S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
5726
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
I N S E N A T E
February 28, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sen. SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
providing certain death benefits to correction officers, correction
officer-sergeants, correction officer-captains, assistant wardens,
associate wardens or wardens employed by Orange county
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding
a new section 606-d to read as follows:
§ 606-D. DEATH BENEFITS FOR CORRECTION OFFICERS EMPLOYED BY ORANGE
COUNTY. A. AS USED IN THIS SECTION, THE TERM "CORRECTION OFFICER" SHALL
MEAN A PERSON EMPLOYED BY THE ORANGE COUNTY CORRECTION DEPARTMENT WITH A
TITLE OF CORRECTION OFFICER, CORRECTION OFFICER-SERGEANT, CORRECTION
OFFICER-CAPTAIN, ASSISTANT WARDEN, ASSOCIATE WARDEN OR WARDEN.
B. NOTWITHSTANDING ANY PROVISION OF LAW TO THE CONTRARY, WHERE A
CORRECTION OFFICER WOULD HAVE BEEN ENTITLED TO A SERVICE RETIREMENT
BENEFIT AT THE TIME OF THEIR DEATH AND WHERE THEIR DEATH OCCURS ON OR
AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE CHAPTER OF THE LAWS OF TWO THOUSAND
TWENTY-FIVE THAT ADDED THIS SECTION, THE BENEFICIARY OR BENEFICIARIES
MAY ELECT TO RECEIVE, IN A LUMP SUM, AN AMOUNT PAYABLE WHICH SHALL BE
EQUAL TO THE PENSION RESERVE THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED HAD THE
MEMBER RETIRED ON THE DATE OF SUCH MEMBER'S DEATH, OR THE VALUE OF THE
DEATH BENEFIT AND THE RESERVE-FOR-INCREASED-TAKE-HOME-PAY, IF ANY,
WHICHEVER IS GREATER.
§ 2. All past service costs associated with implementing the
provisions of this act shall be borne by the county of Orange and may be
amortized over a period of ten years.
§ 3. 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.
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00684-02-5
S. 5726 2
§ 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would modify the in-service death benefit for retirement
eligible members of the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement
System who are employed by Orange County in certain correction officer
titles. The in-service death benefit will be the value of the pension
reserve as if the member had retired on their date of death.
If this bill is enacted during the 2025 Legislative Session, we antic-
ipate that there will be an increase of approximately $42,000 in the
annual contributions of Orange County for the fiscal year ending March
31, 2026. In future years this cost will vary but is expected to average
0.1% of salary annually.
In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
an immediate past service cost of approximately $324,000 which will be
borne by Orange County as a one-time payment. This estimate assumes that
payment will be made on February 1, 2026. If Orange County elects to
amortize this cost over a 10-year period, the cost for each year includ-
ing interest would be $41,400.
These estimated costs are based on 305 affected members employed by
Orange County, with annual salary of approximately $33.7 million as of
March 31, 2024.
Summary of relevant resources:
Membership data as of March 31, 2024 was used in measuring the impact
of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2024 actuari-
al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the
2024 Report of the Actuary and the 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial
Report. The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the
2024 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, 2024 New York State and Local Retirement System Financial Statements
and Supplementary Information.
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 February 13, 2025, and intended for use only
during the 2025 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2025-16. As
Chief Actuary of the New York State and Local Retirement System, 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.
