Georgia § 47-6-80 - Eligibility and application for a retirement allowance; early retirement; amount of retirement allowance; compliance with federal tax laws; increases in retirement allowance.

§ 47-6-80. Eligibility and application for a retirement allowance; early retirement; amount of retirement allowance; compliance with federal tax laws; increases in retirement allowance.

Upon the written application to the board, any member of the system who (1) has attained age 65 and has completed eight or more years of creditable service or (2) has attained age 62 and has completed eight or more years of membership service shall be retired by the board on a retirement allowance and shall thereupon become a beneficiary of the system, provided that he is no longer in the service of the state, whether as a member of the General Assembly or otherwise. In lieu of eight years of service, a member may substitute four terms of office in the General Assembly. The effective date of retirement shall be the first day of the month in which the application is received by the board, but such effective date shall not, in any case, be earlier than the first day of the month following the final month of the applicant's employment. Applications for retirement shall not be accepted more than 90 days in advance of the effective date of retirement. Normal retirement age for a member with at least eight years of membership service shall be the date the member has reached 62 years of age. Normal retirement age for a member with less than eight years of membership service but with at least eight years of creditable service shall be the date the member has reached 65 years of age. Any member of the system who has completed eight or more years of membership service and who has attained age 60 may elect to retire prior to age 62, provided that in such event, the member's retirement allowance shall be reduced by 5 percent for each year below age 62. Upon such retirement under subsection (a) of this Code section, the retired member shall receive a monthly service retirement allowance which shall be equal to $28.00 multiplied by the number of years of the member's creditable service. (d.1) The board of trustees is authorized to provide for the payment of benefits to members or beneficiaries of the retirement system at a time and under circumstances not provided for in this chapter to the extent that such payment is required to maintain the retirement system as a qualified retirement plan for purposes of federal income tax laws and regulations. Any increase in benefits payable under the retirement system which becomes effective as a result of a change in the benefit formula provided for by subsection (d) of this Code section shall be applicable to beneficiaries of the system who are receiving benefits at the time the increase becomes effective. Subject to the terms and limitations of this Code section, the board of trustees is authorized to adopt from time to time a method or methods of providing for increases in the retirement allowance provided in subsection (d) of this Code section for persons theretofore or thereafter retiring under this article. Such method shall be based upon: The recommendation of the actuary of the board of trustees; The maintenance of the actuarial soundness of the fund in accordance with the standards provided in Code Section 47-20-10 or such higher standards as may be adopted by the board; and Such other factors as the board deems relevant; provided, however, that any such increase shall be uniform and shall apply equally to all members of this retirement system. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code section, no member who becomes a member of this retirement system on or after July 1, 2009, shall be entitled to receive any postretirement benefit adjustment. (Ga. L. 1967, p. 259, § 6; Ga. L. 1968, p. 1354, § 2; Ga. L. 1971, p. 930, § 2; Ga. L. 1979, p. 931, § 1; Ga. L. 1980, p. 611, § 3; Ga. L. 1986, p. 1255, § 2; Ga. L. 1990, p. 510, § 1; Ga. L. 2000, p. 1277, § 2; Ga. L. 2009, p. 320, § 3/HB 452; Ga. L. 2009, p. 947, § 26/HB 202; Ga. L. 2013, p. 688, § 1/SB 178.) The 2009 amendments. The first 2009 amendment, effective July 1, 2009, added subsection (g). The second 2009 amendment, effective May 11, 2009, in subsection (c), added the first two sentences and substituted "the member's" for "his" near the end of the last sentence. The 2013 amendment, effective July 1, 2013, added subsection (d.1). Editor's notes. - Ga. L. 2009, p. 320, § 1, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: "The General Assembly is desirous of providing an established annual cost-of-living adjustment to all current active and retired members of the Employees' Retirement System of Georgia, the Georgia Legislative Retirement System, and the Georgia Judicial Retirement System. In order to do so, limiting future liability of the systems by adjusting the retirement expectations of persons who are newly employed is a regrettable but necessary step toward fiscal soundness."