2005 North Carolina Code - General Statutes § 127A-40. Pensions for the members of the North Carolina national guard.

§ 127A‑40.  Pensions for the members of the North Carolina national guard.

(a)       Every member and former member of the North Carolina national guard who meets the requirements hereinafter set forth shall receive, commencing at age 60, a pension of seventy‑five dollars ($75.00) per month for 20 years' creditable military service with an additional seven dollars and fifty cents ($7.50) per month for each additional year of such service; provided, however, that the total pension shall not exceed one hundred fifty dollars ($150.00) per month. The requirements for such pension are that each member shall:

(1)       Have served and qualified for at least 20 years' creditable military service, including national guard, reserve and active duty, under the same requirement specified for entitlement to retired pay for nonregular service under Chapter 67, Title 10, United States Code.

(2)       Have at least 15 years of the aforementioned service as a member of the North Carolina national guard.

(3)       Have received an honorable discharge from the North Carolina national guard.

(b)       Payment to a retired member of the North Carolina national guard under the provisions of this section will cease at the death of the individual and no payment will be made to beneficiaries or to the decedent's estate.

(c)       No individual receiving retired pay as a result of length of service, age or physical disability retirement from any of the regular components of the armed forces of the United States will be eligible for benefits under this section.

(d)       Nothing contained in this section shall preclude or in any way affect the benefits that an individual may be entitled to from State, federal or private retirement systems.

(e)       Repealed by Session Laws 1989, c. 792, s. 2.3.

(f)        The Secretary of Crime Control and Public Safety shall determine the eligibility of guard members for the benefits herein provided and shall certify those eligible to the State Treasurer. In addition, the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety shall, on and after July 1, 1983, provide the Department of State Treasurer with an annual census population, by age and the number of years of creditable service, for all former members of the National Guard in receipt of a pension as well as for all active members of the National Guard who are not in receipt of a pension and who have seven and more years of creditable service. The Department of Crime Control and Public Safety shall also provide the State Treasurer a census population of all former members of the National Guard who are not in receipt of a pension and who have 15 and more years of creditable service. The Department of State Treasurer shall make pension payments to those persons certified from the North Carolina National Guard Pension Fund, which shall include general fund appropriations made to and transferred from the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety. The Department of State Treasurer shall have performed an annual actuarial valuation of the fund and shall have the financial responsibility for maintaining the fund on a generally accepted actuarial basis. The Department of Crime Control and Public Safety shall provide the Department of State Treasurer with whatever assistance is required by the State Treasurer in carrying out his financial responsibilities.

(g)       The provisions of this section shall apply to any member or former member of the North Carolina national guard who is qualified for the above retirements with eligibility of such person commencing at age 60 or July 1, 1974, whichever is the later date.

(h)       If, for any reason, the North Carolina National Guard Pension Fund shall be insufficient to pay in full any pension benefits, or other charges, then all benefits or payments shall be reduced pro rata, for as long as the deficiency in amount exists. No claim shall accrue with respect to any amount by which a pension or benefit payment shall have been reduced.

(h1)     Any member or former member of the North Carolina national guard who is qualified for benefits under this section and who is a member of a domiciled employees' or retirees' association that has at least 2,000 members, the majority of whom are active or retired employees of the State or public school employees, may authorize, in writing, the periodic deduction from the member's retirement benefits a designated lump sum to be paid to the employees' or retirees' association. The authorization shall remain in effect until revoked by the member. A plan of deductions pursuant to this subsection shall become void if the employees' or retirees' association engages in collective bargaining with the State, any political subdivision of the State, or any local school administrative unit.

(i)        Pensions for members of the North Carolina National Guard shall be subject to future legislative change or revision. (1973, c. 625, s. 1; c. 1241, ss. 1‑3; 1975, c. 604, s. 2; 1977, c. 70, s. 2; 1979, c. 870; 1983, c. 761, ss. 250, 251; 1989, c. 792, s. 2.3; 2002‑126, s. 6.4(g); 2005‑276, s. 29.27.)