S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7642
 
                        2017-2018 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                                May 5, 2017
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by M. of A. ABBATE -- read once and referred to the Committee
   on Governmental Employees
 
 AN  ACT  to amend the retirement and social security law and chapter 511
   of the laws of 1988 amending the retirement and  social  security  law
   relating  to  a  reduction  in  retirement age for certain members, in
   relation to a reduced retirement age for certain Triborough bridge and
   tunnel authority employees
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Paragraph  (ii)  of  subdivision  a of section 651 of the
 retirement and social security law, as amended by  chapter  225  of  the
 laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows:
   (ii)  For  each  full  year  of covered employment [occurring prior to
 January first, two thousand nine] which is subsequent to December  thir-
 ty-first,  nineteen  hundred  seventy,  his or her normal retirement age
 shall be reduced by four months.
   § 2. Section 2 of chapter 511  of  the  laws  of  1988,  amending  the
 retirement and social security law relating to a reduction in retirement
 age  for certain members, as amended by chapter 225 of the laws of 2006,
 is amended to read as follows:
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately[, and shall apply only  to
 covered employment performed on or before December 31, 2008].
   §  3.  This  act  shall take effect immediately and shall be deemed to
 have been in full force and effect on and after December 31, 2008.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   PROVISIONS OF PROPOSED LEGISLATION: This  proposed  legislation  would
 amend  Retirement  and Social Security Law (RSSL) Section 651(a)(ii) and
 Chapter 511 of the Laws  of  1988  to  extend  special  unreduced  early
 retirement  provisions  for certain Tier 1, 2, 3 and 4 Triborough Bridge
 and Tunnel Authority (TBTA) employees who are members of  the  New  York
 City Employees' Retirement System (NYCERS).

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

                                                            LBD09402-02-7

 A. 7642                             2
 
   The  Effective  Date  of the proposed legislation would be the date of
 enactment and would be deemed to have been in full force and  effect  on
 and after December 31, 2008.
   MEMBERS IMPACTED BY THE PROPOSED LEGISLATION: The proposed legislation
 would  cover  those  members of NYCERS who are employed in the following
 TBTA job titles (Covered Members):
   * Bridge and Tunnel Officer,
   * Bridge and Tunnel Sergeant,
   * Bridge and Tunnel Lieutenant,
   * Assistant Bridge and Tunnel Maintainer,
   * Bridge and Tunnel Maintainer,
   * Senior Bridge and Tunnel Maintainer, and
   * Bridge and Tunnel Laborer.
   IMPACT ON BENEFITS PAYABLE:  The  proposed  legislation  would  permit
 Covered  Members,  who  otherwise  meet  applicable  service  retirement
 requirements, to retire earlier than their applicable normal  retirement
 age.
   Under  current  law,  a Tier 1 member's normal retirement age is 55. A
 Tier 2, 3 and 4 member's current normal retirement age is  62.  Retiring
 for service prior to these ages would generally result in a reduction of
 the member's annual retirement benefit.
   Under  the  proposed legislation, each year of qualifying TBTA service
 would reduce such normal retirement ages by 4 months (e.g., 12 years  of
 qualifying  TBTA  service  would reduce the applicable normal retirement
 age by 4 years) without subjecting the member to  a  retirement  benefit
 reduction.
   However,  in  no  event  shall  a Tier 1 member retire, other than for
 disability, prior to age 50, and in no event shall a Tier  2,  3,  or  4
 member retire, other than for disability, prior to age 55.
   FINANCIAL IMPACT - ACTUARIAL PRESENT VALUES (APV): With respect to the
 TBTA  members  who would be impacted by this proposed legislation, under
 the actuarial assumptions used in the Preliminary June  30,  2016  (Lag)
 actuarial  valuations  of  NYCERS, the enactment of this proposed legis-
 lation would increase the APV of Benefits (APVB) by  approximately  $1.7
 million.
   FINANCIAL  IMPACT  -  EMPLOYER  CONTRIBUTIONS:  In accordance with the
 Administrative Code of the City of  New  York  (ACNY)  Section  13.638.2
 (k-2),  new  Unfunded Actuarial Accrued Liability (UAAL) attributable to
 benefit changes are to be amortized as determined  by  the  Actuary  but
 generally  over  the remaining working lifetime of those impacted by the
 benefit changes. As of June 30, 2016, the remaining working lifetime  of
 the TBTA members and beneficiaries who would be impacted by the proposed
 legislation is approximately 10 years.
   Based on the actuarial assumptions and methods used in the Preliminary
 June 30, 2016 valuation of NYCERS, the enactment of this proposed legis-
 lation  would  increase  annual  employer contributions by approximately
 $300,000 per year beginning in Fiscal Year 2018.
   OTHER COSTS: Not measured in this Fiscal Note are the  initial,  addi-
 tional  administrative  costs of NYCERS to implement the proposed legis-
 lation.
   CENSUS DATA: As of June 30, 2016, there are 1,311 active TBTA  members
 with annual salaries of approximately $126.6 million.
   The  members affected by the proposed legislation consisted of 82 Tier
 4 members with salaries of approximately $8.2 million whose average  age
 and  average service as of June 30, 2016 were 48.9 years and 19.7 years,
 respectively.

 A. 7642                             3
 
   ACTUARIAL ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The  additional  APVB,  APVSAL  and
 employer  contributions  presented  herein have been calculated based on
 the actuarial assumptions and methods in effect for the Preliminary June
 30, 2016  (Lag) actuarial valuations used to determine  the  Preliminary
 Fiscal Year 2018 employer contributions of NYCERS.
   Employer  contributions  under current methodology have been estimated
 assuming the additional APVB would be  financed  through  future  normal
 contributions  including an amortization of the new UAAL attributable to
 this proposed legislation over a 10 year period (9  payments  under  the
 OYLM Methodology).
   To  determine the impact of the proposed legislation, it was necessary
 to determine who would benefit  actuarially,  by  calculating  for  each
 member,  the  net  APV of future employer costs (i.e., the APVB less the
 APV of future member contributions) under  the  current  Period  Without
 Reduction  Before  Normal  Retirement  Age  (PWRBN)  provisions  and the
 proposed PWRBN provisions. If such net APV  measured  for  the  proposed
 PWRBN  provisions  was  greater than the net APV under the current PWRBN
 provisions, the member was deemed to benefit actuarially.
   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 a Fellow  of the Society of Actuaries, a Fellow of
 the Conference of Consulting 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 Fiscal Note 2017-09 dated April 19,
 2017, was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City Employee's
 Retirement System. This estimate is intended for  use  only  during  the
 2017 Legislative Session.