S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
7498--A
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
I N S E N A T E
June 1, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sen. JACKSON -- 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
eligibility for participants in the automotive 25 year/age 50 pension
plan with more than 30 years of credited service who remain in active
service after age 62 to receive a service retirement benefit equiv-
alent to the standard service retirement benefit received by Tier IV
members with the same age and service
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Subdivision a of section 603 of the retirement and social
security law, as amended by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, is amended
to read as follows:
a. The service retirement benefit specified in section six hundred
four of this article shall be payable to members who have met the mini-
mum service requirements upon retirement and attainment of age sixty-
two, other than members who are eligible for early service retirement
pursuant to subdivision c of section six hundred four-b of this article,
subdivision c of section six hundred four-c of this article, subdivision
d of section six hundred four-d of this article, subdivision c of
section six hundred four-e of this article, subdivision c of section six
hundred four-f of this article, [subdivision c of section six hundred
four-g of this article,] subdivision c of section six hundred four-h of
this article or subdivision c of section six hundred four-i of this
article, provided, however, a member of a teachers' retirement system or
the New York state and local employees' retirement system who first
joins such system before January first, two thousand ten or a member who
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09945-03-4
S. 7498--A 2
is a uniformed court officer or peace officer employed by the unified
court system who first becomes a member of the New York state and local
employees' retirement system before April first, two thousand twelve may
retire without reduction of his or her retirement benefit upon attain-
ment of at least fifty-five years of age and completion of thirty or
more years of service, provided, however, that a uniformed court officer
or peace officer employed by the unified court system who first becomes
a member of the New York state and local employees' retirement system on
or after January first, two thousand ten and retires without reduction
of his or her retirement benefit upon attainment of at least fifty-five
years of age and completion of thirty or more years of service pursuant
to this section shall be required to make the member contributions
required by subdivision f of section six hundred thirteen of this arti-
cle for all years of credited and creditable service, provided further
that the [the] preceding provisions of this subdivision shall not apply
to a New York city revised plan member.
§ 2. Subdivision a of section 603 of the retirement and social securi-
ty law, as amended by section 3-a of chapter 19 of the laws of 2008, is
amended to read as follows:
a. The service retirement benefit specified in section six hundred
four of this article shall be payable to members who have met the mini-
mum service requirements upon retirement and attainment of age sixty-
two, other than members who are eligible for early service retirement
pursuant to subdivision c of section six hundred four-b of this article,
subdivision c of section six hundred four-c of this article, subdivision
d of section six hundred four-d of this article, subdivision c of
section six hundred four-e of this article, subdivision c of section six
hundred four-f of this article, [subdivision c of section six hundred
four-g of this article,] subdivision c of section six hundred four-h of
this article or subdivision c of section six hundred four-i of this
article provided, however, a member who is a peace officer employed by
the unified court system or a member of a teachers' retirement system or
the New York state and local employees' retirement system may retire
without reduction of his or her retirement benefit upon attainment of at
least fifty-five years of age and completion of thirty or more years of
service.
§ 3. Paragraph 3 of subdivision b of section 604-g of the retirement
and social security law, as added by chapter 414 of the laws of 2002, is
amended to read as follows:
3. Any election to be a participant in the twenty-five year/age fifty
retirement program shall be irrevocable; PROVIDED THAT A PARTICIPANT WHO
HAS MORE THAN THIRTY YEARS OF CREDITED SERVICE AND WHO HAS REMAINED IN
ACTIVE SERVICE AFTER REACHING SIXTY-TWO YEARS OF AGE MAY ELECT TO
RECEIVE A SERVICE RETIREMENT BENEFIT CALCULATED IN ACCORDANCE WITH
SUBDIVISION B OF SECTION SIX HUNDRED FOUR OF THIS ARTICLE IN LIEU OF A
SERVICE RETIREMENT BENEFIT CALCULATED IN ACCORDANCE WITH SUBDIVISION C
OF THIS SECTION.
§ 4. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that the amend-
ments to subdivision a of section 603 of the retirement and social secu-
rity law made by section one of this act shall be subject to the expira-
tion and reversion of such subdivision pursuant to subdivision (b) of
section 13 of chapter 683 of the laws of 2003, as amended, when upon
such date the provisions of section two of this act shall take effect.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
SUMMARY: This proposed legislation would permit certain Tier 4 members
in NYCERS and BERS Automotive 25-Year/Age 50 Plans (Auto 25-Year Plan)
S. 7498--A 3
with 30 or more years of service to receive a service retirement benefit
calculated under the Tier 4 basic plan, if greater.
