The online versions of legislation provided on this website are not official. Enrolled bills are the final version passed by the Ohio General Assembly and presented to the Governor for signature. The official version of acts signed by the Governor are available from the Secretary of State's Office in the Continental Plaza, 180 East Broad St., Columbus.
|
H. B. No. 202 As IntroducedAs Introduced
129th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2011-2012 |
| |
Representative Hollington
A BILL
To amend sections 145.01, 145.191, 145.38, 145.384,
145.473, 145.561, 145.58, 742.26, 742.44, 742.46,
3307.35, 3307.42, 3309.341, 3309.661, 3501.13, and
5505.51 of the Revised Code to limit the
retirement benefit of a re-employed retiree of a
public retirement system and eliminate the
deferred retirement option plan in the Ohio Police
and Fire Pension Fund and State Highway Patrol
Retirement System.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 145.01, 145.191, 145.38, 145.384,
145.473, 145.561, 145.58, 742.26, 742.44, 742.46, 3307.35,
3307.42, 3309.341, 3309.661, 3501.13, and 5505.51 of the Revised
Code be amended to read as follows:
Sec. 145.01. As used in this chapter:
(A) "Public employee" means:
(1) Any person holding an office, not elective, under the
state or any county, township, municipal corporation, park
district, conservancy district, sanitary district, health
district, metropolitan housing authority, state retirement board,
Ohio historical society, public library, county law library, union
cemetery, joint hospital, institutional commissary, state
university, or board, bureau, commission, council, committee,
authority, or administrative body as the same are, or have been,
created by action of the general assembly or by the legislative
authority of any of the units of local government named in
division (A)(1) of this section, or employed and paid in whole or
in part by the state or any of the authorities named in division
(A)(1) of this section in any capacity not covered by section
742.01, 3307.01, 3309.01, or 5505.01 of the Revised Code.
(2) A person who is a member of the public employees
retirement system and who continues to perform the same or similar
duties under the direction of a contractor who has contracted to
take over what before the date of the contract was a publicly
operated function. The governmental unit with which the contract
has been made shall be deemed the employer for the purposes of
administering this chapter.
(3) Any person who is an employee of a public employer,
notwithstanding that the person's compensation for that employment
is derived from funds of a person or entity other than the
employer. Credit for such service shall be included as total
service credit, provided that the employee makes the payments
required by this chapter, and the employer makes the payments
required by sections 145.48 and 145.51 of the Revised Code.
(4) A person who elects in accordance with section 145.015 of
the Revised Code to remain a contributing member of the public
employees retirement system.
In all cases of doubt, the public employees retirement board
shall determine whether any person is a public employee, and its
decision is final.
(B) "Member" means any public employee, other than a public
employee excluded or exempted from membership in the retirement
system by section 145.03, 145.031, 145.032, 145.033, 145.034,
145.035, or 145.38 of the Revised Code.
"Member" includes a PERS
retirant who becomes a member under division (C) of section 145.38
of the Revised Code. "Member" also includes a disability benefit
recipient.
(C) "Head of the department" means the elective or appointive
head of the several executive, judicial, and administrative
departments, institutions, boards, and commissions of the state
and local government as the same are created and defined by the
laws of this state or, in case of a charter government, by that
charter.
(D) "Employer" or "public employer" means the state or any
county, township, municipal corporation, park district,
conservancy district, sanitary district, health district,
metropolitan housing authority, state retirement board, Ohio
historical society, public library, county law library, union
cemetery, joint hospital, institutional commissary, state medical
college, state university, or board, bureau, commission, council,
committee, authority, or administrative body as the same are, or
have been, created by action of the general assembly or by the
legislative authority of any of the units of local government
named in this division not covered by section 742.01, 3307.01,
3309.01, or 5505.01 of the Revised Code. In addition, "employer"
means the employer of any public employee.
(E) "Prior service" means all service as a public employee
rendered before January 1, 1935, and all service as an employee of
any employer who comes within the state teachers retirement system
or of the school employees retirement system or of any other
retirement system established under the laws of this state
rendered prior to January 1, 1935, provided that if the employee
claiming the service was employed in any capacity covered by that
other system after that other system was established, credit for
the service may be allowed by the public employees retirement
system only when the employee has made payment, to be computed on
the salary earned from the date of appointment to the date
membership was established in the public employees retirement
system, at the rate in effect at the time of payment, and the
employer has made payment of the corresponding full liability as
provided by section 145.44 of the Revised Code. "Prior service"
also means all service credited for active duty with the armed
forces of the United States as provided in section 145.30 of the
Revised Code.
If an employee who has been granted prior service credit by
the public employees retirement system for service rendered prior
to January 1, 1935, as an employee of a board of education
establishes, before retirement, one year or more of contributing
service in the state teachers retirement system or school
employees retirement system, then the prior service ceases to be
the liability of this system.
If the board determines that a position of any member in any
calendar year prior to January 1, 1935, was a part-time position,
the board shall determine what fractional part of a year's credit
shall be allowed by the following formula:
(1) When the member has been either elected or appointed to
an office the term of which was two or more years and for which an
annual salary is established, the fractional part of the year's
credit shall be computed as follows:
First, when the member's annual salary is one thousand
dollars or less, the service credit for each such calendar year
shall be forty per cent of a year.
Second, for each full one hundred dollars of annual salary
above one thousand dollars, the member's service credit for each
such calendar year shall be increased by two and one-half per
cent.
(2) When the member is paid on a per diem basis, the service
credit for any single year of the service shall be determined by
using the number of days of service for which the compensation was
received in any such year as a numerator and using two hundred
fifty days as a denominator.
(3) When the member is paid on an hourly basis, the service
credit for any single year of the service shall be determined by
using the number of hours of service for which the compensation
was received in any such year as a numerator and using two
thousand hours as a denominator.
(F) "Contributor" means any person who has an account in the
employees' savings fund created by section 145.23 of the Revised
Code. When used in the sections listed in division (B) of section
145.82 of the Revised Code, "contributor" includes any person
participating in a PERS defined contribution plan.
(G) "Beneficiary" or "beneficiaries" means the estate or a
person or persons who, as the result of the death of a member,
contributor, or retirant, qualify for or are receiving some right
or benefit under this chapter.
(H)(1) "Total service credit," except as provided in section
145.37 of the Revised Code, means all service credited to a member
of the retirement system since last becoming a member, including
restored service credit as provided by section 145.31 of the
Revised Code; credit purchased under sections 145.293 and 145.299
of the Revised Code; all the member's prior service credit; all
the member's military service credit computed as provided in this
chapter; all service credit established pursuant to section
145.297 of the Revised Code; and any other service credited under
this chapter. In addition, "total service credit" includes any
period, not in excess of three years, during which a member was
out of service and receiving benefits under Chapters 4121. and
4123. of the Revised Code. For the exclusive purpose of satisfying
the service credit requirement and of determining eligibility for
benefits under sections 145.32, 145.33, 145.331, 145.35, 145.36,
and 145.361 of the Revised Code, "five or more years of total
service credit" means sixty or more calendar months of
contributing service in this system.
(2) "One and one-half years of contributing service credit,"
as used in division (B) of section 145.45 of the Revised Code,
also means eighteen or more calendar months of employment by a
municipal corporation that formerly operated its own retirement
plan for its employees or a part of its employees, provided that
all employees of that municipal retirement plan who have eighteen
or more months of such employment, upon establishing membership in
the public employees retirement system, shall make a payment of
the contributions they would have paid had they been members of
this system for the eighteen months of employment preceding the
date membership was established. When that payment has been made
by all such employee members, a corresponding payment shall be
paid into the employers' accumulation fund by that municipal
corporation as the employer of the employees.
(3) Where a member also is a member of the state teachers
retirement system or the school employees retirement system, or
both, except in cases of retirement on a combined basis pursuant
to section 145.37 of the Revised Code or as provided in section
145.383 of the Revised Code, service credit for any period shall
be credited on the basis of the ratio that contributions to the
public employees retirement system bear to total contributions in
all state retirement systems.
(4) Not more than one year of credit may be given for any
period of twelve months.
(5) "Ohio service credit" means credit for service that was
rendered to the state or any of its political subdivisions or any
employer.
(I) "Regular interest" means interest at any rates for the
respective funds and accounts as the public employees retirement
board may determine from time to time.
(J) "Accumulated contributions" means the sum of all amounts
credited to a contributor's individual account in the employees'
savings fund together with any interest credited to the
contributor's account under section 145.471 or 145.472 of the
Revised Code.
(K)(1) "Final average salary" means the quotient obtained by
dividing by three the sum of the three full calendar years of
contributing service in which the member's earnable salary was
highest, except that if the member has a partial year of
contributing service in the year the member's employment
terminates and the member's earnable salary for the partial year
is higher than for any comparable period in the three years, the
member's earnable salary for the partial year shall be substituted
for the member's earnable salary for the comparable period during
the three years in which the member's earnable salary was lowest.
(2) If a member has less than three years of contributing
service, the member's final average salary shall be the member's
total earnable salary divided by the total number of years,
including any fraction of a year, of the member's contributing
service.
(3) For the purpose of calculating benefits payable to a
member qualifying for service credit under division (Z) of this
section, "final average salary" means the total earnable salary on
which contributions were made divided by the total number of years
during which contributions were made, including any fraction of a
year. If contributions were made for less than twelve months,
"final average salary" means the member's total earnable salary.
