Relates to promotions of lieutenants; grants a lieutenant who has served for a period of fifteen years the same rights in respect to the police pension fund as a lieutenant detailed to act as lieutenant commander detective squad or lieutenant special assignment.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A7740
SPONSOR: Pheffer Amato
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in
relation to promotions of lieutenants
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To allow for the promotion of police officers with the rank of Lieuten-
ant with 15 years or more of service.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of this bill amends the administrative code of the city of New
York to allow for the promotion of police Lieutenants.
Section 2 of this bill provides that this act shall take effect imme-
diately.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
The enactment of Tier 6 has caused recruitment and retention issues in
New York City law enforcement and throughout all public service. As more
veteran law enforcement officers retire, the department continues to
lose valuable knowledge and experience.
This bill gives commanders with fifteen (15) years of service in the
rank of Lieutenants or above an incentive to stay with the New York City
Police Department by allowing them to retire at a lieutenant Commander
detective's squad pension and thereby helps prevent the loss of seasoned
veterans to retirement.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2022: A.9991 - Referred to Governmental Employees
2020: A.7637-A - Referred to Governmental Employees
2019: A.7637 - Referred to Governmental Employees
2018: A.9776 - Referred to Governmental Employees
2017: A.9776 - Referred to Governmental Employees 2016: A.9659-A -
Referred to Governmental Employees
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
See Fiscal Note
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7740
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
June 6, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PHEFFER AMATO -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Governmental Employees
AN ACT to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in
relation to promotions of lieutenants
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 14-114 of the administrative code of the city of
2 New York is amended by adding a new subdivision d to read as follows:
3 d. When a lieutenant shall have served in the rank of lieutenant for a
4 period of fifteen years, he or she shall have the same rights in respect
5 to the police pension fund as a lieutenant detailed to act as lieutenant
6 commander detective squad or lieutenant special assignment.
7 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
SUMMARY OF BILL: This proposed legislation would amend Administrative
Code of the City of New York Section 14-114 to allow for a Lieutenant of
the New York City Police Department (NYPD), who has been a Lieutenant
for at least 15 years, to have the same rights in respect to the New
York City Police Pension Fund (POLICE) as a Lieutenant detailed to act
as a Lieutenant Commander Detective Squad or Lieutenant Special Assign-
ment.
Effective Date: Upon enactment.
IMPACT ON BENEFITS: The proposed legislation would permit Lieutenants
who have served in the rank of Lieutenant for at least 15 years, to have
their pension calculations based on a higher-grade salary.
A Lieutenant, assuming a service retirement benefit with 20 years of
service (15 of which was in the title of a Lieutenant), who would bene-
fit under this proposed legislation, if enacted, would receive an
increase in their annual pension benefit, due to the assumed higher
salary grade and overtime, of approximately $8,500 per year.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08530-02-3
A. 7740 2
Based on this increase and an estimate of the number of POLICE members
that are expected to be impacted by this change, it is estimated that if
this proposed legislation is enacted, the annual increase in POLICE
pension benefits paid will be approximately $227,000 per year.
With respect to an individual member, the impact on benefits due to
this proposed legislation could vary greatly depending on the member's
age, years of service, retirement cause, and Tier.
FINANCIAL IMPACT - PRESENT VALUES: Based on the actuarial assumptions
and methods described herein, the enactment of this proposed legislation
would increase the Present Value of Future Benefits (PVFB) by approxi-
mately $2.9 million every year.
FINANCIAL IMPACT - ANNUAL EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS: Enactment of this
proposed legislation would increase employer contributions, where such
amount would depend on the number of members affected as well as other
characteristics including the age, years of service, and salary history
of the member. Future years' costs would depend on the number of reti-
rees who benefit under the legislation amongst other factors.
The estimate of the increase in annual employer contributions for
Fiscal Years 2025 through 2029, assuming a homogeneous population and
consistent retirement pattern, is shown in the table below.
Fiscal Increase in
Year Employer Contributions
($ Millions)
2025 $ 0.3
2026 $ 0.7
2027 $ 1.0
2028 $ 1.4
2029 $ 1.7
Since the number of Lieutenants who will retire with 15 or more years
in rank cannot be known in advance with credibility, the increase in
PVFB due to this legislation has been treated as an actuarial loss and
was amortized over a closed 15-year period (14 payments under the One-
Year Lag Methodology) using level dollar payments.
CENSUS DATA: These estimates are based on data provided by the NYPD
Lieutenants Benevolent Association which was not audited but was checked
for reasonableness. Below is a summary of the data provided:
* Salary (excluding overtime)
o Lieutenant - $135,511
o Lieutenant Commander of Detective Squad and Lieutenant
Special Assignment - $149,067
* Lieutenants who retired with 15+ years in rank - 38 retired from
January 1, 2021 through January 1, 2023.
ACTUARIAL ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The estimates presented herein have
been calculated based on the actuarial assumptions and methods used for
the Preliminary Fiscal Year 2024 employer contributions of POLICE.
For the purposes of this Fiscal Note, it is assumed that the changes
would be reflected for the first time in the June 30, 2023 actuarial
valuation of POLICE used to determine employer contributions for Fiscal
Year 2025.
The salaries for Lieutenants provided for this analysis have been
adjusted by 6.61% for assumed salary increases prior to June 30, 2022
consistent with contract settlements and assumptions of pattern bargain-
ing.
RISK AND UNCERTAINTY: The costs presented in this Fiscal Note depend
highly on the realization of the actuarial assumptions used, demograph-
A. 7740 3
ics of the impacted population, and other factors such as investment,
contribution, and other risks. If actual experience deviates from actu-
arial assumptions, the actual costs could differ from those presented
herein.
Costs are also dependent on the actuarial methods used, and therefore
different actuarial methods could produce different results. Quantifying
these risks is beyond the scope of this Fiscal Note.
Not measured in this Fiscal Note are the following:
* The initial additional administrative costs to implement the
proposed legislation.
STATEMENT OF ACTUARIAL OPINION: I, Marek Tyszkiewicz, am the Chief
Actuary for, and independent of, the New York City Retirement Systems
and Pension Funds. I am an Associate of the Society of Actuaries and a
Member of the American Academy of Actuaries. I am a member of NYCERS but
do not believe it impairs my objectivity and I meet the Qualification
Standards of the American Academy of Actuaries to render the actuarial
opinion contained herein. To the best of my 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 2023-62 dated May 31,
2023 was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City Police
Pension Fund. This estimate is intended for use only during the 2023
Legislative Session.