Authorizes the county of Tompkins to offer an optional twenty year retirement plan to Kyle Davenport, a deputy sheriff employed by such county, the official text

S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7849
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                                May 9, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  WEBB  --  read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
 
 AN ACT in relation to authorizing the county of  Tompkins  to  offer  an
   optional twenty year retirement plan to Kyle Davenport, a deputy sher-
   iff 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,
 Kyle Davenport, a member of the  optional  twenty-five  year  retirement
 plan for certain sheriffs, undersheriffs, deputy sheriffs and correction
 officers  pursuant to section 89-p of the retirement and social security
 law, who was employed by Tompkins county as a deputy sheriff as  of  May
 8,  2017,  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 sections 552 and 553 of the retirement and social security
 law at the time of his promotion to  deputy  sheriff  resulting  in  the
 crediting  of  his service with the county of Tompkins in the retirement
 plan contained in section 89-p of such law, shall be given  full  credit
 in the sections 552 and 553 twenty year retirement plan for such service
 as  a  deputy  sheriff  upon  the  election of the county of Tompkins to
 assume the additional cost of such service and his election  to  partic-
 ipate  in such plan. The county of Tompkins may so elect within one year
 of the effective date of this act, by filing with the state  comptroller
 a  resolution  of its local legislative body together with certification
 that such member did not bar himself from participation in such  retire-
 ment plan as a result of his own negligence.
   §  2. Such deputy sheriff may elect to be covered by the provisions of
 sections 552 and 553 of the retirement and social security law and shall
 be entitled to the full rights and  benefits  associated  with  coverage
 under  such  section  by  filing a request to that effect with the state
 comptroller within eighteen months of the effective date of this act.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD02476-03-5
 S. 7849                             2
 
   § 3. All employer past service costs associated with  the  implementa-
 tion of this act shall be borne by Tompkins county, and may be amortized
 over a period of five years.
   § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This bill would allow Kyle Davenport, a current member of the New York
 State  and Local Employees' Retirement System employed as a deputy sher-
 iff by Tompkins 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  $11,000  in  the
 annual contributions of Tompkins County for the fiscal year ending March
 31,  2026.  In future years this cost will vary as the billing rates and
 salary of Kyle Davenport change.
   In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
 an immediate past service cost of approximately $92,100  which  will  be
 borne  by  Tompkins  County as a one-time payment. This estimate assumes
 that payment will be made on February 1, 2026. If Tompkins County elects
 to amortize this cost over a five-year period, the cost  for  each  year
 including interest would be $20,600.
   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 March 27, 2025, and intended for use only during
 the 2025 Legislative Session, is Fiscal  Note  No.  2025-113.  As  Chief
 Actuary  of  the  New  York  State and Local Retirement System, I, Aaron
 Schottin Young, hereby certify that this analysis complies with applica-
 ble 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.