S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8827
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             January 18, 2024
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of A. PHEFFER AMATO -- read once and referred to the
   Committee on Governmental Employees
 
 AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in  relation  to
   granting certain county fire marshals, supervising fire marshals, fire
   marshals,  assistant  fire  marshals, assistant chief fire marshals or
   chief fire marshals pension benefits for service rendered beyond twen-
   ty-five years
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Subdivision t of section 604 of the retirement and social
 security law, as amended by section 7 of part II of chapter  55  of  the
 laws of 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   t.  The  early service retirement benefit for a member who is employed
 in the county of Nassau as  a  county  fire  marshal,  supervising  fire
 marshal,  fire  marshal,  assistant  fire  marshal, assistant chief fire
 marshal, chief fire marshal or  division  supervising  fire  marshal  as
 defined  in  section  eighty-nine-w  of  this chapter shall be a pension
 equal to one-fiftieth of final average salary times  years  of  credited
 service at the completion of twenty-five years of service as such county
 fire  marshal,  supervising  fire  marshal, fire marshal, assistant fire
 marshal, assistant chief fire marshal, chief fire  marshal  or  division
 supervising fire marshal, but not exceeding one-half of his or her final
 average  salary,  FOR  SERVICE BEYOND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AND FOR NON-FIRE
 MARSHAL COUNTY SERVICE THE BENEFIT IS INCREASED BY ONE-SIXTIETH OF FINAL
 AVERAGE SALARY FOR EACH YEAR OF ADDITIONAL SERVICE CREDIT.
   §  2.  All  past  service  costs  associated  with  implementing   the
 provisions of this act shall be borne by the county of Nassau and may be
 amortized over ten years.
   §  3. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary none of the
 provisions of this act shall be subject to the appropriation requirement
 of section twenty-five of the retirement and social security law.
   § 4. 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.
                                                            LBD11201-05-4
              

 A. 8827                             2
 
   This bill would modify the service retirement benefit for  members  of
 the  New  York  State and Local Employees' Retirement System employed by
 Nassau County in certain fire marshal job titles. The  modified  service
 retirement  benefit  will be one-half of final average salary (FAS) upon
 completion  of  twenty-five  years of creditable service with additional
 sixtieths for  each  year  of  creditable  service,  including  non-fire
 marshal  service,  in  excess  of twenty-five years. The current service
 retirement benefit is one-half of FAS  upon  completion  of  twenty-five
 years of creditable service.
   If this bill is enacted during the 2024 Legislative Session, we antic-
 ipate  that  there  will  be an increase of approximately $50,000 in the
 annual contributions of Nassau County for the fiscal year  ending  March
 31,  2025. In future years, this cost will vary as the billing rates and
 salary of the affected members change.
   In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
 an immediate past service cost of approximately $770,000 which  will  be
 borne by Nassau County as a one-time payment. This estimate assumes that
 payment  will  be  made  on February 1, 2025. If Nassau County elects to
 amortize this cost over a 10-year period, the cost for each year includ-
 ing interest would be $98,400.
   These estimated costs are based on 43  affected  members  employed  by
 Nassau  County,  with  annual salary of approximately $5.5 million as of
 March 31, 2023.
   Summary of relevant resources:
   Membership data as of March 31, 2023 was used in measuring the  impact
 of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2023 actuari-
 al  valuation.  Distributions  and  other statistics can be found in the
 2023 Report of the Actuary and the 2023 Annual  Comprehensive  Financial
 Report.
   The  actuarial  assumptions and methods used are described in the 2023
 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, 2023
 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 January 3, 2024, and intended for use only during
 the  2024  Legislative  Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2024-21, prepared by
 the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.