STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7572--A 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY May 25, 2023 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. PHEFFER AMATO -- read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Employees -- recommitted to the Committee on Governmental Employees in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to eligibility for participants in the automotive 25 year/age 50 pension plan with more than 30 years of credited service who remain in active service after age 62 to receive a service retirement benefit equiv- alent to the standard service retirement benefit received by Tier IV members with the same age and service The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision a of section 603 of the retirement and social 2 security law, as amended by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, is amended 3 to read as follows: 4 a. The service retirement benefit specified in section six hundred 5 four of this article shall be payable to members who have met the mini- 6 mum service requirements upon retirement and attainment of age sixty- 7 two, other than members who are eligible for early service retirement 8 pursuant to subdivision c of section six hundred four-b of this article, 9 subdivision c of section six hundred four-c of this article, subdivision 10 d of section six hundred four-d of this article, subdivision c of 11 section six hundred four-e of this article, subdivision c of section six 12 hundred four-f of this article, [subdivision c of section six hundred 13 four-g of this article,] subdivision c of section six hundred four-h of 14 this article or subdivision c of section six hundred four-i of this 15 article, provided, however, a member of a teachers' retirement system or 16 the New York state and local employees' retirement system who first 17 joins such system before January first, two thousand ten or a member who 18 is a uniformed court officer or peace officer employed by the unified EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD09945-04-4
A. 7572--A 2 1 court system who first becomes a member of the New York state and local 2 employees' retirement system before April first, two thousand twelve may 3 retire without reduction of his or her retirement benefit upon attain- 4 ment of at least fifty-five years of age and completion of thirty or 5 more years of service, provided, however, that a uniformed court officer 6 or peace officer employed by the unified court system who first becomes 7 a member of the New York state and local employees' retirement system on 8 or after January first, two thousand ten and retires without reduction 9 of his or her retirement benefit upon attainment of at least fifty-five 10 years of age and completion of thirty or more years of service pursuant 11 to this section shall be required to make the member contributions 12 required by subdivision f of section six hundred thirteen of this arti- 13 cle for all years of credited and creditable service, provided further 14 that the [the] preceding provisions of this subdivision shall not apply 15 to a New York city revised plan member. 16 § 2. Subdivision a of section 603 of the retirement and social securi- 17 ty law, as amended by section 3-a of chapter 19 of the laws of 2008, is 18 amended to read as follows: 19 a. The service retirement benefit specified in section six hundred 20 four of this article shall be payable to members who have met the mini- 21 mum service requirements upon retirement and attainment of age sixty- 22 two, other than members who are eligible for early service retirement 23 pursuant to subdivision c of section six hundred four-b of this article, 24 subdivision c of section six hundred four-c of this article, subdivision 25 d of section six hundred four-d of this article, subdivision c of 26 section six hundred four-e of this article, subdivision c of section six 27 hundred four-f of this article, [subdivision c of section six hundred 28 four-g of this article,] subdivision c of section six hundred four-h of 29 this article or subdivision c of section six hundred four-i of this 30 article provided, however, a member who is a peace officer employed by 31 the unified court system or a member of a teachers' retirement system or 32 the New York state and local employees' retirement system may retire 33 without reduction of his or her retirement benefit upon attainment of at 34 least fifty-five years of age and completion of thirty or more years of 35 service. 36 § 3. Paragraph 3 of subdivision b of section 604-g of the retirement 37 and social security law, as added by chapter 414 of the laws of 2002, is 38 amended to read as follows: 39 3. Any election to be a participant in the twenty-five year/age fifty 40 retirement program shall be irrevocable; provided that a participant who 41 has more than thirty years of credited service and who has remained in 42 active service after reaching sixty-two years of age may elect to 43 receive a service retirement benefit calculated in accordance with 44 subdivision b of section six hundred four of this article in lieu of a 45 service retirement benefit calculated in accordance with subdivision c 46 of this section. 47 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that the amend- 48 ments to subdivision a of section 603 of the retirement and social secu- 49 rity law made by section one of this act shall be subject to the expira- 50 tion and reversion of such subdivision pursuant to subdivision (b) of 51 section 13 of chapter 683 of the laws of 2003, as amended, when upon 52 such date the provisions of section two of this act shall take effect. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: SUMMARY: This proposed legislation would permit certain Tier 4 members in NYCERS and BERS Automotive 25-Year/Age 50 Plans (Auto 25-Year Plan)
A. 7572--A 3 with 30 or more years of service to receive a service retirement benefit calculated under the Tier 4 basic plan, if greater. EXPECTED INCREASE (DECREASE) IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS by Fiscal Year for the first 25 years ($ in Thousands) Year NYCERS BERS TOTAL 2025 1,457 3 1,460 2026 1,458 3 1,461 2027 1,460 3 1,463 2028 1,462 3 1,465 2029 1,464 3 1,467 2030 1,465 3 1,468 2031 1,465 3 1,468 2032 1,464 3 1,467 2033 1,462 0 1,462 2034 1,457 0 1,457 2035 217 0 217 2036 212 0 212 2037 205 0 205 2038 198 0 198 2039 189 0 189 2040 180 0 180 2041 170 0 170 2042 161 0 161 2043 151 0 151 2044 140 0 140 2045 129 0 129 2046 118 0 118 2047 107 0 107 2048 96 0 96 2049 85 0 85 Employer Contribution impact beyond Fiscal Year 2049 is not shown. The initial increase in employer contributions of $1.5 million is estimated to be $1.4 million for New York City and $0.1 million for the other obligors of NYCRS. EXPECTED INCREASE (DECREASE) IN ACTUARIAL LIABILITIES as of June 30, 2023 ($ in Thousands) Present Value (PV) NYCERS BERS PV of Benefits: 10,735 18 PV of Employee Contributions: 0 0 PV of Employer Contributions: 10,735 18 Unfunded Accrued Liabilities: 8,390 13 AMORTIZATION OF UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY NYCERS BERS Number of Payments: 10 8 Fiscal Year of Last Payment: 2034 2032 Amortization Payment: 1,236 K 2 K
A. 7572--A 4 Unfunded Accrued Liability increases were amortized over the expected remaining working lifetime of those impacted by the benefit changes using level dollar payments. CENSUS DATA: The estimates presented herein are based on preliminary census data collected as of June 30, 2023. The census data for the impacted population is summarized below. NYCERS BERS Active Members - Number Count: 457 2 - Average Age: 53.3 50.0 - Average Service: 16.8 15.5 - Average Salary: 125,900 122,600 IMPACT ON MEMBER BENEFITS: Currently, Tier 4 Auto 25-Year Plan members who never previously participated in either the 55/25 plan or 57/5 plan enacted by Chapter 96 of the Laws of 1995 and who retire with 30 or more years of service, receive a service retirement benefit that is equal to 60% of Final Average Salary (FAS). Under the proposed legislation, the service retirement benefit for such members with 30 or more years of service would be calculated as the greater of the above, and: * For those at least age 62, 60% of FAS plus 1.5% of FAS for each year of service beyond 30 years. * For those age 55 through 61, 60% of FAS plus 1.5% of FAS for each year of service beyond 30 years, multiplied by the applicable early retirement age reduction factor. The service retirement benefits for Tier 6 Auto 25-Year Plan members and Tier 4 members with previous Tier 4 55/25 plan or 57/5 plan partic- ipation are assumed to remain unchanged. 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). 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 2024-14 dated February 22, 2024 was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City Retire- ment Systems and Pension Funds. This estimate is intended for use only during the 2024 Legislative Session.