S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
8559
I N S E N A T E
March 14, 2022
___________
Introduced by Sen. GOUNARDES -- 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
accidental disability retirement for deputy sheriffs
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Paragraph 3 of subdivision e of section 556 of the retire-
ment and social security law, as added by chapter 165 of the laws of
1995, is amended to read as follows:
3. A pension of two-thirds of his or her final average salary;
PROVIDED, HOWEVER, A DEPUTY SHERIFF SHALL RECEIVE A PENSION OF THREE-
QUARTERS OF HIS OR HER FINAL AVERAGE SALARY IF SUCH DEPUTY SHERIFF IS
EMPLOYED BY AN EMPLOYER THAT HAS ELECTED TO PROVIDE SUCH BENEFIT TO
DEPUTY SHERIFFS. The payment of such pension shall be subject to the
provisions of section [three hundred] sixty-four of this chapter.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would allow employers to elect to provide improved acci-
dental disability pensions to deputy sheriffs who are covered by the
provisions of Article 14-B of the Retirement and Social Security Law.
The benefit for an accidental disability would be three-quarters of
final average salary minus workers' compensation. The current benefit is
two-thirds of final average salary minus workers' compensation.
If this bill is enacted during the 2022 legislative session, we antic-
ipate that there will be an increase in the annual contributions of
electing counties of 0.2% of the compensation of their deputy sheriffs
for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2023. In future years, this cost
will vary as the billing rates and salary of the affected deputy sher-
iffs change.
In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
an immediate past service cost of approximately 1.0% of the compensation
of such deputy sheriffs which will be borne by the electing county as a
one-time payment. This estimate is based on the assumption that payment
will be made on February 1, 2023.
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08520-04-2
S. 8559 2
These estimated costs are based on 2,790 deputy sheriffs with annual
salary of approximately $251.8 million as of March 31, 2021.
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.
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. 2022-72,
prepared by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement
System.
