NY State Senate Bill 2025-S7808

Senate Bill S7808

2025-2026 Legislative Session

Relates to the determination of salary base for members of the New York city police pension fund

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Civil Service And Pensions Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
May 09, 2025	referred to civil service and pensions

2025-S7808 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A8322
Current Committee:: Senate Civil Service And Pensions
Law Section:: Retirement and Social Security Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §443, R & SS L
Versions Introduced in 2023-2024 Legislative Session:: S6290, A6403

2025-S7808 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to the determination of salary base for members of the New York city police pension fund; provides that the salary base for members of the New York city police pension fund whose employment with the police department of the city of New York commenced on or after July 1, 2000 shall be determined in the same manner as members whose employment commenced prior to such date.

2025-S7808 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S7808

SPONSOR: SCARCELLA-SPANTON
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
determination of salary base for members of the New York city police
pension fund

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To provide a party amongst all the Tier 2 members of the New York City
Police Department Pension Fund in the calculation of their salary bases

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:-

Section 1 amends section 443 of the retirement and social security law
by adding a new subdivision h to provide that the salary base for
members of the New York City police department pension fund hired on or
after July 1st, 2000, covered under this article of law shall be calcu-
lated in the same manner as those members hired prior to July 1st, 2000.

Section 2 provides that this act shall take effect immediately.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The New York City Police Department Pension Fund system breaks its
members into different tiers that are subject to different benefits and
service requirements based on the date of the member's hire. For all
Tier 1 and Tier 2 members, pensions are equal to 50% of their final
average salary (FAS) when they go to retire after a certain number of
years of service.

Within Tier 2, which encompasses hires from July 1st, 1973 until June
30th, 2009, there is a single and significant disparity in member bene-
fits: those who commenced service before July 1st, 2000 (the "original"
Tier 2 members) have their final average salary based on their most
recent 12 months or a 3-year average from their highest-earning years,
whichever is higher, while those who commenced service after July 1st,
2000 (the "new" Tier 2 members) base their FAS on the most recent 12
months of-service, with no opportunity to look at averages over a longer
period of time. This is a small but important distinction, as the amount
of overtime a Police officers will work varies greatly year to year and
basing final salary on only the 12 months prior to retirement often
denies these members the ability to have their pension reflect the
strenuous and lengthy hours of their peak years.

This disparity does a disservice to the strongest and most dedicated of
this class of civil servants who put in long and demanding hours to save
and protect lives, only to see these hours severely discounted for the
purpose of calculating a pension. This bill will correct this historical
mistake by clarifying that all members of Tier 2 of the New York City
Police Department Pension Fund should be subject to the same FAS calcu-
lation.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2023: reported and committed to Finance.

2024: reported and committed to Finance.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

See bill for 2025 fiscal note.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act should take effect immediately.

2025-S7808 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7808
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                                May 9, 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
 
 AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in  relation  to
   determination  of  salary base for members of the New York city police
   pension fund

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Section  443 of the retirement and social security law is
 amended by adding a new subdivision i to read as follows:
   I. NOTWITHSTANDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL OR LOCAL LAW, CHARTER,  ADMIN-
 ISTRATIVE  CODE,  AGREEMENT,  RESOLUTION  OR  RULE  OR REGULATION TO THE
 CONTRARY, THE SALARY BASE FOR  MEMBERS  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  CITY  POLICE
 PENSION  FUND WHOSE EMPLOYMENT WITH THE POLICE DEPARTMENT OF THE CITY OF
 NEW YORK COMMENCED ON OR AFTER THE FIRST OF JULY, TWO THOUSAND  TO  WHOM
 THIS ARTICLE OTHERWISE APPLIES SHALL BE DETERMINED IN THE SAME MANNER AS
 THE  SALARY  BASE  FOR  MEMBERS OF THE NEW YORK CITY POLICE PENSION FUND
 WHOSE EMPLOYMENT WITH THE POLICE DEPARTMENT OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK
 COMMENCED BEFORE THE FIRST OF JULY, TWO THOUSAND.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to members
 of  the  New  York  city police pension fund who retire on or after such
 effective date.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   SUMMARY: This proposed legislation would change the  salary  base  for
 Tier  2  members  of  the New York City Police Pension Fund (POLICE) who
 were hired on or after July 1, 2000 to be the greater of final salary or
 a three-year average.
 
          EXPECTED INCREASE (DECREASE) IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS
           by Fiscal Year for the first 25 years ($ in Millions)
                               Year      POLICE
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD03630-02-5

 S. 7808                             2
 
                               2026      8.4
                               2027      8.2
                               2028      8.0
                               2029      7.9
                               2030      7.8
                               2031      0.5
                               2032      0.5
                               2033      0.4
                               2034      0.3
                               2035      0.3
                               2036      0.2
                               2037      0.2
                               2038      0.2
                               2039      0.1
                               2040      0.1
                               2041      0.1
                               2042      0.1
                               2043      0.0
                               2044      0.0
                               2045      0.0
                               2046      0.0
                               2047      0.0
                               2048      0.0
                               2049      0.0
                               2050      0.0
     Employer Contribution impact beyond Fiscal Year 2050 is not shown.
 
   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, 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, 2024 ($ in Millions)
              Present Value (PV)                      POLICE
              (1) PV of Employer Contributions:          33.6
              (2) PV of Employee Contributions:           0.0
              Total PV of Benefits (1) + (2):            33.6
 
   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
                                                   POLICE
                Increase (Decrease) in UAL:        28.5 M
                Number of Payments:                   5
                Amortization Payment:               7.2 M
 
   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 (active members hired on or after July 1,  2000)  is
 summarized below.
 S. 7808                             3
 
                                              POLICE
                     Active Members
                     - Number Count:           10,574
                     - Average Age:              44.1
                     - Average Service:          18.3
                     - Average Salary:        165,900
 
   IMPACT ON MEMBER BENEFITS: Pension benefits are primarily derived as a
 percentage of salary base. For Tier 2 POLICE members hired prior to July
 1, 2000, the salary base is equal to the greater of
   (1) the pensionable earnings in the final 12 months of service, or
   (2)  the  average pensionable earnings earned in any consecutive three
 years of service.
   For Tier 2 POLICE members hired on or after July 1, 2000,  the  salary
 base  is equal to the pensionable earnings earned in the final 12 months
 of service only.
   Under the proposed legislation, the salary base  shall  be  determined
 the same for Tier 2 POLICE members hired on or after July 1, 2000, as it
 is for Tier 2 members hired prior to July 1, 2000.
   Note, pensionable earnings in the final 12 months or the highest three
 consecutive years, are subject to certain limits.
   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 2025-52 dated May 2, 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.

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