Bill Text: NY S06766 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Grants retroactive tier IV membership in the New York city employees' retirement system to Ryan D. O'Connor.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-17 - PRINT NUMBER 6766A [S06766 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-S06766-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6766--A 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN SENATE May 9, 2023 ___________ Introduced by Sen. SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions -- 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 commit- tee AN ACT in relation to granting retroactive tier IV membership in the New York city employees' retirement system to Ryan D. O'Connor The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, 2 Ryan D. O'Connor, an employee of the metropolitan transportation author- 3 ity metro-north railroad as of April 26, 2023 and a member of the metro- 4 politan transportation authority defined benefit pension plan, who was 5 employed with the New York city transit authority from January 19, 2012 6 through April 25, 2023 and who was a member of the New York city 7 employees' retirement system through April 25, 2023, who for reasons 8 not ascribable to his own negligence, failed to become a member of such 9 retirement system during such employment with the New York city transit 10 authority until September 10, 2012, shall be deemed to have joined the 11 New York city employees' retirement system from January 19, 2012 and 12 shall be granted Tier IV status in such retirement system, if, within 13 one year of the effective date of this act, he shall file a written 14 request with the New York city employees' retirement system. 15 § 2. No contributions made to the New York city employees' retirement 16 system by Ryan D. O'Connor shall be returned or refunded to him pursuant 17 to this act. 18 § 3. All past service costs of implementing the provisions of this act 19 shall be borne by the city of New York. 20 § 4. 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. LBD07071-06-4S. 6766--A 2 SUMMARY: This proposed legislation would permit Ryan D. O'Connor, a vested Tier 6 member of the New York City Employees’ Retirement System (NYCERS), to elect, by filing an application with NYCERS within one year of the effective date, membership in the Tier 4 NYCERS 57/5 Plan. EXPECTED INCREASE (DECREASE) IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS by Fiscal Year for the first 25 years ($) Year NYCERS 2025 0 2026 65,100 2027 0 2028 0 2029 0 2030 0 2031 0 2032 0 2033 0 2034 0 2035 0 2036 0 2037 0 2038 0 2039 0 2040 0 2041 0 2042 0 2043 0 2044 0 2045 0 2046 0 2047 0 2048 0 2049 0 While the past service costs for this member would normally be borne by the New York City Transit Authority, the proposed legislation assigns such costs to the City of New York. INITIAL INCREASE (DECREASE) IN ACTUARIAL LIABILITIES as of June 30, 2024 ($) Present Value (PV) NYCERS PV of Benefits: 58,900 PV of Employee Contributions: 0 PV of Employer Contributions: 58,900 Unfunded Accrued Liabilities: 58,900 AMORTIZATION OF UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY NYCERS Number of Payments: 1 Fiscal Year of Last Payment: 2026 Amortization Payment: 65,100S. 6766--A 3 Since Mr. O'Connor is a deferred vested member and therefore has no remaining working lifetime, the entire increase in Unfunded Accrued Liabilities would be recognized immediately. 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. NYCERS Term. Vested Members - Number Count: 1 - Average Age: 37 BACKGROUND: Mr. O'Connor commenced employment with the New York City Transit Authority on January 19, 2012 and subsequently joined NYCERS in September 2012. In the nine-month period between the commencement of his employment and the date on which he joined NYCERS, Chapter 18 of the Laws of 2012, or Tier 6, was enacted. Therefore, Mr. O'Connor joined NYCERS as a Tier 6 member. The proposed legislation would allow Mr. O'Connor to apply for a retroactive NYCERS membership date of January 19, 2012, which would entitle him to Tier 4 membership, without a refund of past Tier 6 contributions, in the NYCERS 57/5 Plan. A change from Tier 6 to Tier 4 would result in an earlier date of retirement eligibility, lower overall prospective employee contribution rates, a larger benefit, and a three-year (as opposed to a five-year) final average salary. ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The estimates presented herein have been calculated based on the Revised 2021 Actuarial Assumptions and Methods of the impacted retirement systems. Per the proposed legislation, Mr. O'Connor is currently a Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Metro-North employee. For the purposes of this Fiscal Note, it is assumed that Mr. O'Connor will transfer his NYCERS membership to his pension plan at the MTA. Therefore, the cost reflected in this Fiscal Note is based on the additional reserves that will be required to be transferred from NYCERS, considering Chapter 717 of the Laws of 2023. 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). This Fiscal Note does not reflect any chapter laws that may have been enacted during the current legislative session. 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 and procedures and with the Actuarial Standards of Practice issued by the Actuarial Standards Board.S. 6766--A 4 FISCAL NOTE IDENTIFICATION: This Fiscal Note 2024-61 dated May 15, 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.
