Bill Text: NY S01850 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Relates to providing county correction officers with a special optional twenty year retirement plan.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Vetoed) 2017-11-13 - VETOED MEMO.172 [S01850 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-S01850-Introduced.html


                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          1850
                               2017-2018 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                    January 11, 2017
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  Sen.  ORTT  --  read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
        AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in  relation  to
          providing  county  correction  officers with a special optional twenty
          year retirement plan
          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 article 14-C to read as follows:
     3                                ARTICLE 14-C
     4      OPTIONAL RETIREMENT PLAN FOR COUNTY CORRECTION OFFICERS OR DEPUTY
     5                 SHERIFFS PERFORMING AS CORRECTION OFFICERS
     6  Section 561. Definitions.
     7          562. Optional  twenty  year  retirement plan for certain members
     8                 whose employer elects to provide same.
     9          563. Additional pension benefit for members of  optional  twenty
    10                 year retirement plan.
    11          564. Consistent provisions.
    12    § 561. Definitions. For purposes of this article:
    13    (a)  "Member"  shall  mean  a  person  who  is  employed  as  a county
    14  correction officer or a  deputy  sheriff  who  is  engaged  directly  in
    15  correction  officer  duties  that  aggregate  fifty  per centum of their
    16  service by a county which  elects  by  resolution  or  local  law,  duly
    17  adopted, to provide the benefits as authorized by this article.
    18    (b)  "Retirement  system"  shall  mean  the  New  York state and local
    19  employees' retirement system.
    20    (c) "Creditable service" shall include any and all services  performed
    21  as  a  sheriff,  undersheriff  or deputy sheriff, or correction officer.
    22  Credit for service as a member or officer of the state police  or  as  a
    23  paid  fireman,  policeman or officer of any organized fire department or
    24  police force or department of any  county,  city,  village,  town,  fire
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD04153-02-7

        S. 1850                             2
     1  district  or  police  district,  shall  also  be deemed to be creditable
     2  service and shall be included in computing years of  total  service  for
     3  retirement pursuant to this section, provided such service was performed
     4  by  the  member  while contributing to the retirement system pursuant to
     5  the provisions of this article or article eight of this chapter.
     6    § 562. Optional twenty year retirement plan for certain members  whose
     7  employer elects to provide same. (a) Any member of the retirement system
     8  may  elect to become a member pursuant to the provisions of this section
     9  within one year after he or she becomes a member, if his or her employer
    10  has elected to make the benefits provided by this section  available  to
    11  members, or within one year after his or her employer elects to make the
    12  benefits provided by this section available to its members.
    13    (b)  Elections  made  pursuant to this section shall be in writing and
    14  shall be duly acknowledged and filed with the  comptroller.  Any  member
    15  who  files  such  an  election  pursuant to this section may withdraw it
    16  after it has been filed for at least a year. Such withdrawal shall be by
    17  written notice duly acknowledged and filed with the comptroller.
    18    (c) A member participating on the basis of this section at the time of
    19  retirement shall be entitled to retire after the  completion  of  twenty
    20  years  of  total creditable service or upon the attainment of age sixty-
    21  two, by filing an application therefor  in  a  manner  similar  to  that
    22  provided in this chapter.
    23    (i)  Upon  completion of twenty years of such service and upon retire-
    24  ment, each such member shall receive a pension sufficient to provide him
    25  or her with a retirement allowance equal to one-fortieth of his  or  her
    26  final  average  salary  for  each  year of total creditable services for
    27  which he or she is otherwise entitled but not exceeding in the aggregate
    28  one-half of his or her final average salary.
    29    (ii) Upon attainment of age  sixty-two  and  upon  retirement  without
    30  completion  of  twenty  years  of  such  service, each such member shall
    31  receive a pension sufficient to provide him or  her  with  a  retirement
    32  allowance  equal  to one-fortieth of his or her final average salary for
    33  each year of creditable service. Every such member shall also  be  enti-
    34  tled to an additional pension equal to the pension for any other credit-
    35  able  service  rendered as otherwise provided for in this chapter.  This
    36  latter pension shall not increase the total allowance to more than  one-
    37  half of his or her final average salary.
    38    (d)  The  increased  pensions  to  such  members,  as provided by this
    39  section, shall be paid from additional contributions made by the partic-
    40  ipating employer on account of such members. The actuary of the  retire-
    41  ment  system shall compute the additional contribution required for each
    42  member who elects to receive the special benefits  provided  under  this
    43  section. Such additional contributions shall be computed on the basis of
    44  contributions  during  the prospective service of such member which will
    45  cover the liability of the retirement system for  such  extra  pensions.
    46  Upon approval of the comptroller, such additional contributions shall be
    47  certified by him or her to the chief fiscal officer or the participating
    48  employer.  The  amount thereof shall be included in the annual appropri-
    49  ation of the participating employer. Such amount shall be  paid  on  the
    50  warrant of the chief fiscal officer of the participating employer to the
    51  pension accumulation fund of the retirement system.
    52    (e)  In  computing  the twenty years of completed service of a member,
    53  full credit shall be given for military service as defined  in  subdivi-
    54  sions  twenty-nine-a  and  thirty  of  section three hundred two of this
    55  chapter.

