S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   5605
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               March 8, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  WEBB  --  read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
 
 AN ACT to authorize the city of Binghamton to offer an optional  twenty-
   five year retirement plan to firefighter Scott Pavlick
 
   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 Binghamton, in the county of Broome, a participating employ-
 er in the New York state and local police and  fire  retirement  system,
 which  previously elected to offer the optional twenty-five year retire-
 ment plan, established pursuant to section 384  of  the  retirement  and
 social  security  law,  to firefighters employed by such city, is hereby
 authorized to  make  participation  in  such  plan  available  to  Scott
 Pavlick,  a  firefighter  employed  by  the city of Binghamton, who, for
 reasons not ascribable to his own negligence, failed to  make  a  timely
 application  to participate in such optional twenty-five year retirement
 plan. The city of Binghamton may so elect by filing with the state comp-
 troller, within nine months of the effective date of this act, a  resol-
 ution  of  its  own common council 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 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 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 Binghamton and may
 be amortized over a ten year period.
   § 3. 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.
                                                            LBD08984-02-3
              

 S. 5605                             2
 
   This bill would allow the City of Binghamton to elect  to  reopen  the
 provisions  of section 384 of the Retirement and Social Security Law for
 firefighter Scott Pavlick.
   If  this bill is enacted during the 2023 legislative session and Scott
 Pavlick becomes covered under the provisions of section 384,  we  antic-
 ipate  that  there  will  be  an increase of approximately $5,300 in the
 annual contributions of the City  of  Binghamton  for  the  fiscal  year
 ending March 31, 2024. In future years, this cost will vary as the bill-
 ing rates and salary of Scott Pavlick change.
   In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
 an  immediate  past  service cost of approximately $42,500 which will be
 borne by the City of Binghamton as a  one-time  payment.  This  estimate
 assumes  that  payment  will be made on February 1, 2024. If the City of
 Binghamton elects to amortize this cost over a 10-year period, the  cost
 for the first year including interest would be $5,420.
   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.
   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 3, 2023, and intended for use  only  during
 the  2023  Legislative  Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2023-83, prepared by
 the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.