Provides for an alternate final average salary calculation for Triborough bridge and tunnel members where such calculation includes certain dates.
Summary
This bill amends the New York retirement and social security law to create a special final average salary calculation rule for Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA) members in the New York City Employees’ Retirement System. For affected members, the bill allows the final average salary calculation to use the greater of actual earnings during a specified COVID-era period or a projected overtime amount based on 2022 overtime hours and the member’s wage rate for the relevant pay period. The affected period runs from the second pay period in March 2020 through the second pay period in December 2021.
The bill also requires members whose retirement benefit is increased by this projected overtime calculation to pay the employee contributions, basic member contributions, and additional member contributions that would have been due if the overtime had actually been worked, but without interest. It further allows members to request a final average salary estimate and a contribution estimate from NYCERS, which must be provided within 60 days. The act would take effect immediately.
Impact
The bill would create a narrow pension benefit adjustment within the retirement and social security law for a defined group of TBTA 20-year plan members in NYCERS, effectively increasing potential pension benefits for certain Tier 4 and Tier 6 members whose overtime in 2022 exceeded overtime during the pandemic-era comparison period. The fiscal note indicates the measure would increase employer contributions, with the cost allocated entirely to the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, and would also require additional member contributions from impacted employees. It does not broadly change pension rules for other public employees, but it establishes a special calculation method for this specific workforce and time period.
Sentiment
The available materials suggest the bill is intended as a targeted pension correction or enhancement for a specific group of bridge and tunnel employees, with no recorded committee transcript or vote history showing opposition or support. The fiscal note frames the bill in technical actuarial terms and anticipates a measurable but limited cost increase to the employer. Overall, the bill appears to be a specialized labor-and-pensions measure rather than a broadly controversial policy proposal.
Contention
The main point of potential contention is fiscal impact: the bill would raise employer pension contributions for the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, and the fiscal note projects costs over multiple years. Another possible issue is fairness and precedent, since the bill gives a special final average salary treatment to a narrow class of members based on pandemic-era overtime patterns. Supporters would likely view it as addressing unusual overtime distortions affecting retirement calculations, while critics could question whether projected overtime should be counted in pension formulas or whether the adjustment should be limited to this group.
Same As
Provides for an alternate final average salary calculation for Triborough bridge and tunnel members where such calculation includes certain dates.
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