        S. 1850                             3
     1    (f) Every member participating on the basis of this section  shall  be
     2  separated  from  the  service on the last day of the calendar month next
     3  succeeding the calendar month in which he or she attains age  sixty-two,
     4  provided,  however, that such a member who attained the age of sixty-two
     5  before his or her employer elected to make the benefits provided by this
     6  section  available  to  him  or her, or who attains the age of sixty-two
     7  within one month after his or her employer makes  such  benefits  avail-
     8  able,  to  be  eligible  for  a  pension computed in accordance with the
     9  provisions of this section, shall be separated from the  service  within
    10  three months after his or her employer makes such benefits available.
    11    (g)  The provisions of this section shall be controlling notwithstand-
    12  ing any other provision of this article to the contrary.
    13    (h) The benefits of this section shall  be  available  only  to  those
    14  members  whose  employer  elects  to provide such benefits by adopting a
    15  resolution or local law to such effect and filing a certified copy ther-
    16  eof with the comptroller.
    17    (i) The benefits provided by  this  section  shall  be  payable  to  a
    18  member,  unless at the date of retirement such member would otherwise be
    19  entitled to a greater benefit under other provisions of this chapter had
    20  he or she withdrawn from this section, in which event such greater bene-
    21  fits shall be payable.
    22    § 563. Additional pension benefit for members of optional twenty  year
    23  retirement  plan.  (a)  A  participating  employer which has elected, or
    24  which elects to provide the benefits of the optional twenty year retire-
    25  ment plan for its employees as specified in this article  may  elect  to
    26  make  contributions  for  the purpose of providing an additional pension
    27  pursuant to this section for members in its employ who are entitled to a
    28  pension pursuant to section five  hundred  sixty-two  of  this  article.
    29  Every member employed by an employer which has elected the provisions of
    30  section  five  hundred  sixty-two  of  this article and this section may
    31  elect to be covered by the provisions of this section by filing with the
    32  comptroller, a duly executed and acknowledged form prepared by the comp-
    33  troller for that purpose.
    34    (b) Upon retirement, each such member shall receive, for each year  of
    35  service  in excess of twenty, an additional pension which shall be equal
    36  to one-sixtieth of his or her final average salary;  provided,  however,
    37  that  the  total  allowance  payable  pursuant to this section shall not
    38  exceed three-quarters of such member's final average salary.
    39    § 564. Consistent provisions. Nothing contained in this article  shall
    40  be  construed  to  otherwise affect the applicability of article eleven,
    41  fourteen or fifteen of this chapter. Any other provisions of this  chap-
    42  ter  relating  to  mandatory contribution to the retirement system based
    43  upon a member's date of membership in such system shall not be deemed to
    44  be affected by the provisions of this article, and any member who on the
    45  effective date of this article is not required to contribute  shall  not
    46  be  required  to make any contributions as a result of this section. For
    47  those members required to contribute  to  the  retirement  system,  such
    48  contribution  shall  be treated in the same manner as specified for such
    49  members in article fourteen or fifteen of this chapter.
    50    § 2. Any past service payments required of a county as a result of the
    51  adoption of the benefits permitted by this act may be amortized  over  a
    52  period of up to ten years at the option of such county.
    53    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
          FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
          This  bill  will allow any county to elect to provide their correction
        officers and deputy sheriffs  who  are  engaged  in  correction  officer

        S. 1850                             4
        duties  to become covered by the provisions of a special 20 year retire-
        ment plan, which will provide a benefit of  one-half  of  final  average
        salary  upon retirement. The county may also elect an additional benefit
        of  one  sixtieth  of  final  average salary for each year of service in
        excess of 20 years, not to exceed 15 such years.
          If this bill is enacted, the increase in the annual contributions of a
        county electing to provide these benefits will  depend  on  the  current
        salary  and plan coverage of the affected members in its employ, as well
        as on the proposed plan elected by such county.   For  the  fiscal  year
        ending  March  31, 2018, the additional annual cost for the 20 year plan
        will be 4.8% of the affected correction  officers'  salaries  for  those
        currently covered by a 25 year plan, and 7.2% of the affected correction
        officers'  salaries  for  those currently covered by an age 55 plan. The
        additional annual cost for the 20 year plan  with  additional  sixtieths
        will  be  an  additional 0.5% of the affected salaries. In future years,
        this annual cost will vary as the billing rates of these plans change.
          In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
        an immediate past service cost for the  affected  officers  which  would
        depend  on  the  current  salary, plan, age and length of service of the
        officers, as well as on their proposed plan. This cost may be  amortized
        over  a  period  of up to 10 years as determined by the employing county
        which elects the benefit.
          Summary of relevant resources:
          The membership data used in  measuring  the  impact  of  the  proposed
        change  was  the same as that used in the March 31, 2016 actuarial valu-
        ation.  Distributions and other statistics can  be  found  in  the  2016
        Report  of  the  Actuary  and  the  2016  Comprehensive Annual Financial
        Report.
          The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in  the  2015
        and  2016 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, 2016
        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 estimate, dated January 6, 2017, and intended for use only during
        the 2017 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2017-3, prepared by the
        Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.
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