Senate Bill No. 582
(By Senators Craigo, Plymale, White, Dittmar, Wooton, Scott,
Jackson, Kessler, Ross, Schoonover, Sharpe, Love, Ball, Hunter,
Sprouse, McKenzie, Deem, Minear, Boley, Dugan, Kimble, Buckalew,
Oliverio, Macnaughtan, Helmick, Anderson, Snyder, Prezioso,
Walker, Bailey, Tomblin, Mr. President and Bowman)
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[Introduced February 18, 1998; referred to the
Committee on Pensions; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section twenty-six, article seven-a,
chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to providing
that members of the teachers retirement system retiring at
age sixty with a minimum of ten years of credited service
shall receive a minimum retirement annuity of five hundred
dollars per month.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twenty-six, article seven-a, chapter eighteen
of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 7A. STATE TEACHERS RETIREMENT SYSTEM.
§18-7A-26. Computation of annuities.
(a) Annuitants whose annuities were approved by the
retirement board effective before the first day of July, first
one thousand nine hundred eighty, shall be paid the annuities
which were approved by the retirement board. However, any member
whose annuity was approved by the retirement board, and who had
attained the age of sixty years with a minimum of ten years of
credited service upon retirement, shall receive a minimum
retirement annuity of five hundred dollars per month.
Annuities approved by the board effective after the
thirtieth day of June, thirty one thousand nine hundred eighty,
shall be computed as provided herein in this section.
(b) Upon establishment of eligibility for a retirement
allowance, a member shall be granted an annuity which shall be is
the sum of the following:
(a) (1) Two percent of the member's average salary
multiplied by his or her total service credit as a teacher. In
this paragraph subdivision "average salary" shall mean means the
average of the highest annual salaries received by the member
during any five years contained within his or her last fifteen
years of total service credit: Provided, That the highest annual salary used in this calculation for certain members employed by
the board of directors of the state college and board of trustees
of the university systems of West Virginia board of regents at
institutions of higher education under its their control shall be
four thousand eight hundred dollars, as provided by section
fourteen-a of this article; and chapter
(b) (2) The actuarial equivalent of the voluntary deposits
of the member in his or her individual account up to the time of
his or her retirement, with regular interest.
(c) Any member whose annuity is approved by the retirement
board, and who has attained the age of sixty years with a minimum
of ten years of credited service upon retirement, shall receive
a minimum retirement annuity of five hundred dollars per month.
(d) The disability annuities of all teachers retired for
disability shall be based upon a disability table prepared by a
competent actuary approved by the retirement board.
(e) Upon the death of an annuitant who qualified for an
annuity as a surviving spouse or because of permanent disability,
the estate of the deceased or beneficiary designated for such
that purpose, shall be paid the difference, if any, between the
member's contributions with regular interest thereon on the
contributions, and the sum of the annuity payments.
(f) All annuities shall be paid in twelve monthly payments. In computing the monthly payments, fractions of a cent shall be
deemed considered a cent. The monthly payments shall cease with
the payment for the month within which the beneficiary dies, and
shall begin with the payment for the month succeeding the month
within which the annuitant became eligible under this article for
the annuity granted; in no case, however, shall an annuitant
receive more than four monthly payments which are retroactive
after the board receives his or her application for annuity.
Beginning with the first day of July one thousand nine hundred
ninety-four, the monthly payments shall be made on the
twenty-fifth day of each month, except the month of December,
when the payment shall be made on the eighteenth day of December.
If the date of payment falls on a holiday, Saturday or Sunday,
then the payment shall be made on the preceding workday.
(g) In case the retirement board receives data affecting the
approved annuity of a retired teacher, the annuity shall be
changed in accordance with the data, the change being effective
with the payment for the month within which the board received
the new data.
(h) Any person who has attained the age of sixty-five and
who has served at least twenty-five years as a teacher prior to
July one, one thousand nine hundred forty-one, shall be eligible
for prior service credit and for prior service pensions as prescribed in this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that members
of the Teachers Retirement System retiring at age sixty with a
minimum of ten years of credited service shall receive a minimum
retirement annuity of five hundred dollars per month.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.