(L) "Annuity" means payments for life derived from
contributions made by a contributor and paid from the annuity and
pension reserve fund as provided in this chapter. All annuities
shall be paid in twelve equal monthly installments.
(M) "Annuity reserve" means the present value, computed upon
the basis of the mortality and other tables adopted by the board,
of all payments to be made on account of any annuity, or benefit
in lieu of any annuity, granted to a retirant as provided in this
chapter.
(N)(1) "Disability retirement" means retirement as provided
in section 145.36 of the Revised Code.
(2) "Disability allowance" means an allowance paid on account
of disability under section 145.361 of the Revised Code.
(3) "Disability benefit" means a benefit paid as disability
retirement under section 145.36 of the Revised Code, as a
disability allowance under section 145.361 of the Revised Code, or
as a disability benefit under section 145.37 of the Revised Code.
(4) "Disability benefit recipient" means a member who is
receiving a disability benefit.
(O) "Age and service retirement" means retirement as provided
in sections 145.32, 145.33, 145.331, 145.34, 145.37, and 145.46 of
the Revised Code.
(P) "Pensions" means annual payments for life derived from
contributions made by the employer that at the time of retirement
are credited into the annuity and pension reserve fund from the
employers' accumulation fund and paid from the annuity and pension
reserve fund as provided in this chapter. All pensions shall be
paid in twelve equal monthly installments.
(Q) "Retirement allowance" means the pension plus that
portion of the benefit derived from contributions made by the
member.
(R)(1) Except as otherwise provided in division (R) of this
section, "earnable salary" means all salary, wages, and other
earnings paid to a contributor by reason of employment in a
position covered by the retirement system. The salary, wages, and
other earnings shall be determined prior to determination of the
amount required to be contributed to the employees' savings fund
under section 145.47 of the Revised Code and without regard to
whether any of the salary, wages, or other earnings are treated as
deferred income for federal income tax purposes. "Earnable salary"
includes the following:
(a) Payments made by the employer in lieu of salary, wages,
or other earnings for sick leave, personal leave, or vacation used
by the contributor;
(b) Payments made by the employer for the conversion of sick
leave, personal leave, and vacation leave accrued, but not used if
the payment is made during the year in which the leave is accrued,
except that payments made pursuant to section 124.383 or 124.386
of the Revised Code are not earnable salary;
(c) Allowances paid by the employer for full maintenance,
consisting of housing, laundry, and meals, as certified to the
retirement board by the employer or the head of the department
that employs the contributor;
(d) Fees and commissions paid under section 507.09 of the
Revised Code;
(e) Payments that are made under a disability leave program
sponsored by the employer and for which the employer is required
by section 145.296 of the Revised Code to make periodic employer
and employee contributions;
(f) Amounts included pursuant to divisions (K)(3) and (Y) of
this section.
(2) "Earnable salary" does not include any of the following:
(a) Fees and commissions, other than those paid under section
507.09 of the Revised Code, paid as sole compensation for personal
services and fees and commissions for special services over and
above services for which the contributor receives a salary;
(b) Amounts paid by the employer to provide life insurance,
sickness, accident, endowment, health, medical, hospital, dental,
or surgical coverage, or other insurance for the contributor or
the contributor's family, or amounts paid by the employer to the
contributor in lieu of providing the insurance;
(c) Incidental benefits, including lodging, food, laundry,
parking, or services furnished by the employer, or use of the
employer's property or equipment, or amounts paid by the employer
to the contributor in lieu of providing the incidental benefits;
(d) Reimbursement for job-related expenses authorized by the
employer, including moving and travel expenses and expenses
related to professional development;
(e) Payments for accrued but unused sick leave, personal
leave, or vacation that are made at any time other than in the
year in which the sick leave, personal leave, or vacation was
accrued;
(f) Payments made to or on behalf of a contributor that are
in excess of the annual compensation that may be taken into
account by the retirement system under division (a)(17) of section
401 of the "Internal Revenue Code of 1986," 100 Stat. 2085, 26
U.S.C.A. 401(a)(17), as amended;
(g) Payments made under division (B), (C), or (E) of section
5923.05 of the Revised Code, Section 4 of Substitute Senate Bill
No. 3 of the 119th general assembly, Section 3 of Amended
Substitute Senate Bill No. 164 of the 124th general assembly, or
Amended Substitute House Bill No. 405 of the 124th general
assembly;
(h) Anything of value received by the contributor that is
based on or attributable to retirement or an agreement to retire,
except that payments made on or before January 1, 1989, that are
based on or attributable to an agreement to retire shall be
included in earnable salary if both of the following apply:
(i) The payments are made in accordance with contract
provisions that were in effect prior to January 1, 1986;
(ii) The employer pays the retirement system an amount
specified by the retirement board equal to the additional
liability resulting from the payments.
(3) The retirement board shall determine by rule whether any
compensation not enumerated in division (R) of this section is
earnable salary, and its decision shall be final.
(S) "Pension reserve" means the present value, computed upon
the basis of the mortality and other tables adopted by the board,
of all payments to be made on account of any retirement allowance
or benefit in lieu of any retirement allowance, granted to a
member or beneficiary under this chapter.
(T)(1) "Contributing service" means all service credited to a
member of the system since January 1, 1935, for which
contributions are made as required by sections 145.47, 145.48, and
145.483 of the Revised Code. In any year subsequent to 1934,
credit for any service shall be allowed by the following formula:
(a) For each month for which the member's earnable salary is
two hundred fifty dollars or more, allow one month's credit.
(b) For each month for which the member's earnable salary is
less than two hundred fifty dollars, allow a fraction of a month's
credit. The numerator of this fraction shall be the earnable
salary during the month, and the denominator shall be two hundred
fifty dollars, except that if the member's annual earnable salary
is less than six hundred dollars, the member's credit shall not be
reduced below twenty per cent of a year for a calendar year of
employment during which the member worked each month. Division
(T)(1)(b) of this section shall not reduce any credit earned
before January 1, 1985.
(2) Notwithstanding division (T)(1) of this section, an
elected official who prior to January 1, 1980, was granted a full
year of credit for each year of service as an elected official
shall be considered to have earned a full year of credit for each
year of service regardless of whether the service was full-time or
part-time. The public employees retirement board has no authority
to reduce the credit.
(U) "State retirement board" means the public employees
retirement board, the school employees retirement board, or the
state teachers retirement board.
(V) "Retirant" means any former member who retires and is
receiving a monthly allowance as provided in sections 145.32,
145.33, 145.331, 145.34, and 145.46 of the Revised Code.
(W) "Employer contribution" means the amount paid by an
employer as determined under section 145.48 of the Revised Code.
(X) "Public service terminates" means the last day for which
a public employee is compensated for services performed for an
employer or the date of the employee's death, whichever occurs
first.
(Y) When a member has been elected or appointed to an office,
the term of which is two or more years, for which an annual salary
is established, and in the event that the salary of the office is
increased and the member is denied the additional salary by reason
of any constitutional provision prohibiting an increase in salary
during a term of office, the member may elect to have the amount
of the member's contributions calculated upon the basis of the
increased salary for the office. At the member's request, the
board shall compute the total additional amount the member would
have contributed, or the amount by which each of the member's
contributions would have increased, had the member received the
increased salary for the office the member holds. If the member
elects to have the amount by which the member's contribution would
have increased withheld from the member's salary, the member shall
notify the employer, and the employer shall make the withholding
and transmit it to the retirement system. A member who has not
elected to have that amount withheld may elect at any time to make
a payment to the retirement system equal to the additional amount
the member's contribution would have increased, plus interest on
that contribution, compounded annually at a rate established by
the board and computed from the date on which the last
contribution would have been withheld from the member's salary to
the date of payment. A member may make a payment for part of the
period for which the increased contribution was not withheld, in
which case the interest shall be computed from the date the last
contribution would have been withheld for the period for which the
payment is made. Upon the payment of the increased contributions
as provided in this division, the increased annual salary as
provided by law for the office for the period for which the member
paid increased contributions thereon shall be used in determining
the member's earnable salary for the purpose of computing the
member's final average salary.
(Z) "Five years of service credit," for the exclusive purpose
of satisfying the service credit requirements and of determining
eligibility for benefits under section 145.33 of the Revised Code,
means employment covered under this chapter or under a former
retirement plan operated, recognized, or endorsed by the employer
prior to coverage under this chapter or under a combination of the
coverage.
(AA) "Deputy sheriff" means any person who is commissioned
and employed as a full-time peace officer by the sheriff of any
county, and has been so employed since on or before December 31,
1965; any person who is or has been commissioned and employed as a
peace officer by the sheriff of any county since January 1, 1966,
and who has received a certificate attesting to the person's
satisfactory completion of the peace officer training school as
required by section 109.77 of the Revised Code; or any person
deputized by the sheriff of any county and employed pursuant to
section 2301.12 of the Revised Code as a criminal bailiff or court
constable who has received a certificate attesting to the person's
satisfactory completion of the peace officer training school as
required by section 109.77 of the Revised Code.
(BB) "Township constable or police officer in a township
police department or district" means any person who is
commissioned and employed as a full-time peace officer pursuant to
Chapter 505. or 509. of the Revised Code, who has received a
certificate attesting to the person's satisfactory completion of
the peace officer training school as required by section 109.77 of
the Revised Code.
