Authorizes the county of Rockland to offer an optional twenty year retirement plan to Matthew Donovan, a deputy sheriff employed by such county, the official text

S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  8208--A
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 21, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  WEBER  -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
   -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered  reprinted  as  amended
   and recommitted to said committee
 
 AN  ACT  in  relation  to authorizing the county of Rockland to offer an
   optional twenty year retirement plan  to  Matthew  Donovan,  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 Rockland, 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 Matthew Donovan, a deputy sheriff  employed  by  the  county  of
 Rockland  with  a start date of August 1, 2020, who, through no fault of
 his own, was not enrolled to participate in such  optional  twenty  year
 plan  contained  in  article  14-B of the retirement and social security
 law.  The county of Rockland may so elect by filing with the state comp-
 troller, 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 themself from participation in the retirement
 plan  as a result of their own negligence. Thereafter, such deputy sher-
 iff may individually elect to be covered by the provisions  of  sections
 552  and  553 of the retirement and social security law, and the retire-
 ment system shall credit service from August 1, 2020  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.
                                                            LBD11974-05-5
 S. 8208--A                          2
 
   §  2. All employer past service costs associated with implementing the
 provisions of this act shall be borne by the county of Rockland 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  Matthew Donovan, a current member of the New
 York State and Local Employees' Retirement System employed as  a  deputy
 sheriff by Rockland County and covered under the 25-year retirement plan
 of  Section  89-p  of  the Retirement and Social Security Law (RSSL), to
 elect to be covered under the 20-year plan of Section  552  and  Section
 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 Rockland County for the fiscal year ending March
 31, 2026. In future years this cost will vary as the billing  rates  and
 salary of Matthew Donovan change.
   In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
 an  immediate  past service cost of approximately $174,000 which will be
 borne by Rockland County as a one-time payment.  This  estimate  assumes
 that payment will be made on February 1, 2026. If Rockland County elects
 to  amortize  this  cost  over  a  5-year period, the cost for each year
 including interest would be $38,800.
   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 May 19, 2025, and intended for  use  only  during
 the  2025  Legislative  Session,  is  Fiscal Note No. 2025-177. 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.