Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 18, September 24, 2024
A. In order to
claim service credit for service rendered prior to August 1, 1947 or for a
period prior to the employer becoming an affiliated public employer, a member
shall:
(1) file a claim for the period of
employment showing specific beginning and ending dates of employment;
(2) provide certification of employment to
the association for the period or periods claimed as prior service;
(3) file an affidavit, to be certified and
signed by two other persons who know of the employment, together with any
additional documentary evidence available which may be required by the board if
no records are available for the period of prior service claimed;
(4) provide payroll records, personnel action
forms showing hire date(s), term of employment, full-time or part-time, job
classification, salary amounts and dates of personnel actions, job description,
if any;
(5) contribution history
from the federal social security administration for the claimed period of
employment, if applicable.
B. Forfeited service credit may be reinstated
by repayment of withdrawn member contributions, together with interest from the
date of withdrawal to the date of repayment at the rate or rates set by the
board, under the following conditions:
(1)
Service credit may be reinstated in one-year increments, beginning with the
most recently forfeited service credit. A one-year increment is 12 consecutive
but not necessarily continuous months of service credit. For the purpose of
eligibility to retire only, less than one year of service credit may be
purchased. After reinstatement of all 12-month "years" as defined herein, any
remaining service credit that totals less than 12 months may be reinstated by
payment in one lump sum as provided herein.
(2) All forfeited service credit may also be
reinstated by repayment of the total amount of all member contributions
withdrawn from each period of service together with interest from the date of
withdrawal to the date of repayment at the rate set by the board.
(3) A former member who is employed by an
employer covered under the Educational Retirement Act must provide evidence of
current contributing membership in the educational retirement association; such
evidence shall be either certification by the employer, in the form prescribed
by the association, or certification by the educational retirement association
(ERA).
(4) Payment for reinstated
service credit must be received by the association prior to the member's
effective date of retirement.
(5)
Interest received to reinstate forfeited service credit under this subsection
shall not be refunded to the member. The purchase cost received to reinstate
forfeited service credit which is determined to be unnecessary to provide the
maximum pension applicable to the member and which is purchased in reliance on
information provided by PERA shall be refunded to the member.
C. "Actual credited service" for
purposes of NMSA 1978, Section
10-11-27
and Section
10-11-115.2
means only that service credit earned during periods of employment with the New
Mexico state police in the positions of patrolman, sergeant, lieutenant,
captain or aircraft division pilot, with the corrections department or its
successor agency after July 1, 2004 in the positions of adult correctional
officer or adult correctional officer specialist, or as a municipal detention
officer member. No permissive service credit which is purchased by state police
members, adult correctional officer members, or municipal detention officer
members shall be increased by 20% as provided in NMSA 1978, Section
10-11-27
or Section
10-11-115.2.
With respect to service credit acquired for periods of military service, only
that service credit which is acquired for intervening military service during a
period of employment as a state police member, an adult correctional officer
member after July 1, 2004 or as a municipal detention officer member shall be
increased by 20%, provided that the member was a retired member or a member on
June 30, 2013.
D. Military service
credit is free in some cases and may be purchased in other cases as provided by
statute.
(1) Where a member wishes to claim
service credit pursuant to NMSA 1978, Section
10-11-6
the association shall, upon the member's request, furnish that member a form of
affidavit for completion and certification of such service. The affidavit shall
be accompanied by documentary evidence of the member's entry and discharge from
service in a uniformed service of the United States.
(2) The affiliated public employer by whom
the member was employed immediately prior to entering a uniformed service of
the United States shall certify in writing the date the member stopped
rendering personal service to the employer. This requirement may be waived if
PERA records contain sufficient documentation to support the date the member
stopped rendering personal service.
(3) The affiliated public employer by whom
the member was employed immediately after discharge from a uniformed service of
the United States shall certify in writing to the association the date the
member started rendering personal service to the employer. This requirement may
be waived if PERA records contain sufficient documentation of the date of
return to employment. Members who are not reemployed by an affiliated public
employer within ninety days following termination of the period of intervening
service but who nevertheless claim reemployment rights under federal law shall
provide to the association written certification from the affiliated public
employer that the member is entitled to reemployment rights under the Uniformed
Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994, as amended.
(4) The affidavit, employer certifications,
and documentary evidence of uniformed service shall be presented to the
association for approval.
(5)
Service credit for periods of intervening service in the uniformed services
following voluntary enlistment, reenlistment or appointment shall be awarded
only upon compliance by the member and the affiliated public employer with the
provisions of NMSA 1978, Section
10-11-6,
as amended, and the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act
of 1994, as amended, including but not limited to the payment to the
association of contributions required from the member and the
employer.
(6) PERA members who are
also members of the military service reserve components who are activated
pursuant to a federal call to duty, deployment or peacekeeping mission or other
declared national emergency may receive free service credit subject to the
conditions of this section. The member must provide a form DD 214 or other
documentation as required by PERA to support an award of free service
credit.
(7) Payment for military
service credit must be received by the association prior to the member's
effective date of retirement.
E. A member who claims service credit for one
or more periods of employment for which an employer failed to remit the
required contributions to the association may receive service credit only after
receipt by the association of payment by the employer of the delinquent
contributions plus applicable interest and penalties, if any, along with the
following documentation:
(1) payroll records
for the claimed periods of employment, indicating the salary for the claimed
employment dates;
(2) personnel
action forms showing hire date(s), term of employment, job classification,
salary amounts and dates of personnel actions;
(3) job description;
(4) contribution history from the federal
social security administration for the claimed period of employment, if
applicable;
(5) explanation from
the employer as to why contributions were not withheld or paid to the
association;
(6) any other
information requested by the association; if original records have been lost or
destroyed, affidavits in a form acceptable to the association may be submitted
for the purpose of substantiating the employment; the association may accept
such affidavits in lieu of original records if it deems them sufficient to
establish the required employment information.
F. At any time prior to retirement, a member
may purchase service credit at its full actuarial present value as determined
by the association, under the following conditions:
(1) Service credit may be purchased in
one-month increments.
(2) The
amount of service credit purchased under this Subsection F shall not exceed one
year.
(3) Service credit purchased
cannot be used for the purpose of calculating final average salary or
eligibility for pension factor of a coverage plan for pension calculation and
retirement purposes.
(4) For
purposes of calculating the full actuarial present value purchase cost of
service credit under Subsection F of this section, the member's final average
salary and coverage plan at the time of purchase shall be used.
(5) Payment for service credit under this
subsection must be received within sixty (60) days of the date the member is
informed in writing of the purchase price of the service credit.
(6) The purchase cost received to purchase
service credit under this subsection shall not be refunded to the
member.
