CHAPTER 545
S.P. 682 - L.D. 1884
An Act to Authorize Certain Former Members of the Maine State Retirement System to Rejoin the Maine State Retirement System
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §12722, sub-§8 is enacted to read:
8. Participation in Maine State Retirement System. Notwithstanding other provisions of this section, employees of the Maine Technical College System who elected to participate in the defined contribution plan pursuant to subsection 1 may subsequently elect to participate or resume participation in the Maine State Retirement System as provided in this subsection.
A. A former member of the Maine State Retirement System who was employed by the Maine Technical College System and who elected to participate in the defined contribution plan and terminated participation in the Maine State Retirement System during calendar year 1999 or 2000 may elect to terminate participation in the defined contribution plan and to resume participation in the Maine State Retirement System and, upon repayment of earlier contributions plus interest, is entitled to all service credit acquired during the previous membership. The election must be made in writing to the Maine State Retirement System no later than January 1, 2003. The amount of repayment must be equal to the accumulated contributions withdrawn by the former member plus interest on the amount of those accumulated contributions, beginning on the date of withdrawal to the date the repayment or repayments are made, at a rate to be set by the Board of Trustees of the Maine State Retirement System, not to exceed regular interest, as defined in Title 5, section 17001, subsection 31, by 5 percentage points.
(1) Notwithstanding Title 5, section 17703, subsection 1, payment under this paragraph may be made immediately after notification of the Maine State Retirement System of the election provided in this paragraph and upon determination by the Maine State Retirement System of the amount due to repay the previously withdrawn contributions.
(2) A former member electing the option provided in this paragraph may also purchase service credit under the Maine State Retirement System for all or part of the time that the former member participated in the defined contribution plan. Purchase of service credit under this subparagraph consists of payment of an amount that, together with regular interest as defined in Title 5, section 17001, subsection 31 on that amount, is the actuarial equivalent, at the effective date of the retirement benefit, of the portion of the retirement benefit based on the additional creditable service.
B. An employee of the Maine Technical College System hired on or after August 31, 1998 or on or after the last day of the month in which authorization pursuant to subsection 1 occurs, whichever is later, and who elected to participate in the defined contribution plan may elect to terminate participation in the defined contribution plan and to participate in the Maine State Retirement System by notifying the Maine State Retirement System in writing no later than January 1, 2003.
(1) An employee of the Maine Technical College System electing the option provided in this paragraph may also elect to purchase service credit under the Maine State Retirement System for all or part of the time that the employee participated in the defined contribution plan. The election must be made in writing to the Maine State Retirement System no later than January 1, 2003. Purchase of service credit under this subparagraph consists of payment of an amount that, together with regular interest as defined in Title 5, section 17001, subsection 31 on that amount, is the actuarial equivalent, at the effective date of the retirement benefit, of the portion of the retirement benefit based on the additional creditable service.
C. Payment to the Maine State Retirement System under this subsection may be made by single direct payment or annual direct payments to the Members' Contribution Fund and must be made before any retirement benefit from the Maine State Retirement System becomes effective for that person. Annual direct payments under this paragraph must be made as provided in Title 5, section 17701, subsection 4.
Effective July 25, 2002, unless otherwise indicated.
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