Bill Text: NY A07642 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Relates to a reduced retirement age for certain Triborough bridge and tunnel authority employees.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Vetoed) 2017-11-29 - tabled [A07642 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-A07642-Introduced.html


                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          7642
                               2017-2018 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                       May 5, 2017
                                       ___________
        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 and chapter 511
          of the laws of 1988 amending the retirement and  social  security  law
          relating  to  a  reduction  in  retirement age for certain members, in
          relation to a reduced retirement age for certain Triborough bridge and
          tunnel authority employees
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section  1.  Paragraph  (ii)  of  subdivision  a of section 651 of the
     2  retirement and social security law, as amended by  chapter  225  of  the
     3  laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows:
     4    (ii)  For  each  full  year  of covered employment [occurring prior to
     5  January first, two thousand nine] which is subsequent to December  thir-
     6  ty-first,  nineteen  hundred  seventy,  his or her normal retirement age
     7  shall be reduced by four months.
     8    § 2. Section 2 of chapter 511  of  the  laws  of  1988,  amending  the
     9  retirement and social security law relating to a reduction in retirement
    10  age  for certain members, as amended by chapter 225 of the laws of 2006,
    11  is amended to read as follows:
    12    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately[, and shall apply only  to
    13  covered employment performed on or before December 31, 2008].
    14    §  3.  This  act  shall take effect immediately and shall be deemed to
    15  have been in full force and effect on and after December 31, 2008.
          FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
          PROVISIONS OF PROPOSED LEGISLATION: This  proposed  legislation  would
        amend  Retirement  and Social Security Law (RSSL) Section 651(a)(ii) and
        Chapter 511 of the Laws  of  1988  to  extend  special  unreduced  early
        retirement  provisions  for certain Tier 1, 2, 3 and 4 Triborough Bridge
        and Tunnel Authority (TBTA) employees who are members of  the  New  York
        City Employees' Retirement System (NYCERS).
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD09402-02-7

        A. 7642                             2
          The  Effective  Date  of the proposed legislation would be the date of
        enactment and would be deemed to have been in full force and  effect  on
        and after December 31, 2008.
          MEMBERS IMPACTED BY THE PROPOSED LEGISLATION: The proposed legislation
        would  cover  those  members of NYCERS who are employed in the following
        TBTA job titles (Covered Members):
          * Bridge and Tunnel Officer,
          * Bridge and Tunnel Sergeant,
          * Bridge and Tunnel Lieutenant,
          * Assistant Bridge and Tunnel Maintainer,
          * Bridge and Tunnel Maintainer,
          * Senior Bridge and Tunnel Maintainer, and
          * Bridge and Tunnel Laborer.
          IMPACT ON BENEFITS PAYABLE:  The  proposed  legislation  would  permit
        Covered  Members,  who  otherwise  meet  applicable  service  retirement
        requirements, to retire earlier than their applicable normal  retirement
        age.
          Under  current  law,  a Tier 1 member's normal retirement age is 55. A
        Tier 2, 3 and 4 member's current normal retirement age is  62.  Retiring
        for service prior to these ages would generally result in a reduction of
        the member's annual retirement benefit.
          Under  the  proposed legislation, each year of qualifying TBTA service
        would reduce such normal retirement ages by 4 months (e.g., 12 years  of
        qualifying  TBTA  service  would reduce the applicable normal retirement
        age by 4 years) without subjecting the member to  a  retirement  benefit
        reduction.
          However,  in  no  event  shall  a Tier 1 member retire, other than for
        disability, prior to age 50, and in no event shall a Tier  2,  3,  or  4
        member retire, other than for disability, prior to age 55.
          FINANCIAL IMPACT - ACTUARIAL PRESENT VALUES (APV): With respect to the
        TBTA  members  who would be impacted by this proposed legislation, under
        the actuarial assumptions used in the Preliminary June  30,  2016  (Lag)
        actuarial  valuations  of  NYCERS, the enactment of this proposed legis-
        lation would increase the APV of Benefits (APVB) by  approximately  $1.7
        million.
          FINANCIAL  IMPACT  -  EMPLOYER  CONTRIBUTIONS:  In accordance with the
        Administrative Code of the City of  New  York  (ACNY)  Section  13.638.2
        (k-2),  new  Unfunded Actuarial Accrued Liability (UAAL) attributable to
        benefit changes are to be amortized as determined  by  the  Actuary  but
        generally  over  the remaining working lifetime of those impacted by the
        benefit changes. As of June 30, 2016, the remaining working lifetime  of
        the TBTA members and beneficiaries who would be impacted by the proposed
        legislation is approximately 10 years.
          Based on the actuarial assumptions and methods used in the Preliminary
        June 30, 2016 valuation of NYCERS, the enactment of this proposed legis-
        lation  would  increase  annual  employer contributions by approximately
        $300,000 per year beginning in Fiscal Year 2018.
          OTHER COSTS: Not measured in this Fiscal Note are the  initial,  addi-
        tional  administrative  costs of NYCERS to implement the proposed legis-
        lation.
          CENSUS DATA: As of June 30, 2016, there are 1,311 active TBTA  members
        with annual salaries of approximately $126.6 million.
          The  members affected by the proposed legislation consisted of 82 Tier
        4 members with salaries of approximately $8.2 million whose average  age
        and  average service as of June 30, 2016 were 48.9 years and 19.7 years,
        respectively.

        A. 7642                             3
          ACTUARIAL ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The  additional  APVB,  APVSAL  and
        employer  contributions  presented  herein have been calculated based on
        the actuarial assumptions and methods in effect for the Preliminary June
        30, 2016  (Lag) actuarial valuations used to determine  the  Preliminary
        Fiscal Year 2018 employer contributions of NYCERS.
          Employer  contributions  under current methodology have been estimated
        assuming the additional APVB would be  financed  through  future  normal
        contributions  including an amortization of the new UAAL attributable to
        this proposed legislation over a 10 year period (9  payments  under  the
        OYLM Methodology).
          To  determine the impact of the proposed legislation, it was necessary
        to determine who would benefit  actuarially,  by  calculating  for  each
        member,  the  net  APV of future employer costs (i.e., the APVB less the
        APV of future member contributions) under  the  current  Period  Without
        Reduction  Before  Normal  Retirement  Age  (PWRBN)  provisions  and the
        proposed PWRBN provisions. If such net APV  measured  for  the  proposed
        PWRBN  provisions  was  greater than the net APV under the current PWRBN
        provisions, the member was deemed to benefit actuarially.
          STATEMENT OF ACTUARIAL OPINION: I, Sherry S. Chan, am the Chief  Actu-
        ary for, and independent of, the New York City Pension Funds and Retire-
        ment  Systems.  I  am a Fellow  of the Society of Actuaries, a Fellow of
        the Conference of Consulting Actuaries and  a  Member  of  the  American
        Academy of Actuaries. I meet the Qualification Standards of the American
        Academy of Actuaries to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
          FISCAL  NOTE  IDENTIFICATION: This Fiscal Note 2017-09 dated April 19,
        2017, was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City Employee's
        Retirement System. This estimate is intended for  use  only  during  the
        2017 Legislative Session.
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