] is old law to be omitted. LBD01079-03-5S. 3608 2 1 sufficient to provide such member with a retirement allowance equal to 2 one-half of their final average salary. 3 d. As used in this section "creditable service" shall include any and 4 all services performed as a county police communications operator, 5 police communications operator supervisor, assistant bureau director 6 (police 911 communications) and bureau director (police 911 communi- 7 cations). 8 e. Credit for service as a member or officer of the state police or as 9 a paid firefighter, police officer or officer of any organized fire 10 department or police force or department of any county, city, village, 11 town, fire district or police district, or as a criminal investigator in 12 the office of a district attorney, or as a probation assistant in a 13 county probation department, shall also be deemed to be creditable 14 service and shall be included in computing years of total service for 15 retirement pursuant to this section. 16 f. The chief executive officer in each county shall certify to the 17 comptroller, periodically and at such intervals of time as may be 18 required and in such fashion as may be prescribed, the identity of the 19 eligible police communications operators, police communications operator 20 supervisors, assistant bureau directors (police 911 communications) and 21 bureau directors (police 911 communications) in such chief executive 22 officer's employ. 23 g. A member contributing on the basis of this section at the time of 24 retirement shall retire after the completion of twenty-five years of 25 total creditable service. Application therefor may be filed in a manner 26 similar to that provided in section seventy of this article. Upon 27 completion of twenty-five years of such service and upon retirement, 28 each such member shall receive a pension which, together with an annuity 29 which shall be the actuarial equivalent of their accumulated contrib- 30 utions at the time of retirement and an additional pension which is the 31 actuarial equivalent of the reserved-for-increased-take-home-pay to 32 which such member may then be entitled, shall be sufficient to provide 33 such member with a retirement allowance equal to one-half of their final 34 average salary. 35 h. In computing the twenty-five years of total service of a member 36 pursuant to this section full credit shall be given and full allowance 37 shall be made for service of such member in time of war after World War 38 I as defined in section two of this chapter, provided such member at the 39 time of their entrance into the armed forces was in the service of the 40 county of their employer that makes the election provided for herein. 41 i. Nothing herein shall be construed to prevent a member, who does not 42 retire pursuant to the provisions of this section, from utilizing 43 service which is creditable service pursuant to the provisions of this 44 section for service credit pursuant to the provisions of any other plan 45 of this article to which such member is subject. 46 j. 1. Each county that elects pursuant to the provisions of this 47 subdivision shall pay the cost attributable therefor. 48 2. The benefits of this section shall be available only to those 49 members defined in subdivision a of this section whose employer elects 50 to provide such benefits by adopting a resolution to such effect and 51 filing a certified copy thereof with the comptroller. Such resolution 52 shall be accompanied by the affidavit of the chief executive officer of 53 the county that the county has received an estimate from the retirement 54 system of the cost of the benefit provided by this section. 55 k. The provisions of this section shall be controlling notwithstanding 56 any other provision in this article to the contrary.S. 3608 3 1 § 2. Subdivision a of section 445 of the retirement and social securi- 2 ty law, as amended by chapter 714 of the laws of 2023, is amended to 3 read as follows: 4 a. No member of a retirement system who is subject to the provisions 5 of this article shall retire without regard to age, exclusive of retire- 6 ment for disability, unless [he or she] such member is a police officer, 7 an investigator member of the New York city employees' retirement 8 system, firefighter, correction officer, a qualifying member as defined 9 in section eighty-nine-t, as added by chapter six hundred fifty-seven of 10 the laws of nineteen hundred ninety-eight, of this chapter, sanitation 11 worker, a special officer (including persons employed by the city of New 12 York in the title urban park ranger or associate urban park ranger), 13 school safety agent, campus peace officer or a taxi and limousine 14 commission inspector member of the New York city employees' retirement 15 system or the New York city board of education retirement system, a 16 dispatcher member of the New York city employees' retirement system, a 17 police communications member of the New York city employees' retirement 18 system, an EMT member of the New York city employees' retirement system, 19 a deputy sheriff member of the New York city employees' retirement 20 system, a correction officer of the Westchester county correction 21 department as defined in section eighty-nine-e of this chapter or 22 employed in Suffolk county as a peace officer, as defined in section 23 eighty-nine-s, as