S 5928: Grants retroactive membership with Tier IV status in the New York state and local employees' retirement system to Dawn Ward.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5928 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE March 4, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. MARTINS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions AN ACT granting retroactive membership with Tier IV status in the New York state and local employees' retirement system to Dawn Ward 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 to the contrary, 2 Dawn Ward, who was employed with the village of Kensington with a start 3 date of November 1, 1993, and who is currently a member of the New York 4 state and local employees' retirement system, who through no fault of 5 her own did not become a member of the New York state and local employ- 6 ees' retirement system on November 1, 1993 when first employed by the 7 village of Kensington, shall be deemed to have been a member of the New 8 York state and local employees' retirement system on such date she 9 commenced her employment and shall be granted Tier IV status, provided 10 that an application is filed with the head of the New York state and 11 local employees' retirement system within one year from the effective 12 date of this act. Upon the granting of such retroactive membership, 13 Dawn Ward shall not be granted a refund of any employee contribution 14 made by her to the New York state and local employees' retirement 15 system. 16 § 2. All past services costs associated with the implementation of 17 this act shall be borne by the village of Kensington. 18 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: This bill would provide Dawn Ward with a date of membership of Novem- ber 11, 1993, their date of first employment with the Village of Kens- ington, resulting in Tier 4 status in the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System. Dawn Ward is currently a Tier 5 member. There will be no refund of member contributions. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD05951-02-5 
 S. 5928 2 If this bill is enacted during the 2025 Legislative Session, we antic- ipate that there will be an increase of approximately $2,900 in the annual contributions of the Village of Great Neck, $850 in the annual contributions of the Village of Kensington, and $290 in the annual contributions of the Village of Baxter Estates for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026. In the future years this cost will vary as the billing rates and salary of Dawn Ward change. In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be an immediate past service cost of approximately $10,900 which will be borne by the Village of Kensington as a one-time payment. This estimate assumes that payment will be made on February 1, 2026. 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 February 3, 2025, and intended for use only during the 2025 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2025-41. As Chief Actuary of the New York State and Local Retirement System, 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 Actuaries, of which I am a member.