S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
8030
I N S E N A T E
March 11, 2020
___________
Introduced by Sen. SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
providing county correction officers with a special optional twenty
year retirement plan
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding
a new article 14-C to read as follows:
ARTICLE 14-C
OPTIONAL RETIREMENT PLAN FOR COUNTY CORRECTION OFFICERS OR DEPUTY
SHERIFFS PERFORMING AS CORRECTION OFFICERS
SECTION 561. DEFINITIONS.
562. OPTIONAL TWENTY YEAR RETIREMENT PLAN FOR CERTAIN MEMBERS
WHOSE EMPLOYER ELECTS TO PROVIDE SAME.
563. ADDITIONAL PENSION BENEFIT FOR MEMBERS OF OPTIONAL TWENTY
YEAR RETIREMENT PLAN.
564. CONSISTENT PROVISIONS.
§ 561. DEFINITIONS. FOR PURPOSES OF THIS ARTICLE:
(A) "MEMBER" SHALL MEAN A PERSON WHO IS EMPLOYED AS A COUNTY
CORRECTION OFFICER OR A DEPUTY SHERIFF WHO IS ENGAGED DIRECTLY IN
CORRECTION OFFICER DUTIES THAT AGGREGATE FIFTY PER CENTUM OF THEIR
SERVICE BY A COUNTY WHICH ELECTS BY RESOLUTION OR LOCAL LAW, DULY
ADOPTED, TO PROVIDE THE BENEFITS AS AUTHORIZED BY THIS ARTICLE.
(B) "RETIREMENT SYSTEM" SHALL MEAN THE NEW YORK STATE AND LOCAL
EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM.
(C) "CREDITABLE SERVICE" SHALL INCLUDE ANY AND ALL SERVICES PERFORMED
AS A SHERIFF, UNDERSHERIFF OR DEPUTY SHERIFF, OR CORRECTION OFFICER.
CREDIT FOR SERVICE AS A MEMBER OR OFFICER OF THE STATE POLICE OR AS A
PAID FIREMAN, POLICEMAN OR OFFICER OF ANY ORGANIZED FIRE DEPARTMENT OR
POLICE FORCE OR DEPARTMENT OF ANY COUNTY, CITY, VILLAGE, TOWN, FIRE
DISTRICT OR POLICE DISTRICT, SHALL ALSO BE DEEMED TO BE CREDITABLE
SERVICE AND SHALL BE INCLUDED IN COMPUTING YEARS OF TOTAL SERVICE FOR
RETIREMENT PURSUANT TO THIS SECTION, PROVIDED SUCH SERVICE WAS PERFORMED
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15241-02-0
S. 8030 2
BY THE MEMBER WHILE CONTRIBUTING TO THE RETIREMENT SYSTEM PURSUANT TO
THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ARTICLE OR ARTICLE EIGHT OF THIS CHAPTER.
§ 562. OPTIONAL TWENTY YEAR RETIREMENT PLAN FOR CERTAIN MEMBERS WHOSE
EMPLOYER ELECTS TO PROVIDE SAME. (A) ANY MEMBER OF THE RETIREMENT SYSTEM
MAY ELECT TO BECOME A MEMBER PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION
WITHIN ONE YEAR AFTER HE OR SHE BECOMES A MEMBER, IF HIS OR HER EMPLOYER
HAS ELECTED TO MAKE THE BENEFITS PROVIDED BY THIS SECTION AVAILABLE TO
MEMBERS, OR WITHIN ONE YEAR AFTER HIS OR HER EMPLOYER ELECTS TO MAKE THE
BENEFITS PROVIDED BY THIS SECTION AVAILABLE TO ITS MEMBERS.
(B) ELECTIONS MADE PURSUANT TO THIS SECTION SHALL BE IN WRITING AND
SHALL BE DULY ACKNOWLEDGED AND FILED WITH THE COMPTROLLER. ANY MEMBER
WHO FILES SUCH AN ELECTION PURSUANT TO THIS SECTION MAY WITHDRAW IT
AFTER IT HAS BEEN FILED FOR AT LEAST A YEAR. SUCH WITHDRAWAL SHALL BE BY
WRITTEN NOTICE DULY ACKNOWLEDGED AND FILED WITH THE COMPTROLLER.
