§ 203-7-B. Purchase of Out of State or Federal Service Credit.

(a)

An Active Member of the Retirement System shall be permitted to obtain Creditable Service under this Retirement System if (i) the Member has "Eligible Out of State Service" or "Eligible Federal Service" (as defined below), and (ii) the Member satisfies all of the requirements of subsection (b) below. The amount of such Creditable Service and the purposes for which it shall be used under this Retirement System are described in subsection (c) below.

(b)

A Member meets the requirements of this subsection if all of the following requirements are met:

(i)

The Member is an Employee, as defined in Section 203-1-E of this Chapter, after the effective date of this Section.

(ii)

The Member shall have been a Member for at least 18 consecutive months at the time that the Member either makes payment or begins making payments for the Creditable Service.

(iii)

The Member is an Employee at the time of payment for the Creditable Service.

(iv)

The purchase of service, when combined with any other creditable service of the Member for the same calendar year as the purchased service, shall not result in the Member receiving more than one year of service credit per calendar year.

(c)

In order to become entitled to additional Creditable Service under this Section, the Member shall deposit in this system an amount equal to 100 percent of the amount determined by the actuary chosen by the Retirement System, to be necessary to fund the additional Service Retirement Allowance and all other benefits that shall be payable under the Retirement System on account of the Member's purchase of Creditable Service under this section. Payment by the Member may be made in any combination of the following methods:

(i)

[Repealed.]

(ii)

Payroll deduction by the Member pursuant to a pick-up plan that meets the requirements of IRC Section 414(h)(2).

(iii)

The Member making a rollover contribution (including a direct rollover) to the Retirement System from an "Eligible Retirement Plan," as defined in Section 203-117.

(iv)

A trustee-to-trustee transfer from a 403(b) plan or an eligible governmental deferred compensation 457(b) plan.

(v)

Any other direct payment in cash to the Retirement System.

Any Employee desiring to exercise the option to purchase Creditable Service under this Section shall make application to the Board, which application shall be accompanied by a non-refundable $250 application fee for the cost of the actuarial study required to determine the cost. If the Employee purchases Creditable Service, the $250 fee shall be applied toward the cost of such purchase.

At the time of application, an Employee shall provide payroll records or other proof of "Eligible Out of State Service" or "Eligible Federal Service," in a form and manner acceptable to the Board.

For this purpose, a rollover contribution shall be a contribution to this Retirement System that, in accordance with IRC Sections 402(c), 403(a)(4), 403(b)(8), 408(d)(3) or 457(e)(16) and procedures established by the Board, a Member makes by delivering, or causing to be delivered to the Retirement System, assets in cash which constitute such rollover contribution.

(d)

The minimum number of years of service required under the provisions of Section 203-42, 203-43 and Section 203-44 for health care benefits cannot be supplied by the purchase of credit under the provisions of this Section; however, credit purchased under the provisions of this Section will be included when determining the percentage of premiums to be paid by the Retirement System on behalf of a Retired Member.

(e)

The total amount of Creditable Service purchased under this Section shall not exceed the lesser of five years or the Member's total number of years of Eligible Out of State Service and Eligible Federal Service.

(f)

For purposes of this Section:

(i)

"Eligible Out of State Service" shall include membership service in a defined benefit plan earned as a common law employee of a state other than Ohio (another state), a political subdivision of another state, an agency or instrumentality of another state, or the District of Columbia, that is not concurrent with full-time City service, and provided that such employment shall not be used in the calculation of any retirement benefit currently being paid or payable in the future to the Member under any other retirement program except social security.

(ii)

"Eligible Federal Service" shall include membership service in a defined benefit plan earned as a common law employee of the United States and its possessions and territories, or an agency or instrumentality of the United States, that is not concurrent with full-time City service, and provided that such employment shall not be used in the calculation of any retirement benefit currently being paid or payable in the future to the Member under any other retirement program except social security. At the time the Creditable Service is purchased, the Member shall certify this requirement to the Board on a form furnished by the Board.

(g)

At the time that "Out of State" or "Federal Service Credit" is purchased under this Section, the Member shall certify to the Board, on a form furnished by the Board, that the prior employment, or service as an elected official, will not be used in the calculation of any retirement benefit currently being paid or payable in the future to the Member under any other retirement program except social security. In accordance with Section 203-133, the Board shall otherwise have full authority to administer the terms of this Section. All decisions of the Board made in regard to the administration of this Section shall be final, including without limitation (i) determinations of the Board in regard to the question of whether or not records supplied by a Member provide proper verification of "Eligible Out of State Service" or "Eligible Federal Service," and (ii) determinations of whether other service constitutes "Eligible Out of State Service" or "Eligible Federal Service".

(Ordained by Emer. Ord. No. 379-2008, eff. Nov. 19, 2008; Emer. Ord. 290-2009, § 6, eff. Oct. 28, 2009; a. Ord. No. 336-2016, § 1, eff. Nov. 26, 2016; a. Emer. Ord. No. 343-2018, § 1, eff. Oct. 31, 2018)