S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  7071--A
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 17, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  O'MARA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
   -- recommitted to the Committee  on  Civil  Service  and  Pensions  in
   accordance  with  Senate  Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill
   amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said  commit-
   tee
 
 AN  ACT  to authorize the county of Steuben to offer an optional twenty-
   five year retirement plan to Erica M. McCoy, a deputy sheriff employed
   by such county
 
   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  county  of  Steuben, a participating employer in the New York state
 employees' retirement system, which has elected to  offer  the  optional
 twenty-five  year  retirement plan, established pursuant to article 14-B
 of the retirement and social security law, to deputy  sheriffs  employed
 by  such county, is hereby authorized to make participation in such plan
 available to Erica M. McCoy, a deputy sheriff employed by the county  of
 Steuben  with  a  start  date of September 6, 2016, who, for reasons not
 ascribable to her own negligence, failed to make a timely application to
 participate in such optional twenty-five year plan contained in  article
 14-B  of  the  retirement and social security law. The county of Steuben
 may so elect by filing with the state comptroller, on or before 180 days
 after this act shall have become a law, a resolution  of  its  governing
 body  together  with  certification that such deputy sheriff did not bar
 themself from participation in the retirement plan as a result of  their
 own  negligence.  Thereafter, such deputy sheriff may individually elect
 to be covered by the provisions of section 551  of  the  retirement  and
 social  security law, and shall be entitled to the full rights and bene-
 fits associated with coverage under such section, by  filing  a  request
 with the state within one year of the effective date of this act.

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD10841-04-4
              

 S. 7071--A                          2
 
   §  2. All employer past service costs associated with implementing the
 provisions of this act shall be borne by the county of Steuben  and  may
 be amortized over a five-year period.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This  bill  would  allow  the County of Steuben to elect to reopen the
 provisions of Section 551 of Article 14-B of the Retirement  and  Social
 Security Law for deputy sheriff Erica M. McCoy.
   If this bill is enacted during the 2024 Legislative Session, we antic-
 ipate  that  there  will  be  an increase of approximately $4,700 in the
 annual contributions of the County of Steuben for the fiscal year ending
 March 31, 2025. In future years this cost will vary as the billing rates
 and salary of Erica M. McCoy change.
   In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
 an immediate past service cost of approximately $28,600  which  will  be
 borne  by  the  County  of  Steuben as a one-time payment. This estimate
 assumes that payment will be made on February 1, 2025. If the County  of
 Steuben  elects  to amortize this cost over a five-year period, the cost
 for each year including interest would be $6,390.
   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 March 15, 2024, and intended for use only during
 the 2024 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2024-114,  prepared  by
 the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.