] is old law to be omitted. LBD02740-02-5A. 6911 2 1 a participating employer that is a town or village in the county of 2 Suffolk shall be eligible to retire pursuant to the provisions of this 3 section. Such eligibility shall be an alternative to the eligibility 4 provisions available under any other plan of this article to which such 5 member is subject. 6 b. Such member shall be entitled to retire upon the completion of 7 twenty-five years of total creditable service by filing an application 8 therefor in the manner provided for in section seventy of this article. 9 c. Upon completion of twenty-five years of such service and upon 10 retirement, each such member shall receive a pension which, together 11 with an annuity which shall be the actuarial equivalent of accumulated 12 contributions at the time of retirement and an additional pension which 13 is the actuarial equivalent of the reserved-for-increased-take-home-pay 14 to which such member may then be entitled shall be sufficient to provide 15 a retirement allowance equal to one-half of such member's final average 16 salary. 17 d. As used in this section "creditable service" shall include all 18 services performed as a fire marshal I or supervisor of such title 19 employed by the county of Suffolk or a participating employer that is a 20 town or village in the county of Suffolk that has elected to provide the 21 benefits provided by this section. 22 e. Credit for service as a paid firefighter or officer of any organ- 23 ized fire department shall also be deemed to be creditable service and 24 shall be included in computing years of total service for retirement 25 pursuant to this section. 26 f. A member contributing on the basis of this section at the time of 27 retirement, may retire after the completion of twenty-five years of 28 total creditable service. Application therefor may be filed in a manner 29 similar to that provided in section seventy of this article. Upon 30 completion of twenty-five years of such service and upon retirement, 31 each such member shall receive a pension which, together with an annuity 32 which shall be the actuarial equivalent of accumulated contributions at 33 the time of retirement and an additional pension which is the actuarial 34 equivalent of the reserved-for-increased-take-home-pay to which such 35 member may then be entitled shall be sufficient to provide a retirement 36 allowance equal to one-half of such member's final average salary; for 37 service beyond twenty-five years the benefit is increased by one-sixti- 38 eth of final average salary for each year of additional service credit 39 provided, however, that the total allowance payable pursuant to this 40 section shall not exceed three-fourths of such member's final average 41 salary. 42 g. In computing the twenty-five years of total service of a member 43 pursuant to this section full credit shall be given and full allowance 44 shall be made for service of such member in time of war after World War 45 I as defined in section two of this chapter, provided such member at the 46 time of entrance into the armed forces was employed by a participating 47 employer pursuant to this section. 48 h. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent a member, who 49 does not retire pursuant to the provisions of this section, from utiliz- 50 ing service which is creditable service pursuant to the provisions of 51 this section for service credit pursuant to the provisions of any other 52 plan of this article to which such member is subject. 53 i. The provisions of this section shall be controlling notwithstanding 54 any other provision of this article to the contrary. 55 j. Suffolk county, or a town or village in the county of Suffolk that 56 elects pursuant to the provisions of this subdivision shall pay the costA. 6911 3 1 attributable therefor. The benefits of this section shall be available 2 only to those members defined in subdivision a of this section whose 3 employer elects to provide such benefits by adopting a resolution to 4 such effect and filing a certified copy thereof with the comptroller. 5 Such resolution shall be accompanied by the affidavit of the chief exec- 6 utive officer of the county of Suffolk or a town or village in the coun- 7 ty of Suffolk that the county, town or village has received an estimate 8 from the retirement system of the cost of the benefit provided by this 9 section. Such resolution shall apply to all members defined in subdivi- 10 sion a of this section. 11 § 3. Section 603 of the retirement and social security law is amended 12 by adding a new subdivision w to read as follows: 13 w. The service retirement benefit specified in section six hundred 14 four of this article shall be payable to members with twenty-five years 15 of creditable service, without regard to age, who are employed by the 16 county of Suffolk or a participating employer that is a town or village 17 in the county of Suffolk that makes the election provided for in subdi- 18 vision j of section eighty-nine-y of this chapter as a fire marshal I or 19 supervisor of such title as defined in section eighty-nine-y of this 20 chapter if: (i) such members have met the minimum service requirements 21 upon retirement; and (ii) in the case of a member subject to the 22 provisions of article fourteen of this chapter, such member files an 23 election therefor which provides that such member shall be subject to 24 the provisions of this article and to none of the provisions of such 25 article fourteen. Such election, which shall be irrevocable, shall be in 26 writing, duly executed and shall be filed with the comptroller within 27 one year of the election such member's employer makes pursuant to subdi- 28 vision j of section eighty-nine-y of this chapter or within one year 29 after entering the employment with the participating Suffolk county 30 employer upon which eligibility is based, whichever comes later. For the 31 purposes of this subdivision, the term "creditable service" shall have 32 the meaning as so defined in both sections eighty-nine-y and six hundred 33 one of this chapter. 