S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
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                                  5144

                       2015-2016 Regular Sessions

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                            February 12, 2015
                               ___________

Introduced by M. of A. HEVESI -- read once and referred to the Committee
  on Governmental Employees

AN  ACT to allow Thomas Steier to be reclassified as a Tier II member of
  the New York City Employees' Retirement System

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

  Section  1.  Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, Thomas
Steier, a member of the  New  York  City  Employees'  Retirement  System
(NYCERS)  with  Tier III status, who was employed with the New York City
Employees' Retirement System (NYCERS) on July 6, 1976 until August  1978
and  was  employed  with the New York city transit authority from August
1978 to February 2, 2013 when upon such date he  retired,  and  who  for
reasons  not ascribable to his own negligence was not offered membership
in the New York City Employees' Retirement System on July 6, 1976  as  a
Tier II member, shall, upon application filed with the Board of Trustees
of  NYCERS on or before the thirty-first day of December next succeeding
the date on which this act shall have become a law, be reclassified as a
Tier II member with July 6, 1976 as his date of membership and shall  be
entitled  to  every  right,  benefit and privilege which would have been
available to him in accordance with Tier II status, and the city of  New
York,  as  Thomas Steier's employer from July 6, 1976 until August 1978,
is responsible for such error and shall be responsible for all costs  to
provide  the  Tier II benefit to Thomas Steier, provided, however Thomas
Steier  shall  be  responsible  for  contributing  the  required  member
contributions for Tier II membership.
  S 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
  FISCAL NOTE. -- Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
  PROVISIONS  OF  PROPOSED  LEGISLATION:  The proposed legislation would
authorize the New York City Employees' Retirement System  ("NYCERS")  to
accept  an application from Thomas Steier, a Tier IV NYCERS member  with
Tier III rights, to be reclassified as a Tier II member.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD04647-02-5
              

A. 5144                             2

  BACKGROUND: Mr. Steier was originally employed by NYCERS  on  July  6,
1976  and  would  have been a Tier II member of NYCERS had he joined the
system prior to the establishment of Tier III on July 27, 1976. However,
since he joined NYCERS on July 29, 1976 he is a Tier IV member with Tier
III rights.
  Mr.  Steier  retired  on February 2, 2013 under the Tier IV basic 65/5
retirement plan and began his pension at that time under the 100%  Joint
and Survivor payment option with his wife as the beneficiary.
  The proposed legislation, if enacted, would authorize NYCERS to accept
an  application from Mr. Steier on or before December 31 next succeeding
the date on which this proposed legislation is enacted that would  allow
him  to  be  reclassified  from  his current status as a retired Tier IV
member to a retired Tier II member.
  This reclassification would provide Mr. Steier with the pension  bene-
fits  that would have been available to him had he always been a Tier II
member of NYCERS.
  The Effective Date of the proposed legislation would be  the  Date  of
Enactment  but would allow for his retirement allowance to be recomputed
as if he had always had Tier II membership status.
  FINANCIAL IMPACT - ACTUARIAL PRESENT VALUES: The  estimated  financial
impact has been calculated based on the difference between (1) the bene-
fits  Mr.  Steier  would  receive  as  a  Tier II member in the Modified
Fifty-Five-Year Increased Service Fractional Plan ("ISF Plan") if   this
proposed  legislation  were  enacted  and (2) the benefits Mr. Steier is
currently entitled to receive as a Tier IV member  in  the  NYCERS  62/5
plan.
  The  difference  in  estimated  costs (retroactive from his retirement
date to June 30, 2015 and prospective on and  after  July  1,  2015)  is
intended to provide a sense of the ultimate financial impact.
  If  the  legislation  is  enacted,  Mr.  Steier would be entitled to a
pension of approximately $56,534 per year beginning  on  his  retirement
date  of  February 2, 2013 under the 100% Joint and Survivor Option with
his wife as his beneficiary. If the  legislation  is  not  enacted,  Mr.
Steier  would  continue  to  be entitled to an annual pension of $38,955
under the 100% Joint and Survivor Option that he elected.
  Based on the actuarial assumptions and methods described  herein,  the
enactment  of  this  proposed  legislation  would increase the Actuarial
Present Value ("APV") of Benefits ("APVB") and  the  Unfunded  Actuarial
Accrued  Liability  ("UAAL")  of  NYCERS by approximately $249,000 as of
June 30, 2015. This amount was calculated as shown in Table 1 below:

                                 Table 1

    Estimated Financial Impact of Reclassification for Thomas Steier
           Retroactive from February 2, 2013 to June 30, 2015
                And Prospective On and After July 1, 2015

APV of Pension if        Retroactive    Prospective    Total
                         Payments       Payments
Legislation is Enacted   $ 136,000      $ 682,000      $ 818,000
Legislation is Not       (94,000)       (475,000)      (569,000)
Enacted
Increase in APV          $ 42,000       $ 207,000      $ 249,000
  FINANCIAL IMPACT - ANNUAL EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS AND  ANNUAL  EMPLOYER
COSTS:  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

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changes  are  to be amortized as determined by the Actuary but generally
over the remaining working lifetime of those  impacted  by  the  benefit
changes.
  For  this  proposed  legislation, Mr. Steier is inactive and therefore
the entire increase in UAAL based on the Actuary's actuarial assumptions
and methods in effect on June 30, 2013 rolled forward to June  30,  2015
of $249,000 should be recognized immediately for contribution purposes.
  The  increase in employer costs would be comparable to the increase in
employer contributions.
  CONTRIBUTION TIMING: If enacted during the  2015  Legislative  Session
and  if his application for reclassification to Tier II were received by
NYCERS on or before June 30, 2015, his status as a Tier II retiree would
likely first be reflected in the June 30, 2015 census data.  In  accord-
ance  with  the  One-Year  Lag  methodology  used  to determine employer
contributions, increased employer contributions would be consistent with
the increased employer costs and would be  determined  for  Fiscal  Year
2017.
  If enacted during the 2015 Legislative Session, and if his application
for  reclassification  to Tier II were received by NYCERS after June 30,
2015 but on or before June 30, 2016, his status as  a  Tier  II  retiree
would  likely  first  be  reflected in the June 30, 2016 census data and
increased employer contributions would be  determined  for  Fiscal  Year
2018.
  ACTUARIAL  ASSUMPTIONS  AND  METHODS:  The  additional  APVB  and UAAL
presented herein have been calculated based on the actuarial assumptions
and methods in effect for the June 30, 2013 (Lag)  actuarial  valuations
used to determine Fiscal Year 2015 employer contributions of NYCERS.
  ECONOMIC  VALUES OF BENEFITS: The actuarial assumptions used to deter-
mine the financial impact of the proposed legislation discussed in  this
Fiscal  Note  are those appropriate for budgetary models and determining
annual employer contributions to NYCERS.
  However, the  economic  assumptions  that  are  used  for  determining
employer  contributions do not develop risk-adjusted, economic values of
benefits.  Such risk-adjusted, economic values of benefits would  likely
differ significantly from those developed by the budgetary models.
  STATEMENT OF ACTUARIAL OPINION: I, Robert C. North, Jr., am the Acting
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 Actuar-
ies. I meet the Qualification Standards of the American Academy of Actu-
aries to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
  FISCAL  NOTE  IDENTIFICATION:  This  estimate is intended for use only
during the 2015 Legislative Session. It is Fiscal  Note  2015-04,  dated
February  5,  2015 prepared by the Acting Chief Actuary for the New York
City Employees' Retirement System.