(C) A MEMBER PARTICIPATING ON THE BASIS OF THIS SECTION AT THE TIME OF
RETIREMENT SHALL BE ENTITLED TO RETIRE AFTER THE COMPLETION OF TWENTY
YEARS OF TOTAL CREDITABLE SERVICE OR UPON THE ATTAINMENT OF AGE SIXTY-
TWO, BY FILING AN APPLICATION THEREFOR IN A MANNER SIMILAR TO THAT
PROVIDED IN THIS CHAPTER.
(I) UPON COMPLETION OF TWENTY YEARS OF SUCH SERVICE AND UPON RETIRE-
MENT, EACH SUCH MEMBER SHALL RECEIVE A PENSION SUFFICIENT TO PROVIDE HIM
OR HER WITH A RETIREMENT ALLOWANCE EQUAL TO ONE-FORTIETH OF HIS OR HER
FINAL AVERAGE SALARY FOR EACH YEAR OF TOTAL CREDITABLE SERVICES FOR
WHICH HE OR SHE IS OTHERWISE ENTITLED BUT NOT EXCEEDING IN THE AGGREGATE
ONE-HALF OF HIS OR HER FINAL AVERAGE SALARY.
(II) UPON ATTAINMENT OF AGE SIXTY-TWO AND UPON RETIREMENT WITHOUT
COMPLETION OF TWENTY YEARS OF SUCH SERVICE, EACH SUCH MEMBER SHALL
RECEIVE A PENSION SUFFICIENT TO PROVIDE HIM OR HER WITH A RETIREMENT
ALLOWANCE EQUAL TO ONE-FORTIETH OF HIS OR HER FINAL AVERAGE SALARY FOR
EACH YEAR OF CREDITABLE SERVICE. EVERY SUCH MEMBER SHALL ALSO BE ENTI-
TLED TO AN ADDITIONAL PENSION EQUAL TO THE PENSION FOR ANY OTHER CREDIT-
ABLE SERVICE RENDERED AS OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR IN THIS CHAPTER. THIS
LATTER PENSION SHALL NOT INCREASE THE TOTAL ALLOWANCE TO MORE THAN ONE-
HALF OF HIS OR HER FINAL AVERAGE SALARY.
(D) THE INCREASED PENSIONS TO SUCH MEMBERS, AS PROVIDED BY THIS
SECTION, SHALL BE PAID FROM ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS MADE BY THE PARTIC-
IPATING EMPLOYER ON ACCOUNT OF SUCH MEMBERS. THE ACTUARY OF THE RETIRE-
MENT SYSTEM SHALL COMPUTE THE ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTION REQUIRED FOR EACH
MEMBER WHO ELECTS TO RECEIVE THE SPECIAL BENEFITS PROVIDED UNDER THIS
SECTION. SUCH ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS SHALL BE COMPUTED ON THE BASIS OF
CONTRIBUTIONS DURING THE PROSPECTIVE SERVICE OF SUCH MEMBER WHICH WILL
COVER THE LIABILITY OF THE RETIREMENT SYSTEM FOR SUCH EXTRA PENSIONS.
UPON APPROVAL OF THE COMPTROLLER, SUCH ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS SHALL BE
CERTIFIED BY HIM OR HER TO THE CHIEF FISCAL OFFICER OR THE PARTICIPATING
EMPLOYER. THE AMOUNT THEREOF SHALL BE INCLUDED IN THE ANNUAL APPROPRI-
ATION OF THE PARTICIPATING EMPLOYER. SUCH AMOUNT SHALL BE PAID ON THE
WARRANT OF THE CHIEF FISCAL OFFICER OF THE PARTICIPATING EMPLOYER TO THE
PENSION ACCUMULATION FUND OF THE RETIREMENT SYSTEM.
