Senate Bill S9190

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   9190
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 12, 2026
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  O'MARA -- 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
   the retirement of traffic officers with the town of Elmira
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section 1. Subdivisions b, c, g, and h of section 89-q of the  retire-
 ment  and  social  security  law, as added by chapter 158 of the laws of
 1995, are amended and a new subdivision k is added to read as follows:
   b. Such member shall be entitled to  retire  upon  the  completion  of
 twenty-five  years of total creditable service, OR TWENTY YEARS OF TOTAL
 CREDITABLE SERVICE IF SUCH MEMBER HAS SUBMITTED AN APPLICATION  PURSUANT
 TO  SUBDIVISION  K OF THIS SECTION, by filing an application therefor in
 the manner provided for in section seventy of this article.
   c. Upon completion of twenty-five years of  such  service,  OR  TWENTY
 YEARS OF SUCH SERVICE IF SUCH MEMBER HAS SUBMITTED AN APPLICATION PURSU-
 ANT  TO  SUBDIVISION  K  OF THIS SECTION, and upon retirement, each such
 member shall receive a pension which, together  with  an  annuity  which
 shall  be  the  actuarial  equivalent of [his] SUCH MEMBER'S accumulated
 contributions at the time of [his] SUCH MEMBER'S retirement and an addi-
 tional pension which is the actuarial equivalent of the reserved-for-in-
 creased-take-home-pay to which [he] SUCH MEMBER  may  then  be  entitled
 shall  be  sufficient  to  provide  [him]  SUCH MEMBER with a retirement
 allowance equal to one-half of [his] SUCH MEMBER'S final average salary.
   g. A member contributing on the basis of this section at the  time  of
 retirement,  may  retire  after  the  completion of twenty-five years of
 total creditable service, OR TWENTY YEARS OF TOTAL CREDITABLE SERVICE IF
 SUCH MEMBER HAS SUBMITTED AN APPLICATION PURSUANT TO  SUBDIVISION  K  OF
 THIS  SECTION.  Application therefor may be filed in a manner similar to
 that provided in section seventy of this  article.  Upon  completion  of
 twenty-five  years  of  such service, OR TWENTY YEARS OF SUCH SERVICE IF
 SUCH MEMBER HAS SUBMITTED AN APPLICATION PURSUANT TO  SUBDIVISION  K  OF
 THIS  SECTION,  and  upon  retirement,  each such member shall receive a
 pension which, together with an annuity which  shall  be  the  actuarial
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD04891-02-6
 S. 9190                             2

