Section 145.295. Credit for service in uniform retirement system

(A) As used in this section and section 145.2913 of the Revised Code:

(1) "Uniform retirement system" or "uniform system" means the Ohio police and fire pension fund or state highway patrol retirement system.

(2) "Military service credit" means credit purchased or obtained under this chapter or Chapter 742. or 5505. of the Revised Code for service in the armed forces of the United States.

(B) A member of the public employees retirement system who has contributions on deposit with, but is no longer contributing to, a uniform retirement system shall, in computing years of service, be given full credit for service credit earned under Chapter 742. or 5505. of the Revised Code or for military service credit if a transfer to the public employees retirement system is made under this division. At the request of the member a transfer shall be made if all of the following conditions are met:

(1) The member's service credit in the public employees retirement system is greater than the amount of credit that would be transferred under this division.

(2) The member is eligible, or with the credit will be eligible, for a retirement or disability benefit.

(3) The member agrees to retire or accept a disability benefit not later than ninety days after receiving notice from the public employees retirement system that the credit has been obtained.

(4) For each year of service the uniform system transfers to the public employees retirement system the sum of the following:

(a) An amount equal to the member's accumulated contributions to the uniform system making the transfer and any payments by the member for military service credit;

(b) An amount equal to the lesser of the employer's contributions to the uniform system or the appropriate employer contribution under section 145.48 or 145.49 of the Revised Code;

(c) Interest, determined as provided in division (H) of this section, on the amounts specified in divisions (B) (4)(a) and (b) of this section for the period from the last day of the year for which the service credit in the uniform system was earned or in which the military service credit was purchased or obtained to the date the transfer is made.

(C) A member of the public employees retirement system who has at least eighteen months of contributing service credit with the public employees retirement system, who is a former member of a uniform retirement system, and who has received a refund of the member's accumulated contributions to that uniform system may obtain credit for service credit earned under Chapter 742. or 5505. of the Revised Code or for military service credit if all of the following conditions are met:

(1) The member's service credit in the public employees retirement system is greater than the amount of credit that would be transferred under this division.

(2) The member is eligible, or with the credit will be eligible, for a retirement or disability benefit.

(3) The member agrees to retire or accept a disability benefit not later than ninety days after receiving notice from the public employees retirement system that the credit has been obtained.

(4) For each year of service, the public employees retirement system receives the sum of the following:

(a) An amount, which shall be paid by the member, equal to the amount refunded by the uniform system to the member for that year for accumulated contributions and payments for military service credit, with interest at a rate established by the public employees retirement board on that amount from the date of the refund to the date of the payment;

(b) Interest, which shall be transferred by the uniform system, on the amount refunded to the member that is attributable to the year of service from the last day of the year for which the service credit was earned or in which payment was made for military service credit to the date the refund was made;

(c) An amount, which shall be transferred by the uniform system, equal to the lesser of the employer's contributions to the uniform system or the appropriate employer contribution under section 145.48 or 145.49 of the Revised Code, with interest on that amount from the last day of the year for which the service credit was earned or in which payment was made for military service credit to the date of the transfer.

On receipt of payment from the member, the public employees retirement system shall notify the uniform system, which, on receipt of the notice, shall make the transfer required by this division. Interest shall be determined as provided in division (H) of this section.

(D) A member of the public employees retirement system who purchased credit under former division (A)(1) of this section, as it existed before August 25, 1995, for service as a member of a uniform retirement system may elect to have the amount the member paid for this service credit refunded to the member under this division if the member agrees to repurchase this service credit pursuant to division (C) of this section.

(E) Service credit purchased or otherwise obtained under this section shall be considered the equivalent of Ohio service credit.

The public employees retirement system shall withdraw the credit and refund all amounts paid or transferred under this section if either of the following occurs:

(1) The member fails to retire or accept a disability benefit not later than ninety days after receiving notice from the public employees retirement system that credit has been obtained.

(2) The member's application for a disability benefit is denied.

A member may choose to purchase only part of the credit the member is eligible to purchase under division (C) of this section, subject to rules of the public employees retirement board. A member is ineligible to purchase or otherwise obtain credit under this section for service to be used in calculation of any retirement benefit currently being paid or payable to the member in the future under any other retirement program or for service credit that may be transferred under section 145.2913 of the Revised Code.

(F) If a member of the public employees retirement system who is not a current contributor elects to receive credit under section 742.21 or 5505.40 of the Revised Code for service for which the member contributed to the system or made payment for military service credit, the system shall transfer to the Ohio police and fire pension fund or the state highway patrol retirement system, as applicable, the amount specified in division (D) of section 742.21 or division (B)(2) of section 5505.40 of the Revised Code.

(G) A member of the public employees retirement system who earned service credit in the public employees retirement system for full-time service as a township or municipal police officer and received service credit in the Ohio police and fire pension fund under section 742.511 or 742.512 of the Revised Code for such service may elect to have the credit restored as public employees retirement system service credit by paying the public employees retirement system an amount equal to the accumulated contributions paid by the member to the Ohio police and fire pension fund under section 742.511 or 742.512 of the Revised Code. When such an election is made, the Ohio police and fire pension fund shall transfer to the public employees retirement system the amount previously transferred under section 742.511 or 742.512 of the Revised Code from the public employees retirement system to the Ohio police and fire pension fund.

(H) Interest charged under this section shall be calculated separately for each year of service credit. Unless otherwise specified in this section, it shall be calculated at the lesser of the actuarial assumption rate for that year of the public employees retirement system or of the uniform retirement system in which the credit was earned. The interest shall be compounded annually.

(I) At the request of the public employees retirement system, the uniform retirement system shall certify to the public employees retirement system a copy of the records of the service and contributions of a public employees retirement system member who seeks service credit under this section.

Amended by 130th General Assembly File No. TBD, SB 42, §1, eff. 3/23/2015.

Amended by 129th General AssemblyFile No.148, SB 343, §1, eff. 1/7/2013.

Effective Date: 02-20-2002