(E) IN COMPUTING THE TWENTY YEARS OF COMPLETED SERVICE OF A MEMBER,
FULL CREDIT SHALL BE GIVEN FOR MILITARY SERVICE AS DEFINED IN SUBDIVI-
SIONS TWENTY-NINE-A AND THIRTY OF SECTION THREE HUNDRED TWO OF THIS
CHAPTER.
(F) EVERY MEMBER PARTICIPATING ON THE BASIS OF THIS SECTION SHALL BE
SEPARATED FROM THE SERVICE ON THE LAST DAY OF THE CALENDAR MONTH NEXT
SUCCEEDING THE CALENDAR MONTH IN WHICH HE OR SHE ATTAINS AGE SIXTY-TWO,
PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THAT SUCH A MEMBER WHO ATTAINED THE AGE OF SIXTY-TWO
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BEFORE HIS OR HER EMPLOYER ELECTED TO MAKE THE BENEFITS PROVIDED BY THIS
SECTION AVAILABLE TO HIM OR HER, OR WHO ATTAINS THE AGE OF SIXTY-TWO
WITHIN ONE MONTH AFTER HIS OR HER EMPLOYER MAKES SUCH BENEFITS AVAIL-
ABLE, TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR A PENSION COMPUTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE
PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION, SHALL BE SEPARATED FROM THE SERVICE WITHIN
THREE MONTHS AFTER HIS OR HER EMPLOYER MAKES SUCH BENEFITS AVAILABLE.
(G) THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION SHALL BE CONTROLLING NOTWITHSTAND-
ING ANY OTHER PROVISION OF THIS ARTICLE TO THE CONTRARY.
(H) THE BENEFITS OF THIS SECTION SHALL BE AVAILABLE ONLY TO THOSE
MEMBERS WHOSE EMPLOYER ELECTS TO PROVIDE SUCH BENEFITS BY ADOPTING A
RESOLUTION OR LOCAL LAW TO SUCH EFFECT AND FILING A CERTIFIED COPY THER-
EOF WITH THE COMPTROLLER.
(I) THE BENEFITS PROVIDED BY THIS SECTION SHALL BE PAYABLE TO A
MEMBER, UNLESS AT THE DATE OF RETIREMENT SUCH MEMBER WOULD OTHERWISE BE
ENTITLED TO A GREATER BENEFIT UNDER OTHER PROVISIONS OF THIS CHAPTER HAD
HE OR SHE WITHDRAWN FROM THIS SECTION, IN WHICH EVENT SUCH GREATER BENE-
FITS SHALL BE PAYABLE.
§ 563. ADDITIONAL PENSION BENEFIT FOR MEMBERS OF OPTIONAL TWENTY YEAR
RETIREMENT PLAN. (A) A PARTICIPATING EMPLOYER WHICH HAS ELECTED, OR
WHICH ELECTS TO PROVIDE THE BENEFITS OF THE OPTIONAL TWENTY YEAR RETIRE-
MENT PLAN FOR ITS EMPLOYEES AS SPECIFIED IN THIS ARTICLE MAY ELECT TO
MAKE CONTRIBUTIONS FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROVIDING AN ADDITIONAL PENSION
PURSUANT TO THIS SECTION FOR MEMBERS IN ITS EMPLOY WHO ARE ENTITLED TO A
PENSION PURSUANT TO SECTION FIVE HUNDRED SIXTY-TWO OF THIS ARTICLE.
EVERY MEMBER EMPLOYED BY AN EMPLOYER WHICH HAS ELECTED THE PROVISIONS OF
SECTION FIVE HUNDRED SIXTY-TWO OF THIS ARTICLE AND THIS SECTION MAY
ELECT TO BE COVERED BY THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION BY FILING WITH THE
COMPTROLLER, A DULY EXECUTED AND ACKNOWLEDGED FORM PREPARED BY THE COMP-
TROLLER FOR THAT PURPOSE.
(B) UPON RETIREMENT, EACH SUCH MEMBER SHALL RECEIVE, FOR EACH YEAR OF
SERVICE IN EXCESS OF TWENTY, AN ADDITIONAL PENSION WHICH SHALL BE EQUAL
TO ONE-SIXTIETH OF HIS OR HER FINAL AVERAGE SALARY; PROVIDED, HOWEVER,
THAT THE TOTAL ALLOWANCE PAYABLE PURSUANT TO THIS SECTION SHALL NOT
EXCEED THREE-QUARTERS OF SUCH MEMBER'S FINAL AVERAGE SALARY.
