S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8217
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              April 22, 2020
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  SEWARD -- 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 Cortland, in the county of  Cortland  to
   offer  an  optional  twenty-year retirement plan to firefighter Travis
   Marshall
 
   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 Cortland, in the county of Cortland, 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 firefighters employed by such city, is hereby author-
 ized to make participation in such plan available to Travis Marshall,  a
 firefighter  employed  by  the  city  of  Cortland, who, for reasons not
 ascribable to his own negligence, failed to make a timely application to
 participate in such optional twenty-year retirement plan.  The  city  of
 Cortland  may  so  elect by filing with the state comptroller, within 12
 months of the effective date of this act, a resolution of its own common
 council together with certification that such firefighter  did  not  bar
 himself  from  participation  in such retirement plan as a result of his
 own negligence.  Thereafter, such firefighter 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  comptroller  within 6 months of the city of Cortland's
 filing.
   § 2. All past costs associated with  implementing  the  provisions  of
 this  act  shall  be borne by the city of Cortland, and may be amortized
 over a period of ten years.
   § 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.
                                                            LBD15532-02-0
              

 S. 8217                             2
 
   This bill would allow the City of Cortland  to  elect  to  reopen  the
 provisions  of  Section  384-d of the Retirement and Social Security Law
 for firefighter Travis Marshall.
   If this bill is enacted during the 2020 legislative session and Travis
 Marshall  becomes  covered  under  the  provisions  of Section 384-d, we
 anticipate that there will be an increase of approximately $2,600 in the
 annual contributions of the City of Cortland for the fiscal year  ending
 March  31,  2021.  In  future  years, this cost will vary as the billing
 rates and salary of Travis Marshall change.
   In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
 an immediate past service cost of $13,600, which will be  borne  by  the
 City  of  Cortland  as a one-time payment. This estimate is based on the
 assumption that payment will be made on February 1, 2021. If the City of
 Cortland elects to amortize this cost over a 10 year  period,  the  cost
 for the first year would be $1,790.
   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, 2019  actuarial  valu-
 ation.    Distributions  and  other  statistics can be found in the 2019
 Report of the  Actuary  and  the  2019  Comprehensive  Annual  Financial
 Report.
   The  actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2015,
 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 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, 2019
 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 March 12, 2020, and intended for use only  during
 the  2020  Legislative  Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2020-82, prepared by
 the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.