S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  6908--A
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                                May 9, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of  A. J. A. GIGLIO -- read once and referred to the
   Committee 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 the county of Suffolk and the village of Nissequogue
   to offer an optional twenty-year retirement  plan  to  police  officer
   Bridget Topping
 
   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 county of Suffolk and the village of Nissequogue, in the  county  of
 Suffolk,  participating employers 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  county  and  village,  are hereby authorized to make
 participation in such plan available to Bridget Topping, a police  offi-
 cer  employed  full-time  by  the county of Suffolk and part-time by the
 village of Nissequogue, who, for  reasons  not  ascribable  to  her  own
 negligence,  failed  to make a timely application to participate in such
 optional twenty-year retirement plan. The  county  of  Suffolk  and  the
 village  of Nissequogue may so elect by separately filing with the state
 comptroller, within nine months of  the  effective  date  of  this  act,
 resolutions of its own county legislature and the village board of trus-
 tees  together  with  certification that such police officer did not bar
 herself from participation in such retirement plan as a  result  of  her
 own  negligence. Thereafter, 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 as well as section 384-e of such law,
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD07215-04-4
              

 A. 6908--A                          2
 
 by filing a request to that effect with the state comptroller within one
 year of the effective date of this act.
   §  2. All employer past service costs associated with implementing the
 provisions of this act shall be borne by the county of Suffolk  and  may
 be amortized over a ten-year period.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This bill would allow the County of Suffolk and the Village of Nisseq-
 uogue to reopen the provisions of section 384-d, together with 384-e, of
 the  Retirement  and  Social  Security  Law  for  police officer Bridget
 Topping.
   If this bill is enacted during the 2024 Legislative Session, we antic-
 ipate that there will be an increase of  approximately  $14,000  in  the
 annual  contributions  of the County of Suffolk and $2,000 in the annual
 contributions of the Village of Nissequogue for the fiscal  year  ending
 March  31,  2025.  In  future  years, this cost will vary as the billing
 rates and salary of Bridget Topping change.
   In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
 an immediate past service cost of approximately $540,000 which  will  be
 borne  by  the  County  of  Suffolk as a one-time payment. This estimate
 assumes that payment will be made on February 1, 2025. If the County  of
 Suffolk elects to amortize this cost over a 10-year period, the cost for
 each year including interest would be $69,000.
   Summary of relevant resources:
   Membership  data as of March 31, 2023 was used in measuring the impact
 of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2023 actuari-
 al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can  be  found  in  the
 2023  Report  of the Actuary and the 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial
 Report.
   The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in  the  2023
 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, 2023
 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 January 3, 2024, and intended for use only during
 the 2024 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No.  2024-22,  prepared  by
 the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.