S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  5536--A
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               March 7, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. SKOUFIS -- 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 amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
   providing certain death benefits to  correction  officers,  correction
   officer-sergeants,  correction  officer-captains,  assistant  wardens,
   associate wardens or wardens employed by Orange county
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding
 a new section 606-d to read as follows:
   §  606-D.  DEATH  BENEFITS  FOR CORRECTION OFFICERS EMPLOYED BY ORANGE
 COUNTY. A. AS USED IN THIS SECTION, THE TERM "CORRECTION OFFICER"  SHALL
 MEAN A PERSON EMPLOYED BY THE ORANGE COUNTY CORRECTION DEPARTMENT WITH A
 TITLE  OF  CORRECTION  OFFICER,  CORRECTION OFFICER-SERGEANT, CORRECTION
 OFFICER-CAPTAIN, ASSISTANT WARDEN, ASSOCIATE WARDEN OR WARDEN.
   B. NOTWITHSTANDING ANY PROVISION OF  LAW  TO  THE  CONTRARY,  WHERE  A
 CORRECTION  OFFICER  WOULD  HAVE  BEEN  ENTITLED TO A SERVICE RETIREMENT
 BENEFIT AT THE TIME OF HIS OR HER DEATH  AND  WHERE  HIS  OR  HER  DEATH
 OCCURS  ON OR AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE CHAPTER OF THE LAWS OF TWO
 THOUSAND TWENTY-THREE THAT ADDED THIS SECTION, THE BENEFICIARY OR  BENE-
 FICIARIES  MAY  ELECT TO RECEIVE, IN A LUMP SUM, AN AMOUNT PAYABLE WHICH
 SHALL BE EQUAL TO THE PENSION RESERVE THAT WOULD HAVE  BEEN  ESTABLISHED
 HAD  THE MEMBER RETIRED ON THE DATE OF HIS OR HER DEATH, OR THE VALUE OF
 THE DEATH BENEFIT AND THE RESERVE-FOR-INCREASED-TAKE-HOME-PAY,  IF  ANY,
 WHICHEVER IS GREATER.

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD04118-03-4
 S. 5536--A                          2
 
              

   §   2.  All  past  service  costs  associated  with  implementing  the
 provisions of this act shall be borne by the county of Orange and may be
 amortized over a period of ten years.
   §  3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, none
 of the provisions of this act shall  be  subject  to  the  appropriation
 requirement of section 25 of the retirement and social security law.
   § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This  bill  would  modify  the in-service death benefit for retirement
 eligible members of the New York State and Local  Employees'  Retirement
 System  who  are employed by Orange County in certain correction officer
 titles. The in-service death benefit will be the value  of  the  pension
 reserve as if the member had retired on their date of death.
   If this bill is enacted during the 2024 Legislative Session, we antic-
 ipate  that  there  will  be an increase of approximately $34,000 in the
 annual contributions of Orange County for the fiscal year  ending  March
 31, 2025. In future years this cost will vary but is expected to average
 0.1% of salary annually.
   In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
 an  immediate  past service cost of approximately $240,000 which will be
 borne by Orange County as a one-time payment. This estimate assumes that
 payment will be made on February 1, 2025. If  Orange  County  elects  to
 amortize this cost over a 10-year period, the cost for each year includ-
 ing interest would be $30,700.
   These  estimated  costs  are based on 277 affected members employed by
 Orange County, with annual salary of approximately $30.8 million  as  of
 March 31, 2023.
   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 16,  2024,  and  intended  for  use  only
 during  the  2024  Legislative  Session,  is  Fiscal  Note  No. 2024-67,
 prepared by the Actuary for the New  York  State  and  Local  Retirement
 System.