Assembly Bill A5885

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   5885
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             February 24, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by M. of A. BERGER -- read once and referred to the Committee
   on Governmental Employees
 
 AN ACT authorizing Jonathan Grossman to apply for a recalculation of his
   retirement benefits
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section 1. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, Jona-
 than Grossman, who joined the New York city teachers' retirement  system
 as  a  Tier I member on January 1, 1972, who retired from such system on
 September 28, 2010, and who for reasons not ascribable to his own negli-
 gence had his retirement benefits calculated without the inclusion of  a
 lump  sum  payment  for  accumulated vacation, shall have his retirement
 benefits recalculated with such lump sum  payments,  including  interest
 accruing  from  the  date of retirement, if he shall file an application
 therefor with the state comptroller on or before one year of the  effec-
 tive date of this act.
   § 2. All past service costs of implementing the provisions of this act
 shall be borne by the city of New York.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   SUMMARY:  This  proposed  legislation would allow Jonathan Grossman, a
 retired Tier 1 member of the New York City Teachers'  Retirement  System
 (TRS)  to  have his retirement benefits recalculated to include his lump
 sum payment for accumulated vacation in the  calculation  of  his  final
 average salary.
 
          EXPECTED INCREASE (DECREASE) IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS
                 by Fiscal Year for the first 25 years ($)
 
                           Year         TRS
 
                           2026           0
                           2027     360,000
                           2028           0
 
              

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD00846-02-5
 A. 5885                             2
 
                           2029           0
                           2030           0
                           2031           0
                           2032           0
                           2033           0
                           2034           0
                           2035           0
                           2036           0
                           2037           0
                           2038           0
                           2039           0
                           2040           0
                           2041           0
                           2042           0
                           2043           0
                           2044           0
                           2045           0
                           2046           0
                           2047           0
                           2048           0
                           2049           0
                           2050           0
 
 The  entire  increase in employer contributions will be allocated to New
 York City.
   PRESENT VALUE OF BENEFITS:  The  Present  Value  of  Benefits  is  the
 discounted  expected  value  of  benefits paid to current members if all
 assumptions are met.
 
          INITIAL INCREASE (DECREASE) IN ACTUARIAL PRESENT VALUES
                          as of June 30, 2025 ($)
 
             Present Value (PV)                        TRS
 
             (1) PV of Employer Contributions:     325,000
             (2) PV of Employee Contributions:           0
             Total PV of Benefits (1) + (2):       325,000
 
 UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY (UAL): Actuarial Accrued Liabilities are  the
 portion  of the Present Value of Benefits allocated to past service. For
 purposes of this Fiscal Note, UAL attributable to inactive  members  was
 recognized immediately.
 
                AMORTIZATION OF UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY
 
                                                       TRS
 
                Increase (Decrease) in UAL:        325,000
                Number of Payments:                      1
                Amortization Payment:              360,000
 
   CENSUS  DATA:  The estimates presented herein are based on preliminary
 census data collected as of June 30,  2024.  The  census  data  for  the
 impacted population is summarized below.
 
                                                       TRS
 A. 5885                             3
 
                Receiving Members
                - Number Count:                          1
                - Average Age:                        77.0
 
   IMPACT ON MEMBER BENEFITS: Mr. Grossman retired as a Tier 1 TRS member
 on September 28, 2010. He currently receives an annual retirement allow-
 ance  of  $103,945 per year under the 50% Joint and Survivor with Pop-Up
 payment option.
   Under the proposed legislation, Mr.  Grossman's  retirement  allowance
 would  be recalculated to include in his final average salary a lump sum
 payment he received for unused vacation time, which is a benefit that is
 generally not afforded to TRS retirees. The additional  cost,  less  any
 required  member  contributions  paid  by  Mr.  Grossman,  to  fund  the
 increased retirement allowance under the proposed legislation  would  be
 paid by the City of New York.
   Tier  1  TRS  members  are  generally  permitted  to take an actuarial
 reduction of their retirement  allowance  to  account  for  deficits  in
 member  contributions.  For  purposes of this fiscal note, it is assumed
 that Mr.  Grossman would not pay any owed member contributions resulting
 from the recalculation. Based on  this  assumption  and  application  of
 other  Tier  1  benefit calculation provisions, it is estimated that Mr.
 Grossman's annual retirement allowance would increase to $114,964.  This
 annual increase would apply prospectively as well as retroactively, less
 any payments previously made, to Mr.  Grossman's September 28, 2010 date
 of retirement.
   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). This Fiscal Note does not reflect any chapter
 laws that may have been enacted during the current legislative session.
   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 2025-13 dated February
 12, 2025 was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City Retire-
 ment Systems and Pension Funds and is intended for use only  during  the
 2025 Legislative Session.