(CC) "Drug agent" means any person who is either of the
following:
(1) Employed full time as a narcotics agent by a county
narcotics agency created pursuant to section 307.15 of the Revised
Code and has received a certificate attesting to the satisfactory
completion of the peace officer training school as required by
section 109.77 of the Revised Code;
(2) Employed full time as an undercover drug agent as defined
in section 109.79 of the Revised Code and is in compliance with
section 109.77 of the Revised Code.
(DD) "Department of public safety enforcement agent" means a
full-time employee of the department of public safety who is
designated under section 5502.14 of the Revised Code as an
enforcement agent and who is in compliance with section 109.77 of
the Revised Code.
(EE) "Natural resources law enforcement staff officer" means
a full-time employee of the department of natural resources who is
designated a natural resources law enforcement staff officer under
section 1501.013 of the Revised Code and is in compliance with
section 109.77 of the Revised Code.
(FF) "Park officer" means a full-time employee of the
department of natural resources who is designated a park officer
under section 1541.10 of the Revised Code and is in compliance
with section 109.77 of the Revised Code.
(GG) "Forest officer" means a full-time employee of the
department of natural resources who is designated a forest officer
under section 1503.29 of the Revised Code and is in compliance
with section 109.77 of the Revised Code.
(HH) "Preserve officer" means a full-time employee of the
department of natural resources who is designated a preserve
officer under section 1517.10 of the Revised Code and is in
compliance with section 109.77 of the Revised Code.
(II) "Wildlife officer" means a full-time employee of the
department of natural resources who is designated a wildlife
officer under section 1531.13 of the Revised Code and is in
compliance with section 109.77 of the Revised Code.
(JJ) "State watercraft officer" means a full-time employee of
the department of natural resources who is designated a state
watercraft officer under section 1547.521 of the Revised Code and
is in compliance with section 109.77 of the Revised Code.
(KK) "Park district police officer" means a full-time
employee of a park district who is designated pursuant to section
511.232 or 1545.13 of the Revised Code and is in compliance with
section 109.77 of the Revised Code.
(LL) "Conservancy district officer" means a full-time
employee of a conservancy district who is designated pursuant to
section 6101.75 of the Revised Code and is in compliance with
section 109.77 of the Revised Code.
(MM) "Municipal police officer" means a member of the
organized police department of a municipal corporation who is
employed full time, is in compliance with section 109.77 of the
Revised Code, and is not a member of the Ohio police and fire
pension fund.
(NN) "Veterans' home police officer" means any person who is
employed at a veterans' home as a police officer pursuant to
section 5907.02 of the Revised Code and is in compliance with
section 109.77 of the Revised Code.
(OO) "Special police officer for a mental health institution"
means any person who is designated as such pursuant to section
5119.14 of the Revised Code and is in compliance with section
109.77 of the Revised Code.
(PP) "Special police officer for an institution for the
mentally retarded and developmentally disabled" means any person
who is designated as such pursuant to section 5123.13 of the
Revised Code and is in compliance with section 109.77 of the
Revised Code.
(QQ) "State university law enforcement officer" means any
person who is employed full time as a state university law
enforcement officer pursuant to section 3345.04 of the Revised
Code and who is in compliance with section 109.77 of the Revised
Code.
(RR) "House sergeant at arms" means any person appointed by
the speaker of the house of representatives under division (B)(1)
of section 101.311 of the Revised Code who has arrest authority
under division (E)(1) of that section.
(SS) "Assistant house sergeant at arms" means any person
appointed by the house sergeant at arms under division (C)(1) of
section 101.311 of the Revised Code.
(TT) "Regional transit authority police officer" means a
person who is employed full time as a regional transit authority
police officer under division (Y) of section 306.35 of the Revised
Code and is in compliance with section 109.77 of the Revised Code.
(UU) "State highway patrol police officer" means a special
police officer employed full time and designated by the
superintendent of the state highway patrol pursuant to section
5503.09 of the Revised Code or a person serving full time as a
special police officer pursuant to that section on a permanent
basis on October 21, 1997, who is in compliance with section
109.77 of the Revised Code.
(VV) "Municipal public safety director" means a person who
serves full time as the public safety director of a municipal
corporation with the duty of directing the activities of the
municipal corporation's police department and fire department.
(WW) Notwithstanding section 2901.01 of the Revised Code,
"PERS law enforcement officer" means a sheriff or any of the
following whose primary duties are to preserve the peace, protect
life and property, and enforce the laws of this state: a deputy
sheriff, township constable or police officer in a township police
department or district, drug agent, department of public safety
enforcement agent, natural resources law enforcement staff
officer, park officer, forest officer, preserve officer, wildlife
officer, state watercraft officer, park district police officer,
conservancy district officer, veterans' home police officer,
special police officer for a mental health institution, special
police officer for an institution for the mentally retarded and
developmentally disabled, state university law enforcement
officer, municipal police officer, house sergeant at arms,
assistant house sergeant at arms, regional transit authority
police officer, or state highway patrol police officer. PERS law
enforcement officer also includes a person serving as a municipal
public safety director at any time during the period from
September 29, 2005, to the effective date of this amendment March
24, 2009, if the duties of that service were to preserve the
peace, protect life and property, and enforce the laws of this
state.
(XX) "Hamilton county municipal court bailiff" means a person
appointed by the clerk of courts of the Hamilton county municipal
court under division (A)(3) of section 1901.32 of the Revised Code
who is employed full time as a bailiff or deputy bailiff, who has
received a certificate attesting to the person's satisfactory
completion of the peace officer basic training described in
division (D)(1) of section 109.77 of the Revised Code.
(YY) "PERS public safety officer" means a Hamilton county
municipal court bailiff, or any of the following whose primary
duties are other than to preserve the peace, protect life and
property, and enforce the laws of this state: a deputy sheriff,
township constable or police officer in a township police
department or district, drug agent, department of public safety
enforcement agent, natural resources law enforcement staff
officer, park officer, forest officer, preserve officer, wildlife
officer, state watercraft officer, park district police officer,
conservancy district officer, veterans' home police officer,
special police officer for a mental health institution, special
police officer for an institution for the mentally retarded and
developmentally disabled, state university law enforcement
officer, municipal police officer, house sergeant at arms,
assistant house sergeant at arms, regional transit authority
police officer, or state highway patrol police officer. PERS
public safety officer also includes a person serving as a
municipal public safety director at any time during the period
from September 29, 2005, to the effective date of this amendment
March 24, 2009, if the duties of that service were other than to
preserve the peace, protect life and property, and enforce the
laws of this state.
(ZZ) "Fiduciary" means a person who does any of the
following:
(1) Exercises any discretionary authority or control with
respect to the management of the system or with respect to the
management or disposition of its assets;
(2) Renders investment advice for a fee, direct or indirect,
with respect to money or property of the system;
(3) Has any discretionary authority or responsibility in the
administration of the system.
(AAA) "Actuary" means an individual who satisfies all of the
following requirements:
(1) Is a member of the American academy of actuaries;
(2) Is an associate or fellow of the society of actuaries;
(3) Has a minimum of five years' experience in providing
actuarial services to public retirement plans.
(BBB) "PERS defined benefit plan" means the plan described in
sections 145.201 to 145.79 of the Revised Code.
(CCC) "PERS defined contribution plans" means the plan or
plans established under section 145.81 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 145.191. (A) Except as provided in division (E) of this
section, a public employees retirement system member or
contributor who, as of the last day of the month immediately
preceding the date on which the public employees retirement board
first establishes a PERS defined contribution plan, has less than
five years of total service credit is eligible to make an election
under this section. A member or contributor who is employed in
more than one position subject to this chapter is eligible to make
only one election. The election applies to all positions subject
to this chapter.
Not later than one hundred eighty days after the day the
board first establishes a PERS defined contribution plan, an
eligible member or contributor may elect to participate in a PERS
defined contribution plan. If a form evidencing an election is not
received by the system not later than the last day of the
one-hundred-eighty-day period, a member or contributor to whom
this section applies is deemed to have elected to continue
participating in the PERS defined benefit plan.
(B) An election under this section shall be made in writing
on a form provided by the system and filed with the system.
(C) On receipt of an election under this section, the system
shall do both of the following:
(1) Credit to the plan elected both of the following:
(a) Any employer contributions attributable to the member for
the period beginning on the day the board first established a PERS
defined contribution plan;
(b) All accumulated contributions attributable to the member
or contributor.
(2) Cancel all service credit and eligibility for any
payment, benefit, or right under the PERS defined benefit plan.
(D) An election under this section is effective as of the
date the board first established a PERS defined contribution plan
and, except as provided in section 145.814 of the Revised Code or
rules governing the PERS defined benefit plan, is irrevocable on
receipt by the system.
(E) An election may not be made under this section by a
member or contributor who is either of the following:
(1) A PERS retirant who is a member under division (C) of
section 145.38 of the Revised Code;
(2) A a PERS law enforcement officer or a PERS public safety
officer.
Sec. 145.38. (A) As used in this section and sections
145.381 and 145.384 of the Revised Code:
(1) "PERS retirant" means a former member of the public
employees retirement system who is receiving one of the following:
(a) Age and service retirement benefits under section 145.32,
145.33, 145.331, 145.34, or 145.46 of the Revised Code;
(b) Age and service retirement benefits paid by the public
employees retirement system under section 145.37 of the Revised
Code;
(c) Any benefit paid under a PERS defined contribution plan.
