2018 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 10 - Public Officers and Employees
Article 11 - Retirement of Public Officers and Employees Generally
Section 10-11-7 - Service credit; purchase of service.

A. A member who entered a uniformed service of the United States may purchase service credit for periods of active duty in the uniformed services subject to the following conditions:

(1) the member pays the association the purchase cost determined according to Subsection E of this section;

(2) the member has the applicable minimum number of years of service credit required for normal retirement. As used in this paragraph, "service credit" means only the service credit earned by the member during periods of employment with an affiliated public employer;

(3) the aggregate amount of service credit purchased pursuant to this subsection does not exceed five years reduced by any period of service credit acquired for military service pursuant to any other provision of the Public Employees Retirement Act;

(4) service credit may not be purchased for periods of service in the uniformed services that are used to obtain or increase a benefit from another retirement program; and

(5) the member must not have received a discharge or separation from uniformed service under other than honorable conditions.

B. A member who was a civilian prisoner of war captured while in service to the United States as an employee of the federal government or as an employee of a contractor with the federal government may purchase service credit for the period of internment as a civilian prisoner of war, provided that:

(1) the member provides proof of employment with the federal government or as a contractor to the federal government in a form acceptable to the association;

(2) the member provides proof of the period of internment in a form acceptable to the association;

(3) the member has the applicable minimum number of years of service credit required for normal retirement. As used in this paragraph, "service credit" means only the service credit earned by the member during periods of employment with an affiliated public employer;

(4) the aggregate amount of service credit purchased pursuant to this subsection does not exceed five years reduced by any period of service credit acquired for military service pursuant to any other provision of the Public Employees Retirement Act;

(5) service credit may not be purchased for periods of service in internment as a civilian prisoner of war if such periods are used to obtain or increase a benefit from another retirement program; and

(6) the member pays the association the purchase cost determined according to Subsection E of this section.

C. A member who was employed by a utility company, library, museum, transit company or nonprofit organization administering federally funded public service programs, which utility company, library, museum, transit company or nonprofit organization administering federally funded public service programs or federally funded public service programs administered by a nonprofit organization are subsequently taken over by an affiliated public employer, or a member who was employed by an entity created pursuant to a joint powers agreement between two or more affiliated public employers for the purpose of administering or providing drug or alcohol addiction treatment services irrespective of whether the entity is subsequently taken over by an affiliated public employer, may purchase service credit for the period of employment subject to the following conditions:

(1) the member pays the association the purchase cost determined according to Subsection E of this section;

(2) the member has the applicable minimum number of years of service credit required for normal retirement. As used in this paragraph, "service credit" means only the service credit earned by the member during periods of employment with an affiliated public employer; and

(3) the aggregate amount of service credit purchased pursuant to this subsection does not exceed five years.

D. A member who was appointed to participate in a cooperative work study training program established jointly by a state agency and a state post-secondary educational institution may purchase service credit for the period of participation subject to the following conditions:

(1) the member pays the association the full actuarial present value of the amount of the increase in the employee's pension as a consequence of the purchase as determined by the association;

(2) the member pays the full cost of the purchase within sixty days of the date the member is informed of the amount of the payment;

(3) the member has the applicable minimum number of years of service credit required for normal retirement. As used in this paragraph, "service credit" means only the service credit earned by the member during periods of employment with an affiliated public employer; and

(4) the aggregate amount of service credit purchased pursuant to this subsection does not exceed five years.

E. Except for service to be used under a state legislator coverage plan, the purchase cost for each month of service credit purchased pursuant to the provisions of this section is equal to the member's final average salary multiplied by the sum of the member contribution rate and employer contribution rate, determined in accordance with the coverage plan applicable to the member at the time of the written election to purchase. The purchase cost for each year of service credit to be used under a state legislator coverage plan is equal to three times the normal member contribution per year of service credit under the state legislator coverage plan applicable to the member. Full payment shall be made in a single lump sum within sixty days of the date the member is informed of the amount of the payment. The portion of the purchase cost derived from the employer contribution rate shall be credited to the employer's accumulation fund and shall not be paid out of the association in the event of cessation of membership. In no case shall a member be credited with a month of service for less than the purchase cost as defined in this section.

F. A member shall be refunded, upon written request filed with the association, the portion of the purchase cost of service credit purchased pursuant to this section that the association determines to have been unnecessary to provide the member with the maximum pension applicable to the member. The association shall not pay interest on the portion of the purchase cost refunded to the member.

G. A member of the magistrate retirement system who during the member's service as a magistrate was eligible to become a member of the public employees retirement system and elected not to become a member of that system may purchase service credit pursuant to the public employees retirement system for the period for which the magistrate elected not to become a public employees retirement system member by paying the amount of the increase in the actuarial present value of the magistrate pension as a consequence of the purchase as determined by the association. Full payment shall be made in a single lump-sum amount in accordance with procedures established by the retirement board. Except as provided in Subsection F of this section, seventy-five percent of the purchase cost shall be considered to be employer contributions and shall not be refunded to the member in the event of cessation of membership.

