TITLE 47 RETIREMENT AND PENSIONS

Section 2. Employees' Retirement System of Georgia, 47-2-1 through 47-2-360.

ARTICLE 7 RETIREMENT ALLOWANCES, DISABILITY BENEFITS, SPOUSES' BENEFITS

47-2-120. Retirement allowances.

Upon service retirement, a member shall receive a service retirement allowance which shall consist of:
1. An annuity which shall be the actuarial equivalent of his or her accumulated contributions at the time of his or her retirement; and
2. A pension equal to the annuity allowable at age of retirement, but not to exceed an annuity which would have been allowed at age 65, which pension shall be computed on the basis of his or her contributions made prior to attaining age 65, provided that any member may continue his or her contributions after attaining 65 years of age, and by so doing shall receive membership service credit for such period of time, which shall be used in the computation of retirement allowances.
No person who at any time elected nonmembership shall establish, nor shall any person who transferred to the retirement system or who previously became a member shall increase, the pension set forth in paragraph (3) of subsection (a) of this Code section by reason of his employment in or transfer to another employer. No member shall be eligible for that pension unless at least 30 days of his prior service was earned within an 18 month period immediately preceding his date of membership.
Anything in this chapter to the contrary notwithstanding, any member with 30 years of service, regardless of age, shall be eligible to retire forthwith and, upon retirement, shall be paid not less than the service retirement allowance which would have been payable to such member upon service retirement at age 65 with 30 years of service.
Anything in this chapter to the contrary notwithstanding, any member whose current membership began prior to July 1, 1982, and who has at least 34 years of service shall be eligible to retire forthwith and upon retirement shall be paid not less than the service retirement allowance which would have been payable upon service retirement at the age of 65 had the member continued in service without further change in compensation.
In the case of any member who has at least 25 but less than 30 years of creditable service and who has not reached the age of 60 years upon retirement, the service allowance set forth in subsection (a) of this Code section shall be reduced by an actuarial equivalent certified by the board of trustees. Such reduced amount shall take into consideration the member's age and number of years of creditable service at the time of retirement and shall be sufficient to permit retirement at such age or with such number of years of creditable service without creating any accrued liability against the retirement system. Such reduction shall not apply in calculating the service allowance for disability retirement or death. Any member who retires with less than 30 years of creditable service or who has not obtained the age of 60 at the time of retirement shall not become eligible for postretirement benefit adjustments until such time as the member reaches the age of 60 or would have obtained 30 years of creditable service, whichever occurs earlier.
The board of trustees shall cause the actuary for the retirement system to calculate the actuarial cost to the retirement system of any salary increase granted to a member in excess of 5 percent over the 12 months immediately prior to such member's retirement date and shall notify the employing unit of such amount. Such notice shall be sent not later than 60 days following such member's retirement date. The employing unit shall pay such amount, together with the cost of such actuarial calculation, as a supplemental employer contribution to the board of trustees not later than the last day of the month following receipt of such notice.

(Ga. L. 1949, p. 138, § 5; Ga. L. 1953, Jan.-Feb. Sess., p. 349, § 4; Ga. L. 1953, Nov.-Dec. Sess., p. 160, § 4; Ga. L. 1957, p. 465, § 1; Ga. L. 1971, p. 92, § 1; Ga. L. 1974, p. 1177, § 1; Ga. L. 1977, p. 1096, § 1; Ga. L. 1978, p. 1652, § 1; Ga. L. 1994, p. 1874, § 1; Ga. L. 1998, p. 154, § 1; Ga. L. 2009, p. 322, § 1/HB 476; Ga. L. 2009, p. 947, § 18/HB 202; Ga. L. 2010, p. 1207, § 18/SB 436.)

The 2009 amendments. The first 2009 amendment, effective July 1, 2009, added subsection (f). The second 2009 amendment, effective May 11, 2009, in subsection (d), substituted "whose current membership began prior to July 1, 1982, and who has" for "with" and substituted "the member" for "he".

The 2010 amendment, effective July 1, 2010, in subsection (a), inserted "or her" throughout, added "and" at the end of paragraph (a)(1), substituted a period for "; and" at the end of paragraph (a)(2), and deleted former paragraph (a)(3), which read: "If he has a prior service certificate in full force and effect, an additional pension which shall be equal to the annuity allowable at age of retirement, provided that such pension does not exceed the annuity which would have been allowable at age 65 by more than twice the amount of his prior service accumulations as defined in Code Section 47-2-96 with regular interest on such amount as from time to time in effect, which interest shall be figured from the date of establishment until the earlier of the date of his retirement or the date on which he attains 65 years of age."

