1999 Minnesota Statutes

     356.86 Postretirement adjustment; lump sum payments. 

    Subdivision 1.    Entitlement.  A person who is 
 receiving a retirement annuity, a disability benefit, or a 
 surviving spouse's annuity or benefit from a retirement fund 
 specified in subdivision 3, clauses (1) to (8), is entitled to 
 receive a postretirement adjustment from the applicable 
 retirement fund in the amount specified in subdivision 2, if the 
 annuity or benefit was computed under: 

    (1) the laws in effect before June 1, 1973, if the person 
 is receiving an annuity or benefit from the retirement fund 
 specified in subdivision 3, clause (4); or 

    (2) the laws in effect before July 1, 1973, if the person 
 is receiving an annuity or benefit from a retirement fund 
 specified in subdivision 3, clause (1), (2), (3), or (5); or 

    (3) the metropolitan transit commission-transit operating 
 division employees retirement fund plan document in effect on or 
 before December 31, 1977, if the person is receiving a 
 retirement annuity, a disability benefit, or a surviving 
 spouse's annuity or benefit from the retirement fund specified 
 in subdivision 3, clause (5); or 

    (4) the laws in effect before May 1, 1974, and before any 
 adjustment under Laws 1987, chapter 372, article 3, if the 
 person is receiving an annuity or benefit from the retirement 
 fund specified in subdivision 3, clause (6); or 

    (5) the laws in effect before January 1, 1970, if the 
 person is receiving an annuity or benefit from the retirement 
 fund specified in subdivision 3, clause (7); or 

    (6) the laws in effect before June 30, 1971, if the person 
 is receiving an annuity or benefit from the retirement fund 
 specified in subdivision 3, clause (8). 

    Subd. 2.    Amount of postretirement adjustment; payment. 
  (a) For any person receiving an annuity or benefit on 
 November 30, 1989, and entitled to receive a postretirement 
 adjustment under subdivision 1, the postretirement adjustment is 
 a lump sum payment calculated under paragraph (b) or (c). 

    (b) For coordinated plan annuity or benefit recipients, the 
 postretirement adjustment in 1989 is $25 for each full year of 
 allowable service credited to the person by the respective 
 retirement fund.  In 1990 and each following year, the 
 postretirement adjustment is the amount payable in the preceding 
 year increased by the same percentage applied to regular 
 annuities paid from the postretirement fund or, for the 
 retirement funds specified in subdivision 3, clauses (6), (7), 
 and (8), by the same percentage applied under the articles of 
 incorporation and bylaws of these funds. 

    (c) For basic plan annuity or benefit recipients, the 
 postretirement adjustment in 1989 is the greater of: 

    (1) $25 for each full year of allowable service credited to 
 the person by the respective retirement fund; or 

    (2) the difference between: 

    (i) the product of $400 times the number of full years of 
 allowable service credited to the person by the respective 
 retirement fund; and 

    (ii) the sum of the benefits payable to the person from any 
 Minnesota public employee pension plan, and cash benefits 
 payable to the person from the Social Security Administration. 

    In 1990 and each following year, each eligible basic plan 
 annuity or benefit recipient shall receive the amount received 
 in the preceding year increased by the same percentage applied 
 to regular annuities paid from the postretirement fund or, for 
 the retirement funds specified in subdivision 3, clauses (6), 
 (7), and (8), by the same percentage applied under the articles 
 of incorporation and bylaws of these funds. 

    (d) The postretirement adjustment provided for in this 
 section is payable for those persons receiving an annuity or 
 benefit on November 30, 1989, on December 1, 1989.  In 
 subsequent years, the adjustment must be paid on December 1 to 
 those persons receiving an annuity or benefit on the preceding 
 November 30.  A person who is eligible may elect to participate 
 in an optional annuity or benefit receipt schedule under 
 subdivision 4.  This section does not authorize the payment of a 
 postretirement adjustment to an estate if the annuity or benefit 
 recipient dies before the November 30 eligibility date.  The 
 postretirement adjustment provided for in this section must be 
 paid automatically unless the intended recipient files a written 
 notice with the retirement fund requesting that the 
 postretirement adjustment not be paid or returns the amount of 
 adjustment to the retirement fund.  Written notice of the waiver 
 of the postretirement adjustment is irrevocable for the year 
 during which it was made. 

    Subd. 3.    Covered retirement funds.  The 
 postretirement adjustment provided in this section applies to 
 the following retirement funds: 

    (1) public employees retirement fund; 

    (2) public employees police and fire fund; 

    (3) teachers retirement association; 

    (4) state patrol retirement fund; 

    (5) state employees retirement fund of the Minnesota state 
 retirement system; 

    (6) Minneapolis teachers retirement fund association 
 established under chapter 354A; 

    (7) St. Paul teachers retirement fund association, 
 established under chapter 354A; and 

    (8) Duluth teachers retirement fund association established 
 under chapter 354A. 

    Subd. 4.    Optional postretirement adjustment payment 
 schedule.  Basic plan annuity or benefit recipients receiving 
 adjustments under subdivision 2, paragraph (c), clause (2), and 
 whose adjustment exceeds 20 percent of their Minnesota plan 
 annuity or benefit may elect to have the amount of the 
 adjustment paid in equal monthly amounts instead of receiving a 
 lump sum payment on December 1, 1989.  Selection of this 
 optional payment schedule must be made by the recipient in 
 writing on forms prepared by the retirement association.  This 
 optional payment schedule may be revoked by the recipient in 
 writing prior to the November 1 preceding the December 1 lump 
 sum distribution.  Upon the death of the annuity or benefit 
 recipient, any remaining unpaid monthly amounts shall be paid to 
 the surviving spouse, or if no spouse survives, to the annuity 
 or benefit recipient's beneficiary or estate. 

    Subd. 5.    Social security information.  To be eligible 
 for a postretirement adjustment calculated under subdivision 2, 
 paragraph (c), clause (2), a person must authorize the Social 
 Security Administration to release to the retirement association 
 information on the person's social security cash benefits.  This 
 authorization must be received by the retirement association 
 before the December 1, 1989, payment date. 

    Subd. 6.    Report.  By September 30, 1990, the 
 retirement funds listed in subdivision 3 shall report to the 
 legislature and the commissioner of finance on the number of 
 annuity and benefit recipients eligible for each type of 
 adjustment established in subdivision 2, the annual cost of each 
 type of adjustment, and the estimated actuarial liability 
 associated with each. 

    HIST: 1989 c 319 art 15 s 1; 1990 c 570 art 12 s 59-62; 1991 c 
 341 s 45,46; 1995 c 141 art 3 s 20; 1996 c 305 art 1 s 95