S 6988: Grants members of the city of New York's police force eligibility for retirement and pension based on previous service as traffic enforcement agents.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6988 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE March 27, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. JACKSON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Cities 1 AN ACT to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to granting members of the city's police force eligibility for retirement and pension based on previous service as traffic enforcement agents The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The administrative code of the city of New York is amended 2 by adding a new section 13-633 to read as follows: 3 § 13-633 Transfer of members of the New York city police department 4 from traffic enforcement to the police force. a. The time served as a 5 member of the city's traffic enforcement who has become a member of the 6 uniformed force of the police department of the city, whether by trans- 7 fer or as a result of a competitive examination and appointment, and who 8 is still a member of the uniformed force of the police department of the 9 city, shall be included and counted as police service as defined in 10 section 13-214 of this title in determining retirement and pension bene- 11 fits as provided in this code and the retirement and social security law 12 if such person becomes a member of a state or city retirement system 13 available to members of the police department of the city, provided, 14 however, that no person becoming a member of the uniformed force of the 15 police department of the city in the manner herein provided, shall be 16 entitled to participate in the benefits of a state or city retirement 17 system available to members of the police department of the city, unless 18 such person shall pay into such fund the total sum that such person 19 would have been required to pay in order to participate therein had such 20 person been a member of such force from the time they entered the 21 service of traffic enforcement. These provisions shall not be subject to 22 any restriction relative to transfers contained in the civil service law EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD02377-05-5 
 S. 6988 2 1 or in the rules and regulations of the civil service commission of the 2 state, or any subdivision thereof. 3 b. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, a member of the New 4 York city police department shall be entitled to buy back and receive 5 service credit for the period of time such member was previously 6 employed as a New York city traffic enforcement agent pursuant to subdi- 7 vision a of this section. 8 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: SUMMARY: This proposed legislation would deem certain prior service rendered as a traffic enforcement agent with the New York City Police Department, that was purchased or transferred into the New York City Police Pension Fund (POLICE), as uniformed service for purposes of determining the eligibility and amount of POLICE retirement benefits. EXPECTED INCREASE (DECREASE) IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS by Fiscal Year for the first 25 years ($ in Millions) Year NYC 2026 11.3 2027 11.2 2028 11.4 2029 11.6 2030 11.8 2031 12.1 2032 12.3 2033 12.6 2034 13.1 2035 13.6 2036 14.0 2037 14.3 2038 3.7 2039 4.1 2040 4.6 2041 4.9 2042 5.3 2043 5.8 2044 6.3 2045 6.7 2046 7.2 2047 7.8 2048 8.4 2049 9.1 2050 9.8 Projected contributions include future new hires that may be impacted. For Fiscal Year 2051 and beyond, the expected increase in normal cost as a level percent of pay for impacted new entrants is approximately 1.62% for each year of traffic enforcement service transferred. 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. 
 S. 6988 3 INITIAL INCREASE (DECREASE) IN ACTUARIAL PRESENT VALUES as of June 30, 2024 ($ in Millions) Present Value (PV) NYC (1) PV of Employer Contributions: 65.0 (2) PV of Employee Contributions: (1.0) Total PV of Benefits (1) + (2): 64.0 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 NYC Increase (Decrease) in UAL: 84.5 M Number of Payments: 12 Amortization Payment: 11.0 M CENSUS DATA: The estimates presented herein are based on preliminary census data collected as of June 30, 2024 and was supplemented with data previously provided by the New York City Police Department and the Police Benevolent Association. The census data for the impacted popu- lation is summarized below. POLICE Active Members - Number Count: 847 - Average Age: 38.0 - Average Service: 11.1 - Average Traffic Enforcement Service: 3.3 - Average Salary: 119,400 IMPACT ON MEMBER BENEFITS: Currently, Tier 2 members of POLICE receive a benefit based on 75% of 1/60th times the member's average earnings over their last five years of service for each year of non-uniformed civilian service, such as prior traffic enforcement agent service. Tier 3 members generally receive no additional benefit for non-uniformed civilian service. Under the proposed legislation, periods of qualifying prior non-uni- formed service rendered as a traffic enforcement agent, that are purchased or transferred, would be classified as Allowable Service in the police force and therefore be included in the minimum service required for eligibility and payment of an unreduced service retirement benefit for all tiers. ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The estimates presented herein have been calculated based on the Revised 2021 Actuarial Assumptions and Methods of the impacted retirement systems. In addition: * New entrants were assumed to replace exiting members so that total payroll increases by 3% each year for impacted groups. New entrant demo- graphics were developed based on data for recent new hires and actuarial judgement. * Each year, 2.5% of new entrants are assumed to purchase an average of 3.0 years of prior service. For the purposes of this Fiscal Note, new 
 S. 6988 4 entrant costs have been shown assuming that the entirety of the cost would be funded via normal cost. To determine the impact of the elective nature of the proposed legis- lation, a subgroup of eligible members was developed based on who is assumed to benefit actuarially by comparing the net present value impact of future employer costs of each member's benefit before and after the transfer or purchase of traffic enforcement agent service. 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 2025-34 dated March 27, 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.