Bill Text: NY A06511 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Establishes a death benefit for deputy sheriffs employed by Nassau county entitling the sheriff's beneficiaries to receive in a lump sum an amount payable which shall equal the pension reserve that would have been established had the member retired on the date of his or her death.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-06-09 - substituted by s3759 [A06511 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-A06511-Introduced.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          6511

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                     March 19, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced by M. of A. ABBATE -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Governmental Employees

        AN  ACT  to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
          establishing a death benefit for deputy sheriffs  employed  by  Nassau
          county

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding
     2  a new section 508-b to read as follows:
     3    § 508-b. Death benefit for deputy sheriffs employed by Nassau  county.
     4  Notwithstanding  any  provision  of  law to the contrary, where a deputy
     5  sheriff would have been entitled to a service retirement benefit at  the
     6  time  of  his or her death and where his or her death occurs on or after
     7  the effective date of this section, the beneficiary or beneficiaries may
     8  elect to receive, in a lump sum, an amount payable which shall be  equal
     9  to  the  pension reserve that would have been established had the member
    10  retired on the date of his or her death, or the value of the death bene-
    11  fit and the reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay, if  any,  whichever  is
    12  greater.
    13    § 2. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding a new
    14  section 606-b to read as follows:
    15    §  606-b. Death benefit for deputy sheriffs employed by Nassau county.
    16  Notwithstanding any provision of law to the  contrary,  where  a  deputy
    17  sheriff  would have been entitled to a service retirement benefit at the
    18  time of his or her death and where his or her death occurs on  or  after
    19  the effective date of this section, the beneficiary or beneficiaries may
    20  elect  to receive, in a lump sum, an amount payable which shall be equal
    21  to the pension reserve that would have been established had  the  member
    22  retired on the date of his or her death, or the value of the death bene-
    23  fit  and  the  reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay, if any, whichever is
    24  greater.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD04830-02-1

        A. 6511                             2

     1    §  3.  All  past  service  costs  associated  with  implementing   the
     2  provisions  of this act shall be borne by Nassau County and may be amor-
     3  tized over a period of ten years.
     4    § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
          FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
          This  bill would modify the in-service death benefit for Nassau County
        Deputy Sheriffs who are retirement eligible in tiers 3 through 6 of  the
        New  York  State  and Local Employees' Retirement System. The in-service
        death benefit will be the value of the pension reserve as if the  member
        had retired on their date of death.
          If this bill is enacted during the 2021 legislative session, we antic-
        ipate  that  there  will  be  an increase of approximately $5,000 in the
        annual contributions of Nassau County for the fiscal year  ending  March
        31,  2022. 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 of approximately $67,300  which  will  be
        borne  by Nassau County as a one-time payment. This estimate is based on
        the assumption that payment will be made on February 1, 2022. If  Nassau
        County  elects to amortize this cost over a 10 year period, the cost for
        the first year including interest would be $8,880.
          These estimated costs are based on 57  affected  members  employed  by
        Nassau  County,  with  annual salary of approximately $6.1 million as of
        March 31, 2020.
          Summary of relevant resources:
          Membership data as of March 31, 2020 was used in measuring the  impact
        of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2020 actuari-
        al  valuation.  Distributions  and  other statistics can be found in the
        2020 Report of the Actuary and the 2020 Comprehensive  Annual  Financial
        Report.
          The  actuarial  assumptions and methods used are described in the 2020
        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, 2020
        New York State and Local  Retirement  System  Financial  Statements  and
        Supplementary Information.
          I am a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and meet the Quali-
        fication Standards to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
          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 8, 2021, and intended for use only during
        the 2021 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2021-9, prepared by the
        Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.
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