Said chapter 32 is hereby further amended by adding the following new section:—
Section 105. (a) Any member retired under the provisions of section 5 or section 10 shall be eligible to be reinstated in a retirement system established under this chapter, if the retired member repays to the system from which he retired an amount equal to the total amount of any retirement allowance received by the retired member, together with actuarial assumed interest thereon. Such payment shall be made in one lump sum or in installments as the board shall prescribe. Upon such reinstatement, regular deductions shall be made from regular compensation pursuant to paragraphs (b) and (b½) of subdivision (1) of section 22, for the purposes of which, the member’s date of entry into service shall be the date such member waived his retirement allowance or the date of reinstatement, whichever occurs earlier. Upon completion of such payment, the member shall be entitled to creditable service for all periods of service for which deductions were made from the member’s regular compensation. For purposes of this section, the term “reinstatement service” shall mean a member’s period of full-time employment after reinstatement in a retirement system under this section.
(b) If the member shall have less than 5 years reinstatement service, upon retirement, said member shall receive a refund of the payments actually made to the system under this section. The member shall not be entitled to any creditable service for the reinstatement service, nor shall said member be eligible to establish any additional creditable service under any provision for make up payments or other payments.
(c) If the member shall have 5 years or more of reinstatement service, the member shall be entitled to creditable service resulting from his reinstatement service, upon the completion of payments required under subsection (a) and payment of regular deductions under section 22 for the reinstatement service. In the event that a retirement allowance becomes effective for the member before the completion of payments under subsection (a), the member shall be entitled to credit for that proportion of reinstatement service as the board shall prescribe, in addition to any credit for service rendered prior to the date of reinstatement; provided that the member would have otherwise been eligible for said prior service.
Summary: This new section would allow a person retired under G.L. c. 32, §§ 5 or 10, to return to membership in the Retirement System when employed in the public sector after retirement. The retiree would become a member upon payment to the appropriate retirement system of an amount equal to the retirement allowance that the person had received while retired plus “actuarial assumed interest”. The person will contribute to the retirement system at the rate in effect on the date that the person waived his or her allowance or the date that the member was reinstated to membership, which-ever date is earlier. If the person remains a reinstated member (as a full-time employee) for more than 5 years, he or she will be eligible to retire again, with additional creditable service and a likely new three year average rate of regular compensation. If the person is reinstated to membership for less than 5 years, upon retirement, he or she will receive a refund of all amounts that were paid into the system.