S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  4824--A
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 13, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. JACKSON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed  to  the  Committee  on  Local  Government  --
   committee  discharged,  bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
   recommitted to said committee
 
 AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation  to  disabilities
   of members of the uniformed force of sanitation departments in certain
   cities
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. The general municipal  law  is  amended  by  adding  a  new
 section 207-aa to read as follows:
   § 207-AA. DISABILITIES OF MEMBERS OF THE UNIFORMED FORCE OF SANITATION
 DEPARTMENTS  IN  CERTAIN  CITIES.  NOTWITHSTANDING THE PROVISIONS OF ANY
 GENERAL, SPECIAL OR LOCAL LAW OR ADMINISTRATIVE CODE  TO  THE  CONTRARY,
 BUT  EXCEPT  FOR  THE  PURPOSES OF THE WORKERS' COMPENSATION LAW AND THE
 LABOR LAW, ANY CONDITION OF IMPAIRMENT OF HEALTH CAUSED  BY  LEPTOSPIRO-
 SIS,  RESULTING IN TOTAL OR PARTIAL DISABILITY OR DEATH TO A PAID MEMBER
 OF THE UNIFORMED FORCE OF A PAID SANITATION DEPARTMENT, WHERE SUCH  PAID
 MEMBER  IS  DRAWN FROM COMPETITIVE CIVIL SERVICE LISTS, WHO SUCCESSFULLY
 PASSED A PHYSICAL EXAMINATION ON ENTRY INTO THE SERVICE OF SUCH  DEPART-
 MENT, WHICH EXAMINATION FAILED TO REVEAL ANY EVIDENCE OF SUCH CONDITION,
 SHALL  BE  PRESUMPTIVE  EVIDENCE THAT IT WAS INCURRED IN THE PERFORMANCE
 AND DISCHARGE OF DUTY,  UNLESS  THE  CONTRARY  BE  PROVED  BY  COMPETENT
 EVIDENCE.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   SUMMARY:  The proposed legislation would provide Sanitation members of
 the New York City Employees' Retirement  System  (NYCERS)  a  rebuttable
 statutory  presumption  that a qualifying partial or total disability or
 death related to leptospirosis was incurred in the performance of duty.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD04231-02-5
 S. 4824--A                          2
              

 
       ILLUSTRATION - INCREASE (DECREASE) IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS
          by Fiscal Year for the first 25 years ($ in Thousands)
 
                      One Incident          One Incident Per Year
           Year    Disability    Death      Disability    Death
           2026            51      215              51      215
           2027            51      215             104      437
           2028            51      215             159      666
           2029            51      215             215      901
           2030            51      215             272    1,143
           2031            51      215             332    1,393
           2032            51      215             393    1,650
           2033            51      215             456    1,915
           2034            51      215             521    2,188
           2035            51      215             588    2,469
           2036            51      215             657    2,758
           2037            51      215             728    3,056
           2038            51      215             801    3,363
           2039            51      215             876    3,680
           2040             0        0             903    3,790
           2041             0        0             930    3,904
           2042             0        0             958    4,021
           2043             0        0             986    4,142
           2044             0        0           1,016    4,266
           2045             0        0           1,046    4,394
           2046             0        0           1,078    4,526
           2047             0        0           1,110    4,661
           2048             0        0           1,143    4,801
           2049             0        0           1,178    4,945
           2050             0        0           1,213    5,094
    Employer contribution impact beyond Fiscal Year 2050 is not shown.
 
   The potential increases in employer contributions will be allocated to
 New York City.
   PRESENT  VALUE  OF  BENEFITS:  The  Present  Value  of Benefits is the
 discounted expected value of benefits paid to  current  members  if  all
 assumptions are met, including future service accrual and pay increases.
 Future new hires are not included in this present value.

