KRS 78.5530: Maximum disability benefit -- Determination -- Information to be filed

by disability recipient.

Notwithstanding any other provisions of KRS 78.510 to 78.852, a maximum disability

benefit is hereby established which shall apply, upon disability retirement, to any

disabled employee's account to which service credit is added to determine disability

benefits or in any case where disability benefits are determined by computing a

percentage of the disabled employee's final monthly rate of pay or monthly average

pay. The maximum disability benefit shall be determined by the following formula:

(1) Add the monthly benefit payable to the disabled employee from the County

Employees Retirement System and the Kentucky Retirement Systems, using

the monthly disability retirement allowance without any reduction due to the

selection of an optional payment plan under KRS 61.635 but excluding

dependent children's allowances, if any, to his or her monthly benefit, if any,

from Social Security, even though these payments may not begin for a period

of time as required for qualification under the federal Social Security law,

excluding spouse or dependent benefits, and his or her monthly benefit, if any,

from workers' compensation, even though these payments may not have

begun as of the date the disabled member applies for disability retirement

benefits, excluding spouse or dependent children's allowances, from workers'

compensation, to arrive at a projected combined monthly benefit.

(2) If the projected combined monthly benefit exceeds one hundred percent

(100%) of the disabled employee's final rate of pay or his or her final

compensation, whichever is greater, his or her disability retirement allowance

from the County Employees Retirement System and the Kentucky Retirement

Systems shall be reduced to an amount which would cause his or her projected

combined monthly benefit to equal one hundred percent (100%) of his or her

final rate of pay or his or her final compensation, whichever is greater;

however, the disability retirement allowance shall not be reduced below an

amount which would result from a computation of his or her disability retirement

allowance from the County Employees Retirement System and the Kentucky

Retirement Systems using the disabled employee's actual total service.

(3) The system may pay estimated benefits to a disabled employee, upon

qualification for disability retirement, based on an estimate of his or her Social

Security and workers' compensation benefits until the amounts are actually

determined, at which time a final calculation of the member's actual benefits

shall be determined and his or her account corrected retroactive to his or her

effective retirement date.

(4) Any increase in Social Security benefits or workers' compensation benefits

which becomes law, regardless of their effective date, subsequent to the

disabled employee's effective retirement date, shall not be considered in

determination of the maximum benefit payable, as the maximum benefit

payable is based on the amount of combined benefits under these programs as

of the disabled employee's effective retirement date.

(5) Any disabled recipient whose potential payments from the system were

reduced as provided for in this section shall advise the Authority if his or her

payments under the federal Social Security Act or Workers' Compensation Act

cease at any time subsequent to his or her effective retirement date. Upon

investigation, if the system determines that the disabled recipient continues to

be eligible for disability benefits, the system may increase his or her retirement

allowance by adding to his or her payment an amount equal to the reduction

applied upon the effective retirement date in accordance with subsection (2) of

this section.

(6) The amount of combined disability benefit payments made to an individual on

or after April 1 2021, from the Kentucky Retirement Systems and the County

Employees Retirement System shall not be increased as a result of the

passage of 2021 Ky. Acts ch. 102.

(7) Subsequent to his or her effective retirement date, each disability recipient who

is still eligible to receive disability payments based upon a total and permanent

disability that occurred as a direct result of an act in line of duty as defined in

KRS 78.510 or a disablement that occurred as a result of a duty-related injury

as defined in KRS 61.621 shall annually file, on a form or via an electronic

method established by the Authority, information on whether payments to the

recipient have ceased or begun under the federal Social Security Act or

Workers' Compensation Act, and the Authority shall make any necessary

adjustments as provided by this section.