49-11-402 - Purchase of military service credit.
49-11-402. Purchase of military service credit.
(1) A member who is absent from employment with a participating employer by reasonof an official call to full-time United States military service may receive service credit for thatmilitary service as follows:
(a) the member, the participating employer, or the member and participating employerjointly shall make the required payments, as determined by the office, to the system in which themember participated at the time of the official call, according to the law governing that particularsystem;
(b) prior to a member's retirement date, the required payments shall be made:
(i) during the period of full-time United States military service;
(ii) after the military service, but within a period not to exceed three times the period ofmilitary service up to a maximum of five years; or
(iii) as otherwise allowed by federal law;
(c) required payments shall be based on the member's compensation at the time of theofficial military call;
(d) if a required payment is not made within the time allowed under Subsection (1)(b),the member or participating employer may purchase the service credit as allowed in Subsection(2); and
(e) the member shall return to employment with the participating employer uponreceiving an honorable discharge from military service and there may not be interveningemployment outside of the employment with the participating employer.
(2) (a) A member, a participating employer, or a member and a participating employerjointly, may purchase service credit for full-time United States military service, resulting from anofficial call to duty, if the member has four or more years of service credit and the militaryservice does not otherwise qualify for service credit under this title.
(b) Payment to the office for a military service credit purchase shall be made to thesystem under which the member is currently covered in an amount determined by the office basedon a formula recommended by the actuary and adopted by the board.
(c) The purchase shall be made through payroll deductions or through a lump sumdeposit based upon the present value of future payments.
(d) If total payment is not completed prior to retirement, service credit shall be proratedin accordance with the amount paid.
(3) For purposes of Subsection (2), full-time United States military service does notinclude any regularly scheduled or annual military service that is required by a reserve unit,National Guard unit, or any other United States military unit.
(4) (a) If any of the factors used to determine the cost of a service credit purchase changeat or before the member's retirement date, the cost of the purchase shall be recalculated.
(b) If the recalculated cost exceeds the amount paid for the purchase, the member may:
(i) pay the increased cost, plus interest, to receive the full amount of service credit; or
(ii) not pay the increased cost and have the purchased service credit prorated.
(5) If the recalculated cost under Subsection (4) is less than the amount paid for thepurchase, the office shall refund the excess payment to the member or participating employerwho paid for the purchase.
(6) (a) The board may adopt rules under which a member may make the necessarypayments to the office for purchases under this title as permitted by federal law.
(b) The office may reject any payments if the office determines the tax status of thesystem, plans, or programs would be jeopardized by allowing the payment.
Renumbered and Amended by Chapter 250, 2002 General Session