S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   5726
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 28, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
 
 AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in  relation  to
   providing  certain  death  benefits to correction officers, correction
   officer-sergeants,  correction  officer-captains,  assistant  wardens,
   associate wardens or wardens employed by Orange county
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding
 a new section 606-d to read as follows:
   § 606-D. DEATH BENEFITS FOR CORRECTION  OFFICERS  EMPLOYED  BY  ORANGE
 COUNTY.  A. AS USED IN THIS SECTION, THE TERM "CORRECTION OFFICER" SHALL
 MEAN A PERSON EMPLOYED BY THE ORANGE COUNTY CORRECTION DEPARTMENT WITH A
 TITLE OF CORRECTION  OFFICER,  CORRECTION  OFFICER-SERGEANT,  CORRECTION
 OFFICER-CAPTAIN, ASSISTANT WARDEN, ASSOCIATE WARDEN OR WARDEN.
   B.  NOTWITHSTANDING  ANY  PROVISION  OF  LAW  TO THE CONTRARY, WHERE A
 CORRECTION OFFICER WOULD HAVE BEEN  ENTITLED  TO  A  SERVICE  RETIREMENT
 BENEFIT  AT  THE  TIME OF THEIR DEATH AND WHERE THEIR DEATH OCCURS ON OR
 AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE CHAPTER OF  THE  LAWS  OF  TWO  THOUSAND
 TWENTY-FIVE  THAT  ADDED  THIS SECTION, THE BENEFICIARY OR BENEFICIARIES
 MAY ELECT TO RECEIVE, IN A LUMP SUM, AN AMOUNT PAYABLE  WHICH  SHALL  BE
 EQUAL  TO  THE  PENSION RESERVE THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED HAD THE
 MEMBER RETIRED ON THE DATE OF SUCH MEMBER'S DEATH, OR THE VALUE  OF  THE
 DEATH  BENEFIT  AND  THE  RESERVE-FOR-INCREASED-TAKE-HOME-PAY,  IF  ANY,
 WHICHEVER IS GREATER.
   §  2.  All  past  service  costs  associated  with  implementing   the
 provisions of this act shall be borne by the county of Orange and may be
 amortized over a period of ten years.
   §  3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, none
 of the provisions of this act shall  be  subject  to  the  appropriation
 requirement of section 25 of the retirement and social security law.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD00684-02-5
              

 S. 5726                             2
 
   § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This  bill  would  modify  the in-service death benefit for retirement
 eligible members of the New York State and Local  Employees'  Retirement
 System  who  are employed by Orange County in certain correction officer
 titles. The in-service death benefit will be the value  of  the  pension
 reserve as if the member had retired on their date of death.
   If this bill is enacted during the 2025 Legislative Session, we antic-
 ipate  that  there  will  be an increase of approximately $42,000 in the
 annual contributions of Orange County for the fiscal year  ending  March
 31, 2026. In future years this cost will vary but is expected to average
 0.1% of salary annually.
   In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
 an  immediate  past service cost of approximately $324,000 which will be
 borne by Orange County as a one-time payment. This estimate assumes that
 payment will be made on February 1, 2026. If  Orange  County  elects  to
 amortize this cost over a 10-year period, the cost for each year includ-
 ing interest would be $41,400.
   These  estimated  costs  are based on 305 affected members employed by
 Orange County, with annual salary of approximately $33.7 million  as  of
 March 31, 2024.
   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  13,  2025, and intended for use only
 during the 2025 Legislative Session, is  Fiscal  Note  No.  2025-16.  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.