S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   4794
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 14, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by Sens. GOUNARDES, ADDABBO -- read twice and ordered print-
   ed, 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
   authorizing  police/fire  members of the New York city fire department
   pension fund to obtain credit for service as an EMT member
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1. Paragraph 2 of subdivision c of section 513 of the retire-
 ment and social security law, as added by chapter 890  of  the  laws  of
 1976, is amended to read as follows:
   2.  (I)  A  police/fire  member shall be eligible to obtain credit for
 service with a public employer described in paragraph one only  if  such
 service,  if  rendered prior to July first, nineteen hundred seventy-six
 by a police/fire member who was subject to article eleven of this  chap-
 ter,  would  have been eligible for credit in the police/fire retirement
 system or plan involved.
   (II) NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER PROVISION OF LAW  TO  THE  CONTRARY,  A
 MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT PENSION FUND SUBJECT TO THIS
 ARTICLE  SHALL  BE ELIGIBLE TO OBTAIN CREDIT FOR ANY PERIOD OF ALLOWABLE
 SERVICE RENDERED AS AN EMT MEMBER, AS SUCH TERM IS DEFINED IN  PARAGRAPH
 ONE  OF  SUBDIVISION A OF SECTION SIX HUNDRED FOUR-E OF THIS CHAPTER, AS
 ADDED BY CHAPTER FIVE HUNDRED SEVENTY-SEVEN OF THE LAWS OF TWO THOUSAND,
 WHICH IMMEDIATELY PRECEDES SERVICE IN THE UNIFORMED FORCE  OF  THE  FIRE
 DEPARTMENT  AND  SUCH  SERVICE  SHALL  BE DEEMED TO BE IN SERVICE OF THE
 UNIFORMED FORCE OF THE FIRE DEPARTMENT FOR PURPOSES OF  ELIGIBILITY  FOR
 BENEFITS AND TO DETERMINE THE AMOUNT OF BENEFITS UNDER THE NEW YORK CITY
 FIRE  DEPARTMENT  PENSION FUND, PROVIDED THAT SUCH MEMBER PAYS OR TRANS-
 FERS INTO THE NEW YORK CITY FIRE  DEPARTMENT  PENSION  FUND  ALL  MEMBER
 CONTRIBUTIONS  SET FORTH IN SECTION FIVE HUNDRED SEVENTEEN OF THIS ARTI-
 CLE PLUS INTEREST, AT A RATE OF FIVE PERCENT PER ANNUM. FOR A MEMBER WHO
 TRANSFERS SUCH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NEW YORK CITY  EMPLOYEES'  RETIRE-
 MENT  SYSTEM  TO THE NEW YORK CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT PENSION FUND OR FOR A
 MEMBER WHO WITHDRAWS SUCH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NEW YORK  CITY  EMPLOY-
 
              

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD02007-02-3
 S. 4794                             2

 EES'  RETIREMENT  SYSTEM,  SUCH MEMBER'S MEMBERSHIP IN THE NEW YORK CITY
 EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM SHALL CEASE UPON  SUCH  TRANSFER  OR  WITH-
 DRAWAL AND SUCH MEMBER SHALL RETAIN NO CREDITED SERVICE IN SUCH SYSTEM.
   (III)  THE  PROVISIONS  OF THIS PARAGRAPH SHALL APPLY TO A MEMBER WITH
 TEN OR MORE YEARS OF CREDITED SERVICE IN THE NEW  YORK  CITY  EMPLOYEES'
 RETIREMENT SYSTEM, NOTWITHSTANDING THE PROVISIONS OF SECTION SIX HUNDRED
 THIRTEEN OF THIS CHAPTER OR ANY OTHER PROVISION OF LAW TO THE CONTRARY.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   SUMMARY  OF  BILL: This proposed legislation would amend subdivision c
 of section 513 of the Retirement and Social Security Law (RSSL) to allow
 New York City Fire Pension Fund (FIRE) members  subject  to  Article  14
 (Tier  3, Tier 3 Modified, and Tier 3 Enhanced) to obtain service credit
 for service rendered as an emergency medical technician (EMT)  with  the
 New York City Employee's Retirement System (NYCERS).
   The EMT service credit with NYCERS must immediately precede service in
 FIRE. If properly transferred or purchased, such service shall be deemed
 as  pensionable  service for purposes of determining the eligibility for
 benefits and benefit amounts in FIRE.
   Upon attaining eligible service credit with  FIRE,  the  member  would
 relinquish prior membership and applicable benefits with NYCERS.
   Effective Date: Upon enactment.
   IMPACT  ON BENEFITS/PAYABILITY: Currently, the purchase or transfer of
 service rendered as a NYCERS EMT member does not provide  an  additional
 service retirement benefit for FIRE members subject to Article 14.
   Under  the  proposed legislation, EMT service transferred or purchased
 would count for purposes of determining benefit amounts and  eligibility
 in  FIRE  and  would  increase  and/or accelerate the payability date of
 benefits.
   MEMBER CONTRIBUTIONS: Member contributions as defined in  Article  14,
 plus  5.0%  annual  interest,  for  EMT service purchased or transferred
 would apply.
   Member contributions made as a NYCERS EMT  member  in  excess  of  the
 amount  required  would, if not otherwise utilized for a separate vested
 benefit, be refunded with 5.0% annual interest.
   FINANCIAL IMPACT - PRESENT VALUES: Based on the census  data  and  the
 actuarial  assumptions  and  methods  described herein, the enactment of
 this proposed legislation would result in an  increase  in  the  present
 value of future employer contributions of approximately $19.3 million.
   This  net  increase is a result of an increase in the Present Value of
 Future Benefits (PVFB) of approximately $16.7 million and a decrease  in
 the present value of member contributions of approximately $2.6 million.
   Under  the Entry Age Normal cost method used to determine the employer
 contributions to FIRE, there  would  be  an  increase  in  the  Unfunded
 Accrued  Liability  (UAL)  of  approximately  $40.6  million offset by a
 decrease in the present value of future employer Normal Cost of approxi-
 mately $21.3 million.
   FINANCIAL IMPACT - ANNUAL EMPLOYER  CONTRIBUTIONS:  The  enactment  of
 this  proposed legislation would result in an initial increase in annual
 employer contributions of approximately $3.9 million which is the result
 of a decrease in the Normal Cost offset by the UAL payment. The  average
 annual employer cost per member included in this fiscal note is approxi-
 mately $3,100.
   New  UAL  attributable to benefit changes are generally amortized over
 the remaining working lifetime of those impacted by the benefit changes.
 The remaining working lifetime for this group is approximately 19  years
 S. 4794                             3
 
