REPORT OF CONFERENCE COMMITTEE

H.B. No. 784: Highway Patrol Retirement System; increase amount of benefits for retired members.

SECTION 1. Section 25-13-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

25-13-11. Any member upon withdrawal from service, upon or after attainment of the age of fifty-five (55) years, who shall have completed at least five (5) years of creditable service, or any member upon withdrawal from service upon or after attainment of the age of forty-five (45) years, who shall have completed at least twenty (20) years of creditable service, or any member upon withdrawal from service, regardless of age, who shall have completed at least twenty-five (25) years of creditable service, shall be entitled to receive a retirement allowance which shall be payable the first of the month following receipt of the member's application in the office of the Executive Director of the Public Employees' Retirement Service, but in no event before withdrawal from service.

Any member whose withdrawal from service occurs prior to attaining the age of fifty-five (55) years, who shall have completed more than five (5) years of creditable service and shall not have received a refund of the member's accumulated contributions, shall be entitled to receive a retirement allowance beginning upon his attaining the age of fifty-five (55) years of the amount earned and accrued at the date of withdrawal from service.

The annual amount of the retirement allowance shall consist of:

(a) A member's annuity, which shall be the actuarial equivalent of the accumulated contributions of the member at the time of retirement, computed according to the actuarial table in use by the system.

(b) An employer's annuity which, together with the member's annuity provided above, shall be equal to two and one-half percent (2-1/2%) of the average compensation, based on the four (4) highest consecutive years, for each year of membership service.

(c) A prior service annuity equal to two and one-half percent (2-1/2%) of the average compensation, based on the four (4) highest consecutive years, for each year of prior service for which the member is allowed credit.

(d) In the case of retirement of any member prior to attaining the age of fifty-five (55) years, the retirement allowance shall be computed in accordance with the formula hereinabove set forth in this section, except that the employer's annuity and prior service annuity above described shall be reduced three percent (3%) for each year of age below fifty-five (55) years, or three percent (3%) for each year of service below twenty-five (25) years of creditable service, whichever is lesser.

(e) Upon retiring from service, a member shall be eligible to obtain retirement benefits, as computed above, for life, except that the aggregate amount of the employer's annuity and prior service annuity above described shall not exceed more than eighty-five percent (85%) of the average compensation regardless of the years of service.

(f) Any member in the service who shall have attained the age of sixty (60) years shall be retired forthwith.

(g) Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter pertaining to the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol Retirement System, no payments may be made for a retirement allowance on a monthly basis for a period of time in excess of that allowed by any applicable federal law.

(h) * * * In no case shall any retired member who has completed at least fifteen (15) years of creditable service receive less than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) per month; in no case shall any retired member who has completed ten (10) or more years of creditable service, but less than fifteen (15) years of creditable service, receive less than Three Hundred Dollars ($300.00) per month; and in no case shall any retired member who has completed less than ten (10) years of creditable service receive less than Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00) per month. In no case shall a beneficiary who is receiving a retirement allowance receive less than Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00) per month or Three Thousand Dollars ($3,000.00) per year.

(i) Any retired member who is receiving a retirement allowance on July 1, 1999, shall receive an ad hoc increase in the annual retirement allowance equal to Three Dollars and Fifty Cents ($3.50) per month for each full fiscal year through June 30, 1999, that the member has actually drawn retirement payments from the date of retirement, or the date of last retirement if there is more than one (1) retirement date, plus an amount equal to One Dollar ($1.00) per month for each full year of creditable service and proportionately for each quarter year of creditable service, as documented by the system and on which benefits are being paid. If there are multiple beneficiaries receiving a retirement allowance from a deceased member's account, the ad hoc increase shall be divided proportionately.

SECTION 2. Section 25-13-12, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

25-13-12. (1) Patrol officers who have retired and who on December 1 of each year, or July 1 of each year as provided for in subsection (7) of this section, are receiving a retirement allowance for service or disability retirement, or their beneficiaries, shall receive in one (1) additional payment an amount equal to * * * two and one-half percent (2-1/2%) of the annual retirement allowance for each full fiscal year of retirement * * *.