(2) "Other system retirant" means both of the following:
(a) A member or former member of the Ohio police and fire
pension fund, state teachers retirement system, school employees
retirement system, state highway patrol retirement system, or
Cincinnati retirement system who is receiving age and service or
commuted age and service retirement benefits or a disability
benefit from a system of which the person is a member or former
member;
(b) A member or former member of the public employees
retirement system who is receiving age and service retirement
benefits or a disability benefit under section 145.37 of the
Revised Code paid by the school employees retirement system or the
state teachers retirement system.
(3) "Retirement benefit" means an age and service retirement
as described in division (A)(1)(a), (1)(b), or (2) of this
section.
(B)(1) Subject to this section and section 145.381 of the
Revised Code, a PERS retirant or other system retirant may be
employed by a public employer. If so employed, the PERS retirant
or other system retirant shall contribute to the public employees
retirement system in accordance with section 145.47 of the Revised
Code, and the employer shall make contributions in accordance with
section 145.48 of the Revised Code.
(2) A public employer that employs a PERS retirant or other
system retirant, or enters into a contract for services as an
independent contractor with a PERS retirant, shall notify the
retirement board of the employment or contract not later than the
end of the month in which the employment or contract commences.
Any overpayment of benefits to a PERS retirant by the retirement
system resulting from delay or failure of the employer to give the
notice shall be repaid to the retirement system by the employer.
(3) On receipt of notice from a public employer that a person
who is an other system retirant has been employed, the retirement
system shall notify the retirement system of which the other
system retirant was a member of such employment.
(4)(a) A PERS retirant who has received a retirement
allowance benefit for less than two months when employment subject
to this section commences shall forfeit the retirement allowance
benefit for any month the PERS retirant is employed prior to the
expiration of the two-month period. Service and contributions for
that period shall not be included in calculation of any benefits
payable to the PERS retirant, and those contributions shall be
refunded on the retirant's death or termination of the employment.
(b) An other system retirant who has received a retirement
allowance benefit or disability benefit for less than two months
when employment subject to this section commences shall forfeit
the retirement allowance benefit or disability benefit for any
month the other system retirant is employed prior to the
expiration of the two-month period. Service and contributions for
that period shall not be included in the calculation of any
benefits payable to the other system retirant, and those
contributions shall be refunded on the retirant's death or
termination of the employment.
(c) Contributions made on compensation earned after the
expiration of the two-month period shall be used in the
calculation of the benefit or payment due under section 145.384 of
the Revised Code.
(5) On receipt of notice from the Ohio police and fire
pension fund, school employees retirement system, or state
teachers retirement system of the re-employment of a PERS
retirant, the public employees retirement system shall not pay, or
if paid, shall recover, the amount to be forfeited by the PERS
retirant in accordance with section 742.26, 3307.35, or 3309.341
of the Revised Code.
(6)(a) If, subsequent to the period described in division
(B)(4) of this section, a PERS retirant or other system retirant
is employed in a position subject to this chapter and has annual
earnable salary in excess of fourteen thousand one hundred sixty
dollars, as adjusted under division (B)(6)(b) of this section, the
retirant shall forfeit one dollar of the retirement benefit for
each two dollars of earnable salary in the position subject to
this chapter.
(b) The excess earnings base established under division
(B)(6)(a) of this section shall be adjusted each year by the
actual average increase, if any, in the consumer price index
prepared by the United States bureau of labor statistics (U.S.
city average for urban wage earners and clerical workers: "all
items 1982-1984=100").
(7) A PERS retirant who enters into a contract to provide
services as an independent contractor to the employer by which the
retirant was employed at the time of retirement or, less than two
months after the retirement allowance benefit commences, begins
providing services as an independent contractor pursuant to a
contract with another public employer, shall forfeit the pension
portion of the retirement benefit for the period beginning the
first day of the month following the month in which the services
begin and ending on the first day of the month following the month
in which the services end. The annuity portion of the retirement
allowance benefit shall be suspended on the day services under the
contract begin and shall accumulate to the credit of the retirant
to be paid in a single payment after services provided under the
contract terminate. A PERS retirant subject to division (B)(6)(7)
of this section shall not contribute to the retirement system and
shall not become a member of the system.
(7)(8) As used in this division, "employment" includes
service for which a PERS retirant or other system retirant, the
retirant's employer, or both, have waived any earnable salary for
the service.
(C)(1) Except as provided in division (C)(3) of this section,
this division applies to both of the following:
(a) A PERS retirant who, prior to September 14, 2000, was
subject to division (C)(1)(b) of this section as that division
existed immediately prior to September 14, 2000, and has not
elected pursuant to Am. Sub. S.B. 144 of the 123rd general
assembly to cease to be subject to that division;
(b) A PERS retirant to whom both of the following apply:
(i) The retirant held elective office in this state, or in
any municipal corporation, county, or other political subdivision
of this state at the time of retirement under this chapter.
(ii) The retirant was elected or appointed to the same office
for the remainder of the term or the term immediately following
the term during which the retirement occurred.
(2) A PERS retirant who is subject to this division is a
member of the public employees retirement system with all the
rights, privileges, and obligations of membership, except that the
membership does not include survivor benefits provided pursuant to
section 145.45 of the Revised Code or, beginning on the ninetieth
day after September 14, 2000, any amount calculated under section
145.401 of the Revised Code. The pension portion of the PERS
retirant's retirement allowance shall be forfeited until the first
day of the first month following termination of the employment.
The annuity portion of the retirement allowance shall accumulate
to the credit of the PERS retirant to be paid in a single payment
after termination of the employment. The retirement allowance
shall resume on the first day of the first month following
termination of the employment. On termination of the employment,
the PERS retirant shall elect to receive either a refund of the
retirant's contributions to the retirement system during the
period of employment subject to this section or a supplemental
retirement allowance based on the retirant's contributions and
service credit for that period of employment.
(3) This division does not apply to any of the following:
(a) A PERS retirant elected to office who, at the time of the
election for the retirant's current term, was not retired but, not
less than ninety days prior to the primary election for the term
or the date on which a primary for the term would have been held,
filed a written declaration of intent to retire before the end of
the term with the director of the board of elections of the county
in which petitions for nomination or election to the office are
filed;
(b) A PERS retirant elected to office who, at the time of the
election for the retirant's current term, was a retirant and had
been retired for not less than ninety days;
(c) A PERS retirant appointed to office who, at the time of
appointment to the retirant's current term, notified the person or
entity making the appointment that the retirant was already
retired or intended to retire before the end of the term.
(D)(1) Except as provided in division (C) of this section, a
A PERS retirant or other system retirant subject to this section
is not a member of the public employees retirement system, and,
except as specified in this section does not have any of the
rights, privileges, or obligations of membership. Except as
specified in division
(D)(C)(2) of this section, the retirant is
not eligible to receive health, medical, hospital, or surgical
benefits under section 145.58 of the Revised Code for employment
subject to this section.
(2) A PERS retirant subject to this section shall receive
primary health, medical, hospital, or surgical insurance coverage
from the retirant's employer, if the employer provides coverage to
other employees performing comparable work. Neither the employer
nor the PERS retirant may waive the employer's coverage, except
that the PERS retirant may waive the employer's coverage if the
retirant has coverage comparable to that provided by the employer
from a source other than the employer or the public employees
retirement system. If a claim is made, the employer's coverage
shall be the primary coverage and shall pay first. The benefits
provided under section 145.58 of the Revised Code shall pay only
those medical expenses not paid through the employer's coverage or
coverage the PERS retirant receives through a source other than
the retirement system.
(E)(D) If the disability benefit of an other system retirant
employed under this section is terminated, the retirant shall
become a member of the public employees retirement system,
effective on the first day of the month next following the
termination with all the rights, privileges, and obligations of
membership. If such person, after the termination of the
disability benefit, earns two years of service credit under this
system or under the Ohio police and fire pension fund, state
teachers retirement system, school employees retirement system, or
state highway patrol retirement system, the person's prior
contributions as an other system retirant under this section shall
be included in the person's total service credit as a public
employees retirement system member, and the person shall forfeit
all rights and benefits of this section. Not more than one year of
credit may be given for any period of twelve months.
(F)(E) This section does not affect the receipt of benefits
by or eligibility for benefits of any person who on August 20,
1976, was receiving a disability benefit or service retirement
pension or allowance from a state or municipal retirement system
in Ohio and was a member of any other state or municipal
retirement system of this state.
(G)(F) The public employees retirement board may adopt rules
to carry out this section.
Sec. 145.384. (A) As used in this section, "PERS retirant"
means a PERS retirant who is not subject to division (C) of
section 145.38 of the Revised Code. For purposes of this section,
"PERS retirant" also includes both of the following:
(1) A member who retired under section 145.383 of the Revised
Code;
(2) A retirant whose retirement allowance resumed under
section 145.385 of the Revised Code.
(B)(1) An other system retirant or PERS retirant who has made
contributions under section 145.38 or 145.383 of the Revised Code
or, in the case of a retirant described in division (A)(2) of this
section, section 145.47 of the Revised Code may file an
application with the public employees retirement system to receive
either a benefit, as provided in division (B)(2) of this section,
or payment of the retirant's contributions made under those
sections, as provided in division (H) of this section.
