S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  7256--A
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                               May 16, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of A. PHEFFER AMATO -- 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 amend the retirement and social security law, in  relation  to
   providing  additional  benefits  for certain retirement system members
   with credited service in excess of twenty-five years
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1. Subdivisions c and f of section 89-e of the retirement and
 social security law, as added by chapter 520 of the laws  of  1988,  are
 amended to read as follows:
   c.  Upon  completion  of  twenty-five  years  of such service and upon
 retirement, each such member shall receive  a  pension  which,  together
 with  an  annuity  which shall be the actuarial equivalent of [his] SUCH
 MEMBER'S accumulated contributions at the time of  [his]  SUCH  MEMBER'S
 retirement  and  an additional pension which is the actuarial equivalent
 of  the  [reserved-for-increased-take-home-pay]   RESERVE-FOR-INCREASED-
 TAKE-HOME-PAY  to  which  [he] SUCH MEMBER may then be entitled shall be
 sufficient to provide [him] SUCH  MEMBER  with  a  retirement  allowance
 equal  to one-half of [his] SUCH MEMBER'S final average salary, PROVIDED
 HOWEVER THAT A MEMBER WITH CREDITED SERVICE  IN  EXCESS  OF  TWENTY-FIVE
 YEARS SHALL RECEIVE AN ADDITIONAL RETIREMENT ALLOWANCE EQUAL TO ONE-SIX-
 TIETH  OF SUCH MEMBER'S FINAL AVERAGE SALARY FOR EACH YEAR OF CREDITABLE
 SERVICE IN EXCESS OF TWENTY-FIVE YEARS  BUT  NOT  IN  EXCESS  OF  THIRTY
 YEARS.
   f.  A  member contributing on the basis of this section at the time of
 retirement, [shall] MAY retire after the completion of twenty-five years
 of total creditable service. Application therefor  may  be  filed  in  a
 manner similar to that provided in section seventy of this article. Upon
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD10299-04-4
              

 A. 7256--A                          2
 
 completion  of  AT  LEAST  twenty-five  years  of  such service and upon
 retirement, each such member shall receive  a  pension  which,  together
 with  an  annuity  which shall be the actuarial equivalent of [his] SUCH
 MEMBER'S  accumulated  contributions  at the time of [his] SUCH MEMBER'S
 retirement and an additional pension which is the  actuarial  equivalent
 of the reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay to which [he] SUCH MEMBER may
 then  be entitled shall be sufficient to provide [him] SUCH MEMBER  with
 a retirement allowance equal to one-half of [his]  SUCH  MEMBER'S  final
 average salary PLUS AN ADDITIONAL RETIREMENT ALLOWANCE EQUAL TO ONE-SIX-
 TIETH  OF SUCH MEMBER'S FINAL AVERAGE SALARY FOR EACH YEAR OF CREDITABLE
 SERVICE IN EXCESS OF TWENTY-FIVE YEARS  BUT  NOT  IN  EXCESS  OF  THIRTY
 YEARS.
   § 2. Subdivision c of section 604 of the retirement and social securi-
 ty  law, as added by chapter 520 of the laws of 1988, is amended to read
 as follows:
   c. The early  service  retirement  benefit  for  a  member  who  is  a
 correction  officer  of  the Westchester county correction department as
 defined in section eighty-nine-e of this  chapter  shall  be  a  pension
 equal  to  one-fiftieth  of final average salary times years of credited
 service at the completion  of  twenty-five  years  of  service  as  such
 correction [officer, but not exceeding one-half of his or her] OFFICER'S
 final  average  salary  PLUS AN ADDITIONAL RETIREMENT ALLOWANCE EQUAL TO
 ONE-SIXTIETH OF SUCH MEMBER'S FINAL AVERAGE  SALARY  FOR  EACH  YEAR  OF
 CREDITED  SERVICE  IN  EXCESS  OF TWENTY-FIVE YEARS BUT NOT IN EXCESS OF
 THIRTY YEARS.
   §  3.  All  past  service  costs  associated  with  implementing   the
 provisions  of  this act shall be borne by the county of Westchester and
 may be amortized over a period of ten years.
   § 4. 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.
   § 5. This act shall take effect immediately and  shall  apply  to  all
 members that retire on or after such date.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This  bill  would modify the service retirement benefit for members of
 the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement  System  employed  by
 Westchester County as correction officers.  The modified service retire-
 ment  benefit  will  be  one-half  of  final  average  salary (FAS) upon
 completion of twenty-five years of creditable  service  with  additional
 sixtieths  for  each year of creditable service in excess of twenty-five
 years but not in excess of thirty years. The current service  retirement
 benefit is one-half of FAS upon completion of twenty-five years of cred-
 itable service.
   If this bill is enacted during the 2023 legislative session, we antic-
 ipate  that  there  will be an increase of approximately $1.0 million in
 the annual contributions of  Westchester  County  for  the  fiscal  year
 ending  March  31,  2025.  In  future  years  this cost will vary but is
 expected to average 0.8% of affected salary annually.
   In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
 an immediate past service cost of approximately $11.6 million which will
 be borne by Westchester County as  a  one-time  payment.  This  estimate
 assumes  that  payment  will be made on February 1, 2025. If Westchester
 County elects to amortize this cost over a 10-year period, the cost  for
 the first year including interest would be $1.49 million.
 A. 7256--A                          3
 
   These  estimated  costs  are based on 851 affected members employed by
 Westchester County, with annual salary of approximately $104 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 3, 2024, and intended for use only during
 the 2024 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No.  2024-16,  prepared  by
 the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.