34 § 4. Subdivision a of section 445 of the retirement and social securi- 35 ty law, as amended by chapter 714 of the laws of 2023, is amended to 36 read as follows: 37 a. No member of a retirement system who is subject to the provisions 38 of this article shall retire without regard to age, exclusive of retire- 39 ment for disability, unless [he or she] such member is a police officer, 40 an investigator member of the New York city employees' retirement 41 system, firefighter, correction officer, a qualifying member as defined 42 in section eighty-nine-t, as added by chapter six hundred fifty-seven of 43 the laws of nineteen hundred ninety-eight, of this chapter, sanitation 44 worker, a special officer (including persons employed by the city of New 45 York in the title urban park ranger or associate urban park ranger), 46 school safety agent, campus peace officer or a taxi and limousine 47 commission inspector member of the New York city employees' retirement 48 system or the New York city board of education retirement system, a 49 dispatcher member of the New York city employees' retirement system, a 50 police communications member of the New York city employees' retirement 51 system, an EMT member of the New York city employees' retirement system, 52 a deputy sheriff member of the New York city employees' retirement 53 system, a correction officer of the Westchester county correction 54 department as defined in section eighty-nine-e of this chapter or 55 employed in Suffolk county as a peace officer, as defined in section 56 eighty-nine-s, as added by chapter five hundred eighty-eight of the lawsA. 6911 4 1 of nineteen hundred ninety-seven, of this chapter, employed in Suffolk 2 county as a correction officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-f of 3 this chapter, or employed in Nassau county as a correction officer, 4 uniformed correction division personnel, sheriff, undersheriff or deputy 5 sheriff, as defined in section eighty-nine-g of this chapter, or 6 employed in Nassau county as an ambulance medical technician, an ambu- 7 lance medical technician/supervisor or a member who performs ambulance 8 medical technician related services, or a police medic, police medic 9 supervisor or a member who performs police medic related services, as 10 defined in section eighty-nine-s, as amended by chapter five hundred 11 seventy-eight of the laws of nineteen hundred ninety-eight, of this 12 chapter, or employed in Nassau county as a peace officer, as defined in 13 section eighty-nine-s, as added by chapter five hundred ninety-five of 14 the laws of nineteen hundred ninety-seven, of this chapter, or employed 15 in Albany county as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff, correction 16 officer or identification officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-h 17 of this chapter or is employed in St. Lawrence county as a sheriff, 18 undersheriff, deputy sheriff or correction officer, as defined in 19 section eighty-nine-i of this chapter or is employed in Orleans county 20 as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff or correction officer, as 21 defined in section eighty-nine-l of this chapter or is employed in 22 Jefferson county as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff or 23 correction officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-j of this chapter 24 or is employed in Onondaga county as a deputy sheriff-jail division 25 competitively appointed or as a correction officer, as defined in 26 section eighty-nine-k of this chapter or is employed in a county which 27 makes an election under subdivision j of section eighty-nine-p of this 28 chapter as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff or correction officer 29 as defined in such section eighty-nine-p or is employed in Broome County 30 as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff or correction officer, as 31 defined in section eighty-nine-m of this chapter or is a Monroe county 32 deputy sheriff-court security, or deputy sheriff-jailor as defined in 33 section eighty-nine-n, as added by chapter five hundred ninety-seven of 34 the laws of nineteen hundred ninety-one, of this chapter or is employed 35 in Greene county as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff or 36 correction officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-o of this chapter 37 or is a traffic officer with the town of Elmira as defined in section 38 eighty-nine-q of this chapter or is employed by Suffolk county as a park 39 police officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-r of this chapter or 40 is a peace officer employed by a county probation department as defined 41 in section eighty-nine-t, as added by chapter six hundred three of the 42 laws of nineteen hundred ninety-eight, of this chapter or is employed in 43 Rockland county as a deputy sheriff-civil as defined in section eighty- 44 nine-v of this chapter as added by chapter four hundred forty-one of the 45 laws of two thousand one, or is employed in Rockland county as a superi- 46 or correction officer as defined in section eighty-nine-v of this chap- 47 ter as added by chapter five hundred fifty-six of the laws of two thou- 48 sand one or is a paramedic employed by the police department in the town 49 of Tonawanda and retires under the provisions of section eighty-nine-v 50 of