§ 564. CONSISTENT PROVISIONS. NOTHING CONTAINED IN THIS ARTICLE SHALL
BE CONSTRUED TO OTHERWISE AFFECT THE APPLICABILITY OF ARTICLE ELEVEN,
FOURTEEN OR FIFTEEN OF THIS CHAPTER. ANY OTHER PROVISIONS OF THIS CHAP-
TER RELATING TO MANDATORY CONTRIBUTION TO THE RETIREMENT SYSTEM BASED
UPON A MEMBER'S DATE OF MEMBERSHIP IN SUCH SYSTEM SHALL NOT BE DEEMED TO
BE AFFECTED BY THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ARTICLE, AND ANY MEMBER WHO ON THE
EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS ARTICLE IS NOT REQUIRED TO CONTRIBUTE SHALL NOT
BE REQUIRED TO MAKE ANY CONTRIBUTIONS AS A RESULT OF THIS SECTION. FOR
THOSE MEMBERS REQUIRED TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE RETIREMENT SYSTEM, SUCH
CONTRIBUTION SHALL BE TREATED IN THE SAME MANNER AS SPECIFIED FOR SUCH
MEMBERS IN ARTICLE FOURTEEN OR FIFTEEN OF THIS CHAPTER.
§ 2. Any past service payments required of a county as a result of the
adoption of the benefits permitted by this act may be amortized over a
period of up to ten years at the option of such county.
§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill will create an Article 14-C for any county correction offi-
cers or deputy sheriffs engaged directly in correction officer duties at
least 50% of their service. The retirement benefit is 50% of final aver-
age salary after 20 years of service with additional 60ths for service
beyond 20 years if an employer so elects. All service rendered as a
correction officer, sheriff, undersheriff or deputy sheriff or as a
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fireman, policeman or officer of any organized fire department or police
force is creditable. The retirement benefit is not to exceed 75% of
final average salary.
If this legislation is enacted during the 2020 legislative session, we
anticipate that there will be increases in employer contributions,
according to the following tables, on behalf of the affected members for
the fiscal year ending March 31, 2021. In future years, this cost will
vary as the billing rates change.
20 year half pay plan
Percent of salary
Current Plan Tier 4 Tier 5 Tier 6
A15 7.1% 7.5% 7.1%
89-e 4.4% 4.6% 5.0%
551 2.5% 2.6% 3.2%
551E 1.1% 1.0% 1.6%
551EE 0.3% 0.3% 1.0%
552 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
553 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
553B 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
20 year half pay with
additional 60ths
Percent of salary
Current Plan Tier 4 Tier 5 Tier 6
A15 7.9% 8.6% 8.4%
89-e 5.2% 5.7% 6.3%
551 3.3% 3.7% 4.5%
551E 1.9% 2.1% 2.9%
551EE 1.1% 1.4% 2.3%
552 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
553 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
553B 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Insofar as this bill would affect the New York State and Local Employ-
ees' Retirement System (ERS), the past service cost will depend upon the
member's service, salary, tier, current retirement plan and new retire-
ment plan. Once an employer elects to provide this coverage, an exact
cost would be determined.
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) plan qualification issues: granting
correction officers service credit towards retirement in a 20 year plan
could jeopardize the Retirement System's governmental plan status and
its exemption from ERISA. This could result in the loss of qualified
status, which would mean the loss of tax benefits and would substantial-
ly impair the System's value to our more than one million participants.
Prior to the enactment of this legislation, we recommend that a favor-
able ruling be obtained from the IRS stating that these provisions would
not harm the qualification status of the System. It is estimated that
the costs to obtain such a ruling would be $28,000 for the services of
the IRS, and $800 per hour for legal consultants.
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.
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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 March 10, 2020, and intended for use only during
the 2020 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2020-62, prepared by
the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.
