary of the deceased
member (as increased pursuant to subdivision b of this section) in
accordance with the following schedule:
calendar year of death
of the deceased member per centum
1977 or prior [157.5%] 165.2%
1978 [150.0%] 157.5%
1979 [142.7%] 150.0%
1980 [135.7%] 142.7%
1981 [128.8%] 135.7%
1982 [122.1%] 128.8%
1983 [115.7%] 122.1%
1984 [109.4%] 115.7%
1985 [103.3%] 109.4%
1986 [97.4%] 103.3%
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15558-05-0
A. 9914--A 2
1987 [91.6%] 97.4%
1988 [86.0%] 91.6%
1989 [80.6%] 86.0%
1990 [75.4%] 80.6%
1991 [70.2%] 75.4%
1992 [65.3%] 70.2%
1993 [60.5%] 65.3%
1994 [55.8%] 60.5%
1995 [51.3%] 55.8%
1996 [46.9%] 51.3%
1997 [42.6%] 46.9%
1998 [38.4%] 42.6%
1999 [34.4%] 38.4%
2000 [30.5%] 34.4%
2001 [26.7%] 30.5%
2002 [23.0%] 26.7%
2003 [19.4%] 23.0%
2004 [15.9%] 19.4%
2005 [12.6%] 15.9%
2006 [9.3%] 12.6%
2007 [6.1%] 9.3%
2008 [3.0%] 6.1%
2009 [0.0%] 3.0%
2010 0.0%
S 2. Subdivision c of section 361-a of the retirement and social secu-
rity law, as amended by chapter 305 of the laws of 2009, is amended to
read as follows:
c. Commencing July first, two thousand [nine] TEN the special acci-
dental death benefit paid to a widow or widower or the deceased member's
children under the age of eighteen or, if a student, under the age of
twenty-three, if the widow or widower has died, shall be escalated by
adding thereto an additional percentage of the salary of the deceased
member, as increased pursuant to subdivision b of this section, in
accordance with the following schedule:
calendar year of death
of the deceased member per centum
1977 or prior [157.5%] 165.2%
1978 [150.0%] 157.5%
1979 [142.7%] 150.0%
1980 [135.7%] 142.7%
1981 [128.8%] 135.7%
1982 [122.1%] 128.8%
1983 [115.7%] 122.1%
1984 [109.4%] 115.7%
1985 [103.3%] 109.4%
1986 [97.4%] 103.3%
1987 [91.6%] 97.4%
1988 [86.0%] 91.6%
1989 [80.6%] 86.0%
1990 [75.4%] 80.6%
1991 [70.2%] 75.4%
1992 [65.3%] 70.2%
1993 [60.5%] 65.3%
1994 [55.8%] 60.5%
1995 [51.3%] 55.8%
1996 [46.9%] 51.3%
A. 9914--A 3
1997 [42.6%] 46.9%
1998 [38.4%] 42.6%
1999 [34.4%] 38.4%
2000 [30.5%] 34.4%
2001 [26.7%] 30.5%
2002 [23.0%] 26.7%
2003 [19.4%] 23.0%
2004 [15.9%] 19.4%
2005 [12.6%] 15.9%
2006 [9.3%] 12.6%
2007 [6.1%] 9.3%
2008 [3.0%] 6.1%
2009 [0.0%] 3.0%
2010 0.0%
S 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.
FISCAL NOTE.--This bill would amend both the General Municipal Law and
the Retirement and Social Security Law to increase the salary used in
the computation of the special accidental death benefit by 3% in cases
where the date of death was before 2010.
Insofar as this bill would amend the Retirement and Social Security
Law, it is estimated that there would be an additional annual cost of
approximately $345,000 above the approximately $7.7 million current
annual cost of this benefit. This cost would be shared by the State of
New York and all participating employers of the New York State and Local
Police and Fire Retirement System.
This estimate, dated February 5, 2010 and intended for use only during
the 2010 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2010-112, prepared by
the Actuary for the New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement
System.
FISCAL NOTE.--PROVISIONS OF PROPOSED LEGISLATION - OVERVIEW: With
respect to the City of New York (the "City"), this proposed legislation
would amend General Municipal Law ("GML") Section 208-f.c to increase
certain Special Accidental Death Benefits ("SADB") for line-of-duty
widows/widowers and/or children of former uniformed employees of the
City and the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation and certain
former employees of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority who were
members of certain New York City Retirement Systems ("NYCERS").
In addition, the proposed legislation would amend Retirement and
Social Security Law Section 361-a.c to cover such SADB for certain
survivors of deceased members of the New York State and Local Police and
Fire Retirement System.
The Effective Date of the proposed legislation would be July 1, 2010.