this chapter, as added by chapter four hundred seventy-two of the 51 laws of two thousand one, or is a county fire marshal, supervising fire 52 marshal, fire marshal, assistant fire marshal, assistant chief fire 53 marshal, chief fire marshal, division supervising fire marshal or fire 54 marshal trainee employed by the county of Nassau as defined in section 55 eighty-nine-w of this chapter or is employed in Monroe county as a depu- 56 ty sheriff-civil as defined in section eighty-nine-x of this chapter,A. 6911 5 1 employed as an emergency medical technician, critical care technician, 2 advanced emergency medical technician, paramedic or supervisor of such 3 titles in a participating Suffolk county fire district as defined in 4 section eighty-nine-ss of this chapter, employed as a fire marshal I or 5 supervisor of such title in the county of Suffolk or a participating 6 employer that is a town or village in the county of Suffolk as defined 7 in section eighty-nine-y of this chapter, and is in a plan which permits 8 immediate retirement upon completion of a specified period of service 9 without regard to age. Except as provided in subdivision c of section 10 four hundred forty-five-a of this article, subdivision c of section four 11 hundred forty-five-b of this article, subdivision c of section four 12 hundred forty-five-c of this article, subdivision c of section four 13 hundred forty-five-d of this article, subdivision c of section four 14 hundred forty-five-e of this article, subdivision c of section four 15 hundred forty-five-f of this article and subdivision c of section four 16 hundred forty-five-h of this article, a member in such a plan and such 17 an occupation, other than a police officer or investigator member of the 18 New York city employees' retirement system or a firefighter, shall not 19 be permitted to retire prior to the completion of twenty-five years of 20 credited service; provided, however, if such a member in such an occupa- 21 tion is in a plan which permits retirement upon completion of twenty 22 years of service regardless of age, [he or she] such member may retire 23 upon completion of twenty years of credited service and prior to the 24 completion of twenty-five years of service, but in such event the bene- 25 fit provided from funds other than those based on such a member's own 26 contributions shall not exceed two per centum of final average salary 27 per each year of credited service. 28 § 5. All past service costs associated with implementing the 29 provisions of this act shall be borne by a participating employer that 30 makes the election provided for in subdivision 89-y of the retirement 31 and social security law. 32 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: This bill would allow Suffolk County or any town or village in Suffolk County that participates in the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System to elect to provide individuals employed in the title of Fire Marshal I or supervisors of such title, the option to retire upon completion of twenty-five years of creditable service with a bene- fit of one-half of final average salary (FAS) and an additional benefit of one-sixtieth of FAS for each year of creditable service in excess of twenty-five years, not to exceed three-fourths (75%) of FAS. Addi- tionally, members covered under Article 14 would be permitted one year to make an irrevocable election to switch to the twenty-five-year plan benefit. If this bill is enacted during the 2025 Legislative Session, we antic- ipate that there will be an increase in the annual contributions of an electing employer of approximately 6% of the salary paid to eligible members for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026. In future years this cost will vary as the billing rates and salary of the affected members change. In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be an immediate past service cost which will be borne by an electing employer as a one-time payment. This cost is expected to average approx- imately 40% of the salary paid to employees in covered titles. Further, we anticipate additional administrative costs to implement the provisions of this legislation.A. 6911 6 The exact number of current members as well as future members who could be affected by this legislation cannot be readily determined. Prior to electing to provide these benefits, an employer would be required to submit a roster of eligible members to the New York State and Local Retirement System. This roster would be used to determine an exact cost to the individual employer electing to provide these bene- fits. Summary of relevant resources: Membership data as of March 31, 2024 was used in measuring the impact of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2024 actuari- al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2024 Report of the Actuary and the 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2024 Annual Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assumptions, and the Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York: Audit and Control. The Market Assets and GASB Disclosures are found in the March 31, 2024 New York State and Local Retirement System Financial Statements and Supplementary Information. This fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the viability of the proposed change nor is it intended to serve as a substitute for the professional judgment of an attorney. This estimate, dated February 26, 2025, and intended for use only during the 2025 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2025-25. As Chief Actuary of the New York State and Local Retirement System, 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 Actuaries, of which I am a member.