added by chapter five hundred eighty-eight of the laws 24 of nineteen hundred ninety-seven, of this chapter, employed in Suffolk 25 county as a correction officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-f of 26 this chapter, or employed in Nassau county as a correction officer, 27 uniformed correction division personnel, sheriff, undersheriff or deputy 28 sheriff, as defined in section eighty-nine-g of this chapter, or 29 employed in Nassau county as an ambulance medical technician, an ambu- 30 lance medical technician/supervisor or a member who performs ambulance 31 medical technician related services, or a police medic, police medic 32 supervisor or a member who performs police medic related services, as 33 defined in section eighty-nine-s, as amended by chapter five hundred 34 seventy-eight of the laws of nineteen hundred ninety-eight, of this 35 chapter, or employed in Nassau county as a peace officer, as defined in 36 section eighty-nine-s, as added by chapter five hundred ninety-five of 37 the laws of nineteen hundred ninety-seven, of this chapter, or employed 38 in Albany county as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff, correction 39 officer or identification officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-h 40 of this chapter or is employed in St. Lawrence county as a sheriff, 41 undersheriff, deputy sheriff or correction officer, as defined in 42 section eighty-nine-i of this chapter or is employed in Orleans county 43 as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff or correction officer, as 44 defined in section eighty-nine-l of this chapter or is employed in 45 Jefferson county as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff or 46 correction officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-j of this chapter 47 or is employed in Onondaga county as a deputy sheriff-jail division 48 competitively appointed or as a correction officer, as defined in 49 section eighty-nine-k of this chapter or is employed in a county which 50 makes an election under subdivision j of section eighty-nine-p of this 51 chapter as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff or correction officer 52 as defined in such section eighty-nine-p or is employed in Broome County 53 as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff or correction officer, as 54 defined in section eighty-nine-m of this chapter or is a Monroe county 55 deputy sheriff-court security, or deputy sheriff-jailor as defined in 56 section eighty-nine-n, as added by chapter five hundred ninety-seven ofS. 3608 4 1 the laws of nineteen hundred ninety-one, of this chapter or is employed 2 in Greene county as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff or 3 correction officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-o of this chapter 4 or is a traffic officer with the town of Elmira as defined in section 5 eighty-nine-q of this chapter or is employed by Suffolk county as a park 6 police officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-r of this chapter or 7 is a peace officer employed by a county probation department as defined 8 in section eighty-nine-t, as added by chapter six hundred three of the 9 laws of nineteen hundred ninety-eight, of this chapter or is employed in 10 Rockland county as a deputy sheriff-civil as defined in section eighty- 11 nine-v of this chapter as added by chapter four hundred forty-one of the 12 laws of two thousand one, or is employed in Rockland county as a superi- 13 or correction officer as defined in section eighty-nine-v of this chap- 14 ter as added by chapter five hundred fifty-six of the laws of two thou- 15 sand one or is a paramedic employed by the police department in the town 16 of Tonawanda and retires under the provisions of section eighty-nine-v 17 of this chapter, as added by chapter four hundred seventy-two of the 18 laws of two thousand one, or is a county fire marshal, supervising fire 19 marshal, fire marshal, assistant fire marshal, assistant chief fire 20 marshal, chief fire marshal, division supervising fire marshal or fire 21 marshal trainee employed by the county of Nassau as defined in section 22 eighty-nine-w of this chapter or is employed in Monroe county as a depu- 23 ty sheriff-civil as defined in section eighty-nine-x of this chapter, 24 employed as an emergency medical technician, critical care technician, 25 advanced emergency medical technician, paramedic or supervisor of such 26 titles in a participating Suffolk county fire district as defined in 27 section eighty-nine-ss of this chapter, or is a county police communi- 28 cations operator, police communications operator supervisor, assistant 29 bureau director (police 911 communications) and bureau director (police 30 911 communications) and is in a plan which permits immediate retirement 31 upon completion of a specified period of service without regard to age. 32 Except as provided in subdivision c of section four hundred forty-five-a 33 of this article, subdivision c of section four hundred forty-five-b of 34 this article, subdivision c of section four hundred forty-five-c of this 35 article, subdivision c of section four hundred forty-five-d of this 36 article, subdivision c of section four hundred forty-five-e of this 37 article, subdivision c of section four hundred forty-five-f of this 38 article and subdivision c of section