S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6988
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              March 27, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. JACKSON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Cities 1
 
 AN ACT to amend the administrative code of the  city  of  New  York,  in
   relation  to  granting  members of the city's police force eligibility
   for retirement and  pension  based  on  previous  service  as  traffic
   enforcement agents
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. The administrative code of the city of New York is  amended
 by adding a new section 13-633 to read as follows:
   §  13-633  TRANSFER  OF MEMBERS OF THE NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT
 FROM TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT TO THE POLICE FORCE. A. THE TIME  SERVED  AS  A
 MEMBER  OF THE CITY'S TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT WHO HAS BECOME A MEMBER OF THE
 UNIFORMED FORCE OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT OF THE CITY, WHETHER BY  TRANS-
 FER OR AS A RESULT OF A COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION AND APPOINTMENT, AND WHO
 IS STILL A MEMBER OF THE UNIFORMED FORCE OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT OF THE
 CITY,  SHALL  BE  INCLUDED  AND  COUNTED AS POLICE SERVICE AS DEFINED IN
 SECTION 13-214 OF THIS TITLE IN DETERMINING RETIREMENT AND PENSION BENE-
 FITS AS PROVIDED IN THIS CODE AND THE RETIREMENT AND SOCIAL SECURITY LAW
 IF SUCH PERSON BECOMES A MEMBER OF A STATE  OR  CITY  RETIREMENT  SYSTEM
 AVAILABLE  TO  MEMBERS  OF  THE POLICE DEPARTMENT OF THE CITY, PROVIDED,
 HOWEVER, THAT NO PERSON BECOMING A MEMBER OF THE UNIFORMED FORCE OF  THE
 POLICE  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE CITY IN THE MANNER HEREIN PROVIDED, SHALL BE
 ENTITLED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE BENEFITS OF A STATE  OR  CITY  RETIREMENT
 SYSTEM AVAILABLE TO MEMBERS OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT OF THE CITY, UNLESS
 SUCH  PERSON  SHALL  PAY  INTO  SUCH FUND THE TOTAL SUM THAT SUCH PERSON
 WOULD HAVE BEEN REQUIRED TO PAY IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE THEREIN HAD SUCH
 PERSON BEEN A MEMBER OF SUCH  FORCE  FROM  THE  TIME  THEY  ENTERED  THE
 SERVICE OF TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT. THESE PROVISIONS SHALL NOT BE SUBJECT TO
 ANY RESTRICTION RELATIVE TO TRANSFERS CONTAINED IN THE CIVIL SERVICE LAW
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD02377-05-5
 S. 6988                             2
              

 
 OR  IN  THE RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION OF THE
 STATE, OR ANY SUBDIVISION THEREOF.
   B.  NOTWITHSTANDING  ANY  OTHER PROVISIONS OF LAW, A MEMBER OF THE NEW
 YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT SHALL BE ENTITLED TO BUY  BACK  AND  RECEIVE
 SERVICE  CREDIT  FOR  THE  PERIOD  OF  TIME  SUCH  MEMBER WAS PREVIOUSLY
 EMPLOYED AS A NEW YORK CITY TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT AGENT PURSUANT TO SUBDI-
 VISION A OF THIS SECTION.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   SUMMARY: This proposed legislation would deem  certain  prior  service
 rendered  as  a  traffic enforcement agent with the New York City Police
 Department, that was purchased or transferred into  the  New  York  City
 Police  Pension  Fund  (POLICE),  as  uniformed  service for purposes of
 determining the eligibility and amount of POLICE retirement benefits.
 
          EXPECTED INCREASE (DECREASE) IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS
           by Fiscal Year for the first 25 years ($ in Millions)
 
                     Year        NYC
                     2026        11.3
                     2027        11.2
                     2028        11.4
                     2029        11.6
                     2030        11.8
                     2031        12.1
                     2032        12.3
                     2033        12.6
                     2034        13.1
                     2035        13.6
                     2036        14.0
                     2037        14.3
                     2038         3.7
                     2039         4.1
                     2040         4.6
                     2041         4.9
                     2042         5.3
                     2043         5.8
                     2044         6.3
                     2045         6.7
                     2046         7.2
                     2047         7.8
                     2048         8.4
                     2049         9.1
                     2050         9.8
 
   Projected contributions include future new hires that may be impacted.
 For Fiscal Year 2051 and beyond, the expected increase in normal cost as
 a level percent of pay for impacted new entrants is approximately  1.62%
 for each year of traffic enforcement service transferred.
   The entire increase 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.
 S. 6988                             3

          INITIAL INCREASE (DECREASE) IN ACTUARIAL PRESENT VALUES
                    as of June 30, 2024 ($ in Millions)
 
              Present Value (PV)                 NYC
              (1) PV of Employer Contributions:  65.0
              (2) PV of Employee Contributions:  (1.0)
              Total PV of Benefits (1) + (2):    64.0
 
   UNFUNDED  ACCRUED  LIABILITY  (UAL): Actuarial Accrued Liabilities are
 the portion of the Present Value of Benefits allocated to past  service.
 Changes  in UAL were amortized over the expected remaining working life-
 time of those impacted using level dollar payments.
 
                AMORTIZATION OF UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY
 
                                                 NYC
              Increase (Decrease) in UAL:        84.5 M
              Number of Payments:                12
              Amortization Payment:              11.0 M
 
   CENSUS DATA: The estimates presented herein are based  on  preliminary
 census data collected as of June 30, 2024 and was supplemented with data
 previously  provided  by  the  New  York  City Police Department and the
 Police Benevolent Association. The census data for  the  impacted  popu-
 lation is summarized below.
 
                                                 POLICE
              Active Members
              - Number Count:                        847
              - Average Age:                        38.0
              - Average Service:                    11.1
              - Average Traffic Enforcement
                Service:                             3.3
              - Average Salary:                  119,400
 
   IMPACT ON MEMBER BENEFITS: Currently, Tier 2 members of POLICE receive
 a  benefit  based  on  75% of 1/60th times the member's average earnings
 over their last five years of service for  each  year  of  non-uniformed
 civilian  service, such as prior traffic enforcement agent service. Tier
 3 members generally receive  no  additional  benefit  for  non-uniformed
 civilian service.
   Under  the  proposed legislation, periods of qualifying prior non-uni-
 formed service  rendered  as  a  traffic  enforcement  agent,  that  are
 purchased  or  transferred,  would be classified as Allowable Service in
 the police force and  therefore  be  included  in  the  minimum  service
 required  for eligibility and payment of an unreduced service retirement
 benefit for all tiers.
   ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The  estimates  presented  herein  have  been
 calculated  based  on the Revised 2021 Actuarial Assumptions and Methods
 of the impacted retirement systems. In addition:
     * New entrants were assumed to replace exiting members so that total
 payroll increases by 3% each year for impacted groups. New entrant demo-
 graphics were developed based on data for recent new hires and actuarial
 judgement.
     * Each year, 2.5% of new entrants are assumed to purchase an average
 of 3.0 years of prior service. For the purposes of this Fiscal Note, new
 S. 6988                             4
 
 entrant costs have been shown assuming that the  entirety  of  the  cost
 would be funded via normal cost.
   To  determine the impact of the elective nature of the proposed legis-
 lation, a subgroup of eligible members was developed  based  on  who  is
 assumed to benefit actuarially by comparing the net present value impact
 of  future  employer costs of each member's benefit before and after the
 transfer or purchase of traffic enforcement agent service.
   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
 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 2025-34 dated  March  27,
 2025  was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City Retirement
 Systems and Pension Funds and is intended for use only during  the  2025
 Legislative Session.