          INITIAL INCREASE (DECREASE) IN ACTUARIAL PRESENT VALUES
                   as of June 30, 2024 ($ in Thousands)
 
 Present Value (PV)                  Per Disability     Per Death
 (1) PV of Employer Contributions:              434         1,821
 (2) PV of Employee Contributions:             (17)             0
 Total PV of Benefits (1) + (2):                417         1,821
 
   UNFUNDED  ACCRUED  LIABILITY  (UAL): Actuarial Accrued Liabilities are
 the portion of the Present Value of Benefits allocated to past  service.
 Changes in UAL per incident would be recognized as ongoing gain/loss.
 
                AMORTIZATION OF UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY
 
 Recognized as Ongoing Gain/Loss     Per Disability     Per Death
 Increase (Decrease) in UAL:                  434 K       1,821 K
 S. 4824--A                          3

 Number of Payments:                             14            14
 Amortization Payment:                         51 K         215 K
 
   CENSUS DATA: The number of members who will benefit in the future from
 this proposed legislation is unknown. The estimates presented herein are
 based  on  preliminary  census  data  collected as of June 30, 2024. The
 census data for the potentially impacted population used to develop  the
 average costs is summarized below.
 
                                        NYCERS
                Active Members
                - Number Count:          8,018
                - Average Age:            43.2
                - Average Service:        11.1
                - Average Salary:      107,800
 
   IMPACT  ON  MEMBER BENEFITS: Currently, a NYCERS Sanitation member who
 becomes disabled due to leptospirosis would be eligible for an  applica-
 ble ordinary disability retirement benefit, generally a lifetime payment
 of  1/3  of  salary.  The  ordinary  death benefit is a lump sum payment
 generally equal to three times the member's salary.
   Under the proposed legislation, the  performance  of  duty  disability
 benefit  for NYCERS Sanitation members who are disabled from leptospiro-
 sis would generally be equal to 75% of Final Average Salary.
   Under the proposed legislation, the performance of duty death  benefit
 would  generally  be  equal  to  a lifetime benefit of 50% of a member's
 wages earned during their last year of service, plus, if applicable, the
 Special Accidental Death Benefit (SADB) payable under General  Municipal
 Law section 208-f.
   ASSUMPTIONS  AND  METHODS:  The  estimates  presented herein have been
 calculated based on the Revised 2021 Actuarial Assumptions  and  Methods
 of the impacted retirement systems.
   The  number  of members who will benefit from the proposed legislation
 is unknown. The cost of this proposed  legislation  could  vary  greatly
 depending  on  the  number  of  future  members who benefit and on their
 length of service, age, and salary history. In particular, the  increase
 would  be  greater  for a member who is not yet eligible for an Ordinary
 Disability Retirement benefit when disabled.
   The estimated financial impact for disabled members  has  been  calcu-
 lated  assuming  50% would have retired under the current ordinary disa-
 bility benefit, and 50% would have continued  working  if  the  proposed
 legislation were not passed.
   RISK  AND  UNCERTAINTY: The costs presented in this Fiscal Note depend
 highly on the actuarial assumptions, methods,  and  models  used,  demo-
 graphics  of  the impacted population, and other factors such as invest-
 ment, contribution, and other risks. If actual experience deviates  from
 actuarial   assumptions,  the  actual  costs  could  differ  from  those
 presented herein. Quantifying these risks is beyond the  scope  of  this
 Fiscal Note.
   This  Fiscal  Note  is intended to measure pension-related impacts and
 does not include other potential costs (e.g., administrative  and  Other
 Postemployment  Benefits). This Fiscal Note does not reflect any chapter
 laws that may have been enacted during the current legislative session.
   STATEMENT OF ACTUARIAL OPINION: Marek Tyszkiewicz and Gregory Zelikov-
 sky are members of the Society of Actuaries and the American Academy  of
 Actuaries.  We  are members of NYCERS, but do not believe it impairs our
 S. 4824--A                          4

 objectivity, and we meet the Qualification  Standards  of  the  American
 Academy  of  Actuaries to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
 To the best of our 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 2025-17 dated February
 19, 2025 was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City Retire-
 ment Systems and Pension Funds and is intended for use only  during  the
 2025 Legislative Session.