S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6010
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 16, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. HOYLMAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
 
 AN ACT  relating  to  granting  retroactive  eligibility  to  apply  for
   enhanced  Tier  3  status  to former New York City police officer Mark
   Rivera

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Notwithstanding  the provisions of any general or special
 law, rule or regulation to the contrary, Mark Rivera who was  previously
 employed  by the New York City police department as a police officer and
 was a Tier 3 member of the Police Pension Fund at the time of his  death
 on  March 21, 2015 shall be eligible to apply for membership in Enhanced
 Tier 3, if within one year from the effective date of this act,  Abigail
 Rivera,  the widow of Mark Rivera, shall file with the retirement system
 an application for membership Enhanced Tier  3  of  the  Police  Pension
 Fund,  and  Abigail  Rivera  may also file for any retirement options or
 death benefits that would have been available to Mark Rivera if  he  had
 been  a  member of Enhanced Tier 3 on the date of his death. Any amounts
 paid by the police pension fund to Mark Rivera, his  estate  or  Abigail
 Rivera  prior  to the filing of the application for benefits pursuant to
 this act shall be deducted from the benefit payable thereafter.
   § 2. All costs pursuant to this act shall be borne by the City of  New
 York.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
 
 
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD03809-01-9



              

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  6010--A
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 16, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. HOYLMAN -- 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  relating  to  granting  retroactive  eligibility  to  apply for
   enhanced Tier 3 status to former New York  City  police  officer  Mark
   Rivera
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of any  general  or  special
 law,  rule or regulation to the contrary, Mark Rivera who was previously
 employed by the New York City police department as a police officer  and
 was  a Tier 3 member of the Police Pension Fund at the time of his death
 on March 21, 2015 shall be eligible to apply for membership in  Enhanced
 Tier  3, if within one year from the effective date of this act, Abigail
 Rivera, the widow of Mark Rivera, shall file with the retirement  system
 an  application  for  membership  Enhanced  Tier 3 of the Police Pension
 Fund, and Abigail Rivera may also file for  any  retirement  options  or
 death  benefits  that would have been available to Mark Rivera if he had
 been a member of Enhanced Tier 3 on the date of his death.  Any  amounts
 paid  by  the  police pension fund to Mark Rivera, his estate or Abigail
 Rivera prior to the filing of the application for benefits  pursuant  to
 this act shall be deducted from the benefit payable thereafter.
   §  2. All costs pursuant 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:
   SUMMARY OF BILL: This proposed legislation would  permit  Ms.  Rivera,
 within  one year of the effective date, to posthumously elect the Tier 3
 Enhanced Plan on behalf of her deceased husband, and to  apply  for  any
 benefits applicable to such Plan.