(2) A benefit under this section shall consist of an annuity
having a reserve equal to the amount of the retirant's accumulated
contributions for the period of employment, other than the
contributions excluded pursuant to division (B)(4)(a) or (b) of
section 145.38 of the Revised Code, and an amount of the
employer's contributions determined by the board.
(a) Unless, as described in division (I) of this section, the
application is accompanied by a statement of the spouse's consent
to another form of payment or the board waives the requirement of
spousal consent, a PERS retirant or other system retirant who is
married at the time of application for a benefit under this
section shall receive a monthly annuity under which the actuarial
equivalent of the retirant's single life annuity is paid in a
lesser amount for life and one-half of the lesser amount continues
after the retirant's death to the surviving spouse.
(b) A PERS retirant or other system retirant who is not
subject to division (B)(2)(a) of this section shall elect either
to receive the benefit as a monthly annuity or a lump sum payment
discounted to the present value using a rate of interest
determined by the board. A retirant who elects to receive a
monthly annuity shall select one of the following as the plan of
payment:
(i) The retirant's single life annuity;
(ii) The actuarial equivalent of the retirant's single life
annuity in an equal or lesser amount for life and continuing after
death to a surviving beneficiary designated at the time the plan
of payment is selected.
If a retirant who is eligible to select a plan of payment
under division (B)(2)(b) of this section fails to do so, the
benefit shall be paid as a monthly annuity under the plan of
payment specified in rules adopted by the public employees
retirement board.
(c) Notwithstanding divisions (B)(2)(a) and (b) of this
section, if a monthly annuity would be less than twenty-five
dollars per month, the retirant shall receive a lump sum payment.
(C)(1) The death of a spouse or other designated beneficiary
under a plan of payment described in division (B)(2) of this
section cancels that plan of payment. The PERS retirant or other
system retirant shall receive the equivalent of the retirant's
single life annuity, as determined by the board, effective the
first day of the month following receipt by the board of notice of
the death.
(2) On divorce, annulment, or marriage dissolution, a PERS
retirant or other system retirant receiving a benefit described in
division (B)(2) of this section under which the beneficiary is the
spouse may, with the written consent of the spouse or pursuant to
an order of the court with jurisdiction over the termination of
the marriage, elect to cancel the plan and receive the equivalent
of the retirant's single life annuity as determined by the board.
The election shall be made on a form provided by the board and
shall be effective the month following its receipt by the board.
(D) Following a marriage or remarriage, a PERS retirant or
other system retirant who is receiving a benefit described in
division (B)(2)(b)(i) of this section may elect a new plan of
payment under division (B)(2)(b) of this section based on the
actuarial equivalent of the retirant's single life annuity as
determined by the board.
If the marriage or remarriage occurs on or after the
effective date of this amendment June 6, 2005, the election must
be made not later than one year after the date of the marriage or
remarriage.
The plan elected under this division shall be effective on
the date of receipt by the board of an application on a form
approved by the board, but any change in the amount of the benefit
shall commence on the first day of the month following the
effective date of the plan.
(E) A benefit payable under division (B)(2) of this section
shall commence on the latest of the following:
(1) The last day for which compensation for all employment
subject to section 145.38, 145.383, or 145.385 of the Revised Code
was paid;
(2) Attainment by the PERS retirant or other system retirant
of age sixty-five;
(3) If the PERS retirant or other system retirant was
previously employed under section 145.38, 145.383, or 145.385 of
the Revised Code and is receiving or previously received a benefit
under this section, completion of a period of twelve months since
the effective date of the last benefit under this section;
(4) A date specified by the retirant.
(F)(1) If a PERS retirant or other system retirant dies while
employed in employment subject to section 145.38, 145.383, or
145.385 of the Revised Code, a lump sum payment calculated in
accordance with division (B)(2) of this section shall be paid to
the retirant's beneficiary under division (G) of this section.
(2) If at the time of death a PERS retirant or other system
retirant receiving a monthly annuity under division (B)(2)(b)(i)
of this section has received less than the retirant would have
received as a lump sum payment, the difference between the amount
received and the amount that would have been received as a lump
sum payment shall be paid to the retirant's beneficiary under
division (G) of this section.
(3) If a beneficiary receiving a monthly annuity under
division (B)(2) of this section dies and, at the time of the
beneficiary's death, the total of the amounts paid to the retirant
and beneficiary are less than the amount the retirant would have
received as a lump sum payment, the difference between the total
of the amounts received by the retirant and beneficiary and the
amount that the retirant would have received as a lump sum payment
shall be paid to the beneficiary's estate.
(G) A PERS retirant or other system retirant employed under
section 145.38, 145.383, or 145.385 of the Revised Code may
designate one or more persons as beneficiary to receive any
benefits payable under division (B)(2)(b) of this section due to
death. The designation shall be in writing duly executed on a form
provided by the public employees retirement board, signed by the
PERS retirant or other system retirant, and filed with the board
prior to death. The last designation of a beneficiary revokes all
previous designations. The PERS retirant's or other system
retirant's marriage, divorce, marriage dissolution, legal
separation, withdrawal of account, birth of a child, or adoption
of a child revokes all previous designations. If there is no
designated beneficiary, the beneficiary is the beneficiary
determined under division (D) of section 145.43 of the Revised
Code. If any benefit payable under this section due to the death
of a PERS retirant or other system retirant is not claimed by a
beneficiary within five years after the death, the amount payable
shall be transferred to the income fund and thereafter paid to the
beneficiary or the estate of the PERS retirant or other system
retirant on application to the board.
(H)(1) A PERS retirant or other system retirant who applies
under division (B)(1) of this section for payment of the
retirant's contributions and is unmarried or is married and,
unless the board has waived the requirement of spousal consent,
includes with the application a statement of the spouse's consent
to the payment, shall be paid the contributions made under section
145.38 or 145.383 of the Revised Code or, in the case of a
retirant described in division (A)(2) of this section, section
145.47 of the Revised Code, plus interest as provided in section
145.471 of the Revised Code, if the following conditions are met:
(a) The retirant has not attained sixty-five years of age and
has terminated employment subject to section 145.38, 145.383, or
145.385 of the Revised Code for any cause other than death or the
receipt of a benefit under this section.
(b) Three months have elapsed since the termination of the
retirant's employment subject to section 145.38, 145.383, or
145.385 of the Revised Code, other than employment exempted from
contribution pursuant to section 145.03 of the Revised Code.
(c) The retirant has not returned to public service, other
than service exempted from contribution pursuant to section 145.03
of the Revised Code, during the three-month period.
(2) Payment of a retirant's contributions cancels the
retirant's right to a benefit under division (B)(2) of this
section.
(I) A statement of a spouse's consent under division (B)(2)
of this section to the form of a benefit or under division (H) of
this section to a payment of contributions is valid only if signed
by the spouse and witnessed by a notary public. The board may
waive the requirement of spousal consent if the spouse is
incapacitated or cannot be located, or for any other reason
specified by the board. Consent or waiver is effective only with
regard to the spouse who is the subject of the consent or waiver.
(J) No amount received under this section shall be included
in determining an additional benefit under section 145.323 of the
Revised Code or any other post-retirement benefit increase.
Sec. 145.473. (A) Except as provided in division (C) of this
section, the rate of interest credited to individual accounts of
contributors under sections 145.471 and 145.472 of the Revised
Code shall be as follows:
(1) Four per cent per annum, compounded annually, to and
including December 31, 1955;
(2) Three per cent per annum, compounded annually, from
January 1, 1956, to and including December 31, 1963;
(3) Three and one-quarter per cent per annum, compounded
annually, from January 1, 1964, to and including December 31,
1969;
(4) Four per cent per annum, compounded annually, from
January 1, 1970, to and including the day before December 13,
2000;
(5) An amount determined by the public employees retirement
board that is not greater than six per cent per annum, compounded
annually, on and after December 13, 2000.
(B) Except as provided in division (C) of this section, for
the purpose of determining the reserve value of a contributor's
annuity, the rate of interest shall be as follows:
(1) Four per cent per annum, compounded annually, for
contributors retiring before October 1, 1956;
(2) Three per cent per annum, compounded annually, for
contributors retiring on or after October 1, 1956, but before
January 1, 1964;
(3) Three and one-quarter per cent per annum, compounded
annually, for contributors retiring on or after January 1, 1964,
but before January 1, 1970;
(4) Four per cent per annum, compounded annually, for
contributors retiring on or after January 1, 1970, but before
December 13, 2000;
(5) An amount determined by the board based on the
recommendation of the board's actuary, compounded annually, for
contributors retiring on or after December 13, 2000.
(C) For a PERS retirant who is not subject to division (C) of
section 145.38 of the Revised Code or an other system retirant, as
those terms are defined in section 145.38 of the Revised Code, or
a member of the public employees retirement system who retires in
accordance with section 145.383 of the Revised Code, the rate of
interest shall be the current actuarial assumption rate of
interest, as determined by the board's actuary, for the purposes
described in divisions (A) and (B) of this section.
