Senate Bill S8361

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8361
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                                May 3, 2018
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  GOLDEN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
 
 AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in  relation  to
   disability  retirement  benefits for the presumption of post-traumatic
   stress disorder for certain titles
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding
 a new section 605-f to read as follows:
   §  605-F. DISABILITY RETIREMENT FOR NEW YORK CITY FIRE ALARM DISPATCH-
 ERS AND SUPERVISING FIRE ALARM DISPATCHER LEVELS ONE  AND  TWO.  1.    A
 MEMBER  EMPLOYED  AS  A  NEW YORK CITY FIRE ALARM DISPATCHER, A NEW YORK
 CITY SUPERVISING FIRE ALARM DISPATCHER LEVEL ONE  OR  A  NEW  YORK  CITY
 SUPERVISING  FIRE  ALARM DISPATCHER LEVEL TWO SHALL BE ENTITLED TO DISA-
 BILITY RETIREMENT ALLOWANCE, IF, AT THE  TIME  APPLICATION  THEREFOR  IS
 FILED,  SUCH MEMBER IS PHYSICALLY OR MENTALLY INCAPACITATED FOR PERFORM-
 ANCE OF DUTY AS A RESULT OF CONTRACTING POST-TRAUMATIC  STRESS  DISORDER
 WHILE SO EMPLOYED AND AS A RESULT OF HIS OR HER EMPLOYMENT.
   2.  NOTWITHSTANDING  ANY  PROVISION OF THIS CHAPTER OR OF ANY GENERAL,
 SPECIAL OR LOCAL LAW TO THE CONTRARY, ANY MEMBER WHO IS A NEW YORK  CITY
 FIRE ALARM DISPATCHER, A NEW YORK CITY SUPERVISING FIRE ALARM DISPATCHER
 LEVEL ONE OR A NEW YORK CITY SUPERVISING FIRE ALARM DISPATCHER LEVEL TWO
 WHO  IS  DIAGNOSED  AS  SUFFERING  FROM  POST-TRAUMATIC  STRESS DISORDER
 RESULTING  IN  DISABILITY  TO  SUCH  FIRE  ALARM  DISPATCHER,  PRESENTLY
 EMPLOYED,  AND  WHO  SHALL  HAVE  SUSTAINED  SUCH  DISABILITY  WHILE  SO
 EMPLOYED, SHALL HAVE SUCH DIAGNOSIS BE PRESUMPTIVE  EVIDENCE  THAT  SUCH
 DISABILITY WAS INCURRED IN THE PERFORMANCE AND DISCHARGE OF DUTY, UNLESS
 THE CONTRARY BE PROVEN BY COMPETENT EVIDENCE.
   3.  THE  ANNUAL  RETIREMENT  ALLOWANCE  PAYABLE  SHALL BE EQUAL TO THE
 THREE-QUARTERS OF HIS OR HER FINAL AVERAGE SALARY,  SUBJECT  TO  SECTION
 13-176 OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE CODE OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE. -- Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD05676-02-8

