Authorizes the county of Monroe to offer an optional twenty year retirement plan to Christopher R. Fay, the official text

S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6298
 
                        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 Christopher R. Fay, a captain 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 captains employed by such county,
 is hereby authorized to make participation in  such  plan  available  to
 Christopher  R.  Fay,  a captain employed by the county of Monroe with a
 start date of August 26, 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  retire-
 ment  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 captain did not bar themself  from  partic-
 ipation  in  the  retirement  plan  as a result of their own negligence.
 Thereafter, such captain 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 August 26, 1991
 to present under sections 552 and 553 of the retirement and social secu-
 rity  law.  Such  member  may  effectuate by filing an election with the
 retirement system 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 county of Monroe and may be
 amortized over a five-year period.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD03615-02-5
 A. 6298                             2
 
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This  bill would allow Christopher R. Fay, a current member of the New
 York State and Local Employees' Retirement System employed as a  captain
 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  $14,000  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 Christopher R. Fay change.
   In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
 an  immediate  past service cost of approximately $153,000 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 $34,200.
   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.  2025-60.  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.