A 8669: Permits certain twenty-five year retirement program dispatcher members to file elections not to participate.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8669 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY May 27, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. PHEFFER AMATO -- read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Employees AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to permitting certain twenty-five year retirement program dispatcher members to file elections not to participate The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 604-e of the retirement and social security law, as 2 added by chapter 576 of the laws of 2000, is amended by adding a new 3 subdivision f to read as follows: 4 f. 1. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, a 5 dispatcher member who exceeded age thirty upon employment as a dispatch- 6 er member and failed to file their election not to participate with the 7 retirement system within one hundred eighty days of becoming a dispatch- 8 er member, as required by paragraph three of subdivision b of this 9 section, may file such an election with the retirement system within one 10 hundred eighty days of the effective date of this subdivision. 11 2. The retirement system shall post, and announce on its homepage the 12 posting of, the form and corresponding instructions for dispatcher 13 members to elect not to participate on its website no later than thirty 14 days after the effective date of this subdivision. 15 3. If the retirement system fails to post and announce the form and 16 corresponding instructions no later than thirty days after the effective 17 date of this subdivision, as prescribed by paragraph two of this subdi- 18 vision, the period for a dispatcher member to elect not to participate 19 prescribed by paragraph one of this subdivision shall be extended by 20 sixty days for each month or part thereof that such form and 21 instructions are not posted to the retirement system's website. 22 § 2. 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. LBD10892-03-5 
 A. 8669 2 SUMMARY: This proposed legislation would allow New York City Employ- ees' Retirement System (NYCERS) Tier 4 and Tier 6 members who are members of a Dispatcher 25-Year Retirement Plan and were older than age 30 when they joined the plan, another 180-day period to opt out of the plan. EXPECTED INCREASE (DECREASE) IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS by Fiscal Year for the first 25 years ($) Year NYCERS 2026 572,000 2027 574,000 2028 577,000 2029 579,000 2030 581,000 2031 583,000 2032 583,000 2033 580,000 2034 577,000 2035 574,000 2036 569,000 2037 563,000 2038 556,000 2039 178,000 2040 169,000 2041 160,000 2042 151,000 2043 141,000 2044 131,000 2045 121,000 2046 112,000 2047 103,000 2048 94,000 2049 85,000 2050 77,000 Employer Contribution impact beyond Fiscal Year 2050 is not shown. The entire increase in employer contributions will be allocated to New York City. PRESENT VALUE OF BENEFITS: The Present Value of Benefits is the discounted expected value of benefits paid to current members if all assumptions are met, including future service accrual and pay increases. Future new hires are not included in this present value. INITIAL INCREASE (DECREASE) IN ACTUARIAL PRESENT VALUES as of June 30, 2024 ($ in Millions) Present Value (PV) NYCERS (1) PV of Employer Contributions: 5.1 (2) PV of Employee Contributions: (2.2) Total PV of Benefits (1) + (2): 2.9 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 
 A. 8669 3 NYCERS Increase (Decrease) in UAL: 3.0 M Number of Payments: 13 Amortization Payment: 0.4 M CENSUS DATA: The estimates presented herein are based on preliminary census data collected as of June 30, 2024. The census data for the impacted population is summarized below. NYCERS Active Members - Number Count: 54 - Average Age: 46.3 - Average Service: 12.9 - Average Salary: 84,400 BACKGROUND: Currently, Tier 4 or Tier 6 NYCERS members who exceed age 30 upon being mandated into a Dispatcher 25-Year Plan, have the option to irrevocably opt out of the plan within 180 days. Members who opt out of the plan are generally placed into one of the Tier 4 or Tier 6 under- lying plans. Under the proposed legislation, such members who failed to opt out of the Dispatcher 25-Year Plan in the original 180 days would have another 180-day period in which to opt out of the Plan. For purposes of this Fiscal Note, it is assumed that members who opt out of the Dispatcher 25-Year Plan under the proposed legislation would be entitled to an immediate refund of excess Additional Member Contrib- utions (AMC), with interest. ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The estimates presented herein have been calculated based on the Revised 2021 Actuarial Assumptions and Methods of the impacted retirement systems. To determine the impact of the elective nature of the proposed legis- lation, a subgroup of members was developed based on who is assumed to benefit actuarially by comparing the net present value of future employ- er costs of each member s benefit under their current plan and under their applicable underlying plan. 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. 
 A. 8669 4 FISCAL NOTE IDENTIFICATION: This Fiscal Note 2025-63 dated May 16, 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.