Bill Text: NY S08220 | 2015-2016 | General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Grants Tier I status to Cynthia Falletta in the Teachers' Retirement System of the City of New York with a membership date of June 1, 1972.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-12-19 - REFERRED TO RULES [S08220 Detail]

Download: New_York-2015-S08220-Introduced.html


                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          8220
                    IN SENATE
                                    December 19, 2016
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  Sen. HOYLMAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
        AN ACT relating to granting Tier I status to  Cynthia  Falletta  in  the
          Teachers'  Retirement System of the City of New York with a membership
          date of June 1, 1972
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section  1. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, Cynthia
     2  Falletta, a member of the Teachers' Retirement System of the City of New
     3  York (TRSNYC) with Tier IV status, who was employed by the City  Univer-
     4  sity of New York from June 1, 1972 until April 8, 1976 and from June 22,
     5  1976  to  October  28,  1976, and was a member of the Board of Education
     6  Retirement System from December 12, 1990  until  February  28,  1994  at
     7  which  point  she  became a member of the Teachers' Retirement System of
     8  the City of New York, and who for reasons  not  ascribable  to  her  own
     9  negligence  was  retroactively enrolled as a Tier IV member, shall, upon
    10  submission of an application filed with the Board of Trustees of  TRSNYC
    11  on  or  before the thirty-first day of December next succeeding the date
    12  on which this act shall have become a law, be reclassified as a  Tier  I
    13  member with June 1, 1972 as her date of membership and shall be entitled
    14  to every right, benefit and privilege which would have been available to
    15  her  in accordance with Tier I status, and the City of New York shall be
    16  responsible for all costs to provide  the  Tier  I  benefit  to  Cynthia
    17  Falletta,  provided,  however that Cynthia Falletta shall be responsible
    18  for contributing the required member contributions for  Tier  I  member-
    19  ship.
    20    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
          FISCAL NOTE. -- Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
          PROVISIONS  OF  PROPOSED  LEGISLATION:  The proposed legislation would
        permit Cynthia Falletta, a retired Tier 4 member of the  New  York  City
        Teachers'  Retirement  System  (TRS), to elect, by filing an application
        with the Board of Trustees of TRS within the end of the calendar year in
        which the proposed legislation is passed, to be reclassified as a Tier 1
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD13729-05-6

        S. 8220                             2
        member and have her retirement allowance  recalculated  and  paid  under
        Tier 1 (Plan A) benefit calculation provisions.
          The  Effective  Date  of the proposed legislation would be the Date of
        Enactment.
          BACKGROUND - GENERAL: Ms. Falletta retired as a Tier 4 TRS  member  on
        October  18, 2012. She currently receives an annual retirement allowance
        of $48,243.
          If the proposed legislation is passed, Ms. Falletta would be reclassi-
        fied as a Tier 1 retired member and her retirement  allowance  would  be
        recalculated  as if she had joined a public retirement system within the
        state upon her commencement of part-time employment as a college assist-
        ant with the City University of New York in 1972. The additional cost to
        fund the increased retirement allowance  associated  with  the  proposed
        legislation would fall upon the City of New York.
          Because Tier 1 TRS members are generally permitted to take an actuari-
        al  reduction  of  their retirement allowance to account for deficits in
        member contributions, for purposes of this fiscal  note  it  is  assumed
        that  Ms. Falletta would not pay any owed member contributions resulting
        from the reclassification. Based on this assumption and  application  of
        other  Tier  1  benefit calculation provisions, it is estimated that Ms.
        Falletta's annual retirement allowance would increase to  $64,822.  This
        annual  increase  would  apply prospectively as well as retroactively to
        Ms. Falletta's October 18, 2012 date of retirement.
          FINANCIAL IMPACT - ACTUARIAL PRESENT VALUES: The  estimated  financial
        impact  of  this  proposal  has  been calculated based on the difference
        between the actuarial present value of  (1)  the  Tier  1  benefits  Ms.
        Falletta would receive if this proposed legislation were enacted (retro-
        active  to October 18, 2012 retirement date) and (2) the Tier 4 benefits
        that are currently being paid to Ms. Falletta.
          Based on the actuarial assumptions and methods described  herein,  the
        enactment  of  this  proposed  legislation  would increase the Actuarial
        Present Value of Benefits (APVB)  and  the  Unfunded  Actuarial  Accrued
        Liability (UAAL) of TRS by approximately $259,000 as of June 30, 2016.
          FINANCIAL  IMPACT  - ANNUAL EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS: In accordance with
        Section 13-638.2(k-2) of the Administrative Code  of  the  City  of  New
        York,  the  amortization  schedule  for new UAAL attributable to benefit
        changes is determined by the Actuary but is  generally  calculated  over
        the remaining working lifetime of those impacted by the benefit changes.
          Since  Ms.  Falletta  is  retired and collecting a pension, the entire
        increase in UAAL of $259,000 based on the  Actuary's  actuarial  assump-
        tions  and methods in effect on June 30, 2015 would be recognized in the
        first year.
          CONTRIBUTION TIMING: If  enacted  during  the  2016  Legislative,  the
        retirement  allowance  payable  to  Ms.  Falletta  would likely first be
        reflected in the June 30, 2017 census data. In accordance with the  One-
        Year  Lag  methodology  used  to  determine  employer contributions, the
        increase in employer contributions would first be reflected  for  Fiscal
        Year 2019.
          OTHER  COSTS:  This  Fiscal Note does not measure administrative costs
        associated with implementing this proposed legislation.
          ACTUARIAL ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: Additional APVB, UAAL and  employer
        contributions  presented  herein  have  been  calculated  based  on  the
        Actuary's actuarial assumptions and methods in effect for  the  Prelimi-
        nary  June  30,  2015  (Lag)  actuarial  valuation used to determine the
        Preliminary Fiscal Year 2017 employer contributions of TRS.

        S. 8220                             3
          STATEMENT OF ACTUARIAL OPINION: I, Sherry S. Chan, am the Chief  Actu-
        ary for, and independent of, the New York City Pension Funds and Retire-
        ment Systems. I am a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, a Fellow of the
        Conference  of Consulting Actuaries and a Member of the American Academy
        of Actuaries. I meet the Qualification Standards of the American Academy
        of Actuaries to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
          FISCAL  NOTE IDENTIFICATION: This Fiscal Note 2016-39 dated October 5,
        2016, was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City  Teachers'
        Retirement  System.  This  estimate  is intended for use only during the
        2016 Legislative Session.
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