NY State Senate Bill 2023-S8818

Senate Bill S8818

2023-2024 Legislative Session

Relates to normal retirement age for police/fire members of the New York city fire department pension fund

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Civil Service And Pensions Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

Please enter your contact information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

A valid email address is required.

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Mar 15, 2024	referred to civil service and pensions

2023-S8818 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A10018
Current Committee:: Senate Civil Service And Pensions
Law Section:: Retirement and Social Security Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§501 & 503, R & SS L

2023-S8818 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Provides that the normal service retirement benefit for police/fire members who are members of the New York city fire department pension fund shall be paid to such members of the New York city fire department pension fund without regard to age upon retirement after twenty years of service.

2023-S8818 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S8818

SPONSOR: JACKSON
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
normal retirement age for police/fire members of the New York city fire
department pension fund

 
PURPOSE:

To provide a twenty-year service retirement benefit for Tier 3 plan
members in the NYC Fire Department Pension Fund to align with Tier 2
members who are receiving that benefit.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

  Section 1 of the bill would amend subdivision 17 of Section 501 of the
Retirement  and Social Security Law, and subdivision d of Section 503 of
the Retirement and Social Security Law, to provide that members  in  the
New  York  City  Fire  Department  Pension  Fund  will receive a service
retirement benefit after 20 years of service,  regardless  of  age,  and

further provides that the bill shall take effect immediately.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The  existing  statute  provides for a normal service retirement benefit
for Tier 3 plan members  after  serving  twenty-two  years  of  service.
However,  members of the NYC Fire Department Pension Fund in Tier 3 work
alongside Tier 2 members who must only serve twenty years to receive the
same service retirement benefit.

This bill seeks to align the  service  retirement  benefit  for  Tier  3
members  of the NYC Fire Department Pension Fund with their Tier 2 coun-
terparts so that there is equity amongst Tier 3 and Tier 2 employees who
work in the same profession.

The  current  disparity  in  service  retirement  eligibility  must   be
addressed  by  this  legislation  because  it  creates  the same 20-year
retirement benefit eligibility Tier 3 members within the NYC re  Depart-
ment  Pension  Fund as Tier 2 members within the same Fund. This measure
would ensure fairness amongst Tier 3 and Tier 2 employees  in  the  same
workforce by creating a uniform normal service retirement benefit.

This  legislative amendment would also improve recruitment and retention
of experienced employees by creating  an  incentive  for  our  dedicated
employees based upon equality under the retirement laws.  These statuto-
ry  changes  would  demonstrate  that  we  value the commitment of these
employees .regardless of when they were hired, and regardless  of  their
age  or tier classification, which will ensure the continued delivery of
high-quality public service to our citizens.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New Bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This bill would take effect immediately.

2023-S8818 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8818
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              March 15, 2024
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. JACKSON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
 
 AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in  relation  to
   normal  retirement  age  for  police/fire members of the New York city
   fire department pension fund
 
   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 investi-
 gator revised plan members, AND THE AGE  AT  WHICH  A  MEMBER  COMPLETES
 TWENTY  YEARS  OF SERVICE FOR POLICE/FIRE MEMBERS WHO ARE MEMBERS OF THE
 NEW YORK CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT PENSION FUND.
   § 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; PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THAT  SUCH  NORMAL
 SERVICE  RETIREMENT  BENEFIT  FOR POLICE/FIRE MEMBERS WHO ARE MEMBERS OF
 THE NEW YORK CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT PENSION FUND SHALL  BE  PAID  TO  SUCH
 MEMBERS OF THE NEW YORK CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT PENSION FUND WITHOUT REGARD
 TO  AGE  UPON  RETIREMENT  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 city police/fire revised plan members, New York city uniformed
 correction/sanitation revised plan members and investigator revised plan
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD14430-02-4

 S. 8818                             2
 
 members shall not be eligible to retire for service prior to the attain-
 ment of twenty years of credited service.
   §  3. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 13-379 of the adminis-
 trative code of the city of New York, the provisions of this act  amend-
 ing sections 501 and 503 of the retirement and social security law shall
 apply  to  chapter three of title thirteen of the administrative code of
 the city of New York.
   § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   SUMMARY: This proposed legislation would reduce the Normal  Retirement
 Age  for Tier 3 members of the New York City Fire Pension Fund (FIRE) to
 be the age at which a member completes twenty years of service.
 
          EXPECTED INCREASE (DECREASE) IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS
           by Fiscal Year for the first 25 years ($ in Millions)
 
                          Year      FIRE
                          2025      2.5
                          2026      2.7
                          2027      2.9
                          2028      3.2
                          2029      3.4
                          2030      3.6
                          2031      3.9
                          2032      4.1
                          2033      4.4
                          2034      4.7
                          2035      5.1
                          2036      5.4
                          2037      5.9
                          2038      6.2
                          2039      6.6
                          2040      6.9
                          2041      7.3
                          2042      7.6
                          2043      7.0
                          2044      7.3
                          2045      7.5
                          2046      7.7
                          2047      8.0
                          2048      8.2
                          2049      8.5
    Employer Contribution impact beyond Fiscal Year 2049 is not shown.
  Projected contributions include future new hires that may be impacted.
 
   The entire increase in employer contributions will be allocated to New
 York City.
 
           INITIAL INCREASE (DECREASE) IN ACTUARIAL LIABILITIES
                    as of June 30, 2023 ($ in Millions)
 
           Present Value (PV)                 FIRE
           PV of Benefits:                    12.2
           PV of Employee Contributions:      (2.9)
           PV of Employer Contributions:      15.1
           Unfunded Accrued Liabilities:      8.4
 S. 8818                             3
 
                AMORTIZATION OF UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY
 
                                              FIRE
           Number of Payments:                18
           Fiscal Year of Last Payment:       2042
           Amortization Payment:              0.9 M
 
   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.
 
                                              FIRE
           Active Members
           - Number Count:                    5,030
           - Average Age:                     33.5
           - Average Service:                 5.5
           - Average Salary:                  112,400
 
   IMPACT  ON  MEMBER BENEFITS: Currently, Tier 3 FIRE members who retire
 with 20 years of service are eligible to receive an annual benefit  that
 is  equal  to 42% of Final Average Salary (FAS), increasing to a maximum
 benefit of 50% of FAS after 22 years of service.
   Under the proposed legislation, Tier 3 FIRE members who retire with 20
 years of service would be eligible to receive the maximum benefit  equal
 to 50% of FAS.
   ASSUMPTIONS  AND  METHODS:  The  estimates  presented herein have been
 calculated based on the Revised 2021 Actuarial Assumptions  and  Methods
 of the impacted retirement systems except for:
   *  Retirement rates were adjusted to reflect the earlier payability of
 the service retirement benefit associated with the proposed legislation.
   * New entrants were assumed to replace exiting members so  that  total
 payroll increases by 3% each year for impacted groups. New entrant demo-
 graphics were developed based on data for recent new hires and actuarial
 judgement.
   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.
 S. 8818                             4
 
   FISCAL NOTE IDENTIFICATION: This Fiscal Note 2024-27 dated  March  14,
 2024  was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City Retirement
 Systems and Pension Funds. This estimate is intended for use only during
 the 2024 Legislative Session.

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.