four hundred forty-five-h of this 39 article, a member in such a plan and such an occupation, other than a 40 police officer or investigator member of the New York city employees' 41 retirement system or a firefighter, shall not be permitted to retire 42 prior to the completion of twenty-five years of credited service; 43 provided, however, if such a member in such an occupation is in a plan 44 which permits retirement upon completion of twenty years of service 45 regardless of age, [he or she] such member may retire upon completion of 46 twenty years of credited service and prior to the completion of twenty- 47 five years of service, but in such event the benefit provided from funds 48 other than those based on such a member's own contributions shall not 49 exceed two per centum of final average salary per each year of credited 50 service. 51 § 3. Section 603 of the retirement and social security law is amended 52 by adding a new subdivision w to read as follows: 53 w. The service retirement benefit specified in section six hundred 54 four of this article shall be payable to members with twenty-five years 55 of creditable service, without regard to age, who are employed as a 56 county police communications operator, police communications operatorS. 3608 5 1 supervisor, assistant bureau director (police 911 communications) and 2 bureau director (police 911 communications) as defined in section eight- 3 y-nine-y of this chapter if: (i) such members have met the minimum 4 service requirements upon retirement, and (ii) in the case of a member 5 subject to the provisions of article fourteen of this chapter, such 6 member files an election therefor which provides that they will be 7 subject to the provisions of this article and to none of the provisions 8 of such article fourteen. Such election, which shall be irrevocable, 9 shall be in writing, duly executed and shall be filed with the comp- 10 troller within one year of the effective date of this subdivision or 11 within one year after entering the employment with such county upon 12 which eligibility is based, whichever comes later. For the purposes of 13 this subdivision, the term "creditable service" shall have the meaning 14 as so defined in both sections eighty-nine-y and six hundred one of this 15 chapter. 16 § 4. Section 604 of the retirement and social security law is amended 17 by adding a new subdivision w to read as follows: 18 w. The early service retirement benefit for a member who is employed 19 as a county police communications operator, police communications opera- 20 tor supervisor, assistant bureau director (police 911 communications) 21 and bureau director (police 911 communications) as defined in section 22 eighty-nine-y of this chapter shall be a pension equal to one-fiftieth 23 of final average salary times years of credited service at the 24 completion of twenty-five years of service as such police communications 25 operator, police communications operator supervisor, assistant bureau 26 director (police 911 communications) and bureau director (police 911 27 communications), but not exceeding one-half of their final average sala- 28 ry; for service beyond twenty-five years the benefits shall increase by 29 one-sixtieth of final average salary for each year of additional service 30 credit provided, however, that the total allowance payable pursuant to 31 this section shall not exceed three-fourths of such member's final aver- 32 age salary. 33 § 5. All past service costs incurred with implementing the provisions 34 of this act shall be borne by any county that elects to provide the 35 benefits provided by this act. 36 § 6. This act shall take effect January 1, 2026. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: This bill would permit counties that participate in the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System to elect to provide members employed in the title of police communications operator, police communi- cations operator supervisor, assistant bureau director (police 911 communications) or bureau director (police 911 communications) the option to retire upon completion of twenty-five years of creditable service with a benefit of one-half of final average salary (FAS) and for Tiers 3 through 6 an additional benefit of one-sixtieth of FAS for each year of creditable service in excess of twenty-five years, not to exceed fifteen years. Additionally, 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 county of approximately 6% of 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.S. 3608 6 In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be an immediate past service cost of approximately 17% of salary paid to eligible members which will be borne by the electing county as a one- time payment. Further, we anticipate additional administrative costs to implement the provisions of this legislation. 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, a county 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 electing county. 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 January 22, 2025, and intended for use only during the 2025 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2025-3. As Chief Actuary of the New York State and Local Retirement System, I, Aaron Schottin Young, hereby certify that this analysis complies with applica- ble 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.