Senate Bill S6739A

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  6739--A
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 13, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by Sen. GALLIVAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
   -- recommitted to the Committee  on  Civil  Service  and  Pensions  in
   accordance  with  Senate  Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill
   amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said  commit-
   tee
 
 AN  ACT to authorize James Unger to receive certain 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, James Unger,
 currently a town of West Seneca police officer and  member  of  the  New
 York  state  and  local  police  and  fire  retirement system covered by
 section 384-d of the retirement and social  security  law,  who  between
 January  21,  2003 and September 6, 2006 was employed by the Erie county
 sheriff's department where he was a member of the  New  York  state  and
 local  employees' retirement system, and who, for reasons not ascribable
 to his own negligence, was not  granted  service  credit  under  section
 384-d  of  the  retirement  and  social  security  law for his period of
 employment with the Erie county sheriff's department, shall  be  granted
 such  service  credit  under  section 384-d of the retirement and social
 security law and shall be entitled to the full rights and benefits asso-
 ciated with coverage under such section,  provided  a  request  to  that
 effect  is  filed  with  the  state comptroller within one year from the
 effective date of  this  act.  Prior  to  James  Unger  submitting  such
 request,  he  must first file an application for tier reinstatement with
 the New York state and local police and fire retirement  system,  as  he
 has  previously  withdrawn  his  membership  with the New York state and
 local employees' retirement system. Once any costs associated with James
 Unger's tier reinstatement to his prior membership are paid in  full  by
 him,  he  may be granted the service credit and such service credit will
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD04185-05-2
              

 S. 6739--A                          2
 
 be creditable service under section 384-d of the retirement  and  social
 security law for James Unger.
   § 2. All past service costs incurred in implementing the provisions of
 this act shall be borne by the town of West Seneca.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This bill would grant service credit under section 384-d together with
 384-e  of  the  Retirement  and  Social  Security  Law to James Unger, a
 current member of the New York State and Local Police and  Fire  Retire-
 ment System (PFRS), for the period of January 21, 2003 through September
 6,  2006, while employed as a deputy sheriff for Erie County. Currently,
 deputy sheriff service is not creditable in a  PFRS  twenty-year  police
 retirement  plan.  James Unger is currently employed by the Town of West
 Seneca.
   If this bill is enacted during the  2022  legislative  session,  there
 will  be  an  immediate past service cost of approximately 208,000 which
 will be borne by the Town of West Seneca as  a  one-time  payment.  This
 estimate  is based on the assumption that payment will be made on Febru-
 ary 1, 2023.
   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.
   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  14,  2022, and intended for use only
 during the  2022  Legislative  Session,  is  Fiscal  Note  No.  2022-89,
 prepared  by  the  Actuary  for  the New York State and Local Retirement
 System.