Bill Text: NY S08529 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Provides for a line of duty presumption for disabilities of deputy sheriffs in a city with a population of one million or more.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-30 - ORDERED TO THIRD READING CAL.1582 [S08529 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-S08529-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8529 IN SENATE February 8, 2024 ___________ Introduced by Sen. JACKSON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Cities 1 AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation to disabilities of deputy sheriffs in certain cities The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The general municipal law is amended by adding a new 2 section 207-r to read as follows: 3 § 207-r. Disabilities of deputy sheriff members of a retirement system 4 in certain cities. 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of any general, 5 special or local law or administrative code to the contrary, but except 6 for the purposes of the workers' compensation law and the labor law, any 7 condition of impairment of health caused by diseases of the heart, 8 resulting in total or partial disability or death to a paid employee 9 performing the duties of a deputy sheriff in the sheriff's department of 10 a city of one million or more, where such employee is drawn from compet- 11 itive civil service lists, who successfully passed a physical examina- 12 tion on entry into the service of such department, which examination 13 failed to reveal any evidence of such condition, shall be presumptive 14 evidence that it was incurred in the performance and discharge of duty, 15 unless the contrary be proved by competent evidence. 16 2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a deputy sheriff member 17 retiring pursuant to the provisions of subdivision one of this section 18 shall receive a pension equal to three-fourths of such member's final 19 average salary. 20 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: SUMMARY: The proposed legislation would provide certain Deputy Sheriff members or retirees (within five years of their respective retirement date) of the New York City Employees' Retirement System (NYCERS) a rebuttable statutory presumption that a qualifying partial or total disability or death related to a heart disease was incurred in the performance of duty. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD10301-03-4S. 8529 2 ILLUSTRATION - INCREASE (DECREASE) IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS by Fiscal Year for the first 25 years ($ in Thousands) One Incident One Incident Per Year Year Disability Death Disability Death 2025 55 167 55 167 2026 55 167 113 340 2027 55 167 171 518 2028 55 167 232 701 2029 55 167 294 889 2030 55 167 359 1,083 2031 55 167 425 1,283 2032 55 167 493 1,489 2033 55 167 563 1,701 2034 55 167 636 1,920 2035 55 167 710 2,145 2036 55 167 787 2,377 2037 55 167 866 2,615 2038 55 167 947 2,861 2039 0 0 976 2,947 2040 0 0 1,005 3,035 2041 0 0 1,035 3,126 2042 0 0 1,066 3,220 2043 0 0 1,098 3,317 2044 0 0 1,131 3,416 2045 0 0 1,165 3,519 2046 0 0 1,200 3,624 2047 0 0 1,236 3,733 2048 0 0 1,273 3,845 2049 0 0 1,312 3,961 Employer contribution impact beyond Fiscal Year 2049 is not shown. The potential increases in employer contributions will be allocated to New York City. EXPECTED INCREASE (DECREASE) IN ACTUARIAL LIABILITIES as of June 30, 2023 ($ in Thousands) Present Value (PV) Per Disability Per Death PV of Benefits: 429 1,416 PV of Employee Contributions: (40) 0 PV of Employer Contributions: 469 1,416 Unfunded Accrued Liabilities: 469 1,416 AMORTIZATION OF UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY Recognized as Ongoing Gain/Loss Per Disability Per Death Number of Payments: 14 14 Amortization Payment: 55 K 167 K CENSUS DATA: The estimates presented herein are based on preliminary census data collected as of June 30, 2023. The census data for the impacted population is summarized below. NYCERSS. 8529 3 Active Members - Number Count: 150 - Average Age: 42.3 - Average Service: 11.2 - Average Salary: 81,500 IMPACT ON MEMBER BENEFITS: Currently, a New York City Deputy Sheriff who becomes disabled due to a heart disease would be eligible for an applicable ordinary disability retirement, generally a lifetime payment of 1/3 of salary. The ordinary death benefit is a lump sum payment generally equal to three times the member's salary. Under the proposed legislation, the performance of duty disability benefit for NYCERS Deputy Sheriff members who are disabled from a heart disease would be equal to: * 75% of Final Average Salary (FAS), where * FAS is defined as 3-Year FAS for Tier 4 and 5-Year FAS for Tier 6, without * an explicit Workers' Compensation offset. Under the proposed legislation, the performance of duty death benefit would generally be equal to a lifetime benefit of 50% of a member's wages earned during the last year of service, plus, if applicable, the Special Accidental Death Benefit (SADB) payable under General Municipal Law section 208-f. SADB for Deputy Sheriffs was enacted by Chapter 720 of the Laws of 2023 and all accidental deaths are assumed to qualify for SADB. ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The estimates presented herein have been calculated based on the Revised 2021 Actuarial Assumptions and Methods of the impacted retirement systems. The number of members and eligible retirees who will benefit in the future from this fiscal note is unknown. The cost of this proposed legislation could vary greatly depending on the number of future members who benefit and on their length of service, age, and salary history. In particular, the increase would be greater for a member who is not yet eligible for an ODR benefit when the disabling heart disease is diag- nosed. The estimated financial impact for disabled members has been calcu- lated assuming 50% would have retired under an Ordinary Disability bene- fit, and 50% would have continued working if the proposed legislation were not passed. RISK AND UNCERTAINTY: The costs presented in this Fiscal Note depend highly on the actuarial assumptions, methods, and models used, demo- 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). 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 andS. 8529 4 procedures and with the Actuarial Standards of Practice issued by the Actuarial Standards Board. FISCAL NOTE IDENTIFICATION: This Fiscal Note 2024-12 dated February 7, 2024 was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City Retirement Systems and Pension Funds. This estimate is intended for use only during the 2024 Legislative Session.
