Sec. 5-162. Retirement date and retirement income.
Sec. 5-162. Retirement date and retirement income. (a) The retirement income
for which a member is eligible shall be determined from his retirement date, years of
state service and base salary, in accordance with the schedule in subsection (c) or (d)
below, whichever is appropriate.
(b) As used in this section: (1) "Base salary" means the average annual regular
salary, as defined in subsection (h) of section 5-154, received by a member for his three
highest-paid years of state service, disregarding any general temporary reduction or
any reduction or nonpayment for illness or other temporary absence; "retirement date"
means the date on which a member is retired from state service; "Social Security earnings" means that portion of the member's base salary up to and including the sum of forty-eight hundred dollars on which the state made contributions under the Social Security
Agreement, or would have made contributions had the member been covered under
Social Security by the state during the years used in determining his base salary; "excess
earnings" means that portion of the member's annual base salary in excess of his Social
Security earnings, provided, if the member has no Social Security earnings because the
state has made no Social Security contributions for him, his excess earnings shall equal
his base salary. (2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (1) of this subsection,
on and after January 1, 1984, "base salary" means the average covered earnings received
by a member for his three highest-paid years of state service, disregarding any general
temporary reduction or any reduction or nonpayment for illness or other absence which
does not exceed ninety days; and "covered earnings" means the annual salary, as defined
in subsection (h) of section 5-154, received by a member in a year, limited by one
hundred thirty per cent of the average of the two previous years' covered earnings. The
limit does not apply to earnings for calendar years before 1984 or for the first three full
or partial years of employment. The Retirement Commission may adopt regulations in
accordance with chapter 54 determining the procedure to be followed for a member
who was not employed on a full-time basis for the entire two previous years used to
develop such limit.
(c) Schedule 1-Twenty-five or more years of state service.
(1) Except as provided in section 5-163a, each member who has completed twenty-five or more years of state service shall be retired on his own application on the first
day of the month named in the application, and on or after the member's fifty-fifth
birthday.
(2) Each member who has completed twenty-five or more years of state service and
has reached his seventieth birthday and who is in an appointive position shall continue
in service and shall be retired on the first day of the month on or after his seventieth
birthday, upon notice from the Retirement Commission to the member, to the executive
head of his agency and the Comptroller.
(3) Each member referred to in subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection shall
receive a monthly retirement income beginning on his retirement date equal to one-twelfth of (A) plus (B): (A) Twenty-five per cent of his Social Security earnings, plus
fifty per cent of his excess earnings; (B) the number of years, if any, taken to completed
months, of his state service in excess of twenty-five years multiplied by one per cent of
his Social Security earnings, plus the number of such years multiplied by two per cent
of his excess earnings.
(d) Schedule 2-Less than twenty-five years of state service.
(1) Except as provided in section 5-163a, each member who has completed less
than twenty-five years of state service shall be retired on his own application, on the
first day of the month following his application, if the member has completed ten years
of state service and reached his fifty-fifth birthday.
(2) Each such member in an appointive position who has reached his seventieth
birthday shall continue in service and shall be retired on the first day of the month on
or after his seventieth birthday, upon notice from the Retirement Commission to the
member, the executive head of his agency and the Comptroller.
(3) Each member referred to in subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection shall
receive a monthly retirement income beginning on his retirement date equal to one-twelfth of (A) plus (B): (A) The number of years of his state service, taken to completed
months, multiplied by the applicable percentage of his Social Security earnings determined from the table below for the appropriate age and years of state service; (B) the
number of such years multiplied by the applicable percentage of his excess earnings
determined from the table below for such age and years of service.
Age Of Member
On His Retirement
Date
Years
Of State
Service**
Percentage
Of Social Security
Earnings
Excess
Earnings
70 and over5 and over*1.25%2.50%
65 to 70101.002.00
6410.941.88
6310.881.76
6210.821.64
6110.761.52
6010.701.40
5910.651.30
5810.601.20
5710.561.12
5610.531.06
5510.501.00
*Not more than 20 years may be counted for this age and percentage group.
**Between the ages of fifty-five and sixty, the minimum service requirement is ten
years of actual state service.
For each full year of service beyond ten, the percentage of Social Security earnings shall
be increased by one-fifteenth of the difference between one and the percentage shown
in the above table opposite the age of the retiring employee, and the percentage of
excess earnings shall be increased by one-fifteenth of the difference between two and
the percentage shown in the above table opposite the age of the retiring employee.
