§ 477a. Elections

(a) Any member who has rendered 15 years of creditable service and who has, prior to becoming a member of the System, served a minimum of one full year of full-time service in the military or one full year of full-time service as a member of the Cadet Nurse Corps in World War II, the Peace Corps, VISTA, or AmeriCorps for which the member has derived no military pension benefits, may elect to have included in the member’s creditable service all or any part of the member’s military, Cadet Nurse Corps, Peace Corps, VISTA, or AmeriCorps service not exceeding five years. Any member who so elects shall deposit in the Fund by a single contribution the amount or amounts determined by the System’s actuary to be cost neutral to the System. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection, any member shall, upon application, be granted up to three years of credit for military service during the periods June 25, 1950, through January 31, 1955, February 28, 1961, through August 4, 1964, if service was performed in what is now the Republic of Vietnam, and August 5, 1964, through May 7, 1975, and shall not be required to make a contribution, provided the member has rendered 15 years of creditable service and, prior to becoming a member, served a minimum of one full year of full-time service in the military for which he or she has derived no military pension benefits. The provisions of this subsection shall also be available to State employees who are not members of the classified system and who elect to participate in the defined Contribution Retirement Plan under chapter 16A of this title. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event of a conflict between the provisions of this subsection and the provisions of 10 U.S.C. § 12736 concerning the counting of the same full-time military service toward both military and State pensions, the provisions of the U. S. Code shall control.

(b) Any member who rendered service in the capacity of an employee for another state, as defined by the Board, may elect to have included in the member’s creditable service, all or part of any period of such service. Any member who so elects shall deposit in the Fund by a single contribution the amount or amounts determined by the System’s actuary to be cost neutral to the System.

(c) Any member may elect to have included in the member’s creditable service, years of service as a municipal employee or as a teacher in a public or private school, as defined by the Board. Any member who so elects shall deposit in the Fund by a single contribution the amount or amounts determined by the System’s actuary to be cost neutral to the System. No application for credit under this subsection shall be granted if at the time of application, the member has a vested right to retirement benefits in another Retirement System based upon that service.

(d) Any member may elect to have included in the member’s creditable service all or any part of the member’s service as a permanent State employee for which the member received no credit. Any member who so elects shall deposit in the Fund by a single contribution the amount or amounts determined by the System’s actuary to be cost neutral to the System. Any Group F member may elect to increase his or her retirement allowance for years of service as a Group E member prior to January 1, 1991, for 1-1/4 percent of average final compensation to 1-2/3 percent of average final compensation. A member making an election under this subdivision shall deposit in the Annuity Savings Fund by a single contribution an amount computed at regular interest to be sufficient to provide at normal retirement an annuity equal to 1-2/3 percent of the member’s average final compensation multiplied by the number of years of service for which the member elects to increase his or her retirement allowance. Any Group F member who is actively employed on June 30, 2007, and who was a member of the Group B plan prior to June 30, 1998, may elect to convert some or all of his or her Group B service to Group C service. A member making an election to convert shall deposit in the Fund by a single contribution an amount computed by the actuary to pay for the additional liability incurred by the increase in benefits between the Group B and the Group C plan multiplied by the number of years of service that the member elects to convert.

(e) Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary and except for credit elected under subsection (a) of this section, a member may not elect more than a total of 10 years of creditable service under the provisions of this section, except that there shall be no limit to years of service in group E being converted under subsection (d) of this section.

(f) Any time a member is required to make a single contribution in connection with an election under this section, a member may, with the approval of the Board, contribute over a maximum of five years in installments of equal value. Those contributions shall become a part of the member’s accumulated contribution and shall be treated for all purposes in the same manner as the contributions made under section 473 of this title. Any member who retires before completing payment as approved by the Board for the purchase of service under this section shall receive pro rata credit for service purchased before the date of retirement, but if the member so elects at the time of retirement, the member may pay as much in a single sum as is necessary to provide full credit at that time.

(g) Notwithstanding any provision of this section, no non-Vermont state employment credit elected under this section shall be considered as creditable service for purposes of attaining five years’ vesting required for retirement allowance eligibility.

(h) When a Group F member has a minimum of 25 years of creditable service, the member may elect to purchase up to five years of additional service credit. A member who makes an election under this subsection shall deposit in the fund by a single contribution an amount computed at regular interest to be sufficient to provide at normal retirement an annuity equal to 1-2/3 percent of the member’s average final compensation multiplied by the number of years purchased. (Added 1989, No. 169 (Adj. Sess.), § 15; 1989, No. 277 (Adj. Sess.), § 17s, eff. Jan. 1, 1991; amended 1991, No. 64, §§ 4, 5, eff. June 18, 1991; 1999, No. 53, §§ 4a, 4b; 1999, No. 158 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 2, 4; 2001, No. 29, § 2; 2005, No. 163 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 2007, No. 12, § 1a; 2007, No. 13, § 15; 2015, No. 18, § 3; 2021, No. 114 (Adj. Sess.), § 12, eff. July 1, 2022.)