N.Y. Education Law § 522: Transfer of contributions between retirement systems

§ 522. Transfer of contributions between retirement systems. 1. Any

contributor, withdrawing from the retirement system and at such time

giving notice to the retirement board of his intention of becoming

within two years a member of another teachers' retirement system which

is being operated on an actuarial basis either under the laws of this

state or under the laws of another state, provided the system has a

provision similar to this provision permitting reciprocal transfer, may,

upon depositing within two years his accumulated contributions in such

other retirement system or if the member had no accumulated

contributions credited to his individual account in the retirement

system, upon joining such other retirement system within two years,

apply to the retirement board for a transfer from the pension

accumulation fund to the corresponding fund of such other retirement

system of the amount of his pension reserve as of the time when he

withdrew his contributions from the annuity savings fund or filed a

notice of withdrawal with the system, and the retirement board shall

transfer to such other retirement system the amount of such reserve,

provided that, if such other retirement system is not under the laws of

this state, credit for a pension benefit of equivalent actuarial value

to the amount of reserve transferred shall be given the teacher in the

other retirement system and that the retirement board is satisfied that

the retirement system to which said transfer is made is on a solvent

basis.

2. Any contributor entering the retirement system after having

withdrawn from another retirement system and having given notice at the

time of withdrawal to the retirement board of such system of his or her

intention of becoming a member of the retirement system, may deposit in

the annuity savings fund the amount of his or her accumulated

contributions withdrawn from such other retirement system or if the

member had no accumulated contributions credited to his or her

individual account in such other retirement system, such member shall in

lieu of depositing moneys in the annuity savings fund, file a notice of

intent to transfer pursuant to rules and regulations adopted by the

retirement board. Upon the filing of a notice of intent to transfer as

provided by this subdivision, the pension reserve to his or her credit

in such other retirement system, if such other retirement system is

operated upon an actuarial basis under the laws of this state, shall be

transferred, and if such other system is operated upon an actuarial

basis under the laws of another state, may be transferred to the pension

accumulation fund. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this

article, such contributor shall be classified in this retirement system

as a present teacher or as a new entrant accordingly as he or she would

have been classified had the service rendered in the other retirement

system been rendered while a member of this retirement system. A person

so transferred to this retirement system or who has heretofore

transferred to this retirement system shall be deemed to have been a

member of this retirement system during the entire period of membership

service credited to him or her in the system from which he or she has

transferred. Such transferee, however, shall not receive more than three

per cent interest on his or her contributions and accumulated

contributions unless he or she has continuously been a member in either

the system from which he or she has transferred or in this retirement

system since a date prior to the first day of July, nineteen hundred

forty-eight. This shall not be construed to prevent a change in the

interest rate to such member if the interest rate payable to other

members of this retirement system is changed. In case he or she comes

from a retirement system not under the laws of this state, he or she

shall be given a prior service certificate showing a period of service

such that the liability incurred by the retirement system on his or her

account by reason of prior service shall be equal in amount to the

amount of the reserve so transferred, provided that in no case shall

such a contributor who is classified as a new entrant be given less

credit in his or her prior service certificate than he or she would have

received had no reserve been transferred on his or her account. In case

a contributor transfers between retirement systems under the laws of

this state, he or she shall be credited in the system to which he or she

is transferring with all service allowed to him or her in the first

system. Such contributor, notwithstanding any other provision of law,

shall on retirement be entitled to a pension based on salary earned

during member service in both retirement systems together, pursuant to

the statutory requirements of the second retirement system.

3. Notwithstanding any other provisions of the law, a former member of

the New York city teachers' retirement system who holds membership in

the New York state teachers' retirement system on the effective date of

this act and who would have been entitled to transfer service credit to

such latter retirement system pursuant to this section had his

membership in the former retirement system not terminated, due to no

negligence on the part of the member, may have his transfer rights under

this section restored by depositing, within one year of the effective

date of this act, in the former retirement system an amount equal to the

contributions withdrawn from such system with regular interest thereon.

4. In the case of a member of the New York city teachers' retirement

system with a membership date prior to July twenty-seventh, nineteen

hundred seventy-six and not less than twenty years of credited service

in that system who has transferred his/her membership to the system

pursuant to this section or section forty-three of the retirement and

social security law, as applicable and is a member of the system on or

after July first, nineteen hundred ninety-eight, the actuary shall

compute the actuarial accrued liability for the member's pension under

subdivision five of section five hundred thirty-five of this article

immediately following transfer as if such member had always been a

member of the system, using the service credited to such member which

was transferred to the system, the member's salary in connection with

such service and the actuarial assumptions used to compute pension

reserves pursuant to subdivision one of this section. If the sum of the

reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay, if any, and the pension reserve

received by the system from the New York city teachers' retirement

system in respect of such member exceeds such accrued liability as

determined by the actuary, such excess shall be allocated as of the date

of the receipt of such reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay to the

annuity savings fund for the benefit of such member and shall be treated

as if it had been contributed to such fund by the member, provided,

however, that, in no event, may the amount so allocated to the annuity

savings fund as provided herein exceed the amount of such

reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay, if any, actually received from the

New York city teachers' retirement system. In the case of any member

retiring prior to July first, two thousand one, any accumulated

contributions to the credit of such member in the annuity savings fund

as of the member's date of retirement resulting from a determination of

the actuary pursuant to this subdivision shall be paid to the retiree in

a lump sum with interest at the rate of five per centum per annum from

the date of retirement to the date of payment. The retirement board is

authorized to promulgate such rules and regulations as it may deem

necessary or appropriate to implement this subdivision.

5. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, except

for the purposes of providing the benefits, if any, of subdivision four

of this section, with respect to transfers pursuant to this section

which occur on or after the effective date of the chapter of the laws of

two thousand twenty-three that amended this subdivision, no transfer of

a pension reserve pursuant to subdivision one or two of this section

shall be required when the member is transferring from a public

retirement system of the state with less than ten years of credited

service with the transferring retirement system at the time the transfer

is initiated. With respect to transfers pursuant to subdivision one or

two of this section which occur on or after the effective date of the

chapter of the laws of two thousand twenty-three that amended this

subdivision, the transfer of a pension reserve shall be required when

the member is transferring ten or more years of credited service from a

public retirement system of the state to any other public retirement

system of the state, excluding any transfers within and between the New

York city employees' retirement system, the New York city teachers'

retirement system and the New York city board of education retirement

system. For the purpose of giving the transferring member such status

and crediting such service in the retirement system to which the member

is transferring as such member was allowed in the retirement system from

which the member has transferred, the transfer shall be deemed complete

upon receipt by the transferee retirement system of (a) a statement from

the transferor retirement system of the transferring member's date of

membership in the transferor retirement system, tier status, service

credited to the transferred membership, and such other information as

the transferee retirement system may require to effectuate the transfer,

(b) such member's accumulated contributions from the transferor

retirement system, if same had not been previously withdrawn, or notice

from the transferor retirement system that such member had no

accumulated contributions, or notice from the transferor retirement

system that such member's accumulated contributions had been withdrawn

and the amount thereof and, as applicable, receipt from such member of

such member's accumulated contributions and interest, and (c) the

pension reserve in the case of a member who transfers in ten or more

years of credited service, except when transferring within and between

the New York city employees' retirement system, the New York city

teachers' retirement system and the New York city board of education

retirement system.