{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-6.518","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 6.518","heading":"Limitations and exclusions on increases in creditable compensation in last","body":"five years of service in General Assembly for members retiring on or after\nJanuary 1, 2018 -- Exceptions for bona fide promotion or career development -\n- Exclusion -- Determination by board -- Administrative regulations --\nInapplicability to hybrid cash balance participants.\n(1) For purposes of this section, \"bona fide promotion or career advancement\":\n(a) Means a professional advancement in substantially the same line of  work held\nby the member in the four (4) years immediately prior to the final five (5)\nannual years preceding retirement or a change in employment position based\non the training, skills, education, or expertise of the member that imposes a\nsignificant chan ge in job duties and responsibilities to clearly justify the\nincreased compensation to the member; and\n(b) Does not include any circumstance in which a legislator participating in the\nLegislators' Retirement Plan takes a position of employment with an employer\nparticipating in any of the other state-administered retirement systems.\n(2) (a) For members retiring on or after January 1, 2018, the plan shall, for each of\nthe retiring member's last five (5) annual years of service in the General\nAssembly or with any employer participating in any of the state -administered\nretirement systems, identify any annual year in which the creditable\ncompensation used to calculate benefits in the Legislators' Retirement Plan\nincreased at a rate of ten percent (10%) or more annually over the immediately\npreceding annual year's creditable compensation.\n(b) Except as limited or excluded by subsections (3) and (4) of this section, any\namount of increase in creditable compensation for an annual year identified\nunder paragraph (a) o f this subsection that exceeds ten percent (10%) more\nthan the member's creditable compensation from the immediately preceding\nannual year shall not be included in the creditable compensation used to\ncalculate the member's monthly pension benefits. If the creditable\ncompensation for a specific annual year identified under paragraph (a) of this\nsubsection as exceeding the ten percent (10%) increase limitation is not used\nto calculate the retiring member's monthly pension benefits, then no reduction\nin credit able compensation shall occur for that annual year. Reductions to\ncreditable compensation as provided by this paragraph shall include any\ncreditable compensation used to calculate the retiring member's benefits,\nincluding creditable compensation earned in another state -administered\nretirement system.\n(c) If the creditable compensation of the retiring member is reduced as provided\nby paragraph (b) of this subsection, the retirement system shall,\nnotwithstanding KRS 21.460 and as applicable, refund the member\ncontributions attributable to the reduction in creditable compensation.\n(3) In order to ensure the prospective application of the limitations on increases in\ncreditable compensation contained in subsection (2) of this section, only the\ncreditable compensa tion earned by the retiring member on or after July 1, 2017,\nshall be subject to reduction under subsection (2) of this section. Creditable\ncompensation earned by the retiring member prior to July 1, 2017, shall not be\nsubject to reduction under subsection (2) of this section.\n(4) Subsections (2) and (3) of this section shall not apply to increases that are the direct\nresult of a bona fide promotion or career advancement.\n(5) The Judicial Form Retirement System board of trustees shall determine whether\nincreases in creditable compensation during the last five (5) annual years of\nemployment prior to retirement constitute a bona fide promotion or career\nadvancement and may promulgate administrative regulations in accordance with\nKRS Chapter 13A to administer t his section. All state -administered retirement\nsystems shall cooperate to implement this section.\n(6) This section shall not apply to employees participating in the hybrid cash balance\nplan as provided by KRS 21.402.","path":["KRS Chapter 6"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=52631","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:48:24Z","sha256":"4279cb694f646d25e7170375bb112499620934111f0b540a2fff71a2e12c8ad4","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-6.515","next":"us-ky/krs-6.520"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}