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

                                                            LBD03809-02-9

 S. 6010--A                          2
 
   Effective Date: Upon enactment.
   BACKGROUND:  Mark  Rivera  died  as a Tier 3 Revised member of the New
 York City Police Pension Fund (POLICE) on March 21, 2015. His  surviving
 spouse,  Ms.  Rivera, received an ordinary death benefit equal to a lump
 sum benefit based on salary and member contributions  according  to  the
 provisions of a Tier 3 revised member.
   After  his  death,  beginning  in  September  8,  2016, certain Tier 3
 Revised members could elect to join the  Tier  3  Enhanced  Plan  which,
 among other things, extended the statutory presumptions contained in the
 Heart  Bill  (General  Municipal  Law  (GML)  §  207-k) to Enhanced Plan
 members pursuant to Chapter 298 of the Laws of 2016. Tier 3 police offi-
 cers became eligible to participate in the Enhanced Plan  on  April  10,
 2017 pursuant to Part SSS of Chapter 59 of the Laws of 2017.
   If this legislation is passed, Officer Rivera's death could potential-
 ly  be  deemed as a Line-of-Duty death under such presumption, entitling
 his spouse to receive an Accidental Death Benefit pursuant to Retirement
 and Social Security Law (RSSL) Section  509  and  a  Special  Accidental
 Death Benefit (SADB) under GML Section 208-f, less any amount previously
 paid as an ordinary death benefit.
   FINANCIAL  IMPACT  - PRESENT VALUES: The estimated financial impact of
 this proposal has been calculated as of June 30, 2018 equal to (1) minus
 (2), where:
   (1) is the sum of the  Accidental  Death  and  SADB  benefits  Officer
 Rivera's spouse would have received from March 21, 2015 through June 30,
 2018  and  the  present  value of the retirement benefits expected to be
 received by his spouse in the future if this proposed  legislation  were
 enacted, and
   (2)  is  the  value  of  the amount of ordinary death benefits already
 paid.
   Based on the actuarial assumptions and methods described  herein,  the
 enactment  of  this  proposed  legislation,  to the extent Ms. Rivera is
 awarded the Accidental Death and SADB benefits for her  lifetime,  would
 increase  the  Present  Value of Future Benefits (PVFB) and the Unfunded
 Accrued Liability (UAL) of POLICE by approximately $2.0  million  as  of
 June 30, 2018. This calculation does not reflect the offset for a Social
 Security death benefit, if any, payable to Ms. Rivera.
   FINANCIAL  IMPACT  - ANNUAL EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS: In accordance with
 Administrative  Code  of  the  City  of   New   York   (ACCNY)   Section
 13-638.2(k-2),  new  UAL attributable to benefit changes are to be amor-
 tized as determined by the Actuary  but  generally  over  the  remaining
 working lifetime of those impacted by the benefit changes.
   For purposes of this Fiscal Note, since Officer Rivera is deceased and
 therefore  has no remaining working lifetime, the entire increase in UAL
 would be recognized immediately.
   OTHER COSTS: Not measured in this Fiscal Note are the following:
   * The initial, additional administrative costs of POLICE and other New
 York City agencies to implement the proposed legislation.
   * The impact of this  proposed  legislation  on  Other  Postemployment
 Benefit (OPEB) costs.
   CONTRIBUTION  TIMING:  For  the  purposes  of  this Fiscal Note, it is
 assumed that the changes in the UAL and  annual  employer  contributions
 would  be  reflected  for  the first time in the June 30, 2019 actuarial
 valuation of the POLICE. In accordance with the One-Year Lag Methodology
 (OYLM) used to determine employer contributions, the increase in employ-
 er contributions would be reflected in Fiscal Year 2021.

 S. 6010--A                          3
 
   CENSUS DATA: These estimates are based  on  data  provided  by  POLICE
 which  was  not  audited  but was checked for reasonableness. Below is a
 summary of the data provided:
   *Ordinary Death Benefit Lump Sum: $167,000
   *Accidental Death Annual Benefit (City): $25,343
   *SADB Annual Benefit (State): $58,854
   ACTUARIAL  ASSUMPTIONS  AND METHODS: The changes in the PVFB presented
 herein have been calculated based on the actuarial assumptions and meth-
 ods in effect for the June 30, 2018 (Lag) actuarial valuations  used  to
 determine  the  Preliminary  Fiscal  Year 2020 employer contributions of
 POLICE.
   RISK AND UNCERTAINTY: The costs presented in this Fiscal  Note  depend
 highly  on the actuarial assumptions and methods used and are subject to
 change based on the realization of  potential  investment,  demographic,
 contribution,  and other risks. If actual experience deviates from actu-
 arial assumptions, the actual costs could differ  from  those  presented
 herein.  Costs  are  also  dependent  on the actuarial methods used, and
 therefore different actuarial methods could produce  different  results.
 Quantifying these risks is beyond the scope of this Fiscal Note.
   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, a
 Member of the American Academy of Actuaries, and a Fellow of the Confer-
 ence of Consulting Actuaries. I meet the Qualification Standards of  the
 American  Academy of Actuaries to render the actuarial opinion contained
 herein. To the best of my knowledge, the results contained  herein  have
 been prepared in accordance with generally accepted actuarial principles
 and  procedures  and  with the Actuarial Standards of Practice issued by
 the Actuarial Standards Board.
   FISCAL NOTE IDENTIFICATION: This Fiscal Note  2019-26  dated  May  30,
 2019  was  prepared  by  the  Chief Actuary for the New York City Police
 Pension Fund. This estimate is intended for use  only  during  the  2019
 Legislative Session.