S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   5761
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 28, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. JACKSON -- 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
   the  retirement  of  correction  officers  of  the  Westchester county
   correction department

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Subdivisions c, f and g of section 89-e of the retirement
 and social security law, as added by chapter 520 of the  laws  of  1988,
 are amended to read as follows:
   c.  (1)  Upon completion of twenty-five years of such service and upon
 retirement, each such member shall receive  a  pension  which,  together
 with  an  annuity  which shall be the actuarial equivalent of [his] SUCH
 MEMBER'S accumulated contributions at the time of  [his]  SUCH  MEMBER'S
 retirement  and  an additional pension which is the actuarial equivalent
 of the reserved-for-increased-take-home-pay to which  [he]  SUCH  MEMBER
 may  then  be  entitled shall be sufficient to provide [him] SUCH MEMBER
 with a retirement allowance equal to one-half  of  [his]  SUCH  MEMBER'S
 final average salary.
   (2)  UPON  COMPLETION OF THIRTY YEARS OF SUCH SERVICE AND UPON RETIRE-
 MENT, EACH SUCH MEMBER SHALL RECEIVE A PENSION WHICH, TOGETHER  WITH  AN
 ANNUITY WHICH SHALL BE THE ACTUARIAL EQUIVALENT OF SUCH MEMBER'S ACCUMU-
 LATED CONTRIBUTIONS AT THE TIME OF SUCH MEMBER'S RETIREMENT AND AN ADDI-
 TIONAL PENSION WHICH IS THE ACTUARIAL EQUIVALENT OF THE RESERVED-FOR-IN-
 CREASED-TAKE-HOME-PAY TO WHICH SUCH MEMBER MAY THEN BE ENTITLED SHALL BE
 SUFFICIENT  TO  PROVIDE SUCH MEMBER WITH A RETIREMENT ALLOWANCE EQUAL TO
 SIXTY PERCENT OF SUCH MEMBER'S FINAL AVERAGE SALARY.
   f. A member contributing on the basis of this section at the  time  of
 retirement,  shall  retire  after the completion of twenty-five years OR
 THIRTY YEARS of total creditable service. Application  therefor  may  be
 filed  in  a  manner similar to that provided in section seventy of this
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD07663-02-5
              

 S. 5761                             2
 
 article. Upon completion of twenty-five years OR THIRTY  YEARS  of  such
 service  and  upon  retirement, each such member shall receive a pension
 which, together with an annuity which shall be the actuarial  equivalent
 of  [his]  SUCH  MEMBER'S accumulated contributions at the time of [his]
 SUCH MEMBER'S retirement and an additional pension which is the actuari-
 al equivalent of the reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay to  which  [he]
 SUCH  MEMBER  may  then be entitled shall be sufficient to provide [him]
 SUCH MEMBER with a retirement allowance equal to one-half of [his]  SUCH
 MEMBER'S final average salary FOR A MEMBER RETIRING AFTER THE COMPLETION
 OF  TWENTY-FIVE  YEARS, OR A RETIREMENT ALLOWANCE EQUAL TO SIXTY PERCENT
 OF SUCH MEMBER'S FINAL AVERAGE SALARY FOR A MEMBER  RETIRING  AFTER  THE
 COMPLETION OF THIRTY YEARS.
   g. In computing the twenty-five years OR THIRTY YEARS of total service
 of a member pursuant to this section full credit shall be given and full
 allowance  shall be made for service of such member in time of war after
 World War I as defined in section two of  this  chapter,  provided  such
 member at the time of [his] SUCH MEMBER'S entrance into the armed forces
 was in the service of the county of Westchester.
   § 2. Subdivision c of section 604 of the retirement and social securi-
 ty  law, as added by chapter 520 of the laws of 1988, is amended to read
 as follows:
   c. (1) The early service retirement benefit for  a  member  who  is  a
 correction  officer  of  the Westchester county correction department as
 defined in section eighty-nine-e of this  chapter  shall  be  a  pension
 equal  to  one-fiftieth  of final average salary times years of credited
 service at the completion  of  twenty-five  years  of  service  as  such
 correction  officer,  but  not  exceeding  one-half of [his or her] SUCH
 MEMBER'S final average salary.
   (2) THE EARLY SERVICE RETIREMENT FOR A MEMBER WHO IS EMPLOYED IN WEST-
 CHESTER COUNTY AS A CORRECTION OFFICER AS  DEFINED  IN  SECTION  EIGHTY-
 NINE-E OF THIS CHAPTER SHALL BE A PENSION EQUAL TO ONE-FIFTIETH OF FINAL
 AVERAGE  SALARY  TIMES  YEARS  OF  CREDITED SERVICE AT THE COMPLETION OF
 THIRTY YEARS OF SERVICE AS SUCH CORRECTION OFFICER,  BUT  NOT  EXCEEDING
 SIXTY PERCENT OF SUCH MEMBER'S FINAL AVERAGE SALARY.
   §   3.  All  past  service  costs  associated  with  implementing  the
 provisions of this act shall be borne by the county of  Westchester  and
 may be amortized over a period of ten years.
   §  4. 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.
   §  5.  This  act  shall take effect immediately and shall apply to all
 members that retire on or after such date.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This bill would modify the service retirement benefit for  members  of
 the  New  York  State and Local Employees' Retirement System employed by
 Westchester County as correction officers. The modified service  retire-
 ment  benefit  will  be  one-half  of  final  average  salary (FAS) upon
 completion of twenty-five years of creditable service and sixty  percent
 of  FAS  upon  completion  of  thirty  years  of creditable service. The
 current service retirement benefit is one-half of FAS upon completion of
 twenty-five years of creditable service.
   If this bill is enacted during the 2025 Legislative Session, we antic-
 ipate that there will be an increase of approximately  $549,000  in  the
 annual  contributions  of  Westchester County for the fiscal year ending
 March 31, 2026. In future years this cost will vary but is  expected  to
 average 0.5% of salary annually.
 S. 5761                             3
 
   In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
 an immediate past service cost of approximately $5.85 million which will
 be  borne  by  Westchester  County  as a one-time payment. This estimate
 assumes that payment will be made on February 1,  2026.  If  Westchester
 County  elects to amortize this cost over a 10-year period, the cost for
 each year including interest would be $747,000.
   These estimated costs are based on 824 affected  members  employed  by
 Westchester County, with annual salary of approximately $96.2 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  26,  2025, and intended for use only
 during the 2025 Legislative Session, is  Fiscal  Note  No.  2025-47.  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.