Authorizes Joel Lochner to participate in the optional twenty year retirement system

BILL NUMBER:S5676B

Title of bill

An act to allow Joel Lochner to join the optional twenty year retirement plan, city of Amsterdam, county of Montgomery

Purpose

Authorizes Joel Lochner to participate in the optional twenty year local police and fire retirement system.

Summary of provisions

Section 1 authorizes the city of Amsterdam and the county of Montgomery to allow Joel Lochner, excluded from the following due to an administrative error, to now elect to be covered by the provisions of section 384-d of the retirement and social security law as a Tier 5 member, and shall be entitled to the full rights and benefits associated with coverage under such section, by filling a request to that effect with the state comptroller on or before December 31, 2014.

Section 2 states that all past service costs associated with implementing the provisions in the act shall be borne by the city of Amsterdam and may be amortized over a period of five years.

Section 3 contains the effective date.

Justification

Each and every police officer in the city of Amsterdam is automatically placed into retirement plan 384-d. Due to an administrative error at the time of hire, Mr. Lochner was mistakenly entered into the 375-1 retirement option. This bill is intended to correct this error, retroactively.

Legislative history

New bill

Fiscal implications

Increase of $3,600 in the annual contributions of the city of Amsterdam for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2015 and an immediate past service cost of $9,400 born by the city of Amsterdam as a one-time payment which is based on the assumption that payment will be made on February 1, 2015. If the past service cost is amortized over five years, the past service costs for the first year including interest, would be approximately $2,200.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.