Bill Text: NY A05548 | 2025-2026 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Provides that for New York city uniformed correction revised plan members of the New York city employees' retirement system, the service retirement benefit shall not be reduced by the primary social security retirement benefit commencing at age sixty-two.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2025-02-14 - referred to governmental employees [A05548 Detail]
Download: New_York-2025-A05548-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5548 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY February 14, 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 service retirement benefits for uniformed correction members of the New York city employees' retirement system The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 505 of the retirement and social security law, as 2 amended by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, is amended to read as 3 follows: 4 § 505. Service retirement benefits; police/fire members, New York city 5 uniformed correction/sanitation revised plan members and investigator 6 revised plan members. a. The normal service retirement benefit for 7 police/fire members, New York city uniformed correction/sanitation 8 revised plan members and investigator revised plan members at normal 9 retirement age shall be a pension equal to fifty percent of final aver- 10 age salary, less fifty percent of the primary social security retirement 11 benefit commencing at age sixty-two, as provided in section five hundred 12 eleven of this article, except that for New York city uniformed 13 correction revised plan members of the New York city employees' retire- 14 ment system, the normal service retirement benefit shall not be reduced 15 by the primary social security retirement benefit commencing at age 16 sixty-two as provided in section five hundred eleven of this article. 17 b. The early service retirement benefit for police/fire members, New 18 York city uniformed correction/sanitation revised plan members and 19 investigator revised plan members shall be a pension equal to two and 20 one-tenths percent of final average salary times years of credited 21 service at the completion of twenty years of service or upon attainment 22 of age sixty-two, increased by one-third of one percent of final average 23 salary for each month of service in excess of twenty years, but not in 24 excess of fifty percent of final average salary, less fifty percent of EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD04068-04-5A. 5548 2 1 the primary social security retirement benefit commencing at age sixty- 2 two as provided in section five hundred eleven of this article, 3 provided, however, that New York city police/fire revised plan members, 4 New York city uniformed correction/sanitation revised plan members and 5 investigator revised plan members shall not be eligible to retire for 6 service prior to the attainment of twenty years of credited service, and 7 provided further that for New York city uniformed correction revised 8 plan members of the New York city employees' retirement system, the 9 early service retirement benefit shall not be reduced by the primary 10 social security retirement benefit commencing at age sixty-two as 11 provided in section five hundred eleven of this article. 12 c. A police/fire member, a New York city uniformed 13 correction/sanitation revised plan member or an investigator revised 14 plan member who retires with twenty-two years of credited service or 15 less may become eligible for annual escalation of the service retirement 16 benefit if [he] such member elects to have the payment of [his] their 17 benefit commence on the date [he] such member would have completed twen- 18 ty-two years and one month or more of service. In such event, the 19 service retirement benefit shall equal two percent of final average 20 salary for each year of credited service, less fifty percent of the 21 primary social security retirement benefit commencing at age sixty-two 22 as provided in section five hundred eleven of this article, except that 23 for New York city uniformed correction revised plan members of the New 24 York city employees' retirement system, the service retirement benefit 25 shall not be reduced by the primary social security retirement benefit 26 commencing at age sixty-two as provided in section five hundred eleven 27 of this article. 28 § 2. Section 511 of the retirement and social security law is amended 29 by adding a new subdivision h to read as follows: 30 h. This section shall not apply to New York city uniformed correction 31 revised plan members of the New York city employees' retirement system 32 who receive a service retirement benefit pursuant to section five 33 hundred five of this article or a deferred vested benefit pursuant to 34 section five hundred sixteen of this article. 