Sec. 145.561. The Except as provided in division (B)(6) of
section 145.38 of the Revised Code, the granting of a retirement
allowance, annuity, pension, or other benefit to any person
pursuant to action of the public employees retirement board vests
a right in such person, so long as he the person remains the
recipient of any benefit of the funds established by section
145.23 of the Revised Code, to receive such retirement allowance,
annuity, pension, or other benefit at the rate fixed at the time
of granting such retirement allowance, annuity, pension, or other
benefit. Such right shall also be vested with equal effect in the
recipient of a grant heretofore made from any of the funds named
in section 145.23 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 145.58. (A) As used in this section, "ineligible
individual" means all of the following:
(1) A former member receiving benefits pursuant to section
145.32, 145.33, 145.331, 145.34, or 145.46 of the Revised Code for
whom eligibility is established more than five years after June
13, 1981, and who, at the time of establishing eligibility, has
accrued less than ten years' service credit, exclusive of credit
obtained pursuant to section 145.297 or 145.298 of the Revised
Code, credit obtained after January 29, 1981, pursuant to section
145.293 or 145.301 of the Revised Code, and credit obtained after
May 4, 1992, pursuant to section 145.28 of the Revised Code;
(2) The spouse of the former member;
(3) The beneficiary of the former member receiving benefits
pursuant to section 145.46 of the Revised Code.
(B) The public employees retirement board may enter into
agreements with insurance companies, health insuring corporations,
or government agencies authorized to do business in the state for
issuance of a policy or contract of health, medical, hospital, or
surgical benefits, or any combination thereof, for those
individuals receiving age and service retirement or a disability
or survivor benefit subscribing to the plan, or for PERS retirants
employed under section 145.38 of the Revised Code, for coverage of
benefits in accordance with division (D)(C)(2) of section 145.38
of the Revised Code. Notwithstanding any other provision of this
chapter, the policy or contract may also include coverage for any
eligible individual's spouse and dependent children and for any of
the individual's sponsored dependents as the board determines
appropriate. If all or any portion of the policy or contract
premium is to be paid by any individual receiving age and service
retirement or a disability or survivor benefit, the individual
shall, by written authorization, instruct the board to deduct the
premium agreed to be paid by the individual to the company,
corporation, or agency.
The board may contract for coverage on the basis of part or
all of the cost of the coverage to be paid from appropriate funds
of the public employees retirement system. The cost paid from the
funds of the system shall be included in the employer's
contribution rate provided by sections 145.48 and 145.51 of the
Revised Code. The board may by rule provide coverage to ineligible
individuals if the coverage is provided at no cost to the
retirement system. The board shall not pay or reimburse the cost
for coverage under this section or section 145.325 of the Revised
Code for any ineligible individual.
The board may provide for self-insurance of risk or level of
risk as set forth in the contract with the companies,
corporations, or agencies, and may provide through the
self-insurance method specific benefits as authorized by rules of
the board.
(C) The board shall, beginning the month following receipt of
satisfactory evidence of the payment for coverage, pay monthly to
each recipient of service retirement, or a disability or survivor
benefit under the public employees retirement system who is
eligible for medical insurance coverage under part B of Title
XVIII of "The Social Security Act," 79 Stat. 301 (1965), 42
U.S.C.A. 1395j, as amended, an amount determined by the board for
such coverage that is not less than ninety-six dollars and forty
cents, except that the board shall make no such payment to any
ineligible individual or pay an amount that exceeds the amount
paid by the recipient for the coverage.
At the request of the board, the recipient shall certify to
the retirement system the amount paid by the recipient for
coverage described in this division.
(D) The board shall establish by rule requirements for the
coordination of any coverage, payment, or benefit provided under
this section or section 145.325 of the Revised Code with any
similar coverage, payment, or benefit made available to the same
individual by the Ohio police and fire pension fund, state
teachers retirement system, school employees retirement system, or
state highway patrol retirement system.
(E) The board shall make all other necessary rules pursuant
to the purpose and intent of this section.
Sec. 742.26. (A) As used in this section:
(1) "Actuarial present value" means the calculation under
which the probability of occurrence, based on a specified
mortality table, and the discount for future monetary growth at a
specified interest rate are considered by an actuary to determine
the value of an annuity.
(2) "Other system retirant" means a former member of the
public employees retirement system, state teachers retirement
system, school employees retirement system, state highway patrol
retirement system, or Cincinnati retirement system who is
receiving a disability benefit or an age and service or commuted
age and service retirement benefit or allowance from a system of
which the person is a former member.
(3) "OPFPF OP and F retirant" means any person who is
receiving a retirement allowance pension, other than a disability
benefit, from the Ohio police and fire pension fund.
(4) "Retirement allowance or pension" means an allowance or
pension granted by virtue of age and service retirement as
described in division (A)(2) or (3) of this section.
(B) The mortality table and interest rate used in determining
actuarial present value shall be determined by the board of
trustees of the fund based on the recommendations of an actuary
employed by the board.
(C)(1) An OPFPF OP and F retirant or other system retirant
may be employed as a member of a police or fire department. If so
employed, the retirant shall make contributions to the fund in
accordance with section 742.31 of the Revised Code, and the
employer shall make contributions in accordance with sections
742.33 and 742.34 of the Revised Code.
(2) An employer that employs an
OPFPF OP and F retirant or
other system retirant shall notify the board of trustees of the
fund of the employment not later than the end of the month in
which the employment commences. On receipt of notice from an
employer that a person who is an other system retirant has been
employed, the fund shall notify the retirement system of which the
other system retirant was a member of such employment.
(D) An OPFPF OP and F retirant or other system retirant who
has received a retirement allowance or benefit for less than two
months when employment subject to this section commences shall
forfeit the retirement allowance or benefit for the period that
begins on the date the employment commences and ends on the
earlier of the date the employment terminates or the date that is
two months after the date on which the retirement allowance or
benefit commenced. Service and contributions for that period shall
not be included in the calculation of any benefits payable under
this section, and those contributions shall be refunded on the
retirant's death or termination of the employment.
(E) On receipt of notice from the public employees retirement
system, school employees retirement system, or state teachers
retirement system of the re-employment of an OPFPF OP and F
retirant, the Ohio police and fire pension fund shall not pay, or
if paid shall recover, the amount to be forfeited by the OPFPF OP
and F retirant in accordance with section 145.38, 3307.35, or
3309.341 of the Revised Code.
(F)(1) If, subsequent to the period described in division (D)
of this section, an OP and F retirant or other system retirant is
employed in a position subject to this chapter and has annual
salary in excess of fourteen thousand one hundred sixty dollars,
as adjusted under division (F)(2) of this section, the retirant
shall forfeit one dollar of the retirement allowance for each two
dollars of salary in the position subject to this chapter.
(2) The excess earnings base established under division
(F)(1) of this section shall be adjusted each year by the actual
average increase, if any, in the consumer price index prepared by
the United States bureau of labor statistics (U.S. city average
for urban wage earners and clerical workers: "all items
1982-1984=100").
(G)(1) On termination of employment under this section, an
OPFPF OP and F retirant or other system retirant may file an
application with the board of trustees of the fund to receive
either a benefit, as provided in division (F)(G)(2) of this
section, or payment of the retirant's contributions made under
this section, as provided in division (H)(I) of this section.
(2) A benefit under this section shall consist of an annuity
the actuarial present value of which is equal to two times the sum
of all amounts deducted from the salary of the OPFPF OP and F
retirant or other system retirant and credited to the retirant's
individual account in the fund, other than contributions excluded
pursuant to division (D) of this section, together with interest
credited thereon at the rate determined by the board.
(a) Unless, as described in division (I)(J) of this section,
the application is accompanied by a statement of the spouse's
consent to another form of payment or the board of trustees waives
the requirement of spousal consent, a retirant who is married at
the time of application under this division shall receive a
monthly annuity under which the actuarial equivalent of the
retirant's single life annuity is paid in a lesser amount for life
and one-half of the lesser amount continues after the retirant's
death to the surviving spouse.
(b) A retirant who is not subject to division (F)(G)(2)(a) of
this section shall elect to receive either a monthly annuity or a
lump-sum lump sum payment. If the retirant fails to elect a plan
of payment, the annuity shall be paid as a monthly annuity under
the plan of payment specified in rules adopted by the board of
trustees of the fund.
A retirant who elects to receive a monthly annuity shall
select one of the following as the plan of payment:
(i) The retirant's single life annuity;
(ii) The actuarial equivalent of the retirant's single life
annuity in an equal or lesser amount for life and continuing after
death to a surviving beneficiary designated at the time the plan
of payment is selected.
(c) Notwithstanding divisions (F)(G)(2)(a) and (b) of this
section, if a monthly annuity would be less than twenty-five
dollars per month, the retirant shall receive a lump sum payment.
(3) Interest shall be credited to accounts only at the time
of calculation of a benefit payable under division (F)(G)(2) of
this section.
(4) A benefit payable under this division shall commence on
the first day of the month immediately after the latest of the
following:
(a) The last day for which compensation for employment
subject to this section was paid;
(b) Attainment by the OPFPF OP and F retirant or other system
retirant of age sixty;
(c) If the OPFPF OP and F retirant or other system retirant
was previously employed under this section and is receiving or
previously received a benefit under this division, completion of a
period of twelve months since the last benefit paid under this
section commenced.
(5) No amount received under this division shall be included
in determining an additional benefit under section 742.3711,
742.3716, or 742.3717 of the Revised Code or any other
post-retirement benefit increase.
