2006 Minnesota Statutes

354A.37 REFUNDS.
    Subdivision 1. Eligibility for refund. Any coordinated member who ceases to render
teaching service for the school district in which the teachers retirement fund association is
located shall be entitled to a refund in lieu of any other annuity or benefit from the teachers
retirement fund association other than an annuity from a tax shelter annuity program and fund
as authorized pursuant to section 354A.021, subdivision 5. The amount of the refund shall be
calculated pursuant to subdivision 3. The application for the refund shall not be made prior to
30 days after the cessation of teaching services if the coordinated member has not resumed
active teaching services for the district. Payment of the refund shall be made within 90 days after
receipt of the refund application by the board.
    Subd. 2. Eligibility for deferred retirement annuity. Any coordinated member who ceases
to render teaching services for the school district in which the teachers retirement fund association
is located, with sufficient allowable service credit to meet the minimum service requirements
specified in section 354A.31, subdivision 1, shall be entitled to a deferred retirement annuity in
lieu of a refund pursuant to subdivision 1. The deferred retirement annuity shall be computed
pursuant to section 354A.31 and shall be augmented as provided in this subdivision. The deferred
annuity shall commence upon application after the person on deferred status attains at least the
minimum age specified in section 354A.31, subdivision 1.
The monthly annuity amount that had accrued when the member ceased to render teaching
service must be augmented from the first day of the month following the month during which
the member ceased to render teaching service to the effective date of retirement. There is no
augmentation if this period is less than three months. The rate of augmentation is three percent
compounded annually until January 1 of the year following the year in which the former member
attains age 55, and five percent compounded annually after that date to the effective date
of retirement if the employee became an employee before July 1, 2006, and at 2.5 percent
compounded annually if the employee becomes an employee after June 30, 2006. If a person has
more than one period of uninterrupted service, a separate average salary determined under section
354A.31 must be used for each period, and the monthly annuity amount related to each period
must be augmented as provided in this subdivision. The sum of the augmented monthly annuity
amounts determines the total deferred annuity payable. If a person repays a refund, the service
restored by the repayment must be considered as continuous with the next period of service for
which the person has credit with the fund. If a person does not render teaching services in any
one fiscal year or more consecutive fiscal years and then resumes teaching service, the formula
percentages used from the date of resumption of teaching service are those applicable to new
members. The mortality table and interest assumption used to compute the annuity are the table
established by the fund to compute other annuities, and the interest assumption under section
356.215 in effect when the member retires. A period of uninterrupted service for the purpose of
this subdivision means a period of covered teaching service during which the member has not
been separated from active service for more than one fiscal year.
The augmentation provided by this subdivision applies to the benefit provided in section
354A.35, subdivision 2. The augmentation provided by this subdivision does not apply to any
period in which a person is on an approved leave of absence from an employer unit.
    Subd. 3. Computation of refund amount. A former coordinated member who qualifies
for a refund pursuant to subdivision 1 shall receive a refund equal to the amount of the former
coordinated member's accumulated contributions with interest at the rate of six percent per annum
compounded annually.
    Subd. 4. Certain refunds at normal retirement age. Any coordinated member who has
attained the normal retirement age with less than ten years of allowable service credit and has
terminated active teaching service shall be entitled to a refund in lieu of a proportionate annuity
pursuant to section 356.32. The refund shall be equal to the coordinated member's accumulated
employee contributions plus interest at the rate of six percent compounded annually.
    Subd. 5. Unclaimed minimal refund amounts; disposition. If a coordinated member ceases
to render teaching services for the school district in which the teachers retirement fund association
is located but does not apply for a refund pursuant to subdivision 1 within five years after the end
of the plan year next following the cessation of teaching services and if the amount of the refund
that the former coordinated member would have been entitled to pursuant to subdivision 3 is $500
or less, then the amount of the refund and any accumulated interest shall be credited to and become
a part of the retirement fund. If the former coordinated member subsequently renders teaching
services for the school district in which the teachers retirement fund association is located and the
amount of the refund that the former coordinated member would have previously been entitled
to pursuant to subdivision 3 is at least $5, then the amount of the refund and any accumulated
interest shall be restored to the member's individual account. If the amount of the refund that the
former coordinated member would have previously been entitled to pursuant to subdivision 3 is at
least $5 and the former coordinated member applies for a refund pursuant to subdivision 1 or for
an annuity pursuant to sections 354A.31 and 354A.32 or section 356.30, the amount of the refund
and any accumulated interest shall be restored to the member's individual account.
History: 1979 c 217 s 22; 1984 c 564 s 40,41; 1989 c 319 art 13 s 86-88; 2006 c 277 art 2 s 9