Bill Text: NY S04686 | 2025-2026 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Authorizes Kim Bowers to receive certain service credit with the New York state and local employees' retirement system for her employment with the town of Orchard Park Zoning Board of Appeals.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2025-02-11 - REFERRED TO CIVIL SERVICE AND PENSIONS [S04686 Detail]
Download: New_York-2025-S04686-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4686 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN SENATE February 11, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. GALLIVAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions AN ACT to authorize Kim Bowers to receive certain service credit with the New York state and local employees' retirement system 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 the law to the 2 contrary, Kim Bowers, an employee of the Erie County Water Authority and 3 a member of the New York state and local employees' retirement system, 4 who for the period beginning January 1, 2006 and ending November 19, 5 2018, was employed as a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals with the 6 town of Orchard Park, and who, for reasons not ascribable to her own 7 negligence, failed to become a member of such retirement system during 8 such employment with the town of Orchard Park, shall be deemed to have 9 joined the New York state and local employees' retirement system on the 10 date January 1, 2006, if within one year of the effective date of this 11 act, she shall file a written request with the state comptroller. 12 § 2. No contributions made to the New York state and local employees' 13 retirement system by Kim Bowers shall be returned or refunded to her 14 pursuant to this act. 15 § 3. All past service costs of implementing the provisions of this 16 act shall be borne by the town of Orchard Park. 17 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: This bill would provide Kim Bowers with a date of membership of Janu- ary 1, 2006, their date of first employment with the Town of Orchard Park, resulting in Tier 4 status in the New York State and Local Employ- ees' Retirement System. Kim Bowers is currently a Tier 6 member employed by both the Town of Orchard Park and the Erie County Water Authority. There will be no refund of member contributions. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD02864-02-5S. 4686 2 If this bill is enacted during the 2025 Legislative Session, we antic- ipate that there will be an increase of approximately $75 in the annual contributions of the Town of Orchard Park and $8,000 in the annual contributions of the Erie County Water Authority for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026. In future years this cost will vary as the bill- ing rates and salary of Kim Bowers change. In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be an immediate past service cost of approximately $13,500 which will be borne by the Town of Orchard Park as a one-time payment. This estimate assumes that payment will be made on February 1, 2026. Summary of relevant resources: Membership data as of March 31, 2024 was used in measuring the impact of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2024 actuari- al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2024 Report of the Actuary and the 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2024 Annual Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assumptions, and the Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York: Audit and Control. The Market Assets and GASB Disclosures are found in the March 31, 2024 New York State and Local Retirement System Financial Statements and Supplementary Information. This fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the viability of the proposed change nor is it intended to serve as a substitute for the professional judgment of an attorney. This estimate, dated February 7, 2025, and intended for use only during the 2025 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2025-28. As Chief Actuary of the New York State and Local Retirement System, I, Aaron Schottin Young, hereby certify that this analysis complies with applicable Actuarial Standards of Practice as well as the Code of Professional Conduct and Qualification Standards for Actuaries Issuing Statements of Actuarial Opinion of the American Academy of Actuaries, of which I am a member.