(G)(H)(1) If an OPFPF OP and F retirant or other system
retirant dies while employed in employment subject to this
section, a lump-sum lump sum payment calculated in accordance with
division (F)(G)(2) of this section shall be paid to the retirant's
surviving spouse, or if there is no surviving spouse, to the
retirant's estate.
(2) If at the time of death an OPFPF OP and F retirant or
other system retirant receiving a monthly annuity under division
(F)(G)(2) of this section has received less than would have been
received as a lump-sum lump sum payment under division (F)(G)(2)
of this section, the difference between the amount received and
the amount that would have been received as a
lump-sum lump sum
payment shall be paid to the retirant's surviving spouse, or if
there is no surviving spouse, to the retirant's estate.
(3) If a beneficiary receiving a monthly annuity under
division (F)(G)(2) of this section dies and, at the time of the
beneficiary's death, the total of the amounts paid to the retirant
and beneficiary are less than the amount the retirant would have
received as a lump sum payment, the difference between the total
of the amounts received by the retirant and beneficiary and the
amount that the retirant would have received as a lump sum payment
shall be paid to the beneficiary's estate.
(H)(I)(1) An OPFPF OP and F retirant or other system retirant
who applies under division (F)(G)(1) of this section for payment
of the retirant's contributions and is unmarried or is married
and, unless the board of trustees has waived the requirement of
spousal consent, includes with the application a statement of the
spouse's consent to the payment shall be paid the contributions
made under division (C) of this section, plus interest, if the
following conditions are met:
(a) The retirant has not attained sixty years of age and has
terminated employment subject to this section for any cause other
than death or the receipt of a benefit under division (F)(G) of
this section.
(b) Three months have elapsed since the termination of
employment subject to this section.
(c) The retirant has not returned to service subject to this
chapter or Chapter 145., 3307., or 3309. of the Revised Code,
other than service exempted from contribution to the public
employees retirement system pursuant to section 145.03 of the
Revised Code, during the three-month period.
(2) Payment of a retirant's contributions cancels the
retirant's right to a benefit under division (F)(G) of this
section.
(I)(J) A statement of a spouse's consent under division
(F)(G) of this section to the form of a benefit or under division
(H)(I) of this section to a payment of contributions is valid only
if signed by the spouse and witnessed by a notary public. The
board of trustees may waive the requirement of spousal consent if
the spouse is incapacitated or cannot be located, or for any other
reason specified by the board. Consent or waiver is effective only
with regard to the spouse who is the subject of the consent or
waiver.
(J)(K) An other system retirant subject to this section is
not a member of the Ohio police and fire pension fund, does not
have any of the rights, privileges, or obligations of membership,
except as specified in this section, and is not eligible to
receive health, medical, hospital, or surgical benefits under
section 742.45 of the Revised Code for employment subject to this
section.
(K)(L) If any payment is made by the Ohio police and fire
pension fund to an OPFPF OP and F retirant or other system
retirant to which the retirant is not entitled, the retirant shall
repay it to the fund. If the retirant fails to make the repayment,
the fund shall withhold the amount due from any allowances or
other amounts due the
OPFPF OP and F retirant or other system
retirant.
(L)(M) An OPFPF OP and F retirant who is employed under this
section is not eligible to receive any benefits under section
742.37 of the Revised Code for the employment under this section.
(M)(N) This section does not affect the receipt of benefits
by or eligibility for benefits of any person who on August 20,
1976, was receiving a disability benefit or service retirement
pension or allowance from a state or municipal retirement system
in Ohio and was a member of any other state or municipal
retirement system of this state.
(N)(O) The board of trustees of the fund may adopt rules to
carry out this section.
Sec. 742.44. Except Prior to the effective date of this
amendment and except as provided in section 742.14 of the Revised
Code, at any time prior to filing an application for retirement
under division (C)(1) of section 742.37 of the Revised Code, a
member who is eligible to retire under that division may elect to
participate in the deferred retirement option plan established
under section 742.43 of the Revised Code. No election to
participate in the plan may be made after the effective date of
this amendment.
To make an election, an eligible member shall complete and
submit to the Ohio police and fire pension fund a form prescribed
by the fund. At this time the member may, but is not required to,
elect under section 742.3711 of the Revised Code to have the
member's monthly pension calculated as a retirement allowance
payable throughout the member's life or a retirement allowance
under option 2 in division (A) of section 742.3711 of the Revised
Code. Unless rescinded during a period specified in rules adopted
under section 742.43 of the Revised Code, the election is
irrevocable from the date it is received by the fund until the
employee ceases to participate in the plan as provided in section
742.444 of the Revised Code.
A member is not required to specify the number of years or
portion of a year the member will participate in the plan but must
agree to terminate active service in a police or fire department
and begin receiving the member's pension not later than the date
that is eight years after the effective date of the election to
participate in the plan or be subject to the forfeiture provisions
of division (C) of section 742.444 of the Revised Code.
The effective date of an election made under this section is
the first day of the employer's first payroll period immediately
following the board's receipt of the notice of election.
Sec. 742.46. The Except as provided in division (F) of
section 742.26 of the Revised Code, the granting of a benefit or
pension to any person under sections 742.01 to 742.61 of the
Revised Code, other than a person participating in the deferred
retirement option plan established under section 742.43 of the
Revised Code, vests a right in such person to obtain and receive
the amount of such benefit or pension granted to the person
subject to sections 742.01 to 742.61 of the Revised Code. Subject
to section 742.444 of the Revised Code, a person participating in
the deferred retirement option plan vests in the right to obtain
and receive the amount accrued to the benefit of the person when
the person ceases participating in the plan.
Such right may be enforced by an action in mandamus
instituted in the court of common pleas in the county in which the
person granted such benefit or pension resides.
Sec. 3307.35. (A) As used in this section and section
3307.352 of the Revised Code, "other:
(1) "Other system retirant" means a member or former member
of the public employees retirement system, Ohio police and fire
pension fund, school employees retirement system, state highway
patrol retirement system, or Cincinnati retirement system who is
receiving age and service or commuted age and service retirement,
or a disability benefit from a system of which the retirant is a
member or former member.
(2) "Retirement benefit" means an age and service retirement
allowance granted by virtue of retirement as described in division
(A)(1) of this section or as a superannuate.
(B) Subject to this section and section 3307.353 of the
Revised Code, a superannuate or other system retirant may be
employed as a teacher.
(C) A superannuate or other system retirant employed in
accordance with this section shall contribute to the state
teachers retirement system in accordance with section 3307.26 of
the Revised Code and the employer shall contribute in accordance
with sections 3307.28 and 3307.31 of the Revised Code. Such
contributions shall be received as specified in section 3307.14 of
the Revised Code. A superannuate or other system retirant employed
as a teacher is not a member of the state teachers retirement
system, does not have any of the rights, privileges, or
obligations of membership, except as provided in this section, and
is not eligible to receive health, medical, hospital, or surgical
benefits under section 3307.39 of the Revised Code for employment
subject to this section.
(D) The employer that employs a superannuate or other system
retirant shall notify the state teachers retirement board of the
employment not later than the end of the month in which the
employment commences. Any overpayment of benefits to a
superannuate by the retirement system resulting from an employer's
failure to give timely notice may be charged to the employer and
may be certified and deducted as provided in section 3307.31 of
the Revised Code.
(E) On receipt of notice from an employer that a person who
is an other system retirant has been employed, the state teachers
retirement system shall notify the state retirement system of
which the other system retirant was a member of such employment.
(F) A superannuate or other system retirant who has received
an allowance or benefit for less than two months when employment
subject to this section commences shall forfeit the allowance or
benefit for any month the superannuate or retirant is employed
prior to the expiration of such period. Contributions shall be
made to the retirement system from the first day of such
employment, but service and contributions for that period shall
not be used in the calculation of any benefit payable to the
superannuate or other system retirant, and those contributions
shall be refunded on the superannuate's or retirant's death or
termination of the employment. Contributions made on compensation
earned after the expiration of such period shall be used in
calculation of the benefit or payment due under section 3307.352
of the Revised Code.
(G) On receipt of notice from the Ohio police and fire
pension fund, public employees retirement system, or school
employees retirement system of the re-employment of a
superannuate, the state teachers retirement system shall not pay,
or if paid shall recover, the amount to be forfeited by the
superannuate in accordance with section 145.38, 742.26, or
3309.341 of the Revised Code.
(H)(1) If, subsequent to the period described in division (F)
of this section, a superannuate or other system retirant is
employed in a position subject to this chapter and has annual
compensation in excess of fourteen thousand one hundred sixty
dollars, as adjusted under division (H)(2) of this section, the
superannuate or retirant shall forfeit one dollar of the
retirement benefit for each two dollars of compensation in the
position subject to this chapter.
(2) The excess earnings base established under division
(H)(1) of this section shall be adjusted each year by the actual
average increase, if any, in the consumer price index prepared by
the United States bureau of labor statistics (U.S. city average
for urban wage earners and clerical workers: "all items
1982-1984=100").
