§ 16-16-12 - Procedure for service retirement. - Rhode Island Statutes

SECTION 16-16-12

   § 16-16-12  Procedure for serviceretirement. – (a) Retirement of a member on a service retirement allowance shall be made bythe retirement board as follows:

   (1) Any member may retire upon his or her written applicationto the retirement board as of the first day of the calendar month in which theapplication was filed, provided the member was separated from service prior tofiling the application, and further provided however, that if separation fromservice occurs during the month in which the application is filed, theeffective date shall be the first day following the separation from service,and provided further that the member on retirement date has attained the age ofsixty (60) years and has completed at least ten (10) years of contributoryservice on or before July 1, 2005, or regardless of age has completedtwenty-eight (28) years of total service and has completed at least ten (10)years of contributory service on or before July 1, 2005, and who retire beforeOctober 1, 2009 or are eligible to retire as of September 30, 2009.

   (ii) For teachers who become eligible to retire on or afterOctober 1, 2009, benefits are available to teachers who have attained the ageof sixty-two (62) and completed at least ten (10) years of contributoryservice. For teachers in service as of October 1, 2009 who were not eligible toretire as of September 30, 2009, the minimum retirement age of sixty-two (62)will be adjusted downward in proportion to the amount of service the member hasearned as of September 30, 2009. The proportional formula shall work as follows:

   (1) The formula shall determine the first age of retirementeligibility under the laws in effect on September 30, 2009 which shall then besubtracted from the minimum retirement age of sixty-two (62).

   (2) The formula shall then take the teacher's total servicecredit as of September 30, 2009 as the numerator and the years of servicecredit determined under (1) as the denominator.

   (3) The fraction determined in (2) shall then be multipliedby the age difference in (1) to apply a reduction in years from age sixty-two(62).

   (b) Any member, who has not completed at least ten (10) yearsof contributory service on or before July 1, 2005, may retire upon his or herwritten application to the retirement board as of the first day of the calendarmonth in which the application was filed; provided, the member was separatedfrom service prior thereto; and further provided, however, that if separationfrom service occurs during the month in which application is filed, theeffective date shall be the first day following that separation from service;provided, the member on his or her retirement date had attained the age offifty-nine (59) and had completed at least twenty-nine (29) years of totalservice; or provided, that the member on his or her retirement date hadattained the age of sixty-five (65) and had completed at least ten (10) yearsof contributory service; or provided, that the member on his or her retirementdate had attained the age of fifty-five (55) and had completed twenty (20)years of total service and provided, that the retirement allowance, asdetermined according to the formula in § 16-16-13 is reduced actuariallyfor each month that the age of the member is less than sixty-five (65) yearsand who retire before October 1, 2009 or are eligible to retire as ofSeptember 30, 2009.

   (ii) For teachers who become eligible to retire on or afterOctober 1, 2009, benefits are available to teachers who have attained the ageof sixty-two (62) and have completed at least twenty-nine (29) years of totalservice or have attained the age of sixty-five (65) and completed at least ten(10) years of contributory service. For teachers in service as of October 1,2009 who were not eligible to retire as of September 30, 2009, who have aminimum retirement age of sixty-two (62), the retirement age will be adjusteddownward in proportion to the amount of service the member has earned as ofSeptember 30, 2009. The proportional formula shall work as follows:

   (1) The formula shall determine the first age of retirementeligibility under the laws in effect on September 30, 2009 which shall then besubtracted from the minimum retirement age of sixty-two (62).

   (2) The formula shall then take the teacher's total servicecredit as of September 30, 2009 as the numerator and the years of servicecredit determined under (1) as the denominator.

   (3) The fraction determined in (2) shall then be multipliedby the age difference determined in (1) to apply a reduction in years from agesixty-two (62).

   (2) Any member also paying into the retirement system underthe provisions of chapter 9 of title 36 shall not be disqualified fromreceiving benefits provided by that chapter and the provisions of this chaptersimultaneously.

   (3) Except as specifically provided in §§36-10-9.1, 36-10-12 through 36-10-15, and 45-21-19 through 45-21-22, no membershall be eligible for pension benefits under this chapter unless the membershall have been a contributing member of the employees' retirement system forat least ten (10) years.

   (ii) Provided, however, a person who has ten (10) yearsservice credit shall be vested.

   (iii) Furthermore, any past service credits purchased inaccordance with § 36-9-38 shall be counted towards vesting.

   (iv) Any person who becomes a member of the employees'retirement system pursuant to § 45-21-8 shall be considered a contributingmember for the purpose of chapter 21 of title 45 and this chapter.

   (v) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no more thanfive (5) years of service credit may be purchased by a member of the system.The five (5) year limit shall not apply to any purchases made prior to January1, 1995. A member who has purchased more than five (5) years of service creditbefore January 1, 1995, shall be permitted to apply the purchases towards themember's service retirement. However, no further purchase will be permitted.Repayment, in accordance with applicable law and regulation, of anycontribution previously withdrawn from the system shall not be deemed apurchase of service credit.

   (4) No member of the teachers' retirement system shall bepermitted to purchase service credits for casual or seasonal employment, foremployment as a page in the general assembly, or for employment at any statecollege or university while the employee is a student or graduate of thecollege or university.

   (5) Except as specifically provided in §§ 16-16-6.2and 16-16-6.4, a member shall not receive service credit in this retirementsystem for any year or portion of a year which counts as service credit in anyother retirement system in which the member is vested or from which the memberis receiving a pension and/or any annual payment for life. This subsectionshall not apply to any payments received pursuant to the federal SocialSecurity Act, 42 U.S.C. § 301 et seq.

   (6) A member who seeks to purchase or receive service creditin this retirement system shall have the affirmative duty to disclose to theretirement board whether or not he or she is a vested member in any otherretirement system and/or is receiving a pension, retirement allowance, or anyannual payment for life. The retirement board shall have the right toinvestigate as to whether or not the member has utilized the same time ofservice for credit in any other retirement system. The member has anaffirmative duty to cooperate with the retirement board including, by way ofillustration and not by way of limitation, the duty to furnish or havefurnished to the retirement board any relevant information that is protected byany privacy act.

   (7) A member who fails to cooperate with the retirement boardshall not have the time of service credit counted toward total service credituntil the time the member cooperates with the retirement board and until thetime the retirement board determines the validity of the service credit.

   (8) A member who knowingly makes a false statement to theretirement board regarding service time or credit shall not be entitled to aretirement allowance and is entitled only to the return of his or hercontributions without interest.