TITLE 59

PUBLIC OFFICERS IN GENERAL

CHAPTER 13

PUBLIC EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT SYSTEM

59-1342.  Computation of service retirement allowances — Minimum benefits. (1) The annual amount of accrued retirement allowance for each month of credited service for which a member was not classified as a police member or firefighter shall equal one and two-thirds percent (1 2/3%) of the member’s average monthly salary. Effective October 1, 1992, the annual amount of accrued retirement allowance for all service for which a member was not classified as a police member or firefighter shall equal one and seventy-five hundredths percent (1.75%) of the member’s average monthly salary; effective October 1, 1993, the annual amount of accrued retirement allowance shall equal one and eight hundred thirty-three thousandths percent (1.833%) of the member’s average monthly salary; effective October 1, 1994, the annual amount of accrued retirement allowance shall equal one and nine hundred seventeen thousandths percent (1.917%); and effective June 30, 2000, the annual amount of accrued retirement allowance shall equal two percent (2%) of the member’s average monthly salary. Entitlement to an annual amount of accrued retirement allowance shall not vest until the effective date of that annual amount of accrued retirement allowance. The retirement benefits shall be calculated on the amounts, terms and conditions in effect on the date of the final contribution by the member. The annual amount of initial service retirement allowance of such a member shall equal paragraph (a) or (b) of this subsection, whichever is greater:

(a)  The member’s accrued retirement allowance; or

(b)  Five dollars ($5.00) multiplied by the number of months of credited service and by the bridging factor, as provided in section 59-1355, Idaho Code, between July 1, 1974, and the first of the month following the member’s final contribution.

(2)  The annual amount of accrued retirement allowance for each month of credited service for which a member was classified as a police member or firefighter shall equal two percent (2%) of the member’s average monthly salary. Effective October 1, 1992, the annual amount of accrued retirement allowance for all service for which a member was classified as a police member or firefighter shall equal two and seventy-five thousandths percent (2.075%) of the member’s average monthly salary; effective October 1, 1993, the annual amount of accrued retirement allowance shall equal two and fifteen hundredths percent (2.15%) of the member’s average monthly salary; effective October 1, 1994, the annual amount of accrued retirement allowance shall equal two and two hundred twenty-five thousandths percent (2.225%); and effective June 30, 2000, the annual amount of accrued retirement allowance shall equal two and three-tenths percent (2.3%) of the member’s average monthly salary. Entitlement to an annual amount of accrued retirement allowance shall not vest until the effective date of that annual amount of accrued retirement allowance. The retirement benefits shall be calculated on the amounts, terms and conditions in effect on the date of the final contribution by the member. The annual amount of initial service retirement allowance of such a member shall equal paragraph (a) or (b) of this subsection, whichever is greater:

(a)  The member’s accrued retirement allowance; or

(b)  Six dollars ($6.00) multiplied by the number of months of credited service and by the bridging factor, as provided in section 59-1355, Idaho Code, between July 1, 1974, and the first of the month following the member’s final contribution.

(3)  The provisions of this section shall be applicable to members and contingent annuitants of the retirement system and to members, annuitants and beneficiaries of the teachers and city systems. In any recomputation of an initial retirement allowance for a person not making a final contribution subsequent to 1974, the bridging factor referred to in subsections (1) and (2) of this section shall be 1.000. Any recomputed retirement allowance shall be payable only prospectively from July 1, 1974.

(4)  Benefits payable to a person who became a member prior to July 1, 1974, or to the member’s beneficiaries shall never be less than they would have received under this chapter as in effect on June 30, 1974; provided, however, that the member shall have accrued the amount of accumulated contributions required thereby prior to payment of an initial retirement allowance.

(5)(a)  If the majority of a member’s credited service is as an elected official or as an appointed official, including a member of the Idaho legislature who first took office after July 1, 2019, and that official was normally in the administrative offices of the employer less than twenty (20) hours per week during the term of office, or was normally not required to be present at any particular workstation for the employer twenty (20) hours per week or more during the term of office, that member’s initial service retirement allowance shall be the sum of:

(i)  That amount computed under subsection (1) and/or (2) of this section for only those months of service as an elected or an appointed official that are in excess of the months of other credited service, without consideration of any other credited service; and

(ii)  That accrued service retirement allowance that is computed from an average monthly salary for salary received during the member’s total months of credited service excluding those excess months referenced in subparagraph (i) of this paragraph.