IMPACT ON BENEFITS - SADB RECIPIENTS: The proposed legislation would
impact the SADB payable to certain survivors of members of one of the
following NYCRS:
* New York City Employees' Retirement System ("NYCERS"),
* New York City Police Pension Fund ("POLICE"), or
* New York City Fire Pension Fund ("FIRE"), and
who were employed at one of the following employers in certain posi-
tions:
* New York City Police Department - Uniformed Position,
* New York City Fire Department - Uniformed Position,
* New York City Housing Authority - Uniformed Position,
* New York City Transit Authority - Uniformed Position,
* New York City Department of Correction - Uniformed Position,
A. 9914--A 4
* New York City - Unformed Position as Emergency Medical Technician
("EMT),
* New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation - Uniformed Position
as EMT, or
* Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority - Bridge and Tunnel Position.
DESCRIPTION OF BENEFITS PAYABLE: Under the GML, the basic SADB is
defined to equal:
The salary of the deceased member at date of death (or, in certain
instances, a greater salary based on rank or other status) less:
* Any death benefit as adjusted by any Supplementation or Cost-of-Liv-
ing Adjustment ("COLA") paid by the NYCRS to the member's survivors,
* Any death benefit paid by Social Security to the member's survivors,
and
* Any Worker's Compensation benefit paid to the member's survivors.
The SADB is paid to the deceased member's surviving widow or widower,
if alive. If the widow/widower is no longer alive, then the SADB is paid
to the deceased member's children until age eighteen or while attending
school until age twenty-three.
The GML also provides that the SADB is subject to escalation based on
years since the date of death. Each year since Calendar Year 1979 the
SADB has been increased by an additional percentage of Final Salary.
Under the proposed legislation, the additional percentage of Final
Salary to be effective July 1, 2010 would be 3.0%.
FINANCIAL IMPACT - ACTUARIAL PRESENT VALUES OF BENEFITS ("APVB"):
Under the actuarial assumptions and methods as noted herein, the enact-
ment of this proposed legislation would result in an increase in addi-
tional APVB for the additional Final Salary to be effective July 1, 2010
with respect to NYCRS members. This increase in APVB would be approxi-
mately $23.6 million as of June 30, 2010.
FINANCIAL IMPACT - EMPLOYER PAYMENTS: As these SADB are provided on a
pay-as-you-go basis, the additional annual employer payments expected to
be paid during the first year, if the proposed legislation is enacted,
would equal approximately $2.3 million.
Note: These additional payments represent an increase of approximately
5.0% in the annual rate of SADB being paid.
The SADB payments are made by the NYCRS who are reimbursed by the City
who is then reimbursed by the State of New York.
OTHER COSTS: The enactment of this proposed legislation would also be
expected to result in modest increases in administrative expenses of
NYCERS, POLICE, FIRE, the employers and certain New York City agencies.
CENSUS DATA: The financial impact of the proposed legislation is
based upon the census data for such widows, widowers and children
provided by the NYCRS and adjusted, as necessary, to prepare the compu-
tations and for consistency with other data.
The following table shows, by Retirement System as of June 30, 2009,
the number of deceased members with eligible survivors and the estimated
annual SADB rate prior to the increase proposed to be effective as of
July 1, 2010.
Table 1
SADB Census Data as of June 30, 2009
($ Millions)
Number of Annual SADB Rate
Deceased Members Prior to Proposed
with Eligible July 1, 2010
Retirement System Survivors Increase
NYCERS 29 $ 1.1
A. 9914--A 5
POLICE 288 12.6
FIRE 611 31.9
Total 928 $45.6
ACTUARIAL ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: Additional APVB have been computed
based in the actuarial assumptions and methods in effect for the June
30, 2008 (Lag) actuarial valuations of NYCERS, POLICE and FIRE used to
determine Fiscal Year 2010 Employer Contributions.
In addition, it has also been assumed that the average age and the
estimated percentage increase in benefits for survivors in receipt of
benefits as of June 30, 2010 would be comparable with that for the
survivors in receipt of benefits as of June 30, 2009.
The increase in estimated additional APVB was computed based on the
additional Final Salary as of July 1, 2010 that was assumed to remain
level in the future.
STATEMENT OF ACTUARIAL OPINION: I, ROBERT C. NORTH, JR., am the Chief
Actuary for the New York City Retirement Systems. I am a Fellow of the
Society of Actuaries and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries.
I meet the Qualification Standards of the American Academy of Actuaries
to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
FISCAL NOTE IDENTIFICATION: This estimate is intended for use only
during the 2010 Legislative Session. It is Fiscal Note 2010-08, dated
March 11, 2010, prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City
Employees' Retirement System, the New York City Police Pension Fund and
the New York City Fire Pension Fund.