S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
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5304--A
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
February 12, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. McDONALD -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Governmental Employees -- recommitted to the Committee on
Governmental Employees in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 --
committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to authorize William Schumaker and Mark Hennessy to receive
certain service credit under section 384-d of the retirement and
social security law
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 Rensselaer, in the county of Rensselaer, a participating
employer 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 here-
by authorized to make participation in such plan available to William
Schumaker, a firefighter employed by the city of Rensselaer with a start
date of October 10, 1996, 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 Rensselaer may so
elect by filing with the state comptroller, within six months from the
effective date of this act, a resolution of its local city common coun-
cil 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 and 384-e 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 the effective date of such
resolution.
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03516-03-2
A. 5304--A 2
§ 2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the
city of Rensselaer, in the county of Rensselaer, 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 Mark Hennessy, a
firefighter employed by the city of Rensselaer with a start date of
September 1, 2005, 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 Rensselaer may so elect by
filing with the state comptroller, within six months from the effective
date of this act, a resolution of its city common council together with
certification that such firefighter did not bar himself from partic-
ipation 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 and 384-e 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 the effective date of such resolution.
§ 3. All past costs associated with implementing the provisions of
this act shall be borne by the city of Rensselaer and may be amortized
over a period of five years.
§ 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would allow the City of Rensselaer to reopen the provisions
of Section 384-d together with Section 384-e of the Retirement and
Social Security Law for firefighters William Schumaker and Mark Hennes-
sy, current members of the New York State and Local Police and Fire
Retirement System.
If this bill is enacted during the 2022 legislative session, and these
two firefighters become covered under the provisions of sections 384-d
and 384-e, we anticipate there will be an increase of approximately
$19,000 in the annual contributions of the City of Rensselaer for the
fiscal year ending March 31, 2023. In future years, this cost will vary
as the billing rates and salaries of these firefighters change.
In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
an immediate past service cost of approximately $309,000 which will be
borne by the City of Rensselaer as a one-time payment. This estimate is
based on the assumption that payment will be made on February 1, 2023.
If the City of Rensselaer elects to amortize this cost over a 5 year
period, the cost for the first year including interest would be $69,100.
Summary of relevant resources:
Membership data as of March 31, 2021 was used in measuring the impact
of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2021 actuari-
al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the
2021 Report of the Actuary and the 2021 Comprehensive Annual Financial
Report.
The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2020
and 2021 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, 2021
New York State and Local Retirement System Financial Statements and
Supplementary Information.
A. 5304--A 3
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 February 25, 2022, and intended for use only
during the 2022 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2022-79,
prepared by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement
System.