49-13-402. Service retirement plans — Calculation of retirement allowance.
(1)
Terms Used In Utah Code 49-13-402
Annuity: means monthly payments derived from member contributions. See Utah Code 49-11-102
Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
Compensation: means the total amount of payments made by a participating employer to a member of this system for services rendered to the participating employer, including:
(i)
bonuses;
(ii)
cost-of-living adjustments;
(iii)
other payments currently includable in gross income and that are subject to social security deductions, including any payments in excess of the maximum amount subject to deduction under social security law; and
(iv)
amounts that the member authorizes to be deducted or reduced for salary deferral or other benefits authorized by federal law. See Utah Code 49-13-102
Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
Educational institution: means a political subdivision or instrumentality of the state or a combination thereof primarily engaged in educational activities or the administration or servicing of educational activities, including:
(a)
the State Board of Education and its instrumentalities;
(b)
any institution of higher education and its branches;
(c)
any school district and its instrumentalities;
(d)
any vocational and technical school; and
(e)
any entity arising out of a consolidation agreement between entities described under this Subsection (22). See Utah Code 49-11-102
Employer: means any department, educational institution, or political subdivision of the state eligible to participate in a government-sponsored retirement system under federal law. See Utah Code 49-11-102
Final average monthly salary: means the amount computed by dividing the compensation received during the final average salary period under each system by the number of months in the final average salary period. See Utah Code 49-11-102
Final average salary: means the amount calculated by averaging the highest three years of annual compensation preceding retirement subject to Subsections (3)(b), (c), (d), and (e). See Utah Code 49-13-102
Member contributions: means the sum of the contributions paid to a system or the Utah Governors' and Legislators' Retirement Plan, including refund interest if allowed by a system, and which are made by:
(a)
the member; and
(b)
the participating employer on the member's behalf under Section 414(h) of the Internal Revenue Code. See Utah Code 49-11-102
Month: means a calendar month, unless otherwise expressed. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
Retiree: means an individual who has qualified for an allowance under this title. See Utah Code 49-11-102
Retirement: means the status of an individual who has become eligible, applies for, and is entitled to receive an allowance under this title. See Utah Code 49-11-102
retirement allowance: means the pension plus the annuity, including any cost of living or other authorized adjustments to the pension and annuity. See Utah Code 49-11-102
Retirement date: means the date selected by the member on which the member's retirement becomes effective with the office. See Utah Code 49-11-102
Service credit: means :
(a)
the period during which an employee is employed and compensated by a participating employer and meets the eligibility requirements for membership in a system or the Utah Governors' and Legislators' Retirement Plan, provided that any required contributions are paid to the office; and
(b)
periods of time otherwise purchasable under this title. See Utah Code 49-11-102
System: means the Public Employees' Noncontributory Retirement System. See Utah Code 49-13-102
Utah Board of Higher Education: means the Utah Board of Higher Education described in Section 53B-1-402. See Utah Code 49-11-102
Years of service credit: means :
(a)
a period consisting of 12 full months as determined by the board;
(b)
a period determined by the board, whether consecutive or not, during which a regular full-time employee performed services for a participating employer, including any time the regular full-time employee was absent on a paid leave of absence granted by a participating employer or was absent in the service of the United States government on military duty as provided by this chapter; or
(c)
the regular school year consisting of not less than eight months of full-time service for a regular full-time employee of an educational institution. See Utah Code 49-13-102
(a)
Except as provided under Subsection (7) or Section 49-13-701, retirees of this system may choose from the six retirement options described in this section.
(b)
Options Two, Three, Four, Five, and Six are modifications of the Option One calculation.
(2)
The Option One benefit is an allowance calculated as follows:
(a)
If the retiree is at least 65 years of age or has accrued at least 30 years of service credit, the allowance is an amount equal to 2% of the retiree’s final average monthly salary multiplied by the number of years of service credit accrued.
