Senate Bill S10209

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   10209
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                                May 5, 2026
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by Sen. OBERACKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
 
 AN  ACT to retroactively establish participation of the Rockland Central
   School District in the New York State and Local Employees'  Retirement
   System
 
   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,  and
 subject  to  an application made to the New York State and Local Employ-
 ees' Retirement System, in a manner and form approved by the state comp-
 troller, the Rockland Central School District shall be  deemed  to  have
 been a participating employer in the New York State and Local Employees'
 Retirement System beginning July 1, 2025.
   (a)  All  service  rendered  by  an  eligible employee of the Rockland
 Central School District during such period shall be deemed service cred-
 itable. Employee contributions withheld  during  such  period  shall  be
 deemed to have been properly made; provided, however, that where employ-
 ee  contributions  attributable  to such service were not transmitted by
 the Rockland Central School District to the New  York  State  and  Local
 Employees'  Retirement  System,  such  service  shall  be  credited upon
 payment of such contributions in accordance with  section  two  of  this
 act.
   (b)  Any employer contributions required as a result of this act shall
 be paid by the Rockland Central School District in such  manner  and  at
 such time as determined by the state comptroller.
   (c)  For  the purposes of this act, "eligible employee" shall mean any
 current or former employee of the Rockland Central School  District  who
 was  a participant in the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement
 System on or before July 1, 2025, or a current or former employee of the
 Rockland Central School District that elected to become a participant in
 the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System  on  or  after
 July  1,  2025.  An  eligible  employee shall not include any current or
 former employee of the Rockland Central School District who is a partic-
 ipant or eligible for participation  in  a  separate  public  retirement
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD15312-02-6
 S. 10209                            2
 
 system  in  New York State derived directly from their employment at the
 Rockland Central School District.
   §  2.  Notwithstanding  any provision of law to the contrary, eligible
 employees who received a payment of any withheld employee  contributions
 from  the  Rockland  Central  School  District  attributable  to service
 rendered between July 1, 2025 and December 31, 2025, shall, upon payment
 to the state comptroller of such contributions, be deemed to have been a
 member of such retirement system during such period.
   (a) Such repayment shall be made within a time period and in a  manner
 determined  by  the  state  comptroller. Any interest, penalty, or addi-
 tional cost beyond  the  amount  of  employee  contributions  previously
 refunded shall be borne by the Rockland Central School District.
   (b)  Any  such  employee  shall be entitled to have their benefits and
 service credit determined as if such participation had  been  continuous
 during  such  period,  provided that any required employee contributions
 are repaid pursuant to this act.
   § 3. All past service costs and any other costs  associated  with  the
 implementation  of  this  act,  as  determined by the state comptroller,
 shall be borne by the Rockland Central School  District,  provided  that
 such  past service costs shall not include any contributions required to
 be made by an eligible employee pursuant to the  retirement  and  social
 security law.
   § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This  bill  would  deem  the Rockland Central School District (CSD) to
 have been a participating employer in  the  New  York  State  and  Local
 Employees' Retirement System (NYSLERS) beginning July 1, 2025.
   The  purpose  of  this  bill  is to correct an administrative error in
 establishing the participation of Rockland CSD,  an  entity  created  to
 allow the merger of two school districts that were participating employ-
 ers  in  NYSLERS.  Rockland CSD will be billed for any employer contrib-
 utions not paid by the merging employers through  the  standard  billing
 processes  used  at  NYSLERS.  No  additional employer contributions are
 required pursuant to this bill.
   All salary paid by Rockland CSD to members of NYSLERS between July  1,
 2025  and  December  31,  2025  must be reported as if Rockland CSD were
 participating as of July  1,  2025.  Additionally,  prior  to  crediting
 service, all member contributions must be remitted to NYSLERS.
   Summary of relevant resources:
   Membership data as of March 31, 2025 was used to measure the impact of
 the  bill, the same data used in the Actuarial Valuations dated April 1,
 2025. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2025 Report
 of the Actuary and the 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial  Report.  The
 actuarial  assumptions and methods used are described in the 2025 Annual
 Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assumptions, and the Codes, Rules
 and Regulations of the State of New York: Audit and  Control.  The  fair
 value  of assets and GASB disclosures can be found in the 2025 Financial
 Statements and Supplementary Information.
   Assumptions, demographics, and  other  considerations  may  have  been
 modified  to  better reflect specific provisions of any proposed benefit
 change(s).
   This fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the  viability
 of the bill, nor is it intended to serve as a substitute for the profes-
 sional judgment of an attorney.
   This  estimate, dated April 23, 2026, and intended for use only during
 the 2026 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note Number 2026-166.  As  Chief
 S. 10209                            3
 
 Actuary  of  the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS), I,
 Aaron Schottin Young, hereby certify that this  analysis  complies  with
 applicable  Actuarial  Standards  of  Practice  as  well  as the Code of
 Professional  Conduct  and Qualification Standards for Actuaries Issuing
 Statements of Actuarial Opinion of the American Academy of Actuaries, of
 which I am a member. I am a member of  NYSLRS  but  do  not  believe  it
 impairs my objectivity.