Senate Bill S8516

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8516
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                            September 29, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by Sen. FERNANDEZ -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
 
 AN ACT in relation to granting retroactive tier IV membership in the New
   York  state and local employees' retirement system to Richard J. Vogt,
   III

   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 to the contrary,
 Richard  J.  Vogt, III, a tier VI member of the New York city employees'
 retirement system employed by the New York city department  of  environ-
 mental protection as a sewage treatment worker and who was employed as a
 full-time  employee  with  the  state  university  of  New York maritime
 college from May 1, 2000 through August 30, 2000  and  who,  through  no
 fault  of  his  own,  did  not become a member of the New York state and
 local employees' retirement system on May 1, 2000 when he became  eligi-
 ble  for  membership  in  such system, shall be deemed to have a date of
 membership with the New  York  state  and  local  employees'  retirement
 system of May 1, 2000 if he shall file an application therefore with the
 state  comptroller  within  one  year of the effective date of this act.
 Upon the receipt of such application, Richard  J.  Vogt,  III  shall  be
 granted  tier  IV  status  in  the  New  York state and local employees'
 retirement system and shall be eligible for all the rights and  benefits
 thereof.
   § 2. All past service costs of implementing the provisions of this act
 shall be borne by the state university of New York maritime college, and
 there  shall  be  no  refund of member contributions to Richard J. Vogt,
 III.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   SUMMARY: This proposed legislation would permit Richard J.  Vogt  III,
 an  active  Tier  6  member  of  the New York City Employees' Retirement

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD13096-01-5
              

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 System (NYCERS), to elect, by filing an application with  NYCERS  within
 one  year  of  the  effective date, retroactive membership in the Tier 4
 NYCERS Age 57 Retirement Plan (57/5).
 
           EXPECTED INCREASE (DECREASE) IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS
                 by Fiscal Year for the first 25 years ($)
 
                           Year   NYCERS
                           2026        0
                           2027    7,200
                           2028    7,200
                           2029    7,300
                           2030    7,300
                           2031    7,300
                           2032    7,400
                           2033    7,500
                           2034    7,500
                           2035    7,600
                           2036    7,700
                           2037    7,900
                           2038    8,000
                           2039    8,100
                           2040    8,200
                           2041    8,100
                           2042    6,600
                           2043    6,500
                           2044    6,400
                           2045    6,100
                           2046    5,800
                           2047    5,100
                           2048    4,400
                           2049    3,800
                           2050    3,200
    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, 2025 ($)
 
                Present Value (PV)                 NYCERS
                (1) PV of Employer Contributions:   82,000
                (2) PV of Employee Contributions:  (29,000)
                Total PV of Benefits (1) + (2):     53,000
 
   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
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                                                   NYCERS
                Increase (Decrease) in UAL:        12,000
                Number of Payments:                    15
                Amortization Payment:               1,000
                Additional One-time Payment:            0
 
   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 is summarized below.
 
                                                   NYCERS
                Active Members
                - Number Count:                    1
                - Average Age:                     42.0
                - Average Service:                 6.0
                - Average Salary:                  97,400
 
   BACKGROUND:  Mr.  Vogt  is  currently  employed  by  the New York City
 Department of Environmental Protection. He was  previously  employed  by
 SUNY Maritime College from May 1, 2000, through August 30, 2000, but did
 not  become  a member of the New York State and Local Employees' Retire-
 ment System (NYSLRS) during that time.
   The proposed legislation would allow Mr. Vogt to receive service cred-
 it in NYCERS for his employment at SUNY Maritime College and  apply  for
 Tier  4 membership. This change from Tier 6 to Tier 4 would result in an
 earlier date of retirement  eligibility,  reduced  prospective  employee
 contribution  rates,  and a larger benefit. However, no refunds for past
 employee contributions would be permitted.
   ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The  estimates  presented  herein  have  been
 calculated  based  on the Revised 2021 Actuarial Assumptions and Methods
 of the impacted retirement systems.
   Since Mr. Vogt has less than 10 years of service with the  SUNY  Mari-
 time  College,  it  is assumed that no reserve would be transferred from
 NYSLRS, and the entire cost of this proposed legislation is expected  to
 be borne by New York City.
   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.
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   FISCAL  NOTE  IDENTIFICATION:  This  Fiscal Note 2025-61 dated May 13,
 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.