Editor's notes.

- Ga. L. 1994, p. 1874, § 1, amending subsection (a) of this Code section, was not concurrently funded as required by Code Section 47-20-50 and, therefore, did not become law and was repealed on July 1, 1994. See the state auditor's report, the final item in the Georgia Laws 1994.

Ga. L. 2010, p. 1207, § 1, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: "The intent of this Act is to repeal obsolete and inoperative provisions and to make certain stylistic corrections in Title 47 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated. Nothing in this Act shall deny, abridge, increase, renew, revive, or on any way affect any right, benefit, option, credit, or election to which any person was entitled pursuant to such title on June 30, 2010, and the board of trustees of each public retirement system is authorized and directed to provide by regulation for the continuation of any such right, benefit, option, credit, or election not otherwise covered in this Act; provided, however, that any such right, benefit, option, credit, or election shall be subject to the statutory provisions in effect on June 30, 2010."

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Construed with § 47-2-123. - Benefits due as disability retirement under O.C.G.A. § 47-2-123 of the statutes governing the Employees' Retirement System are not to be calculated in reference to subsections (c) and (d) of O.C.G.A. § 47-2-120, which allow for eligibility for service retirement benefits as if the member were age 65, regardless of the member's age, if the member has tendered 30 or 34 years of service, respectively. Such reference would create a projection on top of a projection. Sledge v. Employees' Retirement Sys., 196 Ga. App. 597, 396 S.E.2d 550 (1990).

Reduction in amount of pension for persons retiring before July 1, 1998 proper as established prior to a judge's retirement, when the judge had relied upon the system's calculation of benefits prior to the time that the judge submitted the judge's resignation and the calculated benefits were paid to the judge for a period of time after the judge's retirement. Quillian v. Employees' Retirement Sys., 259 Ga. 253, 379 S.E.2d 515 (1989).

Pensions of employees who retired on or before July 1, 1998, after reaching 60, but with less than 30 years of creditable service, were properly reduced; even before 1998, the Board of Trustees of the Employees Retirement System of the State of Georgia possessed the discretionary authority to reduce pensions based on age for retirees less than 65 with less than 30 years of creditable service. Alverson v. Employees' Ret. Sys., 272 Ga. App. 389, 613 S.E.2d 119 (2005).

Authority granted to Board of Trustees.

- Neither O.C.G.A. § 47-2-120(a) nor O.C.G.A. § 47-2-110(a) provides a formula for the calculation of service retirement benefits; the authority to do so rests with the Board of Trustees of the Employees Retirement System of the State of Georgia (ERS) under the general grant of authority in O.C.G.A. § 47-2-21 to effectuate the provisions of the ERS Act, O.C.G.A. § 47-2-1 et seq., including the specific grants of authority found in O.C.G.A. §§ 47-2-26(a) and47-2-28(a) and (b). Alverson v. Employees' Ret. Sys., 272 Ga. App. 389, 613 S.E.2d 119 (2005).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Certain members eligible to cease contributions.

- Member of the retirement system who has attained 34 years of creditable service, and who is eligible for service retirement and the projection-in-service factor, regardless of age, may elect to cease making contributions to the retirement system, and any member who has continued making contributions after attaining 34 years of creditable service under the assumption that this was required by law would be eligible, upon one's election and request, to be refunded the excess contributions made after the attainment of one's thirty-fourth year of service. 1978 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 78-47.

Availability of projection in service.

- Projection in service allowed to members with at least 34 years of service provided for in subsection (d) of O.C.G.A. § 47-2-120 is only available to those persons seeking a service retirement allowance and not those whose retirement allowance is based on the death, disability, or involuntary separation of a member. 1987 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 87-9.

Provision authorizing change in employer contribution rate applicable beginning 1974.

- Provisions of subsection (d) of Ga. L. 1974, p. 1177, § 1 (see O.C.G.A. § 47-2-120) and Ga. L. 1974, p. 1177, § 2, which authorized the board of trustees to raise the rate of contribution by the employer, are applicable to members of the retirement system who elect to retire with a retirement commencement date of July 1, 1974. 1974 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 74-47.

Right to receive a retirement allowance after 25 years of service, provided for in subsection (e) of O.C.G.A. § 47-2-120, is not a new "benefit" that has accrued and is not proscribed by O.C.G.A. § 47-2-70(c). 1999 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 99-10.

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