What's happening
This bill allows William J. Cooley to receive additional retirement service credit for prior employment as a deputy sheriff.
Why it matters
Sets a precedent for retroactive retirement credit. By allowing William J. Cooley to transfer service time from his prior deputy sheriff employment into his current police retirement plan, this bill could open the door for similar requests from other public employees who changed roles or departments.
Imposes a significant one-time cost on the City of Buffalo. The bill requires the city to pay approximately $352,000 to cover the past service credit, which may impact local budgets, even though there is no ongoing increase in annual contributions.
Addresses inequities in retirement system rules. The legislation remedies a situation where certain types of law enforcement service (deputy sheriff) typically do not count toward the more generous police retirement plan, recognizing that the omission was due to no fault of the employee.
Highlights gaps in current retirement policies. By making an exception for Cooley, the bill underscores that current rules do not consistently recognize all related public safety service, potentially prompting broader discussions about fairness and eligibility in public pension systems.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Grant Cooley Extra Pension Credit
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Substituted by S4724
- Ordered to third reading rules cal.624
- Rules report cal.624
- Reported
- Reported referred to rules
- Reported referred to ways and means
- Referred to governmental employees
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Grant Officer Extra Retirement Credit
Vetoed · Sponsor Patrick M. Gallivan
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
6977
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 29, 2019
Introduced by M. of A. RYAN -- read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Employees
AN ACT in relation to granting William J. Cooley additional service credit with the New York state and local police and fire retirement system
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, William J. Cooley, currently a city of Buffalo police officer and member of the New York state and local police and fire retirement system covered by section 384-d of the retirement and social security law, who for the period beginning November 12, 2002 and ending in July of 2006, was employed as a deputy sheriff by the Erie County Sheriff's Department where he was a member of the New York state and local employees' retirement system, and who, for reasons not ascribable to his own negligence, was not granted service credit under section 384-d of the retirement and social security law for his period of employment with the Erie County Sheriff's Department, shall be granted such service credit under section 384-d of the retirement and social security law, if on or before the thirty-first of December next succeeding the effective date of this act, he shall file a written request to that effect with the state comptroller.
§ 2. All past service costs incurred in implementing the provisions of this act shall be borne by the city of Buffalo.
§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill will grant service credit under section 384-d of the Retire-
ment and Social Security Law to William J. Cooley, a current member of
the New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement System (PFRS),
for the period of November 12, 2002 through July of 2006, during which
he was employed as a deputy sheriff in Erie County. Currently, deputy
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02857-02-9
A. 6977 2
sheriff service is not creditable in a PFRS twenty year police retire-
ment plan.
If this bill is enacted during the 2019 legislative session, there
will be an immediate past service cost of approximately $352,000 which
will be borne by the City of Buffalo as a one-time payment. This esti-
mate is based on the assumption that payment will be made on February 1,
2020.
There will be no increase in the annual contributions of the City of
Buffalo.
Summary of relevant resources:
The membership data used in measuring the impact of the proposed
change was the same as that used in the March 31, 2018 actuarial valu-
ation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2018
Report of the Actuary and the 2018 Comprehensive Annual Financial
Report.
The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2015,
2016, 2017, and 2018 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, 2018
New York State and Local Retirement System Financial Statements and
Supplementary Information.
I am a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and meet the Quali-
fication Standards to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
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 March 21, 2019, and intended for use only during
the 2019 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2019-94, prepared by
the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.