Authorizes the county of Monroe to offer an optional twenty year retirement plan to Gregory M. Prokop, the official text

S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6274
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                               March 3, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by M. of A. BRONSON -- read once and referred to the Commit-
   tee on Governmental Employees
 
 AN ACT to authorize the county of Monroe to  offer  an  optional  twenty
   year  retirement  plan to Gregory M. Prokop, a deputy sheriff employed
   by such county
 
   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,
 the  county  of  Monroe,  a participating employer in the New York state
 employees' retirement system, which has elected to  offer  the  optional
 twenty year retirement plan, established pursuant to article 14-B of the
 retirement  and social security law, to deputy sheriffs employed by such
 county, is hereby authorized to make participation in such  plan  avail-
 able  to  Gregory  M. Prokop, a deputy sheriff employed by the county of
 Monroe with a start date of  October  8,  1991,  who,  for  reasons  not
 ascribable to his own negligence, failed to make a timely application to
 participate  in such optional twenty year plan contained in article 14-B
 of the retirement and social security law. The county of Monroe  may  so
 elect  by filing with the state comptroller, on or before 180 days after
 this act shall have become a law, a resolution  of  its  governing  body
 together  with  certification that such deputy sheriff did not bar them-
 self from participation in the retirement plan as a result of their  own
 negligence.    Thereafter, such deputy sheriff may individually elect to
 be covered by the provisions of sections 552 and 553 of  the  retirement
 and  social security law, and the retirement system shall credit service
 from October 8, 1991 to present  under  sections  552  and  553  of  the
 retirement and social security law. Such member may effectuate by filing
 an  election with the retirement system within one year of the effective
 date of this act.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD03621-02-5
 A. 6274                             2
 
   § 2. All employer past service costs associated with implementing  the
 provisions of this act shall be borne by the county of Monroe and may be
 amortized over a five-year period.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This  bill  would allow Gregory M. Prokop, a current member of the New
 York State and Local Employees' Retirement System employed as  a  deputy
 sheriff  by  Monroe County and covered under the 25-year retirement plan
 of §89-p of the Retirement and Social Security Law (RSSL), to  elect  to
 be covered under the 20-year plan of §552 and §553 of the RSSL.
   If this bill is enacted during the 2025 Legislative Session, we antic-
 ipate  that  there  will  be an increase of approximately $13,000 in the
 annual contributions of Monroe County for the fiscal year  ending  March
 31,  2026.  In future years this cost will vary as the billing rates and
 salary of Gregory M. Prokop change.
   In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
 an immediate past service cost of approximately $141,000 which  will  be
 borne by Monroe County as a one-time payment. This estimate assumes that
 payment  will  be  made  on February 1, 2026. If Monroe County elects to
 amortize this cost over a five-year  period,  the  cost  for  each  year
 including interest would be $31,600.
   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  19,  2025, and intended for use only
 during the 2025 Legislative Session, is  Fiscal  Note  No.  2025-58.  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.