S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  5970--B
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 16, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by Sens. GALLIVAN, KENNEDY -- read twice and ordered printed,
   and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and
   Pensions  --  committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as
   amended and recommitted to said  committee  --  committee  discharged,
   bill  amended,  ordered  reprinted  as amended and recommitted to said
   committee
 
 AN ACT to authorize James Unger to receive certain 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,  James  Unger,
 currently  a  town  of  West Seneca police officer and member of the New
 York state and local  police  and  fire  retirement  system  covered  by
 section  384-d  of  the  retirement and social security law, who between
 January 21, 2003 and September 6, 2006 was employed by the  Erie  county
 sheriff's  department  where  he  was a member of the New York state and
 local employees' retirement system, and who, for reasons not  ascribable
 to  his  own  negligence,  was  not granted service credit under section
 384-d of the retirement and  social  security  law  for  his  period  of
 employment  with  the Erie county sheriff's department, shall be granted
 such service credit under section 384-d of  the  retirement  and  social
 security law and shall be entitled to the full rights and benefits asso-
 ciated  with  coverage  under  such  section, provided a request to that
 effect is filed with the state comptroller  within  one  year  from  the
 effective date of this act.
   § 2. All past service costs incurred in implementing the provisions of
 this act shall be borne by the town of West Seneca.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This bill will grant service credit under section 384-d of the Retire-
 ment and Social Security Law to James Unger, a current member of the New

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

                                                            LBD11842-03-9

 S. 5970--B                          2
 
 York  State  and Local Police and Fire Retirement System (PFRS), for the
 period of January 21, 2003 through September 6, 2006,  during  which  he
 was employed as a deputy sheriff in Erie County. Currently, deputy sher-
 iff  service  is  not creditable in a PFRS twenty year police retirement
 plan.
   If this bill is enacted during the 2020 legislative  session  and  Mr.
 Unger  buys  back  and  transfers this service credit to the PFRS, there
 will be an immediate past service cost of approximately  $161,000  which
 will  be  borne  by  the Town of West Seneca as a one-time payment. This
 estimate is based on the assumption that payment will be made on  Febru-
 ary 1, 2021.
   There  will  be no increase in the annual contributions of the Town of
 West Seneca.
   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 December 6,  2019,  and  intended  for  use  only
 during the 2020 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2020-5, prepared
 by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.