S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   5539
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               March 7, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  ASHBY  -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
 
 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.
   § 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,
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD05426-02-3
              

 S. 5539                             2
 
 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 2023 legislative session, and these
 two firefighters become covered under the provisions  of  Section  384-d
 together  with  Section  384-e,  we  anticipate  that  there  will be an
 increase of approximately $23,000 in the  annual  contributions  of  the
 City  of Rensselaer for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024. In future
 years, this cost will vary as the billing rates and  salary  of  William
 Schumaker and Mark Hennessy change.
   In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
 an  immediate  past service cost of approximately $355,000 which will be
 borne by the City of Rensselaer as a  one-time  payment.  This  estimate
 assumes  that  payment  will be made on February 1, 2024. 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 $79,300.
   Summary of relevant resources:
   Membership  data as of March 31, 2022 was used in measuring the impact
 of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2022 actuari-
 al valuation.  Distributions and other statistics can be  found  in  the
 2022  Report  of the Actuary and the 2022 Annual Comprehensive Financial
 Report.
   The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the  2020,
 2021,  and  2022  Annual  Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assump-
 tions, 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, 2022
 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.
 S. 5539                             3
 
   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  31,  2023,  and intended for use only
 during the  2023  Legislative  Session,  is  Fiscal  Note  No.  2023-35,
 prepared  by  the  Actuary  for  the New York State and Local Retirement
 System.