S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  5304--A
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             February 12, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by M. of A. McDONALD -- read once and referred to the Commit-
   tee  on  Governmental  Employees  --  recommitted  to the Committee on
   Governmental Employees in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec.  2  --
   committee  discharged,  bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
   recommitted to said committee

 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.

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD03516-03-2
              

 A. 5304--A                          2
 
   § 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,
 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.
   If this bill is enacted during the 2022 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
 $19,000  in  the  annual contributions of the City of Rensselaer for the
 fiscal year ending March 31, 2023. 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 $309,000 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, 2023.
 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 $69,100.
   Summary of relevant resources:
   Membership  data as of March 31, 2021 was used in measuring the impact
 of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2021 actuari-
 al valuation.  Distributions and other statistics can be  found  in  the
 2021  Report  of the Actuary and the 2021 Comprehensive Annual Financial
 Report.
   The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in  the  2020
 and  2021 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, 2021
 New  York  State  and  Local  Retirement System Financial Statements and
 Supplementary Information.
 A. 5304--A                          3
 
   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  February  25,  2022, and intended for use only
 during the  2022  Legislative  Session,  is  Fiscal  Note  No.  2022-79,
 prepared  by  the  Actuary  for  the New York State and Local Retirement
 System.