35 § 3. Subdivision c of section 516 of the retirement and social securi- 36 ty law, as amended by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, is amended to read 37 as follows: 38 c. The deferred vested benefit of police/fire members, New York city 39 police/fire revised plan members, New York city uniformed 40 correction/sanitation revised plan members or investigator revised plan 41 members shall be a pension commencing at early retirement age equal to 42 two and one-tenths percent of final average salary times years of cred- 43 ited service, less fifty percent of the primary social security retire- 44 ment benefit commencing at age sixty-two, as provided in section five 45 hundred eleven of this article, except that for New York city uniformed 46 correction revised plan members of the New York city employees' retire- 47 ment system, the deferred vested benefit shall not be reduced by the 48 primary social security retirement benefit commencing at age sixty-two 49 as provided in section five hundred eleven of this article. A 50 police/fire member, a New York city police/fire revised plan member, a 51 New York city uniformed correction/sanitation revised plan member or 52 investigator revised plan member may elect to receive [his] their vested 53 benefit commencing at early retirement age or age fifty-five. If the 54 vested benefit commences before early retirement age, the benefit shall 55 be reduced by one-fifteenth for each year, if any, that the member's 56 early retirement age is in excess of age sixty, and by one-thirtieth forA. 5548 3 1 each additional year by which the vested benefit commences prior to 2 early retirement age. If such vested benefit is deferred until after 3 such member's normal retirement age, the benefit shall be computed and 4 subject to annual escalation in the same manner as provided for an early 5 retirement benefit pursuant to subdivision c of section five hundred 6 five of this article. 7 § 4. Notwithstanding any provision of law, rule or regulation to the 8 contrary, any effect on a participating employer's contribution rate due 9 to the provisions of this act shall not apply to the calculation of such 10 participating employer's contribution rate for the purposes of subdivi- 11 sion c of section 500 of the retirement and social security law. 12 § 5. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall 13 have become a law. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: SUMMARY: This proposed legislation would eliminate the offset equal to 50% of the primary social security benefit in the service, early service, and vested retirement benefits for certain Tier 3 Correction members of NYCERS. EXPECTED INCREASE (DECREASE) IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS by Fiscal Year for the first 25 years ($ in Millions) Year NYCERS 2026 33.8 2027 19.4 2028 20.8 2029 22.2 2030 23.8 2031 25.4 2032 26.6 2033 27.9 2034 29.2 2035 30.3 2036 31.2 2037 32.1 2038 33.0 2039 24.8 2040 25.7 2041 26.6 2042 27.5 2043 28.5 2044 29.6 2045 30.7 2046 31.8 2047 32.8 2048 33.9 2049 35.0 2050 36.2 Projected contributions include future new hires that may be impacted. For Fiscal Year 2051 and beyond, the increase in normal cost for new entrants will remain level as a percent of pay for the impacted popu- lation (approximately 2.36%). The entire increase in employer contributions will be allocated to New York City.A. 5548 4 PRESENT VALUE OF BENEFITS: The Present Value of Benefits is the discounted expected value of benefits paid to current members if all 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: 192.7 (2) PV of Employee Contributions: 0.0 Total PV of Benefits (1) + (2): 192.7 UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY (UAL): Actuarial Accrued Liabilities are the portion of the Present Value of Benefits allocated to past service. Changes in UAL for active members were amortized over the expected remaining working lifetime of those impacted using level dollar payments. UAL attributable to inactive members was recognized in the first year. AMORTIZATION OF UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY NYCERS Increase (Decrease) in UAL: 87.5 M Number of Payments: 13 Amortization Payment: 9.1 M Additional One-time Payment: 15.6 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: 3,165 - Average Age: 39.8 - Average Service: 8.4 - Average Salary: 124,900 Term. Vested Members - Number Count: 686 - Average Age: 39.8 IMPACT ON MEMBER BENEFITS: Currently, Tier 3 normal service retire- ment, early service retirement, and vested retirement benefits for Corrections members in 22-Year Plans are subject to an offset equal to 50% of the primary social security benefit as defined in Retirement and Social Security Law (RSSL) Section 511 beginning at age 62. Under the proposed legislation, the offset for such benefits would be eliminated resulting in an increase in benefits. 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: * New entrants were assumed to replace exiting members so that total payroll increases by 3% each year for impacted groups. New entrant demographics 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-A. 5548 5 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). This Fiscal Note does not reflect any chapter laws that may have been enacted during the current legislative session. This Fiscal Note does not include cost analyses relating to provisions contained in RSSL Section 500(c). 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 2025-09 dated February 10, 2025 was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City Retire- ment Systems and Pension Funds and is intended for use only during the 2025 Legislative Session.
