STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6942 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY March 18, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. PHEFFER AMATO -- read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Employees AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to the restoration of 20 year service retirement for certain New York city corrections officers and sanitation workers The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 17 of section 501 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 17. "Normal retirement age" shall be age sixty-two, for general 5 members, and the age at which a member completes or would have completed 6 twenty-two years of service, for police/fire members, New York city 7 uniformed correction/sanitation revised plan members and investigator 8 revised plan members, except that for New York city uniformed 9 correction/sanitation revised plan members, normal retirement age shall 10 be the age at which a member completes or would have completed twenty 11 years of service. 12 § 2. Subdivision d of section 503 of the retirement and social securi- 13 ty law, as amended by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, is amended to read 14 as follows: 15 d. The normal service retirement benefit specified in section five 16 hundred five of this article shall be paid to police/fire members, New 17 York city uniformed correction/sanitation revised plan members and 18 investigator revised plan members without regard to age upon retirement 19 after twenty-two years of service, except that the normal service 20 retirement benefit specified in section five hundred five of this arti- 21 cle shall be paid to New York city uniformed correction/sanitation 22 revised plan members after twenty years of service. Early service 23 retirement shall be permitted upon retirement after twenty years of 24 credited service or attainment of age sixty-two, provided, however, that EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD09760-02-5
A. 6942 2 1 New York city police/fire revised plan members, New York city uniformed 2 correction/sanitation revised plan members and investigator revised plan 3 members shall not be eligible to retire for service prior to the attain- 4 ment of twenty years of credited service. 5 § 3. Section 505 of the retirement and social security law is amended 6 by adding a new subdivision d to read as follows: 7 d. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any other law, New York 8 city uniformed correction/sanitation revised plan members shall be 9 eligible for a normal service retirement benefit in lieu of an early 10 service retirement benefit upon completing twenty years of service 11 pursuant to subdivision d of section five hundred three of this article. 12 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: SUMMARY: This proposed legislation would reduce the Normal Retirement Age for NYCERS Tier 3 members of the Uniformed Sanitation Force and Uniformed Correction Force 22-Year Plans (i.e., Revised Plan members) to be the age at which a member completes or would have completed twenty years of service. EXPECTED INCREASE (DECREASE) IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS by Fiscal Year for the first 25 years ($ in Millions) Year NYCERS 2026 5.9 2027 6.2 2028 6.7 2029 7.1 2030 7.5 2031 8.0 2032 8.3 2033 8.7 2034 9.1 2035 9.4 2036 9.7 2037 10.0 2038 10.3 2039 10.5 2040 10.7 2041 8.4 2042 8.7 2043 9.1 2044 9.4 2045 9.7 2046 10.0 2047 10.3 2048 10.7 2049 11.1 2050 11.4 Projected contributions include future new hires that may be impacted. For Fiscal Year 2051 and beyond, the expected increase in normal cost as a level percent of pay for impacted new entrants is approximately 0.33%. 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
A. 6942 3 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, 2024 ($ in Millions) Present Value (PV) NYCERS (1) PV of Employer Contributions: 48.5 (2) PV of Employee Contributions: (3.0) Total PV of Benefits (1) + (2): 45.5 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 NYCERS Increase (Decrease) in UAL: 23.3 M Number of Payments: 15 Amortization Payment: 2.6 M 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: 8,239 - Average Age: 39.8 - Average Service: 7.2 - Average Salary: 106,200 IMPACT ON MEMBER BENEFITS: Currently, NYCERS Tier 3 Sanitation and Correction Revised Plan members in 22-Year Plans who retire with at least 20 years of service are eligible to receive an annual benefit that is equal to 42% of Final Average Salary (FAS), increasing to a maximum benefit of 50% of FAS after 22 years of service. Under the proposed legislation, NYCERS Tier 3 Sanitation and Correction Revised Plan members in 22-Year Plans who retire with at least 20 years of service would be eligible to receive an annual benefit that is equal to 50% of FAS. 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 the service retirement benefit associated with 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
A. 6942 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. 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 2025-29 dated March 7, 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.