Senate Bill S6372A

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  6372--A
 
                        2017-2018 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 11, 2017
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  AVELLA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
   -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered  reprinted  as  amended
   and recommitted to said committee
 
 AN  ACT  granting  retroactive  membership  in the 55/25 plan for tier 4
   members in the New York  city  employees'  retirement  system  to  Hal
   Greenberg
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary,  Hal  Green-
 berg,  who was employed by the New York city department of employment on
 June 28, 1995, and who is currently employed by  the  triborough  bridge
 and tunnel authority and a tier 6 member of the New York city employees'
 retirement  system,  who  through  no  fault of his own did not become a
 member of the New York city employees' retirement  system's  55/25  plan
 for  tier  4  members on June 28, 1995 when the New York city employee's
 retirement system offered a 90 day enrollment window into the 55/25 plan
 for tier 4 members shall be deemed to have been a member of the New York
 city employees' retirement system's 55/25 plan for  tier  4  members  on
 such  date  he  could have enrolled and shall be granted membership into
 the 55/25 plan for tier 4 members, provided that an application is filed
 with the head of the New York city employees' retirement  system  within
 one year from the effective date of this act.
   §  2. All costs attributable to this act shall be borne by the city of
 New York.
   § 3. 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 Hal Greenberg within one year from  the  date
 on  which  this proposed legislation is enacted to be granted membership

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

                                                            LBD06809-02-7

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 in the 55/25 Retirement Plan for Tier 4 Members (NYCERS 55/25  Plan)  as
 if  he  has  elected to join that plan when it was originally offered to
 him on June 28, 1995.
   BACKGROUND:  Mr. Greenberg initially joined the NYCERS 62/5 Retirement
 Plan for Tier 4 members (NYCERS Tier 4 62/5 Plan) in 1989.  In  2010  he
 transferred  his  membership  to the New York State and Local Retirement
 System (NYSLRS). Later, in April 2013, he returned  to  City  employment
 and  joined TBTA 20-Year/Age 50 Retirement Plan for Tier 6 Members (TBTA
 50/20 Plan).
   For purposes of this Fiscal Note we have assumed  that  Mr.  Greenberg
 will  transfer  his State membership back to NYCERS, giving him approxi-
 mately 28 years of service in the NYCERS Tier 4 62/5 Plan (22  years  of
 NYCERS  Tier  4  service, 3 years of NYSLRS and 3 years of NYCERS Tier 6
 service) and that he will NOT make the additional employee contributions
 he would have been required to make had he been a member of  the  NYCERS
 55/25 plan.
   The  Effective  Date  of the proposed legislation would be the Date of
 Enactment.
   FINANCIAL IMPACT - ACTUARIAL PRESENT VALUES: The  estimated  financial
 impact  of  this  proposal  as  a  June  30, 2016 has been calculated as
 follows: (1) the benefits Mr. Greenberg would receive as a Tier 4 member
 in the NYCERS 55/25 Plan if this proposed legislation were enacted, less
 (2) the benefits Mr. Greenberg would be entitled to receive as a  member
 in  the NYCERS Tier 4 62/5 Plan assuming he transfers his NYSLRS member-
 ship to NYCERS.
   As a Tier 4 member in the NYCERS 55/25 Plan Mr. Greenberg  would  have
 been  required  to make additional member contributions of approximately
 $49,000. Since he has made contributions of approximately $26,000  as  a
 NYCERS  Tier 6 member in the TBTA 50/20 Plan, he would owe an additional
 $23,000 to meet the required contribution amount as of June 30, 2016.
   Based on the actuarial assumptions and methods described  herein,  and
 assuming  that Mr. Greenberg does not pay the additional member contrib-
 utions of $23,000, the enactment  of  this  proposed  legislation  would
 increase  the  Actuarial Present Value (APV) of future employer contrib-
 utions by approximately $142,000 as of June 30, 2016.
   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 as a level  dollar  amount  over
 the remaining working lifetime of those impacted by the benefit changes.
   Based  on the Actuary's actuarial assumptions and methods in effect on
 June 30,  2016  and  amortizing  the  increase  in  the  UAAL  over  Mr.
 Greenberg's  expected  remaining working lifetime of 6 years (5 payments
 under the one year lag methodology) results in an increase  in  employer
 contributions of approximately $41,000 per year.
   OTHER  COSTS: Not measured in this Fiscal Note is the impact on admin-
 istrative costs or Other Postemployment Benefit (OPEB) costs.
   ACTUARIAL ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: All results presented  herein  have
 been calculated based on the Actuary's actuarial assumptions and methods
 in  effect  for  the Preliminary June 30, 2016 (Lag) actuarial valuation
 used to determine the Preliminary Fiscal  Year  2018  employer  contrib-
 utions of NYCERS.
   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

 S. 6372--A                          3
 
 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 2017-27 dated June 5,
 2017, was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City Employees'
 Retirement System. This estimate is intended for  use  only  during  the
 2017 Legislative Session.