NY State Senate Bill 2025-S5564

Senate Bill S5564

2025-2026 Legislative Session

Authorizes the village of Port Chester to offer an optional twenty-year retirement plan to a certain police officer employed by such village

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Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Civil Service And Pensions Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Feb 25, 2025	referred to civil service and pensions

2025-S5564 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Civil Service And Pensions
Law Section:: Retirement

2025-S5564 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Authorizes the village of Port Chester to offer an optional twenty-year retirement plan to Michael Sprague, a police officer employed by such village since January 7, 2013.

2025-S5564 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S5564

SPONSOR: MAYER
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act authorizing the village of Port Chester to offer an optional
twenty-year retirement plan to a certain police officer employed by such
village

 
PURPOSE:

This bill will allow Michael Sprague, a police officer employed by the
village of Port Chester, to elect to be covered under the provisions of
section 384-d of the New York retirement and social security law.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,
Michael Sprague, a member of the New York state and local police and
fire retirement system, who was appointed as a police officer with the
village of Port Chester on January 7, 2013, and who, through no fault of
his own, failed to file a timely application to participate in the

special twenty year retirement plan contained in section 384-d of the
retirement and social security law, resulting in the crediting of his
service with the village of Port Chester in the general retirement plan
contained in section 375-i of such law, shall be given full credit in
the special twenty-year retirement plan for such service upon the
election of the village of Port Chester to assume the additional cost of
such service. The village of Port Chester may so elect by filing a
resolution of its local legislative body together with certification
that such police officer did not bar himself from participation in such
retirement plan as a result of his own negligence.

Section 2. All employer past service costs associated with implementing
the provisions of this act shall be borne by the village of Port Chester
and may be amortized over a ten-year period.

Section 3. This act shall take effect immediately.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Police Officer Michael Sprague was hired on January 7, 2013 and on Janu-
ary 14, 2013, the Village completed and faxed his application (Form
PF5022) to the NYS Police and Fire Retirement System. It was returned to
the Village with Officer Sprague's registration number and plan code
384-d filled in by NYS on the appropriate sections of the form. The
first the Village learned that the officer was in the plan designated
375-i and not plan 384-d was when it received the annual report. NYS
advised the Village that the application form was not complete since it
had not been notarized, and that NYS had attempted to contact the offi-
cer. The Village did not follow up to ensure that the officer was in the
correct plan.. The Village has since had a change of payroll clerks, and
now desires to correct this omission. The Village requests this special
legislation to reopen the plan.

The identical bill S5551 passed the Senate and Assembly in 2017 and was
signed by the Governor.


Subsequent to 55551 being adopted into law, the village of Port Chester
approved a resolution to make the required payments to the state to
transfer Officer Sprague into the correct retirement plan.  However,
Officer Sprague was not made aware that to complete the transfer, he had
to file additional forms. Said forms were not received by Officer Spra-
gue nor was he notified that the matter was pending. Officer Sprague was
advised by the village's human resources department that everything
concerning the retirement issue was completed and put to rest after the
bill passed and the village board approved the resolution. Officer Spra-
gue relied upon this assurance and trusted that everything was in order.
In November 2022, Office Sprague discovered, from retirement account
information newly accessible online, that he remained in the wrong
retirement plan, under 375i. Officer Sprague contacted state retirement
personnel and was advised that a new bill, similar to the last one,
would need to be introduced to rectify this error.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2017: S5551, passed Senate and Assembly, signed by Governor. Not timely
acted upon.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

See fiscal note.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2025-S5564 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   5564
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 25, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  MAYER  -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
 
 AN ACT authorizing the village of Port  Chester  to  offer  an  optional
   twenty-year  retirement  plan  to a certain police officer employed by
   such village

   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,
 Michael  Sprague,  a  member  of the New York state and local police and
 fire retirement system, who was appointed as a police officer  with  the
 village of Port Chester on January 7, 2013, and who, through no fault of
 his  own,  failed  to  file  a  timely application to participate in the
 special twenty-year retirement plan contained in section  384-d  of  the
 retirement  and  social  security  law resulting in the crediting of his
 service with the village of Port Chester in the general retirement  plan
 contained  in  section  375-i of such law, shall be given full credit in
 the special twenty-year  retirement  plan  for  such  service  upon  the
 election of the village of Port Chester to assume the additional cost of
 such  service.    Thereafter, Michael Sprague may elect to be covered by
 the provisions of section 384-d 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 the 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 village of Port Chester and
 may be amortized over a ten-year period.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This  bill  would  allow  the  Village  of  Port Chester to reopen the
 provisions of section 384-d of the Retirement and  Social  Security  Law
 for police officer Michael Sprague.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD06920-02-5

 S. 5564                             2
 
   If this bill is enacted during the 2025 Legislative Session, we antic-
 ipate  that  there  will  be an increase of approximately $21,000 in the
 annual contributions of the Village of Port Chester for the fiscal  year
 ending  March 31, 2026. In future years this cost will vary as the bill-
 ing rates and salary of Michael Sprague change.
   In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
 an  immediate  past service cost of approximately $345,000 which will be
 borne by the Village of Port Chester as a one-time payment.  This  esti-
 mate  assumes  that  payment  will  be  made on February 1, 2026. If the
 Village of Port Chester elects to amortize  this  cost  over  a  10-year
 period, the cost for the first year including interest would be $44,100.
   Summary of relevant resources:
   Membership  data as of March 31, 2024 was used in measuring the impact
 of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2024 actuari-
 al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can  be  found  in  the
 2024  Report  of the Actuary and the 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial
 Report.  The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the
 2024 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, 2024 New York State and Local Retirement System Financial Statements
 and Supplementary Information.
   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  February  3,  2025,  and intended for use only
 during the 2025 Legislative Session, is  Fiscal  Note  No.  2025-42.  As
 Chief  Actuary  of  the  New  York State and Local Retirement System, I,
 Aaron Schottin Young, hereby certify that this  analysis  complies  with
 applicable  Actuarial  Standards  of  Practice  as  well  as the Code of
 Professional Conduct and Qualification Standards for  Actuaries  Issuing
 Statements of Actuarial Opinion of the American Academy of Actuaries, of
 which I am a member.

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