EXPECTED INCREASE (DECREASE) IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS
by Fiscal Year for the first 25 years ($ in Thousands)
Year NYCERS BERS TOTAL
2025 1,457 3 1,460
2026 1,458 3 1,461
2027 1,460 3 1,463
2028 1,462 3 1,465
2029 1,464 3 1,467
2030 1,465 3 1,468
2031 1,465 3 1,468
2032 1,464 3 1,467
2033 1,462 0 1,462
2034 1,457 0 1,457
2035 217 0 217
2036 212 0 212
2037 205 0 205
2038 198 0 198
2039 189 0 189
2040 180 0 180
2041 170 0 170
2042 161 0 161
2043 151 0 151
2044 140 0 140
2045 129 0 129
2046 118 0 118
2047 107 0 107
2048 96 0 96
2049 85 0 85
Employer Contribution impact beyond Fiscal Year 2049 is not shown.
The initial increase in employer contributions of $1.5 million is
estimated to be $1.4 million for New York City and $0.1 million for the
other obligors of NYCRS.
EXPECTED INCREASE (DECREASE) IN ACTUARIAL LIABILITIES
as of June 30, 2023 ($ in Thousands)
Present Value (PV) NYCERS BERS
PV of Benefits: 10,735 18
PV of Employee Contributions: 0 0
PV of Employer Contributions: 10,735 18
Unfunded Accrued Liabilities: 8,390 13
AMORTIZATION OF UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY
NYCERS BERS
Number of Payments: 10 8
Fiscal Year of Last Payment: 2034 2032
Amortization Payment: 1,236 K 2 K
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Unfunded Accrued Liability increases were amortized over the expected
remaining working lifetime of those impacted by the benefit changes
using level dollar payments.
CENSUS DATA: The estimates presented herein are based on preliminary
census data collected as of June 30, 2023. The census data for the
impacted population is summarized below.
NYCERS BERS
Active Members
- Number Count: 457 2
- Average Age: 53.3 50.0
- Average Service: 16.8 15.5
- Average Salary: 125,900 122,600
IMPACT ON MEMBER BENEFITS: Currently, Tier 4 Auto 25-Year Plan
members who never previously participated in either the 55/25 plan or
57/5 plan enacted by Chapter 96 of the Laws of 1995 and who retire with
30 or more years of service, receive a service retirement benefit that
is equal to 60% of Final Average Salary (FAS).
Under the proposed legislation, the service retirement benefit for
such members with 30 or more years of service would be calculated as the
greater of the above, and:
* For those at least age 62, 60% of FAS plus 1.5% of FAS for each year
of service beyond 30 years.
* For those age 55 through 61, 60% of FAS plus 1.5% of FAS for each
year of service beyond 30 years, multiplied by the applicable early
retirement age reduction factor.
The service retirement benefits for Tier 6 Auto 25-Year Plan members
and Tier 4 members with previous Tier 4 55/25 plan or 57/5 plan partic-
ipation are assumed to remain unchanged.
ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The estimates presented herein have been
calculated based on the Revised 2021 Actuarial Assumptions and Methods
of the impacted retirement systems.
RISK AND UNCERTAINTY: The costs presented in this Fiscal Note depend
highly on the actuarial assumptions, methods, and models used, demo-
graphics of the impacted population, and other factors such as invest-
ment, contribution, and other risks. If actual experience deviates from
actuarial assumptions, the actual costs could differ from those
presented herein. Quantifying these risks is beyond the scope of this
Fiscal Note.
This Fiscal Note is intended to measure pension-related impacts and
does not include other potential costs (e.g., administrative and Other
Postemployment Benefits).
STATEMENT OF ACTUARIAL OPINION: Marek Tyszkiewicz and Gregory Zelikov-
sky are members of the Society of Actuaries and the American Academy of
Actuaries. We are members of NYCERS but do not believe it impairs our
objectivity and we meet the Qualification Standards of the American
Academy of Actuaries to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
To the best of our 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 2024-14 dated February
22, 2024 was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City Retire-
ment Systems and Pension Funds. This estimate is intended for use only
during the 2024 Legislative Session.
