A 10398: Provides for certain death benefits to deputy sheriffs employed by Orange county.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 10398  IN ASSEMBLY March 3, 2026 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. KAY -- read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Employees AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to providing certain death benefits to deputy sheriffs employed by Orange county The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding 2 a new section 606-d to read as follows: 3 § 606-d. Death benefits for deputy sheriffs employed by Orange county. 4 a. As used in this section, the term "deputy sheriff" shall mean a 5 person employed by Orange county with a title of deputy sheriff. 6 b. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, where a depu- 7 ty sheriff would have been entitled to a service retirement benefit at 8 the time of their death and where their death occurs on or after the 9 effective date of the chapter of the laws of two thousand twenty-six 10 that added this section, the beneficiary or beneficiaries may elect to 11 receive, in a lump sum, an amount payable which shall be equal to the 12 pension reserve that would have been established had the member retired 13 on the date of such member's death, or the value of the death benefit 14 and the reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay, if any, whichever is great- 15 er. 16 § 2. All past service costs associated with implementing the 17 provisions of this act shall be borne by the county of Orange and may be 18 amortized over a period of ten years. 19 § 3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, none 20 of the provisions of this act shall be subject to the appropriation 21 requirement of section 25 of the retirement and social security law. 22 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: This bill would modify the in-service death benefit for retirement eligible members of the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System (NYSLERS) employed by Orange county as deputy sheriffs. The EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD14445-02-6 
 A. 10398 2 in-service death benefit will be the value of the pension reserve as if the member had retired on their date of death. We estimate that Orange county's annual contributions will increase $15,000 beginning FYE 2027. Annual costs will vary but are expected to average 0.1% of salary. In addition, there will be an immediate past service cost of $197,000 borne by Orange county as a one-time payment. This cost assumes that payment will be made on February 1, 2027. If Orange county elects to amortize this cost over 10 years, the cost for each year will be $25,100. These estimated costs are based on 91 affected members employed by Orange county, with annual salary of approximately $12 million as of March 31, 2025. Summary of relevant resources: Membership data as of March 31, 2025 was used to measure the impact of the bill, the same data used in the Actuarial Valuations dated April 1, 2025. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2025 Report of the Actuary and the 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2025 Annual Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assumptions, and the Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York: Audit and Control. The fair value of assets and GASB disclosures can be found in the 2025 Financial Statements and Supplementary Information. Assumptions, demographics, and other considerations may have been modified to better reflect specific provisions of any proposed benefit change(s). This fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the viability of the bill, nor is it intended to serve as a substitute for the profes- sional judgment of an attorney. This estimate, dated February 11, 2026, and intended for use only during the 2026 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note Number 2026-88. As Chief Actuary of the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS), 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 Actu- aries, of which I am a member. I am a member of NYSLRS but do not believe it impairs my objectivity.