19-3-908. Retirement incentive program -- window of eligibility. - Montana Statutes

     19-3-908. Retirement incentive program -- window of eligibility. (1) Except as provided in subsection (4), a person who is an active member on February 1, 1993, and who voluntarily terminates service or who is involuntarily terminated from service because of a reduction in force on or after June 25, 1993, but before January 1, 1994, and who is eligible for a normal service retirement under 19-3-901 or early retirement under 19-3-902 is entitled to the retirement incentive provided in subsection (2).
     (2) (a) The employer of an eligible member under subsection (1) shall pay the total cost of purchasing up to 3 years of additional service credit that the member is qualified to purchase under 19-3-513.
     (b) The department of revenue shall pay the cost of purchasing up to 3 years of additional service credit for qualifying county assessors and deputy assessors eligible under subsection (1) whose employing county has not elected for participation in the incentive program as provided in subsection (4).
     (c) A member is entitled to a refund for that portion of previously purchased additional service that would otherwise cause the member to be unqualified to receive all or part of the additional service credit provided in this section.
     (3) An active member who is involuntarily terminated from service because of a reduction in force on or after March 1, 1993, but before June 25, 1993, and who, if the member had not been terminated from service, would have been eligible under subsection (1) for the retirement incentive is entitled to the retirement incentive under subsection (2) if the member was, at the time of termination from service, eligible for service retirement under 19-3-901 or early retirement under 19-3-902 and retires on or after June 25, 1993.
     (4) Subject to subsection (2)(b), a contracting employer's participation in the incentive program described in this section is optional. A contracting employer may elect to provide the incentive by filing with the board a written notice of election on or before June 1, 1993, and complying with rules adopted pursuant to subsection (6).
     (5) County assessors and deputy assessors are eligible for the incentive program even if the employing county has not elected to participate in the incentive program.
     (6) The board may allow an employer to pay the contributions required under subsection (2)(a) in installments for up to 10 years and may charge interest at a rate set by the board pursuant to 19-2-403. The board shall adopt rules to implement the provisions of this section.
     (7) A member who has received additional service under this section and who returns to employment for the same jurisdiction for 960 or more hours in a calendar year in a position covered by the public employees' retirement system or for 600 or more hours in a calendar year in a position covered under any other retirement system shall forfeit the additional service. The employer's contributions to purchase that member's additional service credit, minus any retirement benefits already paid, must be refunded to the employer. For purposes of this subsection, all agencies of the state, including the university system, are considered the same jurisdiction and other public employers contracting with the retirement system are each considered separate jurisdictions.

     History: En. Sec. 1, Ch. 567, L. 1993; amd. Sec. 127, Ch. 27, Sp. L. November 1993; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 66, L. 2001; amd. Sec. 33, Ch. 429, L. 2003; amd. Sec. 21, Ch. 329, L. 2005.