A 8579: Grants retroactive Tier IV membership in the New York city teachers' retirement system to certain employees employed by the city of Yonkers parks department for the period beginning in 2009 and ending in 2014.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8579 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY May 21, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. TANNOUSIS -- read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Employees AN ACT granting retroactive Tier IV membership in the New York city teachers' retirement system to certain employees The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any person, who 2 is currently employed by the New York city department of education and a 3 member of the New York city teachers' retirement system, and who was 4 employed by the city of Yonkers parks department for the period begin- 5 ning in 2009 and ending in 2014, and who, for reasons not ascribable to 6 their own negligence, failed to become a member of the New York state 7 and local employees' retirement system during such employment with the 8 city of Yonkers parks department in 2009, shall be granted service cred- 9 it in the New York city teachers' retirement system for their employment 10 with the city of Yonkers parks department for the period beginning in 11 2009 and ending in 2014 and shall be granted Tier IV status in such 12 retirement system, provided that an application is filed with the head 13 of the New York city teachers' retirement system within one year from 14 the effective date of this act. 15 § 2. All past service costs associated with the implementation of this 16 act shall be borne by the city of New York. 17 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: Allow Certain TRS Members to Reinstate Tier 4 Membership SUMMARY: This proposed legislation would permit active members of the New York City Teachers' Retirement System (TRS) who were employed by the City of Yonkers Parks Department for a defined period to purchase service and to elect, by filing an application with TRS within one year of the effective date, retroactive membership in Tier 4. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD09807-03-5 
 A. 8579 2 EXPECTED INCREASE (DECREASE) IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS by Fiscal Year for the first 25 years ($) Year TRS 2026 0 2027 16,900 2028 17,100 2029 17,300 2030 17,500 2031 17,700 2032 18,100 2033 18,500 2034 18,700 2035 18,900 2036 19,200 2037 19,800 2038 20,500 2039 21,000 2040 21,500 2041 21,800 2042 22,200 2043 22,600 2044 22,800 2045 11,000 2046 6,600 2047 2,700 2048 (500) 2049 (3,000) 2050 (4,800) Employer Contribution impact beyond Fiscal Year 2050 is not shown. The entire increase (decrease) in employer contributions will be allo- cated to New York City. PRESENT VALUE OF BENEFITS: The Present Value of Benefits is the discounted expected value of benefits paid to current members if all assumptions are met, including future service accrual and pay increases. Future new hires are not included in this present value. INITIAL INCREASE (DECREASE) IN ACTUARIAL PRESENT VALUES as of June 30, 2025 ($) Present Value (PV) TRS (1) PV of Employer Contributions: 183,000 (2) PV of Employee Contributions: (89,000) Total PV of Benefits (1) + (2): 94,000 UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY (UAL): Actuarial Accrued Liabilities are the portion of the Present Value of Benefits allocated to past service. Changes in UAL were amortized over the expected remaining working life- time of those impacted using level dollar payments. AMORTIZATION OF UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY TRS Increase (Decrease) in UAL: 95,000 Number of Payments: 18 
 A. 8579 3 Amortization Payment: 10,000 CENSUS DATA: The estimates presented herein are based on one member who was specifically identified as being impacted by this proposed legislation, with the preliminary census data collected for this member as of June 30, 2024 summarized below. However, the actual number of members who may benefit from this proposed legislation is unknown. TRS Active Members - Number Count: 1 - Average Age: 37.0 - Average Service: 8.0 - Average Salary: 106,600 BACKGROUND: The proposed legislation would apply to TRS members currently employed by the New York City Department of Education, who were employed by the City of Yonkers Parks Department for the period beginning in 2009 and ending in 2014 and did not join the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System during such employment. Under this proposed legislation, such members would receive service credit in TRS for their employment with the Yonkers Parks Department and would be granted retroactive Tier 4 membership. A change from Tier 6 to Tier 4 would result in an earlier date of retirement eligibility, lower overall employee contribution rates, and a larger benefit. ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The estimates presented herein have been calculated based on the Revised 2021 Actuarial Assumptions and Methods of the impacted retirement systems. For purposes of this Fiscal Note, it was assumed that members will get a refund of past Tier 6 contributions that exceeded their applicable Tier 4 contribution rate. RISK AND UNCERTAINTY: The costs presented in this Fiscal Note depend highly on the actuarial assumptions, methods, and models used, demo- graphics of the impacted population, and other factors such as invest- ment, contribution, and other risks. If actual experience deviates from actuarial assumptions, the actual costs could differ from those presented herein. Quantifying these risks is beyond the scope of this Fiscal Note. This Fiscal Note is intended to measure pension-related impacts and does not include other potential costs (e.g., administrative and Other Postemployment Benefits). This Fiscal Note does not reflect any chapter laws that may have been enacted during the current legislative session. STATEMENT OF ACTUARIAL OPINION: Marek Tyszkiewicz and Gregory Zelikov- sky are members of the Society of Actuaries and the American Academy of Actuaries. We are members of NYCERS, but do not believe it impairs our objectivity, and we meet the Qualification Standards of the American Academy of Actuaries to render the actuarial opinion contained herein. To the best of our knowledge, the results contained herein have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted actuarial principles and procedures and with the Actuarial Standards of Practice issued by the Actuarial Standards Board. FISCAL NOTE IDENTIFICATION: This Fiscal Note 2025-58 dated May 9, 2025 was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City Retirement Systems and Pension Funds and is intended for use only during the 2025 Legislative Session.