S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
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                                   5955
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 16, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  MAY  --  read  twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
 
 AN ACT to authorize the city of Syracuse, in the county of  Onondaga  to
   offer an optional twenty year retirement plan to police officer Thomas
   R.  Nicolini

   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 to the contrary,
 the city of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga, a participating employ-
 er in the New York state and local police and  fire  retirement  system,
 which  previously  elected  to offer the optional twenty year retirement
 plan, established pursuant to section 384-d of the retirement and social
 security law, to police  officers  employed  by  such  town,  is  hereby
 authorized  to  make  participation  in such plan available to Thomas R.
 Nicolini, a police officer employed by the city of Syracuse with a start
 date of July 23, 1999, who, for reasons not ascribable to his own negli-
 gence, failed to make  a  timely  application  to  participate  in  such
 optional  twenty year retirement plan. The city of Syracuse may so elect
 by filing with the state comptroller, within six months from the  effec-
 tive  date  of  this  act,  a resolution of its town board together with
 certification that such police officer did not bar himself from  partic-
 ipation in such retirement plan as a result of his own negligence. Ther-
 eafter, such police officer may elect to be covered by the provisions of
 section  384-d  of  the retirement and social security law, and shall be
 entitled to the full rights and benefits associated with coverage  under
 such  section,  by  filing a request to that effect with the state comp-
 troller within six months from the effective date of such resolution.
   § 2. All past costs associated with  implementing  the  provisions  of
 this act shall be borne by the city of Syracuse.
   § 3. 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.
              

                                                            LBD11463-03-9

 S. 5955                             2
 
   This  bill  will  allow  the  City  of Syracuse to elect to reopen the
 provisions of Section 384-d of the Retirement and  Social  Security  Law
 for police officer Thomas R. Nicolini.
   If this bill is enacted during the 2019 legislative session, we antic-
 ipate  that  there  will  be  an increase of approximately $9,500 in the
 annual contributions of the City of Syracuse for the fiscal year  ending
 March  31,  2020.  In  future  years, this cost will vary as the billing
 rates and salary of Officer Nicolini change.
   In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
 an immediate past service cost of approximately $384,000 which  will  be
 borne  by  the  City of Syracuse as a one-time payment. This estimate 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 May 15, 2019, and intended for  use  only  during
 the  2019  Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2019-110, prepared by
 the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.