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| FOCUS ON E.R.S.
- New laws impact employees' retirement January 15, 2003 This column appears periodically in New York Teacher to supplement information for members of the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System. State Comptroller Alan Hevesi, the sole trustee of the state ERS, provides answers to questions. There is also a network of consultants who work out of most of NYSUT's regional offices to provide seminars and answer basic ERS questions. New laws that could affect you and your retirement benefits under the Employees' Retirement System were enacted last summer. This column addresses changes to Article 19 and a cap on retirement earnings, as well as other topics. I'm a Tier 2 member and was out on extended unpaid sick leave during 1999. When I returned to work, I was told I wouldn't be eligible for the additional service credit provided by Article 19 because my leave exceeded 12 weeks. Is this true? It was, but Article 19 was recently amended. That means as long as you are a Tier 1 or 2 member who was on approved leave without pay during the period mandated that you be in continuous active service (April 1, 1999 thru Oct. 1, 2000), you will be eligible to receive one additional month of service credit for each year of credit you have at retirement, up to a maximum of 24 months. This is true even if your approved leave exceeded 12 weeks. I will be retiring from my school district at the end of the year, but I've been offered a part-time position with the county. How much can I earn without affecting my retirement benefit? For the calendar year 2003, you will be able to earn up to $25,000. However, if you work for a private employer, the federal government, another state's government, for yourself or you get elected to public office (to a position you did not hold prior to retirement), you may earn as much as you want without affecting your benefit. Additionally, if you are 65 or older and work for a public employer in New York state, even if you earn more than $25,000, your benefit will not be affected. Previously, you had to be at least 70 to avoid any reduction or suspension to your benefit if your earnings exceeded the mandated cap. I'm a new Tier 4 member of the ERS and must contribute 3 percent of my earnings towards my retirement benefits. If I leave public employment, will my contributions be returned? With 10 or more years of service credit, you cannot withdraw from ERS - your contributions must remain on deposit. If you have at least five but less than 10 years of service credit, you may choose to have your contributions refunded, with interest, or leave them on deposit so you qualify for a retirement benefit. With less than five years of service credit, you can have your contributions, with interest, refunded. To receive a refund of your contributions, you must submit a completed withdrawal application (RS 5014) to ERS no earlier than 15 days after your last day on the public payroll. However, if your contributions are left on deposit, with five or more years of service credit, you may apply for a retirement benefit by submitting a completed retirement application (RS 6037) up to 90 days before your 55th birthday. Will I also receive the contributions my employer made on my behalf? Your employer's contributions are not refundable to you. All contributions made by your employer are deposited into the Common Retirement Fund from which benefits are paid. No portion of the funds is earmarked for any particular individual member account. May I roll over my contributions into an IRA? If you terminate your membership and withdraw your contributions, you may roll over the taxable portion of the lump sum distribution to an IRA or another qualified plan. Can I voluntarily make contributions to ERS to increase my retirement benefit? If you're a Tier 1 or Tier 2 member, you may elect to contribute from 1 to 10 percent of your salary by submitting a completed Election to Purchase Additional Annuity 21(1) (RS 5379) to the retirement system. These voluntary contributions will be credited to your account and will earn interest, currently at 5 percent per year. At retirement, any money you have on deposit will be paid as a monthly annuity. Tier 3 and 4 members cannot make voluntary contributions to the retirement system. All the forms mentioned here are available from your employer or the ERS Web site at www.osc.state.ny.us. The other day I called ERS because I wanted to find out what my loan payments would be if I took out a loan. Instead of speaking to a person, I was connected to an automated service. What's going on? ERS has added an interactive voice response system to provide the answers to a variety of questions from callers. You can get a great deal of information just by listening to the menu and following some simple directions. For problems or questions that can't be answered by the IVR system, just listen to the instructions on the menu to connect with a customer service representative. Some of the functions the IVR system provides for active members include: requesting loan applications, current loan balances, determining loan eligibility and access to the loan calculator to estimate payments, or checking the status of loan applications. If you're purchasing credit for your previous service, you can get your arrears balance, and learn how much service credit you've already purchased. You can also get retirement incentive eligibility and adoption information, have forms and information faxed to you, and get the address and schedule for the consultation site nearest you. You can also make appointments if you want to visit the New York City office.
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