 equivalent  of [his] SUCH MEMBER'S accumulated contributions at the time
 of [his] SUCH MEMBER'S retirement and an additional pension which is the
 actuarial  equivalent  of  the  reserved-for-increased-take-home-pay  to
 which  [he]  SUCH  MEMBER  may  then  be entitled shall be sufficient to
 provide [him] SUCH MEMBER with a retirement allowance equal to  one-half
 of [his] SUCH MEMBER'S final average salary.
   h.  In  computing  the  twenty-five years of total service of a member
 pursuant to this section, OR TWENTY YEARS OF TOTAL SERVICE OF  A  MEMBER
 PURSUANT  TO  THIS  SECTION  IF SUCH MEMBER HAS SUBMITTED AN APPLICATION
 PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION K OF THIS SECTION, full credit  shall  be  given
 and  full  allowance shall be made for service of such member in time of
 war after World War I  as  defined  in  section  two  of  this  chapter,
 provided  such  member  at the time of [his] SUCH MEMBER'S entrance into
 the armed forces was in the service of the town of Elmira.
   K. NOTWITHSTANDING ANY PROVISION OF THIS SECTION TO  THE  CONTRARY,  A
 MEMBER  EMPLOYED  AS  A  TRAFFIC OFFICER WITH THE TOWN OF ELMIRA TRAFFIC
 DISTRICT NUMBER ONE SHALL HAVE THE OPTION  TO  OPT  INTO  A  TWENTY-YEAR
 RETIREMENT PLAN UNDER THIS SECTION, INSTEAD OF THE STANDARD TWENTY-FIVE-
 YEAR  RETIREMENT  PLAN  UNDER THIS SECTION; PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THAT SUCH
 TRAFFIC OFFICER SUBMITS AN APPLICATION THEREFORE WITHIN ONE  YEAR  AFTER
 THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS SUBDIVISION, OR WITHIN ONE YEAR OF SUCH OFFI-
 CER'S  FIRST  DAY  OF  EMPLOYMENT  AS A TRAFFIC OFFICER WITH THE TOWN OF
 ELMIRA TRAFFIC DISTRICT NUMBER ONE.  NO PERSON SHALL  BE  AUTHORIZED  TO
 OPT  INTO  A  TWENTY-YEAR  RETIREMENT PLAN UNDER THIS SECTION UNLESS THE
 TOWN OF ELMIRA HAS FIRST PASSED A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING  TRAFFIC  OFFI-
 CERS EMPLOYED WITH THE TOWN OF ELMIRA TRAFFIC DISTRICT NUMBER ONE TO OPT
 INTO  SUCH TWENTY-YEAR RETIREMENT PLAN IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS
 OF THIS SECTION.
   § 2. Subdivision m of section 603 of the retirement and social securi-
 ty law, as added by chapter 158 of the laws of 1995, is amended to  read
 as follows:
   m.  The  service  retirement  benefit specified in section six hundred
 four of this article shall be payable to members with twenty-five  years
 of creditable service, OR TWENTY YEARS OF CREDITABLE SERVICE FOR MEMBERS
 WHO  HAVE  SUBMITTED AN APPLICATION PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION K OF SECTION
 EIGHTY-NINE-Q OF THIS CHAPTER, without regard to age,  who  are  traffic
 officers  with the town of Elmira as defined in section eighty-nine-q of
 this chapter if: (i) such members have met the minimum service  require-
 ments  upon  retirement, and (ii) in the case of a member subject to the
 provisions of article fourteen of this chapter,  such  member  files  an
 election  therefor  which  provides that [he or she] SUCH MEMBER will be
 subject to the provisions of this article and to none of the  provisions
 of  such  article fourteen.   Such election, which shall be irrevocable,
 shall be in writing, duly executed and shall be  filed  with  the  comp-
 troller  on  or before September first, nineteen hundred ninety-six. For
 the purposes of this subdivision, the term  "creditable  service"  shall
 have  the  meaning  as so defined in both sections eighty-nine-q and six
 hundred one of this chapter.
   § 3. Subdivision n of section 604 of the retirement and social securi-
 ty law, as added by chapter 158 of the laws of 1995, is amended to  read
 as follows:
   n.  The early service retirement benefit for a member who is a traffic
 officer with the town of Elmira as defined in section  eighty-nine-q  of
 this  chapter  shall be a pension equal to one-fiftieth of final average
 salary times years of credited service at the completion of  twenty-five
 years  of service as such traffic officer, OR TWENTY YEARS OF SERVICE AS
 S. 9190                             3
 
 SUCH TRAFFIC OFFICER IF SUCH TRAFFIC OFFICER HAS SUBMITTED  AN  APPLICA-
 TION PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION K OF SECTION EIGHTY-NINE-Q OF THIS CHAPTER,
 but  not  exceeding one-half of [his or her] SUCH MEMBER'S final average
 salary.
   §  4.   All costs associated with the implementation of this act shall
 be borne by the town of Elmira.
   § 5. This act shall take effect on the first of January next  succeed-
 ing  the  date  upon  which it shall have become a law.  Effective imme-
 diately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation
 necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective  date  are
 authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This  bill  would  allow  any  traffic officer employed by the town of
 Elmira traffic district number one to apply  to  receive  a  benefit  of
 one-half  of final average salary (FAS) after the completion of 20 years
 of creditable service. Currently, these members  are  eligible  for  the
 one-half FAS benefit after the completion of 25 years.
   We  estimate  that  the  town  of  Elmira's  annual contributions will
 increase $16,000 beginning FYE 2027. Annual  costs  will  vary  but  are
 expected to average 6.2% of salary.
   In  addition,  there will be an immediate past service cost of $22,700
 borne by the town of Elmira as a one-time  payment.  This  cost  assumes
 that payment will be made on February 1, 2027.
   These  estimated costs are based on 3 affected members employed by the
 town of Elmira, with annual salary of approximately $200,000 as of March
 31, 2025.
   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 February 11, 2026,  and  intended  for  use  only
 during  the  2026 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note Number 2026-67. As
 Chief 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 Actu-
 aries, of which I am a member. I am  a  member  of  NYSLRS  but  do  not
 believe it impairs my objectivity.