Senate Bill S8056

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  8056

                            I N  S E N A T E

                              June 8, 2016
                               ___________

Introduced  by Sen. KAMINSKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules

AN ACT to authorize Harry L. Sidor eligibility  to  apply  for  military
  service credit in the New York city teachers' retirement system

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. Notwithstanding  subdivision  6  of  section  1000  of  the
retirement  and social security law, Harry L. Sidor, a retired member of
the New York city teachers' retirement system, who was on active duty in
the United States Navy from May 25, 1951 until May 19,  1955,  shall  be
eligible  to  apply  for  military  service  credit in the New York city
teachers' retirement  system  as  otherwise  provided  pursuant  to  the
provisions of section 1000 of the retirement and social security law.
  S 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
  FISCAL NOTE. -- Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
  PROVISIONS  OF PROPOSED LEGISLATION: With respect to the New York City
Teachers' Retirement System (NYCTRS), the  proposed  legislation  would,
notwithstanding  Section 1000 of the Retirement and Social Security Law,
provide Mr. Harry Sidor the opportunity to apply for additional  retire-
ment  service  credits,  up  to  three  years  (inclusive  of  any prior
purchases of military service credit)  for  his  military  service.  The
additional  service will not be considered in meeting any service or age
requirement for pension  eligibility  purposes.  For  purposes  of  this
Fiscal  Note,  we  have  assumed  that  the  additional  service will be
reflected in his retirement  benefit  prospectively  from  the  Date  of
Enactment.
  All  costs  associated with the implementation of this proposed legis-
lation would be borne by NYCTRS.
  The Effective Date of the proposed legislation would be  the  Date  of
Enactment.
  BACKGROUND:  Chapter  644 of the Military Law of 1998 permitted public
employees to purchase military service credit in their retirement system
for the length of time of that military  service,  up  to  three  years.
Harry  Sidor  was  a  member  of  NYCTRS from February 1, 1988 until his

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                           LBD13855-02-6

S. 8056                             2

retirement on July 17, 1997. Since Mr. Sidor retired before December 21,
1998, the effective date of Chapter 644, he was not  eligible  to  apply
for military service credit under such provision.
  Mr. Sidor has been receiving a pension of $9,729.25 per year under the
100%  Joint and Survivor with Pop-Up form of payment since July 17, 1997
from NYCTRS. Under this form of payment, pension is payable  to  him  as
long as he is alive and 100% of the benefit continues to his beneficiary
after  his death; if the beneficiary pre-deceases Mr. Sidor, the pension
benefit "pops up" or reverts back to the maximum benefit.
  If this legislation is passed,  Mr.  Sidor  would  receive  a  pension
reflecting  the  additional  military service purchased. For purposes of
this Fiscal Note, we have assumed that Mr.  Sidor  will  purchase  three
years  of  military  service  credit  and  that the cost to Mr. Sidor to
purchase the service would be $4,472 based on his salary during his last
12 months of service.
  FINANCIAL IMPACT - ACTUARIAL PRESENT VALUES: The  estimated  financial
impact  of  this  proposal  as  of  June 30, 2015 has been calculated as
follows:  (1) the actuarial present value of the retirement benefits Mr.
Sidor is expected to receive if this proposed legislation  were  enacted
(reflecting  the  additional  military  service purchased), less (2) the
actuarial present value of the retirement benefits Mr. Sidor is current-
ly receiving, less (3) the employee cost of  purchasing  the  additional
military service.
  Based  on  the actuarial assumptions and methods described herein, the
enactment of this proposed  legislation  would  increase  the  Actuarial
Present  Value  of  Benefits  (APVB)  and the Unfunded Actuarial Accrued
Liability (UAAL) of NYCTRS by approximately $15,500 as of June 30, 2015.
  FINANCIAL IMPACT - ANNUAL EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS: In  accordance  with
Section 13.638.2(k-2) of the Administrative Code of the City of New York
(ACNY),  new UAAL attributable to benefit changes are to be amortized as
determined by the Actuary but generally over the remaining working life-
time of those impacted by the benefit changes.
  For this proposed legislation,  Mr.  Sidor  would  be  collecting  the
increase  pension benefits immediately and therefore the entire increase
in UAAL of  approximately  $15,500  based  on  the  Actuary's  actuarial
assumptions  and  methods in effect on June 30, 2015 would be recognized
in the first year.
  If enacted into law during the 2016 Legislative Session, the  increase
in employer contributions would be recognized in Fiscal Year 2018.
  OTHER  COSTS: Not measured in this Fiscal Note is the impact on admin-
istrative costs.
  ACTUARIAL ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: Additional APVB, UAAL and  employer
contributions  presented  herein  have  been  calculated  based  on  the
Actuary's actuarial assumptions and methods in effect for  the  Prelimi-
nary  June  30,  2015  (Lag)  actuarial  valuation used to determine the
Preliminary Fiscal Year 2017 employer contributions of NYCTRS.
  STATEMENT OF ACTUARIAL OPINION: I, Sherry S. Chan, am the Chief  Actu-
ary for, and independent of, the New York City Pension Funds and Retire-
ment Systems. I am an Associate of the Society of Actuaries, a Fellow of
the Conference of Consulting Actuaries and  Member of the American Acad-
emy  of  Actuaries.  I  meet the Qualification Standards of the American
Academy of Actuaries to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
  FISCAL NOTE IDENTIFICATION: This Fiscal Note  2016-32  dated  June  1,
2016,  was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City Teachers'
Retirement System. This estimate is intended for  use  only  during  the
2016 Legislative Session.