Bill Text: NY A05093 | 2011-2012 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Alters the definition of final average salary for Tier 3, 4 and 5 members so that wages earned during any year would not be allowed to exceed that of the average of the previous two years by more than twenty percent, up from the current rate of ten percent.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 16-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-01-30 - print number 5093b [A05093 Detail]
Download: New_York-2011-A05093-Amended.html
S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K ________________________________________________________________________ 5093--A 2011-2012 Regular Sessions I N A S S E M B L Y February 11, 2011 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. ABBATE -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. AUBRY, BOYLAND, CANESTRARI, CLARK, COOK, CYMBROWITZ, GOTTFRIED, LIFTON, MAGEE, McENENY, ORTIZ, PHEFFER, SCHROEDER, SWEENEY, WEISENBERG -- read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Employees -- 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 the definitions of final average salary THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM- BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: 1 Section 1. Subdivisions a and b of section 512 of the retirement and 2 social security law, subdivision a as amended by chapter 379 of the laws 3 of 1986 and subdivision b as amended by chapter 286 of the laws of 2010, 4 are amended to read as follows: 5 a. A member's final average salary shall be the average wages earned 6 by such a member during any three consecutive years which provide the 7 highest average wage; provided, however, if the wages earned during any 8 year included in the period used to determine final average salary 9 exceeds that of the average of the previous two years by more than [ten] 10 TWENTY percent, the amount in excess of [ten] TWENTY percent shall be 11 excluded from the computation of final average salary. Where the period 12 used to determine final average salary is the period which immediately 13 precedes the date of retirement, any month or months (not in excess of 14 twelve) which would otherwise be included in computing final average 15 salary but during which the member was on authorized leave of absence at 16 partial pay or without pay shall be excluded from the computation of 17 final average salary and the month or an equal number of months imme- 18 diately preceding such period shall be substituted in lieu thereof. 19 b. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision a of this section, 20 with respect to members of the New York state AND LOCAL employees' 21 retirement system, the New York state and local police and fire retire- EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD07901-02-1 A. 5093--A 2 1 ment system and the New York city teachers' retirement system, a 2 member's final average salary shall be equal to one-third of the highest 3 total wages earned during any continuous period of employment for which 4 the member was credited with three years of service credit; provided, 5 however, if the wages earned during any year of credited service 6 included the period used to determine final average salary exceeds the 7 average of the wages of the previous two years of credited service by 8 more than [ten] TWENTY percent, the amount in excess of [ten] TWENTY 9 percent shall be excluded from the computation of final average salary. 10 S 2. Subdivisions a and b of section 608 of the retirement and social 11 security law, subdivision a as amended by chapter 379 of the laws of 12 1986 and subdivision b as amended by chapter 286 of the laws of 2010, 13 are amended to read as follows: 14 a. A member's final average salary shall be the average wages earned 15 by such a member during any three consecutive years which provide the 16 highest average wage; provided, however, if the wages earned during any 17 year included in the period used to determine final average salary 18 exceeds that of the average of the previous two years by more than [ten] 19 TWENTY percent, the amount in excess of [ten] TWENTY percent shall be 20 excluded from the computation of final average salary. Where the period 21 used to determine final average salary is the period which immediately 22 precedes the date of retirement, any month or months (not in excess of 23 twelve) which would otherwise be included in computing final average 24 salary but during which the member was on authorized leave of absence at 25 partial pay or without pay shall be excluded from the computation of 26 final average salary and the month or an equal number of months imme- 27 diately preceding such period shall be substituted in lieu thereof. 28 b. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision a of this section, 29 with respect to members of the New York state AND LOCAL employees' 30 retirement system and the New York city teachers' retirement system, a 31 member's final average salary shall be equal to one-third of the highest 32 total wages earned by such member during any continuous period of 33 employment for which the member was credited with three years of service 34 credit; provided, however, if the wages earned during any year of cred- 35 ited service included in the period used to determine final average 36 salary exceeds the average of the wages of the previous two years of 37 credited service by more than [ten] TWENTY percent, the amount in excess 38 of [ten] TWENTY percent shall be excluded from the computation of final 39 average salary. 40 S 3. This act shall take effect immediately and shall be deemed to 41 have been in full force and effect on or after June 30, 2011. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: This bill will amend the definition of final average salary in Sections 512 and 608 of the Retirement and Social Security Law for certain Tiers 3, 4 and 5 members. It would raise the restriction that limits salary from a maximum of 10% increase over the average of the previous two years to a 20% maximum. If this bill is enacted, insofar as this bill will affect Tiers 3, 4 and 5 members of the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System (ERS) and Tier 3 members of the New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement System (PFRS) who are subject to the provisions of Article 14, there would be estimated additional annual contributions of approximately $95 million to the State of New York, $130 million to the participating employers in the ERS and $170,000 to the participating employers in the PFRS. A. 5093--A 3 This estimate, dated November 17, 2010, and intended for use only during the 2011 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2011-27, prepared by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System and the New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement System. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: This bill would amend sections 512 and 608 of the Retirement and Social Security Law to alter the definition of final average salary for Tier 3, 4 and 5 members. In the computation of final average salary, wages earned during any year would not be allowed to exceed that of the average of the previous two years by more than twenty percent. This is the limit on wages that exists in Tier 2. Currently the limit for Tiers 3, 4 and 5 is ten percent. The annual cost to the employers of members of the New York State Teachers' Retirement System for this benefit is estimated to be $1.0 million or 0.007% of payroll if this bill is enacted. The source of this estimate is Fiscal Note 2011-25 dated March 16, 2011 prepared by the Actuary of the New York State Teachers' Retirement System and is intended for use only during the 2011 Legislative Session.