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2018 Georgia Code 47-4-101 | Car Wreck Lawyer

Link to State of Georgia Official Statute 2018 Georgia Code Annotated (sourced from legal.resource.org)
O.C.G.A. 47-4-101 Case Law from Google Scholar Amendments to OCGA 47-4-101

TITLE 47 RETIREMENT AND PENSIONS

Section 4. Public School Employees Retirement System, 47-4-1 through 47-4-121.

ARTICLE 6 RETIREMENT, RETIREMENT ALLOWANCES, AND DISABILITY BENEFITS

47-4-101. Retirement benefits payable upon normal, early, or delayed retirement.

  1. Any member may retire and upon application to the board receive the retirement benefits set forth in this Code section after obtaining a minimum of ten years of creditable service. The effective date of retirement shall be the first of the month in which the application is received by the board, provided that no retirement application will, in any case, be effective earlier than the first of the month following the final month of the applicant's employment. If a member retires before obtaining ten years of creditable service, he or she shall receive a lump sum refund of his or her accumulated contributions made under the retirement system to the date of his or her retirement.
    1. Upon retirement on the normal retirement date, a member shall receive a monthly retirement benefit, payment of which shall commence on the effective date of retirement and which shall be payable on the first day of each month thereafter during the member's lifetime. The amount of each monthly retirement payment shall be $16.50 multiplied by the number of the member's years of creditable service. The retirement benefit provided under this subsection shall be payable to those members who have already retired under this chapter as well as those members who retire in the future; provided, however, that no benefit increase above $15.00 per month shall be applied to the benefit of persons who were retired on the effective date of this Act. If the General Assembly at any time appropriates funds expressly intended to fund the benefits provided in this subsection and such amount so appropriated is not sufficient to fund the maximum amount allowable, then the retirement benefit otherwise payable under this subsection shall be reduced pro rata by the board in accordance with the funds actually appropriated by the General Assembly for such purpose, but in no event shall the retirement benefit be less than $14.75 multiplied by the member's years of creditable service.
    2. Subject to the terms and limitations of this subsection, the board of trustees is authorized to adopt from time to time a method or methods of providing for increases in the retirement allowance paid up to the maximum benefit provided in paragraph (1) of this subsection. Such method shall be based upon:
      1. The recommendation of the actuary of the board of trustees;
      2. 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
      3. Such other factors as the board deems relevant.
  3. Upon retirement on his delayed retirement date, a member shall receive a monthly retirement benefit, payment of which shall commence on his delayed effective date of retirement and which shall be payable on the first day of each month thereafter during his lifetime. The amount of each monthly retirement benefit shall be computed in the same manner as for a normal retirement benefit and shall be based on the number of years of creditable service as of the member's delayed retirement date.
  4. Any member who exercises his right to retire at an early retirement date pursuant to subsections (c) through (e) of Code Section 47-4-100 shall receive a monthly retirement benefit which shall begin on the early effective date of retirement. Such benefit shall be payable on the first day of each month thereafter during his lifetime. The amount of each monthly retirement benefit shall be computed in the same manner as for a normal retirement benefit and shall be based on the number of years of creditable service as of the member's early retirement date, provided that such benefit shall be actuarially reduced at the rate of one-half of 1 percent for each full month that such member is under 65 years of age.

(Ga. L. 1969, p. 998, § 7; Ga. L. 1971, p. 917, § 2; Ga. L. 1973, p. 1197, §§ 4-6; Ga. L. 1977, p. 597, § 1; Ga. L. 1980, p. 1787, § 1; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 47; Ga. L. 1983, p. 1859, § 5; Ga. L. 1988, p. 880, § 1; Ga. L. 1992, p. 1154, § 1; Ga. L. 1998, p. 151, § 1; Ga. L. 2002, p. 1131, § 1; Ga. L. 2003, p. 409, § 1; Ga. L. 2006, p. 1010, § 2/HB 1020; Ga. L. 2012, p. 1284, § 2/SB 246.)

The 2012 amendment, effective July 1, 2012, in paragraph (b)(1), in the second sentence, substituted "$16.50" for "$15.00", added "; provided, however, that no benefit increase above $15.00 per month shall be applied to the benefit of persons who were retired on the effective date of this Act" to the end of the third sentence, and substituted "$14.75" for "$12.00" in the last sentence.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 60A Am. Jur. 2d, Pensions and Retirement Funds, §§ 1228 et seq. 1240 et seq.

C.J.S.

- 67 C.J.S., Officers and Public Employees, § 318. 78 C.J.S., Schools and School Districts, § 264 et seq.

Cases Citing O.C.G.A. § 47-4-101

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Ayers v. Pub. Sch. Employees Ret. Sys. of Georgia, 294 Ga. 827 (Ga. 2014).

Cited 2 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Mar 17, 2014 | 756 S.E.2d 538, 303 Educ. L. Rep. 612, 2014 Fulton County D. Rep. 518

...her two sons, Appellant and his brother, as her “Second Beneficiary.” In March 1982, Mrs. Ayers requested information on her retirement benefit payment options, and PSERS sent her an explanation sheet summarizing the three options set forth in the governing statutes, OCGA §§ 47-4-101 and 47-4-102. Mrs....
...misplaced, and the Court of Appeals’ analysis focused on those extra-statutory materials, even if correct — which it may well be — was unnecessary. (b) We turn our attention, therefore, to the relevant terms of the PSERS Act. OCGA § 47-4-101 establishes the basic retirement benefit for members of 8 PSERS....
...of each month thereafter during [her] lifetime.” The amount of the monthly retirement benefit is a dollar figure multiplied by the number of years of creditable service. See OCGA § 47-4-102 (c). An employee receives the maximum possible monthly benefit under OCGA § 47-4-101, but those payments end when the employee dies; there is no provision for ongoing payments to any other person. OCGA § 47-4-102 is titled “Optional retirement benefits.” Subsection (a) allows a PSERS member to elect, at any time prior to retirement, a “joint and survivor option” or a “period certain and life option,” instead of the higher monthly payments for the employee’s lifetime alone under OCGA § 47-4-101. Subsections (c) and (d) of OCGA § 47-4-102 explain these two options as follows: (c) Option A, the joint and survivor option, shall consist of a 9 decreased retirement benefi...
...If the designated “joint annuitant” dies before the employee retires, no one else takes his place. Instead, the employee’s election of Option A becomes “null and void,” thereby allowing the employee to receive her full retirement benefit under OCGA § 47-4-101....
...Moreover, subsection (b) of OCGA § 47-4-102 specifies that “[t]he amount of any optional retirement benefit set forth in this Code section shall be the actuarial equivalent of the amount of benefit that would otherwise be payable to the member under Code Section 47-4-101.” Appellant concedes in his brief that “[g]iven the nature of the payments under Option A, it would [be] actuarially impossible to properly price an insurance policy where the potential beneficiaries have drastically different...