 S. 8361                             2
 
   SUMMARY  OF  BILL: The proposed legislation would amend the Retirement
 and Social Security Law (RSSL) to add a new Section 605-f to  provide  a
 rebuttable statutory presumption to Tier 4 and 6 members of the New York
 City  Employees' Retirement System (NYCERS) who are Fire Alarm Dispatch-
 ers and Supervising Fire Alarm Dispatchers, and who become physically or
 mentally  incapacitated  for  performance  of duty due to post-traumatic
 stress disorder (PTSD).
   In determining whether disabling PTSD was caused by  employment  as  a
 Dispatcher,  the  diagnosis  of  PTSD would be presumptive evidence that
 such disability was incurred on the performance and discharge  of  duty,
 unless the contrary is proven by competent evidence.
   The amount of the annual retirement allowance payable in the event the
 presumption is not rebutted will be 75% of the Dispatcher member's final
 average salary.
   FINANCIAL  IMPACT  -  OVERVIEW: There is no data available to estimate
 the number of members who might develop and become disabled by PTSD, and
 potentially benefit from this proposed legislation. Therefore, the esti-
 mated financial impact has been calculated on a per event basis equal to
 the increase in the Actuarial Present Value (APV) of Benefits (APVB) for
 an average member who is diagnosed with PTSD as the result of the enact-
 ment of the proposed legislation. In determining  the  increase  in  the
 APVB,  it has been assumed that 50% of the members who would retire with
 PTSD were those who would have  retired  under  an  Ordinary  Disability
 Retirement  benefit  and  that  the  remaining  50% of members who would
 retire with PTSD were those who would  have  continued  working  if  the
 proposed legislation were not passed.
   With  respect  to  an  individual  member, the additional cost of this
 proposed legislation could vary greatly depending on the member's length
 of service, age, and salary history.
   FINANCIAL IMPACT - ACTUARIAL PRESENT VALUES: Based on the census  data
 and assumptions herein, the enactment of this proposed legislation would
 increase  the APVB by approximately $370,000, on average for each occur-
 rence of PTSD as of June 30, 2018.
   FINANCIAL IMPACT - ADDITIONAL  EMPLOYER  CONTRIBUTIONS:  Enactment  of
 this  proposed  legislation would increase employer contributions, where
 such amount would depend on the number of members affected  as  well  as
 other  characteristics  including  the age, years of service, and salary
 history of the member.
   Based on the Actuary's actuarial assumptions and methods in effect  as
 of  June  30,  2017, the enactment of this proposed legislation is esti-
 mated to increase annual employer contributions by approximately $44,000
 for each Accident Disability Retirement due to PTSD. With respect to the
 timing, increases in  employer  contributions  would  depend  upon  when
 members  would  retire  due  to  PTSD but, generally, increased employer
 contributions will first occur the second fiscal year following approval
 of the Accident Disability Retirement.
   CENSUS DATA: As of June 30,  2017,  176  Fire  Alarm  Dispatchers  and
 Supervising  Fire  Alarm  Dispatchers  participate in NYCERS. This group
 consisted of 140 NYCERS Tier 4 active  members  and  36  Tier  6  active
 members  who  were  included  in the June 30, 2017 (Lag) actuarial valu-
 ations of NYCERS to determine the Preliminary Fiscal Year 2019  employer
 contributions.  These  176  members  had an average age of approximately
 40.0 years, average service of approximately  11.2  years,  and  average
 salary of approximately $71,100 as of June 30, 2017.
   ACTUARIAL  ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The additional APV of benefits and
 employer contributions presented herein have been estimated based on the

 S. 8361                             3
 
 actuarial assumptions and methods in effect for the June 30, 2017  (Lag)
 actuarial  valuation  used to determine the Preliminary Fiscal Year 2019
 employer contributions of NYCERS.  These  assumptions  and  methods  are
 subject  to  change  as this valuation is not considered final until the
 end of Fiscal Year 2019.
   As there is no data currently available  to  estimate  the  number  of
 members who might be diagnosed with disabling PTSD, the financial impact
 would  be  recognized  at  the  time  of event. Consequently, changes in
 employer contributions have been estimated assuming that the increase in
 the APVB will be financed over a time period comparable to that used for
 actuarial losses under the Entry Age  Normal  cost  method.  Using  this
 approach,  the  additional APVB would be amortized over a closed 15-year
 period (14 payments under the  One-Year  Lag  Methodology)  using  level
 dollar payments.
   STATEMENT  OF ACTUARIAL OPINION: I, Sherry S. Chan, am the Chief Actu-
 ary for, and independent of, the New York City  Retirement  Systems  and
 Pension  Funds.  I  am a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, an Enrolled
 Actuary under the Employee Retirement Income and Security  Act  of  1974
 (ERISA),  a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries, and a Fellow of
 the Conference of Consulting Actuaries. I meet the Qualification  Stand-
 ards  of the American Academy of Actuaries to render the actuarial opin-
 ion contained herein. To the best of my knowledge, the results contained
 herein have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted actuari-
 al principles and procedures and with the Actuarial Standards  of  Prac-
 tice issued by the Actuarial Standards Board.
   FISCAL  NOTE  IDENTIFICATION:  This  Fiscal  Note 2018-23 dated May 2,
 2018, was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City Employees'
 Retirement System. This estimate is intended for  use  only  during  the
 2018 Legislative Session.