Purpose

The purpose of this bulletin is to notify agencies of the steps required to accurately process NYSTRS refunds and arrears as part of the fiscal year 2021-2022 NYSTRS Reconciliation Project.

Affected Employees

Employees enrolled in NYSTRS, Plan Type 86, who owe arrears or are entitled to refunds associated with the 2021-2022 NYSTRS reconciliation.

Background

OSC, SUNY University-Wide Benefits, and NYSTRS have identified reconciliation issues concerning prior year NYSTRS annual bills and collaborated on a project to resolve these issues. Working in partnership, they developed procedures which State agencies and SUNY campuses will use to review and identify arrears or refunds for impacted NYSTRS members. Phase one of the Reconciliation Project will address only the fiscal year 2021-2022 NYSTRS annual bill.

Effective Dates

NYSTRS arrears must be entered into PayServ between the dates of 05/04/2023 and 05/12/2023 with an effective date of 04/27/2023 to impact the 05/24/2023 administration lag paycheck.

OSC Actions

OSC will process NYSTRS refunds as provided by SUNY University-Wide Benefits and respond to PayServ-related questions from State agencies as needed.

Agency Actions

Impacted agencies will receive a spreadsheet from SUNY University-Wide Benefits containing a list of effected NYSTRS employees with 2021-2022 discrepancies due to either over or under contribution. Agencies will use the spreadsheet to research these discrepancies and determine next steps. The spreadsheet will include:

• The employee’s NYS EMPLID, NYSTRS ID, and Name
• The Mandatory Member Contribution (NYSTRS billed amount)
• The OSC Paid amount (amount deducted from the employee’s paycheck from 07/01/2021 through 06/30/2022)
• The Difference (discrepancy to be researched)
• An additional column to record the final determination.

Agencies must review the records of all employees on the spreadsheet to determine the reason for the discrepancy (e.g., delayed contribution cessation or improper contribution rate assigned). To do this, agencies should compare the contribution rate and/or membership status in the NYSTRS Employer Secure Area (ESA) with the corresponding information in PayServ for the 2021-2022 NYSTRS school year, and/or review the District Specific Issue Reports (DSIRs) issued within the 2021-2022 NYSTRS school year.

In most cases, if the number in the “Difference” column is negative (indicated by parentheses) the employee will owe arrears, and if the number in the “Difference” column is positive the employee will be entitled to a refund. However, in some cases the discrepancy may be due to NYSTRS’ inability to substantiate the contribution amounts due to missing information (e.g., a campus set up arrears for salary and service unreported to NYSTRS via MAC 44.2). In these cases, the agency must contact their NYSTRS editor to provide the necessary substantiation so the employee’s NYSTRS record can be adjusted as needed.

Agencies can contact their NYSTRS editor for additional information or SUNY University-Wide Benefits at [email protected] for assistance if unable to ascertain the reason for any discrepancy.

After completing their review of all employee discrepancies on the spreadsheet, agencies should update the spreadsheet with the results of their research, adding a column for additional comments/explanation if necessary. The completed spreadsheet must be sent to [email protected] on or before 05/19/2023.

Arrears

Agencies must enter any necessary arrears into PayServ using Deduction Code 516, TRS PY Arrears Before Tax. Arrears must be entered between the dates of 05/04/2023 and 05/12/2023 to begin deductions in the 05/24/2023 paycheck.

Arrears should be set up with a minimum biweekly increment of $75.00, as supported by the employee’s paycheck. An accelerated schedule of repayment may be set up if agreed to by the employee. For additional information about the creation of arrears deductions, see NYS Payroll Bulletin 2043. 

Note: When setting up arrears, agencies must notify impacted employees of the arrears, deduction amounts, duration, and the reason for the arrears. 

To enter the arrears in PayServ:

1. Verify the employee is enrolled in NYSTRS (Plan 86) as "Elect" on the USA Pension Plans page prior to adding the arrears deduction: Main Menu >Benefits > Enroll in Benefits > USA-Pension Plans
2. Navigate to General Deduction Data: Main Menu > Payroll for North America > Employee Pay Data USA > Deductions > General Deduction Data.
3. Enter the NYS EMPLID in the EmplID field and click Search to display the employee’s General Deduction Data page.
4. Select View All.
5. Determine if the employee already has a deduction record for Deduction Code 516, TRS PY Arrears Before Tax by scrolling through the deduction codes using the scroll bar:
   1. If a record with Deduction Code 516 already exists, select the + sign in the Deduction Details section of the page to add a new row for Deduction Code 516 and proceed to Step 6.
   2. If no Deduction Code 516 exists, select the + sign in the General Deduction section of the page to add new deduction code 516 and proceed to Step 6.
6. Enter the following:
   1. Effective Date - Enter the Payroll Effective Date for the first day of the current, unconfirmed pay period according to the Agency Submission Schedule for the deduction to begin.
   2. Deduction Calculation Routine - Select Flat Amount from the drop-down box.
   3. Deduction End Date - leave blank.
   4. Goal Amount – Sum of arrears to be collected.
   5. Flat/Addl Amount – Enter the amount of the individual deduction to be collected from each paycheck.
7. Save the transaction.

Refunds

Agencies must enter the current Department ID and correct refund amount into the spreadsheet for any employee who is owed a refund. Once SUNY University-Wide Benefits has received completed spreadsheets from all impacted agencies, they will compile all refunds into one file and provided to OSC to be loaded into PayServ. Refunds are expected to be paid in July/August 2023, but dependent upon agency return of their completed spreadsheets.

NOTE: Direct Deposit is deactivated for inactive employees after three full consecutive pay periods. If refunds are owed to any inactive employees, paper checks will be issued. Agencies should attempt to verify the employee’s address in PayServ prior to the issuance of the refunds.

Tax Information

The refund is considered taxable income, will be added to the employee’s taxable gross wages, subject to employment and income taxes and reported on the employee’s W-2.

Questions

Questions regarding NYSTRS billed amounts should be directed to the agency NYSTRS editor as identified in the NYSTRS Employer Secure Area.

Questions regarding PayServ entry may be directed to the Payroll Retirement mailbox.

Questions regarding the reason for the discrepancies should be directed to SUNY University-Wide Benefits