S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   9442
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              March 14, 2024
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by M. of A. WALLACE -- read once and referred to the Commit-
   tee on Governmental Employees
 
 AN ACT to authorize the city of Buffalo to offer an optional twenty year
   retirement plan to firefighters Rhiannon Maguire and Jeffrey Brett
 
   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 Buffalo, in the county of Erie, 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 secu-
 rity law, to firefighters employed by such city, is hereby authorized to
 make participation in  such  plan  available  to  Rhiannon  Maguire  and
 Jeffrey  Brett,  firefighters  employed by the city of Buffalo, who, for
 reasons not ascribable to their own negligence, failed to make a  timely
 application to participate in such optional twenty year retirement plan.
 The  city  of Buffalo may so elect by filing with the state comptroller,
 within nine months of the effective date of this act,  a  resolution  of
 its  own common council together with certification that such firefight-
 ers did not bar themselves from participation in such retirement plan as
 a result of their own  negligence.  Thereafter,  such  firefighters  may
 elect to be covered by the provisions of section 384-d of the retirement
 and  social  security  law, and shall be entitled to the full rights and
 benefits associated with coverage under such section as well as  section
 384-e  of  such  law,  by filing a request to that effect with the state
 comptroller within one year of the effective date of this act.
   § 2. All employer past service costs associated with implementing  the
 provisions  of this act shall be borne by the city of Buffalo and may be
 amortized over a ten year period.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This bill would allow the City of Buffalo to reopen the provisions  of
 section 384-d, together with 384-e, of the Retirement and Social Securi-
 ty Law for firefighters Jeffrey Brett and Rhiannon Maguire.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD14155-02-4
 A. 9442                             2
 
   If this bill is enacted during the 2024 Legislative Session, we antic-
 ipate  that  there  will  be an increase of approximately $10,000 in the
 annual contributions of the City of Buffalo for the fiscal  year  ending
 March 31, 2025. In future years this cost will vary as the billing rates
 and salary of Jeffrey Brett and Rhiannon Maguire change.
   In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
 an  immediate  past service cost of approximately $357,000 which will be
 borne by the City of Buffalo as  a  one-time  payment.    This  estimate
 assumes  that  payment  will be made on February 1, 2025. If the City of
 Buffalo elects to amortize this cost over a 10-year period, the cost for
 each year including interest would be $45,600.
   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  February  22,  2024, and intended for use only
 during the 2024  Legislative  Session,  is  Fiscal  Note  No.  2024-121,
 prepared  by  the  Actuary  for  the New York State and Local Retirement
 System.