BILL NUMBER: S7973A
SPONSOR: MAYER
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
calculating the earnings limitations for retired police officers
employed part-time by certain municipalities
 
PURPOSE OF BILL:
To enable police departments in certain municipalities reliant on the
employment of retired police officers to retain a sufficient number of
part-time police officers to adequately staff their departments, by
permitting certain retired part-time officers to work up to five hundred
twenty hours in any consecutive six-month period in a calendar year
without suspension or diminution of retirement allowance.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends section 212 of the retirement and social security law
by adding a new subdivision four exempting certain retired police offi-
cers employed as part-time police officers in certain municipalities
from the earnings limitation provisions in subdivisions one and two of
section 212 while requiring the municipality employing such retired
police officer to contribute a percentage of the officer's excess earn-
ings, equivalent to the normal contribution rate, to the New York state
and local police and fire retirement system.
Section 2 establishes the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Certain municipal police departments in Westchester County, such as the
Pound Ridge Police Department, are staffed in whole or in substantial
part by part-time police officers. Many of these part-time officers are
retired police officers who face suspension or diminution of retirement
allowance should their earnings exceed a statutory cap. The Pound Ridge
Police Department and others have difficulty retaining sufficient
numbers of experienced officers to staff their departments, since these
officers can easily find employment across the border in Connecticut
where their earnings are not subject to the limitation. This bill will
enable police departments such as Pound Ridge to retain experienced
officers and to adequately staff their departments.
This bill will provide relief to these municipalities, allowing certain
retired police officers who work as active police officers in munici-
palities with populations of less than 7,500 to work up to up to five
hundred twenty hours in any consecutive six-month period in a calendar
year with no suspension or diminution of retirement allowance, if at
least seventy per cent of such municipality's active duty police force,
not including civilian staff, consists of part-time officers. To defray
costs to the retirement system, municipalities employing such retired
police officers would contribute a percentage of the officer's excess
earnings, equivalent to the normal contribution rate, to the New York
state and local police and fire retirement system.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-2024: S4905C, Died in Civil Service and Pensions
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
See fiscal notes.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

Statutes affected:
S7973: 212 retirement and social security law
S7973A: 212 retirement and social security law