 and  the  increase  in UAL was therefore amortized over a 19-year period
 (18 payments under the One-Year  Lag  Methodology)  using  level  dollar
 payments.
   CENSUS  DATA:  The  estimates presented herein are based on the census
 data used in the June 30, 2022 actuarial valuation of FIRE to  determine
 the Preliminary Fiscal Year 2024 employer contributions.
   There are an estimated 1,261 active FIRE Tier 3 members as of June 30,
 2022  who  could  potentially  benefit  from the proposed legislation by
 purchasing or transferring service earned as an EMT member. These active
 members had an average age of approximately 32.3 years, average  service
 of  approximately  5.3 years (before purchasing any additional service),
 and an average salary of approximately $98,500.
   On average, the 1,261 active FIRE Tier 3  members  would  be  able  to
 purchase  3.0 years of service earned as an EMT member with an estimated
 purchase cost of $7,400 per former EMT member as of June 30, 2022.
   ACTUARIAL ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The estimates presented herein have
 been calculated based on the actuarial assumptions  and  methods  to  be
 used  for  the  Preliminary  Fiscal  Year 2024 employer contributions of
 FIRE.
   For the purposes of this Fiscal Note, it is assumed that  the  changes
 would  be  reflected  for  the first time in the June 30, 2022 actuarial
 valuation of FIRE used to determine employer  contributions  for  Fiscal
 Year 2024.
   RISK  AND  UNCERTAINTY: The costs presented in this Fiscal Note depend
 highly on the realization of the actuarial assumptions used,  demograph-
 ics  of  the  impacted  population and other factors such as investment,
 contribution, and other risks. If actual experience deviates from  actu-
 arial  assumptions,  the  actual costs could differ from those presented
 herein.
   Costs are also dependent on the actuarial methods used, and  therefore
 different actuarial methods could produce different results. Quantifying
 these risks is beyond the scope of this Fiscal Note.
   Not measured in this Fiscal Note are the following:
   *  The  employer  costs  for  service  purchased by future FIRE Tier 3
 members for service earned as an EMT member. However,  as  noted  above,
 the average annual employer cost per member included in this Fiscal Note
 is approximately $3,100.
   *  The  initial,  additional  administrative  costs  to  implement the
 proposed legislation.
   * The impact of this  proposed  legislation  on  Other  Postemployment
 Benefit costs.
   STATEMENT  OF  ACTUARIAL  OPINION:  I, Marek Tyszkiewicz, am the Chief
 Actuary for, and independent of, the New York  City  Retirement  Systems
 and  Pension  Funds. I am an Associate of the Society of Actuaries and a
 Member of the American Academy of Actuaries. I  meet  the  Qualification
 Standards  of  the American Academy of Actuaries to render the actuarial
 opinion contained herein. To the  best  of  my  knowledge,  the  results
 contained  herein  have  been  prepared  in  accordance  with  generally
 accepted actuarial principles and  procedures  and  with  the  Actuarial
 Standards of Practice issued by the Actuarial Standards Board.
   FISCAL  NOTE  IDENTIFICATION:  This Fiscal Note 2023-01 dated February
 10, 2023 was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New  York  City  Fire
 Pension  Fund.    This estimate is intended for use only during the 2023
 Legislative Session.