Bill Text: NY S06010 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended


Bill Title: Grants retroactive eligibility to apply for enhanced Tier 3 status to former New York City police officer Mark Rivera.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2020-02-12 - PRINT NUMBER 6010B [S06010 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S06010-Amended.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         6010--B

                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                      May 16, 2019
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen. HOYLMAN -- 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  relating  to  granting  retroactive  eligibility  to  apply for
          enhanced Tier 3 status to former New York  City  police  officer  Mark
          Rivera

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

     1    Section 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of any  general  or  special
     2  law,  rule or regulation to the contrary, Mark Rivera who was previously
     3  employed by the New York City police department as a police officer  and
     4  was  a Tier 3 member of the Police Pension Fund at the time of his death
     5  on March 21, 2015 shall be eligible to apply for membership in  Enhanced
     6  Tier  3, if within one year from the effective date of this act, Abigail
     7  Rivera, the widow of Mark Rivera, shall file with the retirement  system
     8  an  application  for  membership  Enhanced  Tier 3 of the Police Pension
     9  Fund, and Abigail Rivera may also file for  any  retirement  options  or
    10  death  benefits  that would have been available to Mark Rivera if he had
    11  been a member of Enhanced Tier 3 on the date of his death.  Any  amounts
    12  paid  by  the  police pension fund to Mark Rivera, his estate or Abigail
    13  Rivera prior to the filing of the application for benefits  pursuant  to
    14  this act shall be deducted from the benefit payable thereafter.
    15    §  2. All costs pursuant to this act shall be borne by the City of New
    16  York.
    17    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
          FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD03809-04-0

        S. 6010--B                          2

          SUMMARY OF BILL: This proposed legislation would  permit  Ms.  Rivera,
        within  one year of the effective date, to posthumously elect the Tier 3
        Enhanced Plan on behalf of Police  Officer  Mark  Rivera,  her  deceased
        husband, and to apply for any benefits applicable to such Plan.
          Effective Date: Upon enactment.
          BACKGROUND:  Officer Rivera died as a Tier 3 Revised member of the New
        York City Police Pension Fund (POLICE) on March 21, 2015. His  surviving
        spouse,  Ms.  Rivera, received an ordinary death benefit equal to a lump
        sum benefit based on salary and member contributions  according  to  the
        provisions of a Tier 3 revised member.
          After  his  death,  beginning  in  September  8,  2016, certain Tier 3
        Revised members could elect to join the  Tier  3  Enhanced  Plan  which,
        among other things, extended the statutory presumptions contained in the
        Heart  Bill  (General  Municipal  Law  (GML)  §  207-k) to Enhanced Plan
        members pursuant to Chapter 298 of the Laws of 2016. Tier 3 police offi-
        cers became eligible to participate in the Enhanced Plan  on  April  10,
        2017 pursuant to Part SSS of Chapter 59 of the Laws of 2017.
          If this legislation is passed, Officer Rivera's death could potential-
        ly  be  deemed as a Line-of-Duty death under such presumption, entitling
        his spouse to receive an Accidental Death Benefit pursuant to Retirement
        and Social Security Law (RSSL) Section  509  and  a  Special  Accidental
        Death Benefit (SADB) under GML Section 208-f, less any amount previously
        paid as an ordinary death benefit.
          FINANCIAL  IMPACT  - PRESENT VALUES: The estimated financial impact of
        this proposal has been calculated as the difference between the  present
        value of (1) and (2), where:
          (1)  is the Accidental Death and SADB benefits Officer Rivera's spouse
        would have received if the proposed legislation were  enacted  (retroac-
        tive to the date of death on March 21, 2015, and
          (2)  is  the  value  of  the amount of ordinary death benefits already
        paid.
          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 Unfunded Accrued  Liability  (UAL)  of
        POLICE  by approximately $2.3 million. This calculation does not reflect
        the offset for a Social Security death benefit, if any, payable  to  Ms.
        Rivera.
          FINANCIAL  IMPACT  - ANNUAL EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS: In accordance with
        Administrative  Code  of  the  City  of   New   York   (ACCNY)   Section
        13-638.2(k-2),  new  UAL attributable to benefit changes are to be amor-
        tized as determined by the Actuary  but  generally  over  the  remaining
        working lifetime of those impacted by the benefit changes.
          For purposes of this Fiscal Note, since Officer Rivera is deceased and
        therefore  has no remaining working lifetime, the entire increase in UAL
        would be recognized immediately.
          CONTRIBUTION TIMING: For the purposes  of  this  Fiscal  Note,  it  is
        assumed  that  the  changes in the UAL and annual employer contributions
        would be reflected for the first time in the  June  30,  2020  actuarial
        valuation  of  POLICE.  In  accordance with the One-Year Lag Methodology
        (OYLM) used to determine employer contributions, the increase in employ-
        er contributions would be reflected in Fiscal Year 2022.
          CENSUS DATA: As of June 30, 2019, Ms. Rivera was approximately age  41
        and  is not receiving an annual pension. Additional data was provided by
        POLICE which was not audited but was checked for  reasonableness.  Below
        is a summary of the data provided:
          *Ordinary Death Benefit Lump Sum: $167,000

        S. 6010--B                          3

          *Accidental Death Annual Benefit (City): $25,343
          *SADB Annual Benefit at Date of Death (State): $58,854
          ACTUARIAL  ASSUMPTIONS  AND METHODS: The changes in the PVFB presented
        herein have been calculated based on the actuarial assumptions and meth-
        ods in effect for the June 30, 2018 (Lag) actuarial valuations  used  to
        determine  the  Preliminary  Fiscal  Year 2020 employer contributions of
        POLICE.
          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  the  Plan  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 methods 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 POLICE and other New
        York City agencies to implement the proposed 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 2020-04 dated February 6,
        2020 was prepared by the Chief Actuary for  the  New  York  City  Police
        Pension  Fund.  This  estimate  is intended for use only during the 2020
        Legislative Session.
feedback