S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7890
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                               May 28, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by M. of A. HUNTER -- read once and referred to the Committee
   on Governmental Employees
 
 AN  ACT  to authorize the city of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga to
   offer an optional twenty year retirement plan to police officer Thomas
   R.  Nicolini
 
   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 Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga, 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  police  officers  employed  by  such town, is hereby
 authorized to make participation in such plan  available  to  Thomas  R.
 Nicolini, a police officer employed by the city of Syracuse with a start
 date of July 23, 1999, who, for reasons not ascribable to his own negli-
 gence,  failed  to  make  a  timely  application  to participate in such
 optional twenty year retirement plan. The city of Syracuse may so  elect
 by  filing with the state comptroller, within six months from the effec-
 tive date of this act, a resolution of  its  town  board  together  with
 certification  that such police officer did not bar himself from partic-
 ipation in such retirement plan as a result of his own negligence. Ther-
 eafter, such police officer may elect to be covered by the provisions of
 section 384-d 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  comp-
 troller within six months from the effective date of such resolution.
   §  2.  All  past  costs associated with implementing the provisions of
 this act shall be borne by the city of Syracuse.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:

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

                                                            LBD11463-03-9

 A. 7890                             2
 
   This bill will allow the City of  Syracuse  to  elect  to  reopen  the
 provisions  of  Section  384-d of the Retirement and Social Security Law
 for police officer Thomas R. Nicolini.
   If this bill is enacted during the 2019 legislative session, we antic-
 ipate  that  there  will  be  an increase of approximately $9,500 in the
 annual contributions of the City of Syracuse for the fiscal year  ending
 March  31,  2020.  In  future  years, this cost will vary as the billing
 rates and salary of Officer Nicolini change.
   In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
 an immediate past service cost of approximately $384,000 which  will  be
 borne  by  the  City of Syracuse as a one-time payment. This estimate is
 based on the assumption that payment will be made on February 1, 2020.
   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, 2018 actuarial valu-
 ation.  Distributions and other statistics can  be  found  in  the  2018
 Report  of  the  Actuary  and  the  2018  Comprehensive Annual Financial
 Report.
   The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the  2015,
 2016,  2017  and  2018  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, 2018
 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 May 15, 2019, and intended for  use  only  during
 the  2019  Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2019-110, prepared by
 the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.