Bill Text: NY A06606 | 2015-2016 | General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Relates to members of the twenty-year/age fifty retirement program for Triborough bridge and tunnel members.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2016-06-16 - REFERRED TO RULES [A06606 Detail]

Download: New_York-2015-A06606-Introduced.html
                           S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
       ________________________________________________________________________
                                         6606
                              2015-2016 Regular Sessions
                                 I N  A S S E M B L Y
                                    March 27, 2015
                                      ___________
       Introduced  by  M.  of A. ABBATE, GOLDFEDER -- read once and referred to
         the Committee on Governmental Employees
       AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in  relation  to
         members of the twenty-year/age fifty retirement program for Triborough
         bridge and tunnel members
         THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
       BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
    1    Section 1. Paragraph 1 of  subdivision  e  of  section  604-c  of  the
    2  retirement  and  social  security  law, as amended by chapter 661 of the
    3  laws of 2002, is amended to read as follows:
    4    1. In addition to the member contributions  required  by  section  six
    5  hundred  thirteen  of  this  article,  each  participant  in the twenty-
    6  year/age fifty retirement program in the rank of bridge and tunnel offi-
    7  cer shall contribute to the retirement system of which he or  she  is  a
    8  member (subject to the applicable provisions of subdivision d of section
    9  six  hundred thirteen of this article) an additional five and fifty one-
   10  hundredths percent of his or her compensation and  each  participant  in
   11  the  twenty-year/age fifty retirement program in the rank of sergeant or
   12  lieutenant shall contribute to the retirement system an  additional  six
   13  percent  of  his  or  her  compensation  earned [from] FOR all allowable
   14  service as a Triborough bridge and tunnel member rendered on  and  after
   15  the  date which is one hundred eighty days prior to the starting date of
   16  the twenty-year/age fifty retirement program AND  ALL  CREDITED  SERVICE
   17  AFTER  SUCH PERSON CEASES TO BE A PARTICIPANT BUT BEFORE HE OR SHE AGAIN
   18  BECOMES A PARTICIPANT PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH SIX OF SUBDIVISION B OF THIS
   19  SECTION.  A participant in the twenty-year/age fifty retirement  program
   20  shall  contribute additional member contributions until the later of (i)
   21  the date as of which he or she has twenty years of credited service as a
   22  bridge and tunnel officer, or (ii) the third  anniversary  of  the  date
   23  that  he  or  she last became a participant in the twenty-year/age fifty
   24  retirement program.
        EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                             [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                  LBD09868-01-5
       A. 6606                             2
    1    S 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
         FISCAL NOTE. -- Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
         PROVISIONS  OF  PROPOSED  LEGISLATION: This proposed legislation would
       amend Retirement and Social Security Law ("RSSL") Section 604-c.e(1)  to
       require  that  Additional  Member  Contributions ("AMC") for a period of
       non-participation be made by a  member  of  the  Triborough  Bridge  and
       Tunnel  Authority  ("TBTA")  20-Year/Age 50 Retirement Plan ("TBTA 20/50
       Plan") who ceases to be a participant and later again becomes a  partic-
       ipant of the TBTA 20/50 Plan.
         The  effective  date  of the proposed legislation would be the date of
       enactment and would apply only to new employees within the TBTA.
         BACKGROUND: Members in the New York City Employees' Retirement  System
       ("NYCERS")  TBTA 20/50 Plan must be employed in a TBTA Eligible Position
       to be eligible to participate. A TBTA Eligible Position  is  a  position
       held  by  a  Tier  4  member who is employed as a TBTA Bridge and Tunnel
       Officer, Sergeant or  Lieutenant  in  a  non-managerial  position.    To
       participate in the TBTA 20/50 Plan, in addition to Basic Member Contrib-
       utions, AMC must be made at the rate of 5.5% of gross wages for Officers
       and 6.0% of gross wages for Sergeants and Lieutenants until the later of
       (1) 20 years of Credited Service in a TBTA Eligible Position, or (2) the
       third anniversary of participation in the TBTA 20/50 Plan.
         If a TBTA 20/50 Plan member gets promoted to a managerial position, he
       or  she is no longer eligible to participate in that Plan. Subsequently,
       if the member is reassigned to a  non-managerial  position,  making  the
       member  once  again  eligible to participate in the TBTA 20/50 Plan, the
       member is then able to retire with full TBTA 20/50 Plan benefits despite
       not having contributed AMC during the period the  member  spent  in  the
       managerial position.
         This  proposed  legislation,  if  enacted,  would require a member who
       spends a portion of his or her career in a non-participating  managerial
       position  and then returns to a TBTA Eligible Position to contribute AMC
       for the period of time that the member was in that managerial position.
         For purposes of  developing  the  analysis  herein,  the  Actuary  has
       assumed  that  the  required  AMC  rate for this period of time would be
       deemed to be equal to the AMC rate last  paid  by  the  member  while  a
       participant in the TBTA 20/50 Plan.
         FINANCIAL  IMPACT  - ACTUARIAL PRESENT VALUE OF BENEFITS: Enactment of
       this legislation would result in a future  reduction  in  the  Actuarial
       Present  Value of Benefits ("APVB") and employer contributions to NYCERS
       and would be based on the number of  members  affected,  the  number  of
       years  that  they  were  in  non-participating positions and their gross
       wages during those periods. Based on the assumptions herein, the savings
       in the APVB in the future, if this  legislation  is  enacted,  would  be
       approximately $60,000 per member at the date of retirement.
         FINANCIAL  IMPACT  - EMPLOYER COSTS: Enactment of this proposed legis-
       lation could decrease employer costs, where such amounts would depend on
       the number of members affected, upon the number of years that they  were
       in  non-participating positions and their gross wages during those years
       and would equal the value of the additional AMC paid.
         The increase in the assets of NYCERS as a result of the additional AMC
       paid in any year would be treated as an actuarial gain and be  amortized
       over  15  years. Based on the assumptions herein, the cost savings would
       be approximately $7,000 per year per affected member.
         FINANCIAL IMPACT  -  EMPLOYER  CONTRIBUTIONS:  Decreases  in  employer
       contributions would ultimately be comparable to the decreases in employ-
       er costs.
       A. 6606                             3
         ACTUARIAL  ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The approximate savings per member
       in the APVB has been estimated assuming that:
         * The member had been in a managerial position for 10 years
         *  The  member's  gross  wages  at  the  end of the 10-year period was
       $100,000
         * The member had received increases in gross wages of  4.0%  per  year
       during the 10-year period
         * The AMC rate was 6.0% of gross wages, and
         * AMC are accumulated at the rate of 5.0% per year.
         STATEMENT OF ACTUARIAL OPINION: I, Robert C. North, Jr., am the Acting
       Chief Actuary for the New York City Retirement Systems. I am a Fellow of
       the Society of Actuaries and a Member of the American Academy of Actuar-
       ies. I meet the Qualification Standards of the American Academy of Actu-
       aries to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
         FISCAL  NOTE  IDENTIFICATION:  This  estimate is intended for use only
       during the 2015 Legislative Session. It is Fiscal  Note  2015-12,  dated
       March  6, 2015 prepared by the Acting Chief Actuary of the New York City
       Employees' Retirement System.
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