(e) Each retirement application shall be made to the Retirement Commission and,
upon its approval, shall be forwarded to the Comptroller, who shall draw his orders
upon the Treasurer for any amounts the applicant is entitled to receive.
(f) Pension contributions made by a member on any earnings excluded from his
base salary when calculating the member's retirement income, pursuant to the maximum
limitations on covered earnings in subsection (b) of this section, shall be refunded to
the member by the Retirement Commission at the time of his retirement.
(1949 Rev., S. 382, 386; 1951, S. 150d; 1951, 1955, S. 152d; 1957, P.A. 595, S. 7, 8; 670, S. 1; 1958 Rev., S. 5-101,
5-105, 5-108; 1959, P.A. 396, S. 1, 2; 1961, P.A. 234, S. 11; 437; February, 1965, P.A. 107, S. 1, 2; 243; 1967, P.A. 637,
S. 9, 10; 657, S. 78; P.A. 75-531, S. 1, 2, 6; P.A. 77-90; 77-390, S. 7, 8; P.A. 80-294, S. 1, 7; P.A. 83-533, S. 8, 54; P.A.
84-411, S. 3, 8; P.A. 85-510, S. 11, 35.)
History: 1959 act increased mandatory retirement age for woman from 65 to 70 and added subparagraph (1)(A) to
Subdiv. (d); 1961 acts "restated" state employees retirement act "in a simpler, clearer and more orderly form" and amended
definition of social security earnings in Subsec. (b) by adding "up to and including" the sum of $4,800; 1965 acts amended
Subsec. (b) to redefine "base salary" to mean the average received for the three rather than the 5 highest-paid years of state
service and amended Subsecs. (c)(2) and (d)(2) to specify members to "continue in service" after their seventieth birthday
and be retired on the first day of the following month; 1967 acts added provision for increasing percentage of social security
and excess earnings in calculating benefits for employees with more than 10 years' service and made provision retroactive
in Subsec. (d) and amended Subsec. (b) to include longevity payments in definition of "base salary"; P.A. 75-531 amended
Subsecs. (c) and (d) deleting all provisions making distinctions between men and women for retirement purposes; P.A.
77-90 omitted provision in Subsec. (c)(1) concerning retirement of member by virtue of application from agency head;
P.A. 77-390 added note to table in Subsec. (d) allowing retirement between ages 55 and 60 with minimum of 10 years'
actual full-time service as described in Sec. 5-166; P.A. 80-294 changed note deleting words "full-time" and "as described
in section 5-166"; P.A. 83-533 amended Subsec. (b) by adding definition of "base salary" to be used on and after January
1, 1984; P.A. 84-411 amended Subsec. (d)(1) to change retirement age from 60 to 55; P.A. 85-510 added Subsec. (f) re
refund of certain pension contributions.
See Sec. 5-154(h) re definition of "salary".
See Sec. 5-162f re minimum monthly retirement income.
See Sec. 5-164a re retirement credit afforded reemployed retired employees.
See Sec. 5-173 re special service retirement credit rules concerning state police, certain correctional employees, etc.
See Sec. 5-188 re retirement salary of detectives.
What constitutes state service; service in foot guard, as voting machine commissioner and as trustee of state hospital
may not be counted in determining years of service. 129 C. 266. Cited. 195 C. 405. Cited. 218 C. 729. Sec. 5-162 et seq.
cited. 234 C. 424.
Cited. 2 CA 196. Cited. 34 CA 510; judgment reversed, see 234 C. 424. Full dollar value of accrued vacation and final
longevity payments received by potential retiree in final year of state service should be added to "salary" received during
such final year of state service for the purpose of calculating "base salary." 92 CA 712.
Compensation has no bearing on right to retire. Nothing in subsec. (e) requires the exercise of discretion. 10 CS 78;
Id., 346. No bearing on whether or not one is in state service. Id. Public utilities commissioner is in state service. Id. Former
statute cited. 16 CS 197; 22 CS 97.
Subsec. (b):
Cited. 234 C. 411; Id., 424. Appellate Court erred in determining that accrued vacation time is not treated as state
service in calculation of base salary under Subsec. The dollar value of accrued vacation time benefits is not to be added
directly to a retiree's final year salary for purpose of calculating base salary. 284 C. 149.
Subsec. (c):
Subdiv. (1) cited. 170 C. 668.