S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8579
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                               May 21, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  TANNOUSIS  --  read once and referred to the
   Committee on Governmental Employees
 
 AN ACT granting retroactive Tier IV membership  in  the  New  York  city
   teachers' retirement system to certain employees
 
   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, any person, who
 is currently employed by the New York city department of education and a
 member of the New York city teachers' retirement  system,  and  who  was
 employed  by  the city of Yonkers parks department for the period begin-
 ning in 2009 and ending in 2014, and who, for reasons not ascribable  to
 their  own  negligence,  failed to become a member of the New York state
 and local employees' retirement system during such employment  with  the
 city of Yonkers parks department in 2009, shall be granted service cred-
 it in the New York city teachers' retirement system for their employment
 with  the  city  of Yonkers parks department for the period beginning in
 2009 and ending in 2014 and shall be granted  Tier  IV  status  in  such
 retirement  system,  provided that an application is filed with the head
 of the New York city teachers' retirement system within  one  year  from
 the effective date of this act.
   § 2. All past service costs associated with the implementation 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:
          Allow Certain TRS Members to Reinstate Tier 4 Membership
 
   SUMMARY:  This proposed legislation would permit active members of the
 New York City Teachers' Retirement System (TRS) who were employed by the
 City of Yonkers Parks  Department  for  a  defined  period  to  purchase
 service  and to elect, by filing an application with TRS within one year
 of the effective date, retroactive membership in Tier 4.

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD09807-03-5
              

 A. 8579                             2
 
          EXPECTED INCREASE (DECREASE) IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS
                 by Fiscal Year for the first 25 years ($)
 
                     Year      TRS
                     2026      0
                     2027      16,900
                     2028      17,100
                     2029      17,300
                     2030      17,500
                     2031      17,700
                     2032      18,100
                     2033      18,500
                     2034      18,700
                     2035      18,900
                     2036      19,200
                     2037      19,800
                     2038      20,500
                     2039      21,000
                     2040      21,500
                     2041      21,800
                     2042      22,200
                     2043      22,600
                     2044      22,800
                     2045      11,000
                     2046      6,600
                     2047      2,700
                     2048      (500)
                     2049      (3,000)
                     2050      (4,800)
    Employer Contribution impact beyond Fiscal Year 2050 is not shown.
 
   The entire increase (decrease) in employer contributions will be allo-
 cated 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, including future service accrual and pay increases.
 Future new hires are not included in this present value.
 
          INITIAL INCREASE (DECREASE) IN ACTUARIAL PRESENT VALUES
                          as of June 30, 2025 ($)
 
           Present Value (PV)                    TRS
           (1) PV of Employer Contributions:     183,000
           (2) PV of Employee Contributions:     (89,000)
           Total PV of Benefits (1) + (2):       94,000
 
   UNFUNDED  ACCRUED  LIABILITY  (UAL): Actuarial Accrued Liabilities are
 the portion of the Present Value of Benefits allocated to past  service.
 Changes  in UAL were amortized over the expected remaining working life-
 time of those impacted using level dollar payments.
 
                AMORTIZATION OF UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY
 
                                                 TRS
           Increase (Decrease) in UAL:           95,000
           Number of Payments:                   18
 A. 8579                             3
 
           Amortization Payment:                 10,000
 
   CENSUS  DATA:  The  estimates presented herein are based on one member
 who was specifically identified  as  being  impacted  by  this  proposed
 legislation,  with the preliminary census data collected for this member
 as of June 30, 2024 summarized below.  However,  the  actual  number  of
 members who may benefit from this proposed legislation is unknown.
 
                                                 TRS
           Active Members
           - Number Count:                       1
           - Average Age:                        37.0
           - Average Service:                    8.0
           - Average Salary:                     106,600
 
   BACKGROUND:  The  proposed  legislation  would  apply  to  TRS members
 currently employed by the New York City  Department  of  Education,  who
 were  employed  by  the  City of Yonkers Parks Department for the period
 beginning in 2009 and ending in 2014 and did not join the New York State
 and Local Employees' Retirement System during such employment.
   Under this proposed legislation, such members  would  receive  service
 credit in TRS for their employment with the Yonkers Parks Department and
 would  be granted retroactive Tier 4 membership. A change from Tier 6 to
 Tier 4 would result in an earlier date of retirement eligibility,  lower
 overall employee contribution rates, and a larger benefit.
   ASSUMPTIONS  AND  METHODS:  The  estimates  presented herein have been
 calculated based on the Revised 2021 Actuarial Assumptions  and  Methods
 of the impacted retirement systems.
   For purposes of this Fiscal Note, it was assumed that members will get
 a  refund  of  past  Tier 6 contributions that exceeded their applicable
 Tier 4 contribution rate.
   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 2025-58 dated May 9, 2025
 was  prepared  by  the  Chief  Actuary  for the New York City Retirement
 Systems and Pension Funds and is intended for use only during  the  2025
 Legislative Session.