Bill Text: NY S06633 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended


Bill Title: Authorizes the county of Suffolk and the village of Nissequogue, in the county of Suffolk, to offer the 20-year retirement option to Bridget Topping, a police officer employed by such county and village.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-05 - PRINT NUMBER 6633A [S06633 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S06633-Amended.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         6633--A

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                       May 2, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen. PALUMBO -- 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 to authorize the county of Suffolk and the village of Nissequogue
          to  offer  an  optional  twenty-year retirement plan to police officer
          Bridget Topping

          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  the  county  of Suffolk and the village of Nissequogue, in the county of
     3  Suffolk, participating employers in the New York state and local  police
     4  and  fire  retirement  system,  which  previously  elected  to offer the
     5  optional twenty-year retirement plan, established  pursuant  to  section
     6  384-d  of  the  retirement  and  social security law, to police officers
     7  employed by such county and  village,  are  hereby  authorized  to  make
     8  participation  in such plan available to Bridget Topping, a police offi-
     9  cer employed full-time by the county of Suffolk  and  part-time  by  the
    10  village  of  Nissequogue,  who,  for  reasons  not ascribable to her own
    11  negligence, failed to make a timely application to participate  in  such
    12  optional  twenty-year  retirement  plan.  The  county of Suffolk and the
    13  village of Nissequogue may so elect by separately filing with the  state
    14  comptroller,  within  nine  months  of  the  effective date of this act,
    15  resolutions of its own county legislature and the village board of trus-
    16  tees together with certification that such police officer  did  not  bar
    17  herself  from  participation  in such retirement plan as a result of her
    18  own negligence. Thereafter, such police officer may elect to be  covered
    19  by the provisions of section 384-d of the retirement and social security
    20  law  and  shall  be  entitled to the full rights and benefits associated

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD07215-03-4

        S. 6633--A                          2

     1  with coverage under such section as well as section 384-e of  such  law,
     2  by filing a request to that effect with the state comptroller within one
     3  year of the effective date of this act.
     4    §  2. All employer past service costs associated with implementing the
     5  provisions of this act shall be borne by the county of Suffolk  and  may
     6  be amortized over a ten-year period.
     7    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
          FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
          This bill would allow the County of Suffolk and the Village of Nisseq-
        uogue to reopen the provisions of section 384-d, together with 384-e, of
        the  Retirement  and  Social  Security  Law  for  police officer Bridget
        Topping.
          If this bill is enacted during the 2024 Legislative Session, we antic-
        ipate that there will be an increase of  approximately  $14,000  in  the
        annual  contributions  of the County of Suffolk and $2,000 in the annual
        contributions of the Village of Nissequogue for the fiscal  year  ending
        March  31,  2025.  In  future  years, this cost will vary as the billing
        rates and salary of Bridget Topping change.
          In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
        an immediate past service cost of approximately $540,000 which  will  be
        borne  by  the  County  of  Suffolk as a one-time payment. This estimate
        assumes that payment will be made on February 1, 2025. If the County  of
        Suffolk elects to amortize this cost over a 10-year period, the cost for
        each year including interest would be $69,000.
          Summary of relevant resources:
          Membership  data as of March 31, 2023 was used in measuring the impact
        of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2023 actuari-
        al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can  be  found  in  the
        2023  Report  of the Actuary and the 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial
        Report.
          The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in  the  2023
        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, 2023
        New  York  State  and  Local  Retirement System Financial Statements and
        Supplementary Information.
          I am a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and meet the Quali-
        fication Standards to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
          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 January 3, 2024, and intended for use only during
        the 2024 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No.  2024-22,  prepared  by
        the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.
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