The New York State Senate

 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7071
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 17, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  O'MARA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
 
 AN ACT to authorize the county of Steuben to offer an  optional  twenty-
   five year retirement plan to Erica M. McCoy, a deputy sheriff employed
   by such county

   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,
 the county of Steuben, a participating employer in the  New  York  state
 employees'  retirement  system,  which has elected to offer the optional
 twenty-five year retirement plan, established pursuant to  article  14-B
 of  the  retirement and social security law, to deputy sheriffs employed
 by such county, is hereby authorized to make participation in such  plan
 available  to Erica M. McCoy, a deputy sheriff employed by the county of
 Steuben with a start date of September 6, 2016,  who,  for  reasons  not
 ascribable to her own negligence, failed to make a timely application to
 participate  in such optional twenty-five year plan contained in article
 14-B of the retirement and social security law. The  county  of  Steuben
 may so elect by filing with the state comptroller, on or before 180 days
 after  this  act  shall have become a law, a resolution of its governing
 body together with certification that such deputy sheriff  did  not  bar
 themself  from participation in the retirement plan as a result of their
 own negligence. Thereafter, such deputy sheriff may  individually  elect
 to  be  covered  by  the provisions of section 551 of the retirement and
 social security law, and shall be entitled to the full rights and  bene-
 fits  associated  with  coverage under such section, by filing a request
 with the state within one year of the effective date of this act.
   § 2. All employer past service costs associated with implementing  the
 provisions  of  this act shall be borne by the county of Steuben and may
 be amortized over a five-year period.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD10841-02-3

 S. 7071                             2
 
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This  bill  would  allow  the County of Steuben to elect to reopen the
 provisions of Section 551 of Article 14-B of the Retirement  and  Social
 Security Law for deputy sheriff Erica M. McCoy.
   If this bill is enacted during the 2023 legislative session, we antic-
 ipate  that  there  will  be  an increase of approximately $3,200 in the
 annual contributions of the County of Steuben for the fiscal year ending
 March 31, 2024. In future years, this cost  will  vary  as  the  billing
 rates and salary of Erica M. McCoy change.
   In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
 an  immediate  past  service cost of approximately $23,400 which will be
 borne by the County of Steuben as  a  one-time  payment.  This  estimate
 assumes  that payment will be made on February 1, 2024. If the County of
 Steuben elects to amortize this cost over a five-year period,  the  cost
 for the first year including interest would be $5,230.
   Summary of relevant resources:
   Membership  data as of March 31, 2022 was used in measuring the impact
 of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2022 actuari-
 al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can  be  found  in  the
 2022  Report  of the Actuary and the 2022 Annual Comprehensive Financial
 Report.
   The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the  2020,
 2021,  and  2022  Annual  Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assump-
 tions, 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, 2022
 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 May 11, 2023, and intended for  use  only  during
 the  2023  Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2023-144, prepared by
 the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.