Authorizes Scott Hoag to receive certain credit under section 384-d of the retirement and social security law, the official text

S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8489
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                               May 19, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  BUTTENSCHON -- read once and referred to the
   Committee on Governmental Employees
 
 AN ACT to authorize Scott Hoag to receive certain service  credit  under
   section 384-d of the retirement and social security law
 
   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,
 Scott Hoag, a member of the New York state and  local  police  and  fire
 retirement  system, who is employed as a police officer with the city of
 Rome, and who, through no fault of his own,  failed  to  file  a  timely
 application  to  participate  in the special twenty-year retirement plan
 contained in section 384-d of the retirement  and  social  security  law
 resulting  in  the crediting of his service with the city of Rome in the
 general retirement plan contained in section 375-i of such law, shall be
 given full credit in the special twenty-year retirement  plan  upon  the
 election  of  the  city  of  Rome  to assume the additional cost of such
 service credit.  The city of Rome may so elect by filing with the  state
 comptroller,  within  six  months from the effective date of this act, a
 resolution of its local legislative  body  together  with  certification
 that  such police officer did not bar himself from participation in such
 retirement plan as a result of his own  negligence.    Thereafter,  such
 police  officer  may  elect  to  be covered by the provisions of section
 384-d of the retirement and social security law by filing a  request  to
 that effect with the state comptroller within six months from the effec-
 tive date of such resolution.
   §  2. All employer past service costs associated with implementing the
 provisions of this act shall be borne by the city of  Rome  and  may  be
 amortized over a ten-year period.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD08494-02-5
 A. 8489                             2
 
   This  bill  would  allow  the City of Rome to reopen the provisions of
 section 384-d, together with section 384-e, of the Retirement and Social
 Security Law for police officer Scott Hoag.
   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 the City of Rome  for  the  fiscal  year  ending
 March 31, 2026. In future years this cost will vary as the billing rates
 and salary of Scott Hoag change.
   In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
 an  immediate  past service cost of approximately $329,000 which will be
 borne by the City of Rome as a one-time payment. This  estimate  assumes
 that  payment  will  be  made  on  February 1, 2026. If the City of Rome
 elects to amortize this cost over a 10-year period,  the  cost  for  the
 first year including interest would be $42,000.
   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  12,  2025, and intended for use only
 during the 2025 Legislative Session, is  Fiscal  Note  No.  2025-61.  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.