S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
7791
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
June 15, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PHEFFER AMATO -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Governmental Employees
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
the restoration of 20 year service retirement for New York city police
officers
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Subdivision 17 of section 501 of the retirement and social
security law, as amended by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, is amended
to read as follows:
17. "Normal retirement age" shall be age sixty-two, for general
members, and the age at which a member completes or would have completed
twenty-two years of service, for police/fire members, New York city
uniformed correction/sanitation revised plan members and investigator
revised plan members, EXCEPT THAT FOR POLICE/FIRE MEMBERS OF THE NEW
YORK CITY POLICE PENSION FUND, NORMAL RETIREMENT AGE SHALL BE THE AGE AT
WHICH A MEMBER COMPLETES OR WOULD HAVE COMPLETED TWENTY YEARS OF
SERVICE.
§ 2. Subdivision d of section 503 of the retirement and social securi-
ty law, as amended by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, is amended to read
as follows:
d. The normal service retirement benefit specified in section five
hundred five of this article shall be paid to police/fire members, New
York city uniformed correction/sanitation revised plan members and
investigator revised plan members without regard to age upon retirement
after twenty-two years of service, EXCEPT THAT THE NORMAL SERVICE
RETIREMENT BENEFIT SPECIFIED IN SECTION FIVE HUNDRED FIVE OF THIS ARTI-
CLE SHALL BE PAID TO POLICE/FIRE MEMBERS OF THE NEW YORK CITY POLICE
PENSION FUND, AFTER TWENTY YEARS OF SERVICE. Early service retirement
shall be permitted upon retirement after twenty years of credited
service or attainment of age sixty-two, provided, however, that New York
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11368-02-3
A. 7791 2
city police/fire revised plan members, New York city uniformed
correction/sanitation revised plan members and investigator revised plan
members shall not be eligible to retire for service prior to the attain-
ment of twenty years of credited service.
§ 3. Section 505 of the retirement and social security law is amended
by adding a new subdivision d to read as follows:
D. NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY IN ANY OTHER LAW,
POLICE/FIRE MEMBERS OF THE NEW YORK CITY POLICE PENSION FUND SHALL BE
ELIGIBLE FOR A NORMAL SERVICE RETIREMENT BENEFIT IN LIEU OF AN EARLY
SERVICE RETIREMENT BENEFIT UPON COMPLETING TWENTY YEARS OF SERVICE
PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION D OF SECTION FIVE HUNDRED THREE OF THIS ARTICLE.
§ 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
SUMMARY OF BILL: This proposed legislation would amend Sections 501,
503, and 505 of the Retirement and Social Security Law (RSSL) to reduce
the Normal Retirement Age for Tier 3 original, revised, and enhanced
plan members of the New York City Police Pension Fund (POLICE) to be the
age at which a member completes or would have completed twenty years of
service.
Effective Date: Upon enactment.
IMPACT ON BENEFITS: Currently, Tier 3 POLICE members who retire with
at least 20 years of service are eligible to receive an annual benefit
that is equal to 42% of Final Average Salary (FAS), plus 0.33% of FAS
for each month of service (up to 24 months) in excess of 20 years of
service, resulting in a benefit of 50% of FAS after 22 years of service.
Under the proposed legislation, Tier 3 POLICE members who retire with
at least 20 years of service would be eligible to receive an annual
benefit that is equal to 50% of FAS.
The annual benefit in either case would be subject to a Social Securi-
ty Offset commencing at age 62, which is not affected by the proposed
legislation. There is also no change to the benefit provisions for
deferred vested members who terminate employment prior to earning 20
years of service.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: Based on the census data and the actuarial assump-
tions and methods described herein, the enactment of this proposed
legislation would result in an increase in the present value of future
employer contributions of approximately $82.9 million for the current
population.
The financial impact will increase as the impacted population
increases over time. The estimate of the increase in annual employer
contributions for Fiscal Years 2024 through 2028 are shown in the table
below.
Fiscal Increase in
Year Employer Contributions
($ Millions)
2024 $ 10.7
2025 $ 11.5
2026 $ 12.4
2027 $ 13.3
2028 $ 14.4
New UAL attributable to benefit changes are generally amortized over
the remaining working lifetime of those impacted by the benefit changes.
The remaining working lifetime for this group is approximately 18 years
and the increase in UAL was therefore amortized over an 18-year period
(17 payments under the One-Year Lag Methodology) using level dollar
payments.
A. 7791 3
CENSUS DATA: The estimates presented herein are based on the census
data used in the June 30, 2022 actuarial valuation of POLICE to deter-
mine the Preliminary Fiscal Year 2024 employer contributions.
There are 19,375 active Tier 3 members of POLICE as of June 30, 2022
and they have an average age of approximately 32.2 years, average
service of approximately 5.7 years, and an average salary of approxi-
mately $101,600.
ACTUARIAL ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The estimates presented herein have
been calculated based on the actuarial assumptions and methods used for
the Preliminary Fiscal Year 2024 employer contributions of POLICE except
for adjustments to the retirement rates to reflect changes in eligibil-
ity for service retirement associated with the proposed legislation.
New entrants were projected to replace the members expected to leave
the active population to maintain a steady-state population. New entrant
demographics were developed based on data for recent new hires and actu-
arial judgement.
For the purposes of this Fiscal Note, it is assumed that the changes
would be reflected for the first time in the June 30, 2022 actuarial
valuation of POLICE used to determine employer contributions for Fiscal
Year 2024.
RISK AND UNCERTAINTY: The costs presented in this Fiscal Note depend
highly on the realization of the actuarial assumptions used, demograph-
ics of the impacted population, and other factors such as investment,
contribution, and other risks. If actual experience deviates from actu-
arial assumptions, the actual costs could differ from those presented
herein.
Costs are also dependent on the actuarial methods used, and therefore
different actuarial methods could produce different results. Quantifying
these risks is beyond the scope of this Fiscal Note.
Not measured in this Fiscal Note are the following:
* The initial additional administrative costs to implement the
proposed legislation.
* Pension costs for future members of POLICE hired on or after
7/1/2026.
* The impact of this proposed legislation on Other Postemployment
Benefit costs.
STATEMENT OF ACTUARIAL OPINION: I, Marek Tyszkiewicz, am the Chief
Actuary for, and independent of, the New York City Retirement Systems
and Pension Funds. I am an Associate of the Society of Actuaries and a
Member of the American Academy of Actuaries. I am a member of NYCERS but
do not believe it impairs my objectivity and I meet the Qualification
Standards of the American Academy of Actuaries to render the actuarial
opinion contained herein. To the best of my knowledge, the results
contained herein have been prepared in accordance with generally
accepted actuarial principles and procedures and with the Actuarial
Standards of Practice issued by the Actuarial Standards Board.
FISCAL NOTE IDENTIFICATION: This Fiscal Note 2023-72 dated June 5,
2023 was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City Police
Pension Fund. This estimate is intended for use only during the 2023
Legislative Session.
I support this bill
Police officers needs to retire after 20 years, they are doing a lot of work especially for NYPD
Offers deserve more
Service member contributed
I support this bill
I support this bill
Police officers deserve our respect and support