(b)
If the retiree is less than 65 years of age, the allowance shall be reduced 3% for each year of retirement from age 60 to age 65, plus a full actuarial reduction for each year of retirement prior to age 60, unless the member has 30 or more years of accrued credit, in which event no reduction is made to the allowance.
(c)
(i)
Years of service include any fractions of years of service to which the retiree may be entitled.
(ii)
At the time of retirement, if a retiree’s combined years of actual, not purchased, service credit is within 1/10 of one year of the total years of service credit required for retirement, the retiree shall be considered to have the total years of service credit required for retirement.
(d)
An Option One allowance is only payable to the member during the member’s lifetime.
(3)
The allowance payable under Options Two, Three, Four, Five, and Six is calculated by reducing an Option One benefit based on actuarial computations to provide the following:
(a)
Option Two is a reduced allowance paid to and throughout the lifetime of the retiree, and, if the retiree receives less in annuity payments than the amount of the retiree’s member contributions, the remaining balance of the retiree’s member contributions shall be paid in accordance with Sections 49-11-609 and 49-11-610.
(b)
Option Three is a reduced allowance paid to and throughout the lifetime of the retiree, and, upon the death of the retiree, the same reduced allowance paid to and throughout the lifetime of the retiree’s lawful spouse at the time of retirement.
(c)
Option Four is a reduced allowance paid to and throughout the lifetime of the retiree, and upon the death of the retiree, an amount equal to one-half of the retiree’s allowance paid to and throughout the lifetime of the retiree’s lawful spouse at the time of retirement.
(d)
Option Five is a modification of Option Three so that if the lawful spouse at the time of retirement predeceases the retiree, an allowance equivalent to the amount payable at the time of initial retirement under Option One shall be paid to the retiree for the remainder of the retiree’s life, beginning on the first day of the month following the month in which the:
(i)
spouse died, if notification and supporting documentation for the death are received by the office within 90 days of the spouse’s death; or
(ii)
notification and supporting documentation for the death are received by the office, if the notification and supporting documentation are received by the office more than 90 days after the spouse’s death.
(e)
Option Six is a modification of Option Four so that if the lawful spouse at the time of retirement predeceases the retiree, an allowance equivalent to the amount payable at the time of initial retirement under Option One shall be paid to the retiree for the remainder of the retiree’s life, beginning on the first day of the month following the month in which the:
(i)
spouse died, if notification and supporting documentation for the death are received by the office within 90 days of the spouse’s death; or
(ii)
notification and supporting documentation for the death are received by the office, if the notification and supporting documentation are received by the office more than 90 days after the spouse’s death.
(4)
(a)
(i)
The final average salary is limited in the computation of that part of an allowance based on service rendered prior to July 1, 1967, during a period when the retiree received employer contributions on a portion of compensation from an educational institution toward the payment of the premium required on a retirement annuitycontract with a public or private system, organization, or company designated by the Utah Board of Higher Education to $4,800.
(ii)
This limitation is not applicable to retirees who elected to continue in the Public Employees’ Contributory RetirementSystem by July 1, 1967.
(b)
Periods of employment which are exempt from this system as permitted under Subsection 49-13-203(1)(b) may be purchased by the member for the purpose of retirement only if all benefits from a public or private system, organization, or company designated by the Utah Board of Higher Education based on this period of employment are forfeited.
(5)
(a)
If a retiree under Option One dies within 90 days after the retiree’s retirement date, the retirement is canceled and the death shall be considered as that of a member before retirement.
(b)
Any payments made to the retiree shall be deducted from the amounts due to the beneficiary.
(6)
(a)
If a retiree retires under either Option Five or Six and subsequently divorces, the retiree may elect to convert the benefit to an Option One benefit at the time of divorce, if there is no court order filed in the matter.
(b)
A conversion to an Option One benefit under this Subsection (6) begins on the first day of the month following the month in which the notification and supporting documentation for the divorce are received by the office.
(7)
A retiree may not choose payment of an allowance under a retirement option described in this section that is not applicable to that retiree, including because the retiree did not make member contributions or does not have a lawful spouse at the time of retirement.
