N.J. Admin. Code § 17:5-6.1

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 23, December 2, 2024

Section 17:5-6.1 - Honorable service; interfund transfers; other State systems

(a) The receipt of a public pension or retirement benefit is expressly conditioned upon the rendering of honorable service by a public official or employee. Therefore, the Board of the present System shall disallow the transfer of all or a portion of prior service of any member of the System for misconduct occurring during the member's prior public service, which renders that prior service, or part thereof, dishonorable.

(b) The member is not eligible to transfer service credit if any of the following conditions apply:

1. The member has withdrawn the previous membership;

2. The member has credit in the present system for service earned after the date of enrollment in the new system (concurrent service); or

3. The account has expired; that is, it has been more than two years from the date of the last contribution.

(c) Membership credit transferred pursuant to this section shall be included in the computation of a retirement allowance. In accordance with P.L. 2019, c. 251, for all retirements effective on November 1, 2019, and thereafter, such credits can be used to satisfy the statutory requirements of those benefits which specifically require a minimum number of years of creditable service as a State police employee. Any active member shall be permitted to transfer such previously purchased credit by paying into the annuity savings fund the amount required by applying the factor, supplied by the actuary as being applicable to the member's age at the time of the purchase, to the member's salary at that time. Such purchase may be made in regular installments equal to at least half of the normal contribution to the retirement system, over a maximum period of 10 years.

(d) The system will transfer membership to any State-administered system as follows:

1. A member, desiring to transfer service credit and contributions from one State-administered retirement system to another shall file an Application of Interfund Transfer and an "Enrollment Application" in place of the customary "Application for Withdrawal." This application will void all possible claims against the former system and all rights and benefits under the former system, when approved, and the new membership is commenced in the new system. The member will be required to pay a cost differential from the non-SPRS credit to full SPRS credit. The actuary will calculate the cost differential and the member will have 30 days to decide whether they want to interfund transfer to SPRS. A waiver must be signed by the member if they wish to decline their interfund transfer rights.

2. The member's accumulated contributions, less any outstanding loan, shall be transferred to the new system for the account of the respective member. Any outstanding loan, back deductions or arrears obligation will be scheduled for repayment.

3. A statement reflecting the member's status as of the date of transfer shall be prepared by the Withdrawal Section of the Division and a copy forwarded to the old account.

4. The member's service credits established in the present system shall be transferred to the new system, subject to the provisions of the SPRS. A data sheet shall be created for the member's new account that will indicate an interfund transfer from the member's previous retirement system and the service credit transferred into the new membership account.

(e) The reserves accrued in the present system will be valued and compared to the reserves required in the new system.

1. If the reserves accumulated or provided for in the present system are less than those required in the new system, the full reserve will be transferred.

2. If the reserves accumulated or provided for in the present system are more than those required in the new system, only the amount required to establish the credit will be transferred.

(f) Years of credit will be subject to the benefit formula of the new system after transfer.

(g) A member shall meet all age and physical requirements for enrollment into the SPRS before an interfund transfer into the SPRS shall take effect.

N.J. Admin. Code § 17:5-6.1

Amended by R.2001 d.128, effective 4/16/2001.
See: 33 N.J.R. 204(a), 33 N.J.R. 1205(a).
Rewrote section.
Amended by R.2012 d.042, effective 2/21/2012.
See: 43 N.J.R. 2568(a), 44 N.J.R. 507(c).
In (a), substituted "conditioned" for "condition", deleted "of Trustees" following "Board", and inserted a comma following the third occurrence of "service"; and in (g), substituted "SPRS" for "State Police Retirement System".
Amended by R.2019 d.066, effective 6/17/2019.
See: 51 N.J.R. 349(a), 51 N.J.R. 1059(a).
Section was "Interfund transfers; other State Systems". In (a)3, deleted "and there was not sufficient service credit to be eligible for deferred retirement" following "contribution"; and in (d)1, substituted "former system and all rights and benefits under the former" for "present".
Amended by R.2020 d.117, effective 11/2/2020.
See: 52 N.J.R. 1012(a), 52 N.J.R. 2010(b).
In (c), substituted "transferred under this section" for "so transferred", and "In accordance with P.L. 2019, c. 251, for all retirements effective on November 1, 2019, and thereafter, such credits can" for "Such credits cannot".

Amended by 55 N.J.R. 2354(b), effective 11/20/2023