Bill Text: NY S05585 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Provides that the salary base for members of the city of New York fire department pension fund whose employment with the fire department of the city of New York commenced on or after July 1, 2000 shall be determined in the same manner as members whose employment commenced prior to such date.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 11-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-03-26 - PRINT NUMBER 5585B [S05585 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S05585-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5585--B 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN SENATE May 8, 2019 ___________ Introduced by Sens. GOUNARDES, ADDABBO, BIAGGI, HARCKHAM, HOYLMAN, SANDERS, SAVINO, SKOUFIS, STAVISKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- recommitted to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to determination of salary base for members of the city of New York fire department pension fund The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 443 of the retirement and social security law is 2 amended by adding a new subdivision h to read as follows: 3 h. Notwithstanding any general, special or local law, charter, admin- 4 istrative code, agreement, resolution or rule or regulation to the 5 contrary, the salary base for members of the city of New York fire 6 department pension fund whose employment with the fire department of the 7 city of New York commenced on or after the first of July, two thousand 8 to whom this article otherwise applies shall be determined in the same 9 manner as the salary base for members of the city of New York fire 10 department pension fund whose employment with the fire department of the 11 city of New York commenced before the first of July, two thousand. 12 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to members 13 of the city of New York fire department pension fund who retire on and 14 after such effective date. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: SUMMARY OF BILL: This proposed legislation would amend Section 443 of the Retirement and Social Security Law (RSSL) to change the salary base for Tier 2 members of the New York City Fire Pension Fund (FIRE) who are EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD11504-05-0S. 5585--B 2 hired on or after July 1, 2000 to a salary base used for such members who joined prior to July 1, 2000. Effective Date: Upon enactment. IMPACT ON BENEFITS: Currently, Tier 2 FIRE plan benefits are primarily derived from a salary base. For Tier 2 FIRE members hired prior to July 1, 2000 (original Tier 2 members), the salary base is equal to the greater of (1) the pensionable earnings in the final 12 months of service, or (2) the average pensionable earnings earned in any consecutive three years of service. Pensionable earnings in the final 12 months of service may not exceed 120% of the previous 12 months' pensionable earnings. If the salary base is based on the highest three consecutive years, no single year's pensionable earnings may exceed 120% of the average of the two previous years' pensionable earnings. For Tier 2 Fire members hired on or after July 1, 2000 (new Tier 2 members), the salary base is equal to the pensionable earnings earned in the final 12 months of service only. Under the proposed legislation, if enacted, the salary base shall be determined the same for Tier 2 Fire members hired on or after July 1, 2000 as it is for Tier 2 members hired prior to July 1, 2000. FINANCIAL IMPACT - PRESENT VALUES: Based on the actuarial assumptions and methods described herein, the enactment of this proposed legislation would increase the Present Value of Future Benefits (PVFB) and the Pres- ent Value of future employer contributions by approximately $3.0 million. Under the Entry Age Normal cost method used to determine the employer contributions to FIRE, there would be an increase in the Unfunded Accrued Liability (UAL) of approximately $0.1 million and an increase in the Present Value of future employer Normal Cost of $2.9 million. FINANCIAL IMPACT - ANNUAL EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS: In accordance with Section 13-638.2(k-2) of the Administrative Code of the City of New York (ACCNY), new UAL attributable to benefit changes are to be amortized as determined by the Actuary, but are generally amortized over the remain- ing working lifetime of those impacted by the benefit changes. As of June 30, 2019, the remaining working lifetime of the Tier 2 members hired on or after July 1, 2000 is approximately 13 years. For the purposes of this Fiscal Note, the increase in UAL was amor- tized over a 13-year period (12 payments under the One-Year Lag Method- ology (OYLM)) using level dollar payments. This payment plus the increase in the Normal Cost results in an increase in annual employer contributions of approximately $350,000 each year. CONTRIBUTION TIMING: For the purposes of this Fiscal Note, it is assumed that the changes in the Present Value of future employer contributions and annual employer contributions would be reflected for the first time in the June 30, 2019 actuarial valuation of FIRE. In accordance with the OYLM used to determine employer contributions, the increase in employer contributions would first be reflected in Fiscal Year 2021. CENSUS DATA: The estimates presented herein are based on the census data used in the Preliminary June 30, 2019 (Lag) actuarial valuation of FIRE to determine the Preliminary Fiscal Year 2021 employer contrib- utions. There are 5,278 active Tier 2 Fire members hired on or after July 1, 2000 as of June 30, 2019 and they have an average age of approximatelyS. 5585--B 3 41.3 years, average service of approximately 15.4 years, and an average salary of approximately $132,800. ACTUARIAL ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The changes in the Present Value of future employer contributions and annual employer contributions presented herein have been calculated based on the actuarial assumptions and methods in effect for the June 30, 2019 (Lag) actuarial valuations used to determine the Preliminary Fiscal Year 2021 employer contrib- utions of FIRE. RISK AND UNCERTAINTY: The costs presented in this Fiscal Note depend highly on the realization of the actuarial assumptions used, as well as certain demographic characteristics of FIRE and other exogenous factors such as investment, contribution, and other risks. If actual experience deviates from actuarial assumptions, the actual costs could differ from those presented herein. Costs are also dependent on the actuarial meth- ods used, and therefore different actuarial methods could produce different results. Quantifying these risks is beyond the scope of this Fiscal Note. Not measured in this Fiscal Note are the following: * The initial, additional administrative costs of FIRE and other New York City agencies to implement the proposed legislation. * Pension costs for Tier 2 members of New York City Police Pension Fund hired on or after July 1, 2000 who currently have the same benefit formula as the FIRE Tier 2 members hired on or after July 1, 2000 and who may obtain the same benefit improvement through parity via collec- tive bargaining or similar legislation. * The impact of this proposed legislation on Other Postemployment Benefit (OPEB) costs. STATEMENT OF ACTUARIAL OPINION: I, Sherry S. Chan, am the Chief Actu- ary for, and independent of, the New York City Retirement Systems and Pension Funds. I am a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, an Enrolled Actuary under the Employee Retirement Income and Security Act of 1974, a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries, and a Fellow of the Confer- ence of Consulting Actuaries. I meet the Qualification Standards of the American Academy of Actuaries to render the actuarial opinion contained herein. To the best of my 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 2020-17 dated March 20, 2020 was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City Fire Pension Fund. This estimate is intended for use only during the 2020 Legislative Session.