H. At any time prior to retirement, any member may purchase service credit in monthly increments, subject to the following conditions:

(1) the member has the applicable minimum number of years of service credit required for normal retirement. As used in this paragraph, "service credit" means only the service credit earned by the member during periods of employment with an affiliated public employer;

(2) the aggregate amount of service credit purchased pursuant to this subsection does not exceed one year;

(3) the member pays full actuarial present value of the amount of the increase in the employee's pension as a consequence of the purchase as determined by the association;

(4) the member pays the full cost of the purchase within sixty days of the date the member is informed of the amount of the payment; and

(5) the purchase of service credit under this subsection cannot be used to determine the final average salary or the pension factor or be used to exceed the pension maximum.

I. A member receiving service credit under this section who enrolls in the retiree health care authority shall make contributions pursuant to Subsection C of Section 10-7C-15 NMSA 1978.

History: Laws 1987, ch. 253, § 7; 1991, ch. 157, § 1; 1994, ch. 128, § 1; 1997, ch. 189, § 5; 1999, ch. 105, § 1; 2003, ch. 418, § 1; 2004, ch. 68, § 3; 2007, ch. 195, § 1; 2009, ch. 288, § 5; 2013, ch. 225, § 4.

Repeals and reenactments. — Laws 1987, Chapter 253 repealed former 10-11-7 NMSA 1978, as amended by Laws 1980, ch. 5, § 1, relating to conditions of investments, and enacted a new section, effective July 1, 1987.

The 2013 amendment, effective July 1, 2013, clarified how service credit under multiple coverage plans will be calculated; increased the vesting period; in Paragraph (2) of Subsection A, in the first sentence, after "the member has", deleted "five or more" and added "the applicable minimum number of", after "service credit", deletes "acquired as a result of personal service rendered in the employ of an affiliated public employer" and added "required for normal retirement", and added the second sentence; in Paragraph (3) of Subsection B, in the first sentence, after "the member has", deleted "at least five" and added "the applicable minimum number of", after "service credit", deleted "acquired as a result of personal service rendered in the employ of an affiliated public employer" and added "required for normal retirement", and added the second sentence; in Paragraph (2) of Subsection C, in the first sentence, after "the member has", deleted "five or more" and added "the applicable minimum number of", after "service credit", deleted "acquired as a result of personal service rendered in the employ of an affiliated public employer" and added "required for normal retirement", and added the second sentence; in Paragraph (3) of Subsection D, in the first sentence, after "the member has", deleted "five or more" and added "the applicable minimum number of", after "service credit", deleted "acquired as a result of personal service rendered in the employ of an affiliated public employer" and added "required for normal retirement", and added the second sentence; and in Paragraph (1) of Subsection H, in the first sentence, after "the member has", deleted "at least five" and added "the applicable number years of", after "service credit", deleted "acquired as a result of personal service rendered in the employ of an affiliated public employer" and added "required for normal retirement", and added the second sentence.

Severability. — Laws 2013, ch. 225, § 93 provided that if any part or application of Laws 2013, ch. 225 is held invalid, the remainder or its application to other situations or persons shall not be affected.

The 2009 amendment, effective July 1, 2009, added Subsection I.

The 2007 amendment, effective June 15, 2007, provided that a member appointed to a cooperative work study training program established by a state agency and a state post-secondary educational institution may purchase credit if the member pays the full actuarial present value of the increase in the member's pension as a consequence of the purchase and pays the cost within sixty days of the date the member is informed of the amount.

The 2004 amendment, effective March 4, 2004, amended Subsection H to delete from Paragraph (2) "reduced by any period of service credit acquired for service pursuant to any other provision of the Public Employees Retirement Act" and to add "be used to exceed" before "the pension maximum".

The 2003 amendment, effective June 20, 2003, in Subsection E, substituted "three times the normal member contribution" for "the sum of the member contribution and an employer contribution of ten times the annual amount of pension" following "is equal to", substituted "employer's" for "employer" following "credited to the"; inserted "retirement" following "established by the" in Subsection G; added Subsection H.

The 1999 amendment, effective June 18, 1999, added Subsection B, redesignated the subsequent subsections accordingly, and updated statutory references.

The 1997 amendment, effective June 20, 1997, substituted "service credit" for "credited service" throughout the section; in Subsection A, in the introductory language, substituted "a uniformed" for "an armed" and inserted "in the uniformed services", substituted "service in the uniformed services" for "active duty" in Paragraph (4), and added Paragraph (5) and made related stylistic changes; and deleted "upon the effective date of this subsection" following "may" in Subsection F.

The 1994 amendment, effective May 18, 1994, added Subsection F.

The 1991 amendment, effective June 14, 1991, in the introductory paragraph in Subsection B, inserted "public" following "federally funded" in two places and "or a member who was employed by an entity created pursuant to a joint powers agreement between two or more affiliated public employers for the purpose of administering or providing drug or alcohol addiction treatment services irrespective of whether the entity is subsequently taken over by an affiliated public employer"; in the first sentence in Subsection D, substituted "month of credited service" for "year of credited service" and "of the written election to purchase" for "payment is made" at the end; substituted "Full payment shall be made in a single lump sum" for "Payment shall be made" at the beginning of the third sentence in Subsection D; added the final sentence in Subsection D; substituted "refunded" for "paid" near the beginning of Subsection E; and made minor stylistic changes throughout the section.

Cooperative work study training program. — A member may not obtain free service credit under the Public Employees' Retirement Act for the period of time he was in "school phases" of a cooperative work study training program. 1989 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 89-05.