S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   11009
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             September 9, 2020
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. McDonald) --
   read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Employees
 
 AN  ACT  to  authorize  William  Schumaker  and Mark Hennessy to receive
   certain service credit under  section  384-d  of  the  retirement  and
   social security law
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,
 the city of Rensselaer, in the county  of  Rensselaer,  a  participating
 employer  in  the  New  York  state and local police and fire retirement
 system, which previously elected  to  offer  the  optional  twenty  year
 retirement plan, established pursuant to section 384-d of the retirement
 and social security law, to firefighters employed by such city, is here-
 by  authorized  to  make participation in such plan available to William
 Schumaker, a firefighter employed by the city of Rensselaer with a start
 date of October 10, 1996, who, for reasons not  ascribable  to  his  own
 negligence,  failed  to make a timely application to participate in such
 optional twenty year retirement plan. The  city  of  Rensselaer  may  so
 elect  by  filing with the state comptroller, within six months from the
 effective date of this act, a resolution of its local city common  coun-
 cil  together  with  certification  that  such  firefighter  did not bar
 himself from participation in such retirement plan as a  result  of  his
 own  negligence. Thereafter, such firefighter may elect to be covered by
 the provisions of section 384-d and 384-e of the retirement  and  social
 security  law,  and  shall  be  entitled to the full rights and benefits
 associated with coverage under such section, by filing a request to that
 effect with the state comptroller within  the  effective  date  of  such
 resolution.
   §  2.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the
 city of Rensselaer, in the county of Rensselaer, a participating employ-
 er in the New York state and local police and  fire  retirement  system,
 which  previously  elected  to offer the optional twenty year retirement
 plan, established pursuant to section 384-d of the retirement and social
 security law, to firefighters employed by such city, is  hereby  author-
 ized  to  make  participation in such plan available to Mark Hennessy, a
 firefighter employed by the city of Rensselaer  with  a  start  date  of
              

 September 1, 2005, who for reasons not ascribable to his own negligence,
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD14481-04-0

 A. 11009                            2
 
 failed  to  make  a  timely  application to participate in such optional
 twenty year retirement plan. The city of  Rensselaer  may  so  elect  by
 filing  with the state comptroller, within six months from the effective
 date  of this act, a resolution of its city common council together with
 certification that such firefighter did not  bar  himself  from  partic-
 ipation  in  such  retirement  plan  as  a result of his own negligence.
 Thereafter, such firefighter may elect to be covered by  the  provisions
 of  section  384-d  and 384-e of the retirement and social security law,
 and shall be entitled to the full rights and  benefits  associated  with
 coverage under such section, by filing a request to that effect with the
 state comptroller within the effective date of such resolution.
   §  3.  All  past  costs associated with implementing the provisions of
 this act shall be borne by the city of Rensselaer and may  be  amortized
 over a period of five years.
   § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This  bill would allow the city of Rensselaer to reopen the provisions
 of Section 384-d together with  Section  384-e  of  the  Retirement  and
 Social  Security Law for firefighters William Schumaker and Mark Hennes-
 sy, current members of the New York State  and  Local  Police  and  Fire
 Retirement System (PFRS).
   If  this bill is enacted during the 2020 legislative session and these
 two firefighters become covered under the provisions of  sections  384-d
 and  384-e,  we  anticipate  there  will be an increase of approximately
 $12,000 in the annual contributions of the city of  Rensselaer  for  the
 fiscal  year ending March 31, 2021. In future years, this cost will vary
 as the billing rates and salaries of these firefighters change.
   In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
 an immediate past service cost of approximately $179,000 which  will  be
 borne  by the city of Rensselaer as a one-time payment. This estimate is
 based on the assumption that payment will be made on February  1,  2021.
 If  the  city  of  Rensselaer elects to amortize this cost over a 5 year
 period, the cost for the first year including interest would be $40,700.
   Summary of relevant resources:
   The membership data used in  measuring  the  impact  of  the  proposed
 change  was  the same as that used in the March 31, 2019 actuarial valu-
 ation.  Distributions and other statistics can  be  found  in  the  2019
 Report  of  the  Actuary  and  the  2019  Comprehensive Annual Financial
 Report.
   The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the  2015,
 2016,  2017, 2018 and 2019 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, 2019
 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 August 17, 2020, and intended for use only during
 the 2020 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2020-134,  prepared  by
 the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.