(b)  The initial service retirement allowance of members of the Idaho legislature who first took office on or before July 1, 2019, will be computed under subsection (1) and/or (2) of this section, on the basis of their total months of credited service.

(6)  In no case, however, will a member’s initial service retirement benefit be equal to more than the member’s accrued benefit as of May 1, 1990, or one hundred percent (100%) of the member’s average compensation for the three (3) consecutive years of employment that produce the greatest aggregate compensation, whichever is greater. If the benefit is calculated to exceed one hundred percent (100%) of the member’s average compensation, the member shall be eligible for and may choose either:

(a)  An annual service retirement allowance equal to the member’s average annual compensation for the three (3) consecutive years of employment that produced the greatest aggregate compensation; or

(b)  A separation benefit.

(7)  The annual amount of initial service retirement allowance of a member who is over age seventy (70) years on the effective date of the member’s retirement shall be a percentage of the member’s initial service retirement allowance. Such percentage shall be one hundred percent (100%) increased as determined by the board to compensate for each month that the member’s retirement is deferred beyond age seventy (70) years.

(8)  A member’s accrued retirement allowance, as otherwise provided in subsections (1), (2), (3), (4) and (5) of this section, shall not be less than the minimum accrued retirement allowance provided in this subsection. The determination of the initial service retirement allowance provided in subsections (1) and (2) of this section, and the application of the provisions in subsections (6) and (7) of this section, will be made after the determination of the minimum accrued retirement allowance provided in this subsection.

This subsection shall apply to members who have at least two (2) separate periods of employment covered under this chapter where each separate period of employment would otherwise be eligible for a separation benefit described in section 59-1359, Idaho Code. For purposes of this subsection, if a separation of employment occurs that does not exceed sixty (60) consecutive calendar months, then the member’s period of employment shall be considered a continuous period of employment. For purposes of this subsection, the date of last contribution is the date of final contribution for each period or periods of employment.

For each separate period of employment considered under this subsection, the member must not have received a separation benefit for that period or, if he has received such a separation benefit under section 59-1359, Idaho Code, he must have completed reinstatement of all previous credited service associated with all separation benefits for all periods of employment as permitted under section 59-1360, Idaho Code.

The minimum accrued retirement allowance shall be equal to the largest accrued retirement allowance calculated at each date of last contribution based upon the benefit and eligibility provisions in effect as of the date of the last contribution made during such separate period of employment. For purposes of determining the accrued retirement allowance for each date of last contribution:

(a)  The member must have at least sixty (60) months of credited service at the date of last contribution;

(b)  The member’s months of credited service and average monthly salary are determined based solely on all periods of employment up to that date of last contribution, ignoring later periods of employment; and

(c)  The accrued retirement allowance computed for each period is multiplied by the bridging factor as provided in section 59-1355(3), Idaho Code, between the date of the last contribution made during that separate period of employment and the date of the member’s final contribution made during the last period of employment prior to retirement.

History:

[(59-1342) I.C., sec. 59-1319, as added by 1974, ch. 57, sec. 10, p. 1118; am. 1979, ch. 26, sec. 2, p. 41; am. 1985, ch. 168, sec. 2, p. 446; am. 1985, ch. 193, sec. 1, p. 492; am. and redesig. 1990, ch. 231, sec. 30, p. 633; am. 1990, ch. 249, sec. 4, p. 708; am. 1990, ch. 258, sec. 1, p. 738; am. 1991, ch. 61, sec. 4, p. 146; am. 1992, ch. 220, sec. 6, p. 666; am. 1992, ch. 342, sec. 2, p. 1042; am. 1994, ch. 276, sec. 3, p. 861; am. 1997, ch. 110, sec. 1, p. 266; am. 2000, ch. 209, sec. 1, p. 533; am. 2009, ch. 237, sec. 1, p. 729; am. 2019, ch. 75, sec. 1, p. 174.]