(2) Persons who on December 1 of each year are receiving a retirement allowance for service or disability retirement, or their beneficiaries, may receive, in addition to the amount provided in subsection (1) of this section, a payment, as determined by the board, calculated in increments of one-quarter of one percent (1/4 of 1%), not to exceed one and one-half percent (1-1/2%) of the annual retirement allowance, for each full year of retirement, provided that any such payment shall be contingent upon the reserve for annuities in force for retired members and beneficiaries providing sufficient investment gains in excess of the accrued actuarial liabilities for the previous fiscal year as certified by the actuary and determined by the board.

(3) The percentages in this section shall be based on each full fiscal year that the retired member or beneficiary has actually drawn retirement payments from the date of retirement, or the date of last retirement if there is more than one (1) retirement date.

(4) If a person who is receiving a retirement allowance that will terminate upon the person's death is receiving the additional payments under subsections (1) and (2) of this section in one (1) payment and dies on or after July 1 but before December 1, the beneficiary or estate of the person shall receive in a single payment a fractional part of the additional payments based on the number of months in which a retirement allowance was received during the fiscal year.

(5) Each retired member or beneficiary thereof who receives an annual retirement allowance based on the average compensation for a period of five (5) successive or joined years and who receives a retirement allowance for the month of June, 1986, shall receive an ad hoc increase of three percent (3%) in such retirement allowance effective July 1, 1986.

(6) Persons eligible to receive the payments provided in subsections (1) and (2) of this section shall receive such payments in one (1) additional payment, except that such person may elect by an irrevocable agreement on a form prescribed by the board of trustees to receive such payments in not less than equal monthly installments not to exceed six (6) months during the remaining months of the current fiscal year. In the event of death of a person or a beneficiary thereof receiving monthly benefits, any remaining amounts shall be paid in a lump sum to the designated beneficiary.

(7) Retired persons or beneficiaries thereof who on July 1, 1997, or July 1 of any fiscal year thereafter, are receiving a retirement allowance, may elect by an irrevocable agreement in writing filed in the office of the Public Employees' Retirement System no less than thirty (30) days before July 1 of the appropriate year, to begin receiving the payments provided for in subsection (1) of this section in twelve (12) equal installments beginning July 1, 1997, or July 1 of any fiscal year thereafter. This irrevocable agreement shall be binding on the member and subsequent beneficiaries. The cumulative percentage provided in subsection (1) of this section and paid in twelve (12) equal installments for any particular year shall not be less than the cumulative percentage provided for the previous year. However, payment of the installments shall not extend beyond the month in which a retirement allowance is due and payable. Any additional amounts approved by the board under subsection (2) of this section shall be paid in one (1) lump sum payment to retirees and beneficiaries in accordance with subsection (2) of this section.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 1999.

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 25-13-11, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE FOR AN INCREASE IN THE ANNUAL RETIREMENT ALLOWANCE OF EACH RETIRED MEMBER OF THE HIGHWAY SAFETY PATROL RETIREMENT SYSTEM IN AN AMOUNT EQUAL TO $3.50 PER MONTH FOR EACH FULL FISCAL YEAR RETIRED AND $1.00 PER MONTH FOR EACH FULL FISCAL YEAR OF CREDITABLE SERVICE AT THE TIME OF RETIREMENT; TO PROVIDE FOR A PROPORTIONATE SHARE OF THE AD HOC INCREASE IF THERE ARE MULTIPLE BENEFICIARIES RECEIVING A RETIREMENT ALLOWANCE FROM A DECEASED MEMBER'S ACCOUNT; TO AMEND SECTION 25-13-12, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO DELETE THE PROVISION THAT THE ADDITIONAL ANNUAL PAYMENT FOR RETIRED MEMBERS OF THE MISSISSIPPI HIGHWAY SAFETY PATROL RETIREMENT SYSTEM WILL BE BASED ON THE ANNUAL PERCENTAGE INCREASE IN THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX; TO PROVIDE THAT IF A PERSON WHO IS RECEIVING A RETIREMENT ALLOWANCE THAT WILL TERMINATE UPON HIS DEATH IS RECEIVING THE ADDITIONAL ANNUAL PAYMENT IN ONE PAYMENT AND DIES ON OR AFTER JULY 1 BUT BEFORE DECEMBER 1, THE BENEFICIARY OR ESTATE OF THE PERSON SHALL RECEIVE A FRACTIONAL PART OF THE ADDITIONAL PAYMENT BASED ON THE NUMBER OF MONTHS IN WHICH A RETIREMENT ALLOWANCE WAS RECEIVED DURING THE FISCAL YEAR; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.