Senate Bill S9204

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   9204
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 13, 2026
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. JACKSON -- 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
   service  retirement  of  members  of the New York city fire department
   pension fund
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1. Paragraph 2 of subdivision b of section 510 of the retire-
 ment and social security law, as amended by chapter 18 of  the  laws  of
 2012, is amended and a new paragraph 2-a is added to read as follows:
   2.  The  first  day  of the month following the date on which a member
 completes or would have completed twenty-five years of credited service,
 with respect to service retirement benefits for police/fire members  and
 their  beneficiaries,  New  York  city  uniformed  correction/sanitation
 revised plan members and their  beneficiaries  or  investigator  revised
 plan  members  and  their beneficiaries, EXCEPT FOR UNIFORMED MEMBERS OF
 THE NEW YORK CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT PENSION FUND AND THEIR BENEFICIARIES.
   2-A. THE FIRST DAY OF THE MONTH FOLLOWING THE DATE ON WHICH  A  MEMBER
 COMPLETES  OR  WOULD  HAVE  COMPLETED  TWENTY-THREE  YEARS  OF  CREDITED
 SERVICE, WITH RESPECT  TO  SERVICE  RETIREMENT  BENEFITS  FOR  UNIFORMED
 MEMBERS OF THE NEW YORK CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT PENSION FUND.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   SUMMARY: This proposed legislation grants earlier Escalation eligibil-
 ity  for Tier 3 FIRE members who retire for service by allowing for Full
 Escalation at 23 years of service, and  commencement  of  partial  esca-
 lation for retirements with more than 20 years of service.
 
          EXPECTED INCREASE (DECREASE) IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS
           by Fiscal Year for the first 25 years ($ in Millions)
 
                     Year      FIRE
 
                     2027        5.2

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

                                                            LBD14825-02-6
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                     2028        5.6
                     2029        5.9
                     2030        6.3
                     2031        6.7
                     2032        7.2
                     2033        7.6
                     2034        8.1
                     2035        8.6
                     2036        9.1
                     2037        9.7
                     2038        10.2
                     2039        10.8
                     2040        11.5
                     2041        12.2
                     2042        12.6
                     2043        12.8
                     2044        11.4
                     2045        11.9
                     2046        12.3
                     2047        12.8
                     2048        13.4
                     2049        13.8
                     2050        14.1
                     2051        14.6
 
   Projected contributions include future new hires that may be impacted.
 For Fiscal Year 2052 and beyond, the expected increase in normal cost as
 a level percent of pay for impacted new entrants is approximately 0.45%.
   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 ($ in Millions)
 
              Present Value (PV)                 FIRE
 
              (1) PV of Employer Contributions:  56.1
              (2) PV of Employee Contributions:  (1.8)
              Total PV of Benefits (1) + (2):    54.3
 
   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
                                                 FIRE
 
              Increase (Decrease) in UAL:        18.6 M
              Number of Payments:                17
              Amortization Payment:              2.0 M
 S. 9204                             3
 
   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.
 
                                                 FIRE
              Active Members
 
              - Number Count:                    6,510
              - Average Age:                     34.5
              - Average Service:                 6.4
              - Average Salary:                  118,200
 
   IMPACT  ON MEMBER BENEFITS: Tier 3 FIRE members who retire for service
 are potentially eligible for the  following  benefit  adjustments  after
 retirement:
   *  Cost-of-Living  Adjustments  (COLA)  which  are based on 50% of the
 change in Consumer Price Index (CPI), limited to between 1% and 3%,  and
 applied to the first $18,000 of the maximum retirement allowance.
   *  Escalation  which  is  based  on  100%  of the change in CPI and is
 applied to the entire  benefit.  Yearly  increases  (or  decreases)  are
 limited  to  3%,  although any such excess is banked and applied cumula-
 tively to the benefit in subsequent years. Members  eligible  for  Esca-
 lation are also eligible for COLA, if COLA is greater.
   Currently,  Tier  3  FIRE  members who retire for service are eligible
 for:
   * Full Escalation, if commencing their service retirement  benefit  on
 or  after  the  date  they  attain  (or would have attained) 25 years of
 service.
   * Partial Escalation, if commencing their service  retirement  benefit
 up to three years prior to their Full Escalation date, wherein 1/36th of
 Full  Escalation is granted for each month that commencement succeeds 22
 years of service.
   * COLA, if commencing their service benefit at 22 years or fewer.
   Under the proposed legislation, Tier 3 FIRE  members  who  retire  for
 service would be eligible for:
   *  Full  Escalation, if commencing their service retirement benefit on
 or after the date they attain (or  would  have  attained)  23  years  of
 service.
   *  Partial  Escalation, if commencing their service retirement benefit
 up to three years prior to their Full Escalation date, wherein 1/36th of
 Full Escalation is granted for each month that commencement succeeds  20
 years of service.
   * COLA, if commencing their service benefit at 20 years or fewer.
   ASSUMPTIONS  AND  METHODS:  The  estimates  presented herein have been
 calculated based on the Revised 2021 Actuarial Assumptions  and  Methods
 of the impacted retirement systems. In addition:
   *  Retirement rates were adjusted to reflect the earlier payability of
 Full Escalation granted by the proposed legislation.
   * New entrants were assumed to replace exiting members so  that  total
 payroll increases by 3% each year for impacted groups. New entrant demo-
 graphics were developed based on data for recent new hires and actuarial
 judgement.
   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
 S. 9204                             4

 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.
   This Fiscal Note does not include cost analyses relating to provisions
 contained in Retirement and Social Security Law Section 500(c).
   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 2026-11 dated February
 10, 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.