(I) If the disability benefit of an other system retirant
employed under this section is terminated, the retirant shall
become a member of the state teachers retirement system, effective
on the first day of the month next following the termination, with
all the rights, privileges, and obligations of membership. If such
person, after the termination of the retirant's disability
benefit, earns two years of service credit under this retirement
system or under the public employees retirement system, Ohio
police and fire pension fund, school employees retirement system,
or state highway patrol retirement system, the retirant's prior
contributions as an other system retirant under this section shall
be included in the retirant's total service credit, as defined in
section 3307.50 of the Revised Code, as a state teachers
retirement system member, and the retirant shall forfeit all
rights and benefits of this section. Not more than one year of
credit may be given for any period of twelve months.
(I)(J) This section does not affect the receipt of benefits
by or eligibility for benefits of any person who on August 20,
1976, was receiving a disability benefit or service retirement
pension or allowance from a state or municipal retirement system
in Ohio and was a member of any other state or municipal
retirement system of this state.
(J)(K) The state teachers retirement board may make the
necessary rules to carry into effect this section and to prevent
the abuse of the rights and privileges thereunder.
Sec. 3307.42. The Except as provided in division (H) of
section 3307.35 of the Revised Code, the granting to any person of
an allowance, annuity, or pension, as defined in section 3307.50
of the Revised Code, or the granting of a benefit under a plan
established under section 3307.81 of the Revised Code, pursuant to
an action of the state teachers' retirement board vests a right in
such person, so long as the person remains the beneficiary of any
of the funds established by section 3307.14 of the Revised Code,
to receive the allowance, annuity, pension, or benefit at the rate
fixed at the time of granting the allowance, annuity, pension, or
benefit. Such right shall also be vested with equal effect in the
beneficiary of a grant heretofore made from any of the funds named
in section 3307.14 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 3309.341. (A) As used in this section and section
3309.344 of the Revised Code:
(1) "SERS retirant" means any person who is receiving a
retirement allowance from the school employees retirement system
under section 3309.36, 3309.38, or 3309.381 of the Revised Code or
any benefit paid under a plan established under section 3309.81 of
the Revised Code.
(2) "Other system retirant" means a member or former member
of the public employees retirement system, Ohio police and fire
pension fund, state teachers retirement system, state highway
patrol retirement system, or Cincinnati retirement system who is
receiving age and service or commuted age and service retirement,
or a disability benefit from a system of which the retirant is a
member or former member.
(3) "Retirement benefit" means an age and service retirement
allowance granted by virtue of retirement as described in division
(A)(1) or (2) of this section.
(B)(1) Subject to this section and section 3309.345 of the
Revised Code, an SERS retirant or other system retirant may be
employed by a public employer. If so employed, the SERS retirant
or other system retirant shall contribute to the school employees
retirement system in accordance with section 3309.47 of the
Revised Code, and the employer shall make contributions in
accordance with section 3309.49 of the Revised Code.
(2) An employer that employs an SERS retirant or other system
retirant shall notify the retirement board of the employment not
later than the end of the month in which the employment commences.
On receipt of notice from an employer that a person who is an
other system retirant has been employed, the school employees
retirement system shall notify the state retirement system of
which the other system retirant was a member of such employment.
(C) An SERS retirant or other system retirant who has
received a retirement allowance or disability benefit for less
than two months when employment subject to this section commences
shall forfeit the retirement allowance or disability benefit for
any month the SERS retirant or other system retirant is employed
prior to the expiration of the two-month period. Service and
contributions for that period shall not be included in the
calculation of any benefits payable to the SERS retirant or other
system retirant, and those contributions shall be refunded on
death or termination of the employment. Contributions made on
compensation earned after the expiration of such period shall be
used in the calculation of the benefit or payment due under
section 3309.344 of the Revised Code.
(D) On receipt of notice from the Ohio police and fire
pension fund, public employees retirement system, or state
teachers retirement system of the re-employment of an SERS
retirant, the school employees retirement system shall not pay, or
if paid shall recover, the amount to be forfeited by the SERS
retirant in accordance with section 145.38, 742.26, or 3307.35 of
the Revised Code.
(E)(1) If, subsequent to the period described in division (C)
of this section, an SERS retirant or other system retirant is
employed in a position subject to this chapter and has annual
compensation in excess of fourteen thousand one hundred sixty
dollars, as adjusted under division (E)(2) of this section, the
retirant shall forfeit one dollar of the retirement allowance for
each two dollars of compensation in the position subject to this
chapter.
(2) The excess earnings base established under division
(E)(1) of this section shall be adjusted each year by the actual
average increase, if any, in the consumer price index prepared by
the United States bureau of labor statistics (U.S. city average
for urban wage earners and clerical workers: "all items
1982-1984=100").
(F) An SERS retirant or other system retirant subject to this
section is not a member of the school employees retirement system;
does not have any of the rights, privileges, or obligations of
membership, except as specified in this section; and is not
eligible to receive health, medical, hospital, or surgical
benefits under section 3309.69 of the Revised Code for employment
subject to this section.
(F)(G) If the disability benefit of an other system retirant
employed under this section is terminated, the retirant shall
become a member of the school employees retirement system,
effective on the first day of the month next following the
termination, with all the rights, privileges, and obligations of
membership. If the retirant, after the termination of the
disability benefit, earns two years of service credit under this
retirement system or under the public employees retirement system,
Ohio police and fire pension fund, state teachers retirement
system, or state highway patrol retirement system, the retirant's
prior contributions as an other system retirant under this section
shall be included in the retirant's total service credit as a
school employees retirement system member, and the retirant shall
forfeit all rights and benefits of this section. Not more than one
year of credit may be given for any period of twelve months.
(G)(H) This section does not affect the receipt of benefits
by or eligibility for benefits of any person who on August 29,
1976, was receiving a disability benefit or service retirement
pension or allowance from a state or municipal retirement system
in Ohio and was a member of any other state or municipal
retirement system of this state.
(H)(I) The school employees retirement board may adopt rules
to carry out this section.
Sec. 3309.661. The Except as provided in division (E) of
section 3309.341 of the Revised Code, the granting of a retirement
allowance, annuity, pension, or other benefit to any person
pursuant to action of the school employees retirement board vests
a right in such person, so long as he the person remains the
recipient of any of the funds established by section 3309.60 of
the Revised Code, to receive such retirement allowance, annuity,
pension, or benefit. Such right shall also be vested with equal
effect in the recipient of a grant heretofore made from any of the
funds named in section 3309.60 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 3501.13. (A) The director of the board of elections
shall keep a full and true record of the proceedings of the board
and of all moneys received and expended; file and preserve in the
board's office all orders and records pertaining to the
administration of registrations, primaries, and elections; receive
and have the custody of all books, papers, and property belonging
to the board; and perform other duties in connection with the
office of director and the proper conduct of elections as the
board determines.
(B) Before entering upon the duties of the office, the
director shall subscribe to an oath that the director will support
the Constitution of the United States and the Ohio Constitution,
perform all the duties of the office to the best of the director's
ability, enforce the election laws, and preserve all records,
documents, and other property pertaining to the conduct of
elections placed in the director's custody.
(C) The director may administer oaths to persons required by
law to file certificates or other papers with the board, to judges
of elections, to witnesses who are called to testify before the
board, and to voters filling out blanks at the board's offices.
Except as otherwise provided by state or federal law, the records
of the board and papers and books filed in its office are public
records and open to inspection under such reasonable regulations
as shall be established by the board. The following notice shall
be posted in a prominent place at each board office:
"Except as otherwise provided by state or federal law,
records filed in this office of the board of elections are open to
public inspection during normal office hours, pursuant to the
following reasonable regulations: (the board shall here list its
regulations). Whoever prohibits any person from inspecting the
public records of this board is subject to the penalties of
section 3599.161 of the Revised Code."
(D) Upon receipt of a written declaration of intent to retire
as provided for in section 145.38 of the Revised Code, the
director shall provide a copy to each member of the board of
elections.
Sec. 5505.51. A state highway patrol retirement system member
who meets the following requirements may, at any time prior to
applying for a pension under section 5505.16 of the Revised Code
and prior to the effective date of this amendment, elect to
participate in the deferred retirement option plan established
under section 5505.50 of the Revised Code:
(1)(A) The member is younger than fifty-eight years of age.
(2)(B) The member is eligible to apply for a pension under
section 5505.16 of the Revised Code, unless the pension is a
reduced pension as described in division (B) of that section.
The member shall make the election by filing with the
retirement system an election form provided by the system. The
election is effective on the day the member files the election
form. No election to participate in the plan may be made after the
effective date of this amendment.
At the time of making the election to participate in the
deferred retirement option plan, the member also shall make an
election under section 5505.162 of the Revised Code. Except as
provided in that section, the election under section 5505.162 of
the Revised Code is irrevocable from the date it is received by
the retirement system.
A member electing to participate in the deferred retirement
option plan must agree to terminate active service in the state
highway patrol and begin receiving the member's pension not later
than the earlier of the member's sixtieth birthday or the date
that is eight years after the effective date of the election to
participate in the plan. If the member refuses or neglects to
terminate active service in accordance with the agreement, the
state highway patrol retirement board shall deem the member's
service terminated.
A member electing to participate in the deferred retirement
option plan is a retirant for the purposes of rules adopted by the
state highway patrol retirement board.
Section 2. That existing sections 145.01, 145.191, 145.38,
145.384, 145.473, 145.561, 145.58, 742.26, 742.44, 742.46,
3307.35, 3307.42, 3309.341, 3309.661, 3501.13, and 5505.51 of the
Revised Code are hereby repealed.
|
|