§ 1000 — Military service credit

§ 1000. Military service credit. Notwithstanding any law to the\ncontrary, a member of a public retirement system of the state, as\ndefined in subdivision twenty-three of section five hundred one of this\nchapter, shall be eligible for credit for military service as\nhereinafter provided:\n 1. A member, upon application to such retirement system, may obtain a\ntotal not to exceed three years of service credit for up to three years\nof military duty, as defined in section two hundred forty-three of the\nmilitary law, if the member (a) was honorably discharged from the\nmilitary, or (b) has a qualifying condition, as defined in section three\nhundred fifty of the executive law, and has received a discharge other\nthan bad conduct or dishonorable from such service, or (c) is a\ndischarged LGBT veteran, as defined in section three hundred fifty of\nthe executive law, and has received a discharge other than bad conduct\nor dishonorable from such service.\n 2. A member must have at least five years of credited service (not\nincluding service granted hereunder) to be eligible to receive credit\nunder this section.\n 3. To obtain such credit, a member shall pay such retirement system,\nfor deposit in the fund used to accumulate employer contributions, a sum\nequal to the product of the number of years of military service being\nclaimed and three percent of such member's compensation earned during\nthe twelve months of credited service immediately preceding the date\nthat the member made application for credit pursuant to this section. If\npermitted by rule or regulation of the applicable retirement system, the\nmember may pay such member costs by payroll deduction for a period which\nshall not exceed the time period of military service to be credited\npursuant to this section. In the event the member leaves the employer\npayroll prior to completion of payment, he or she shall forward all\nremaining required payments to the appropriate retirement system prior\nto the effective date of retirement. If the full amount of such member\ncosts is not paid to the appropriate retirement system prior to the\nmember's retirement, the amount of service credited shall be\nproportional to the total amount of the payments made prior to\nretirement.\n 4. In no event shall the credit granted pursuant to this section, when\nadded to credit granted for military service with any retirement system\nof this state pursuant to this or any other provision of law, exceed a\ntotal of three years.\n 5. To be eligible to receive credit for military service under this\nsection, a member must make application for such credit before the\neffective date of retirement.\n 6. All costs for service credited to a member pursuant to this\nsection, other than the member costs set forth in subdivision three of\nthis section, shall be paid by the state and all employers which\nparticipate in the retirement system in which such member is granted\ncredit.\n 7. A member who has purchased military service credit pursuant to\nsection two hundred forty-four-a of the military law shall be entitled\nto a refund of the difference between the amount paid by the member for\nsuch purchase and the amount that would be payable if service had been\npurchased pursuant to this section.\n 8. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the event of death\nprior to retirement, amounts paid by the member for the purchase of\nmilitary service credit pursuant to this section shall be refunded, with\ninterest, to the extent the military service purchased with such amounts\ndoes not produce a greater death benefit than would have been payable\nhad the member not purchased such credit.\n Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the event of\nretirement, amounts paid by the member for the purchase of military\nservice credit pursuant to this section shall be refunded, with\ninterest, to the extent the military service purchased with such amounts\ndoes not produce a greater retirement allowance than would have been\npayable had the member not purchased such credit.\n 9. Anything to the contrary in subdivision three of this section\nnotwithstanding, to obtain such credit, a member who first joins a\npublic retirement system of the state on or after April first, two\nthousand twelve shall pay such retirement system, for deposit in the\nfund used to accumulate employer contributions, a sum equal to the\nproduct of the number of years of military service being claimed and six\npercent of such member's compensation earned during the twelve months of\ncredited service immediately preceding the date that the member made\napplication for credit pursuant to this section.\n