Senate Bill S7528A

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  7528--A
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              April 21, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by Sen. SCARCELLA-SPANTON -- read twice and ordered printed,
   and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and
   Pensions -- recommitted to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
   in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill
   amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said  commit-
   tee
 
 AN  ACT  to  amend  the  administrative code of the city of New York, in
   relation to extending the benefits of the  variable  supplements  fund
   for  transit police members of the New York city employees' retirement
   system
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Paragraph  (c)  of subdivision 1 of section 13-191 of the
 administrative code of the city of New York, as amended by  chapter  577
 of the laws of 1992, is amended to read as follows:
   (c)  "Beneficiary".  Any person who receives a retirement allowance by
 reason of having retired, on or  after  [July  first,  nineteen  hundred
 eighty-seven]  OCTOBER  FIRST,  NINETEEN HUNDRED SIXTY-EIGHT for service
 (with credit for twenty or more years  of  service  toward  the  minimum
 period) as a transit police officer; provided, that no person who held a
 rank  or  position  as  a transit police superior officer, as defined in
 subdivision eighty-four of section 13-101 of this [title]  CHAPTER  who,
 on  or after May first, nineteen hundred ninety-two, subsequently became
 a transit police officer shall be considered a beneficiary  unless  such
 person  (1)  subsequently performed at least three years of service as a
 transit police officer or (2) returned to service, from the position  of
 sergeant,  as  a transit police officer during the eighteen month proba-
 tionary period, or such other probationary period as may  be  applicable
 or  (3) returned to service as a transit police officer during the three
 year period specified in paragraph (e) of  subdivision  one  of  section
 seventy-five  of  the civil service law, or (4) returned to service as a
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD06434-04-6
              

 S. 7528--A                          2
 
 transit police officer as the result of a hearing conducted pursuant  to
 applicable law.
   § 2.  Paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 of section 13-192 of the adminis-
 trative  code  of the city of New York, as amended by chapter 720 of the
 laws of 1994, is amended to read as follows:
   (b) "Beneficiary". Any person who receives a retirement  allowance  by
 reason  of  having  retired,  on  or after [July first, nineteen hundred
 eighty-seven,] OCTOBER FIRST, NINETEEN HUNDRED SIXTY-EIGHT, for  service
 (with  credit  for  twenty  or  more years of service toward the minimum
 period) as a transit police member and  as  a  transit  police  superior
 officer; provided, however, that where a person who held or holds a rank
 or position as a transit police superior officer, subsequently and on or
 after May first, nineteen hundred ninety-two became or becomes a transit
 police  officer,  and while a transit police officer, retired or retires
 for service under such circumstances that [he or she]  THEY  would  have
 qualified  as  a  beneficiary  under  the provisions of paragraph (c) of
 subdivision one of section 13-191 of this [title]  CHAPTER  (other  than
 the  proviso  thereof), but did not or does not qualify as a beneficiary
 under such paragraph (c) because [he or she] SUCH BENEFICIARY was or  is
 disqualified  by the terms of such proviso, such retiree shall neverthe-
 less be deemed to be a beneficiary under the provisions of this section.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   SUMMARY: This proposed legislation would extend  the  eligibility  for
 the  payment  of  Transit  Police  Officers' and Transit Police Superior
 Officers' Variable Supplements Funds (VSF)  benefits  to  former  NYCERS
 members  who  retired  for service from the New York City Transit Police
 between October 1, 1968 and June 30, 1987  with  20  or  more  years  of
 service.
          EXPECTED INCREASE (DECREASE) IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS
   by Fiscal Year for the first 25 years ($ in Millions)

                Year                NYCERS
                2027                15.7
                2028                0.0
                2029                0.0
                2030                0.0
                2031                0.0
                2032                0.0
                2033                0.0
                2034                0.0
                2035                0.0
                2036                0.0
                2037                0.0
                2038                0.0
                2039                0.0
                2040                0.0
                2041                0.0
                2042                0.0
                2043                0.0
                2044                0.0
                2045                0.0
                2046                0.0
                2047                0.0
                2048                0.0
                2049                0.0
 S. 7528--A                          3
 
                2050                0.0
                2051                0.0
 
   The entire increase in employer contributions will be allocated to New
 York  City.  There  are  no  active Transit Police members of NYCERS and
 therefore a transfer from NYCERS to the impacted VSFs, funded by  a  New
 York  City  contribution,  would be necessary to fund the additional VSF
 benefit obligations.
   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.
         EXPECTED INCREASE (DECREASE) IN ACTUARIAL PRESENT VALUES
   as of June 30, 2025 ($ in Millions)

                Present Value (PV)                      NYCERS
                (1) PV of Employer Contributions:       14.2
                (2) PV of Employee Contributions:       0.0
                Total PV of Benefits (1) + (2):         14.2
 
   UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY (UAL): Actuarial  Accrued  Liabilities  are
 the  portion of the Present Value of Benefits allocated to past service.
 Since all members who would benefit are retired, the entire increase  in
 UAL would be recognized in the first year.
                AMORTIZATION OF UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY
 
                                              NYCERS
                Increase (Decrease) in UAL:   14.2 M
                Number of Payments:           1
                Amortization Payment:         15.7 M
 
   CENSUS  DATA:  The estimates presented herein are based on preliminary
 census data collected as of June 30,  2025.  The  census  data  for  the
 impacted population is summarized below.
 
                                              NYCERS
                Receiving Members
                - Number Count:               257
                - Average Age:                84.3
 
   IMPACT  ON  RETIREE  BENEFITS: Currently, Transit Police Officers' and
 Transit Police Superior Officers' VSFs provide supplemental  non-pension
 benefits  to  former  NYCERS members who retired for service on or after
 July 1, 1987 from New York City Transit Police with 20 or more years  of
 service.
   The  amount  of  VSF  benefits  paid is currently $12,000 per Calendar
 Year.  These VSF benefits are payable on an annual basis around December
 15th to eligible former NYCERS members for  their  lifetimes.  Upon  the
 death of the NYCERS retiree, VSF payments cease.
   Under  the proposed legislation, former NYCERS members who retired for
 service from New York City Transit Police between October  1,  1968  and
 June  30, 1987 with 20 or more years of service would become immediately
 eligible for VSF benefits on the December 15th following  the  Effective
 Date and for each year thereafter. For the purposes of this Fiscal Note,
 it  has  been  assumed  that benefits payable under this proposed legis-
 lation are prospective only.
 S. 7528--A                          4
 
   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 2026-15 dated February
 11, 2026 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
 2026 Legislative Session.