Senate Bill S1574

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   1574
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 15, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  ORTT  --  read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
 
 AN ACT to authorize George A. Amendola Tier II status in  the  New  York
   state and local 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  other  provision  of  law,  George  A.
 Amendola, who was first eligible to join the public retirement system as
 of  September  20, 1974 and who was employed by the Niagara Falls school
 district from September 20, 1974 to June 2, 1978 and who for reasons not
 ascribable to his own negligence was not  afforded  the  opportunity  to
 join the New York state and local employees' retirement system with Tier
 II status, shall be deemed to have become a member of the New York state
 and  local  employees'  retirement  system as of September 20, 1974; and
 shall have Tier II status, if, no later than one year after  the  effec-
 tive  date  of  this  act he shall file a written request with the state
 comptroller; and upon receipt of such application, the comptroller shall
 recalculate George Amendola's retirement  benefits  and  thereafter  pay
 such benefits accordingly as if he shall have been deemed to have joined
 such retirement system on September 20, 1974.
   §  2. No contributions made to the New York state and local employees'
 retirement system shall be returned or refunded to  George  A.  Amendola
 pursuant to this act.
   § 3. All past service costs associated with the implementation of this
 act shall be borne by the Niagara Falls school district.
   § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This  bill  will  grant Tier 2 status to George A. Amendola, a retired
 Tier 4 member of the New York  State  and  Local  Employees'  Retirement
 System,  by  changing  his date of membership to September 20, 1974, his
 first date of employment with the Niagara  Falls  school  district.  The
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD02735-02-9

 S. 1574                             2
 
 retirement  benefit will be recalculated and payment will be made retro-
 active to his date of retirement. There will  be  no  refund  of  member
 contributions.
   If  this  legislation  is enacted during the 2019 legislative session,
 there will be an immediate past service cost  of  approximately  $27,300
 which  will  be borne by the Niagara Falls school district as a one-time
 payment. This cost is based on the assumption that payment will be  made
 on February 1, 2020.
   Summary of relevant resources:
   The  membership  data  used  in  measuring  the impact of the proposed
 change was the same as that used in the March 31, 2018  actuarial  valu-
 ation.    Distributions  and  other  statistics can be found in the 2018
 Report of the  Actuary  and  the  2018  Comprehensive  Annual  Financial
 Report.
   The  actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2015,
 2016, 2017 and 2018  Annual  Report  to  the  Comptroller  on  Actuarial
 Assumptions,  and  the  Codes  Rules and Regulations of the State of New
 York: Audit and Control.
   The Market Assets and GASB Disclosures are found in the March 31, 2018
 New York State and Local  Retirement  System  Financial  Statements  and
 Supplementary Information.
   I am a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and meet the Quali-
 fication Standards to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
   This  fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the viability
 of the proposed change nor is it intended to serve as a  substitute  for
 the professional judgment of an attorney.
   This estimate, dated January 9, 2019, and intended for use only during
 the  2019  Legislative  Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2019-16, prepared by
 the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.