Iowa Code § 97B.48A — IA Code / Title III / Chapter 97B / Section 97B.48A
Reemployment.
Status: in_force

(1) (a) If a member who has not reached the member’s sixty-fifth birthday and who has a bona fide retirement under this chapter is in regular full-time employment during a calendar year, the member’s retirement allowance shall be reduced by fifty cents for each dollar the member earns over the limit provided in this subsection. However, employment is not full-time employment until the member receives remuneration in an amount in excess of fifty thousand dollars for a calendar year, or an amount equal to the amount of remuneration permitted for a calendar year for persons under sixty-five years of age before a reduction in federal social security retirement benefits is required, whichever is higher. Effective the first of the month in which a member attains the age of sixty-five years, a retired member may receive a retirement allowance without a reduction after return to covered employment regardless of the amount of remuneration received.

(1) (b) If a member dies and the full amount of the reduction from retirement allowances required under this subsection has not been paid, the remaining amounts shall be deducted from the payments made, if any, to the member’s designated beneficiary or contingent annuitant. If the member has selected an option under which remaining payments are not required or the remaining payments are insufficient to satisfy the full amount of the reduction from retirement allowances required under this subsection, the amount still unpaid shall be a claim against the member’s estate.

(1) (c) For purposes of this subsection and not for purposes of determining a retiree’s covered wages, remuneration paid on and after July 1, 2007, includes noncovered contributions to a defined contribution plan qualified under Internal Revenue Code section 401(a), a tax-deferred annuity qualified under Internal Revenue Code section 403(b), an eligible deferred compensation plan qualified under Internal Revenue Code section 457, or any other tax qualified or nonqualified investment vehicle, that is provided by an employer to a retiree who has been or will be reemployed in covered employment.

(2) Effective January 1, 1991, a retired member of any age may receive a retirement allowance after return to covered employment, regardless of the amount of remuneration received, if the covered employment consists of holding an elective office.

(3) Upon a retirement after reemployment, a retired member may have the retired member’s retirement allowance redetermined under this section or section 97B.48, section 97B.50, or section 97B.51, whichever is applicable, based upon the addition of credit for the years of membership service of the employee after reemployment, the covered wage during reemployment, and the age of the employee after reemployment. The member shall receive a single retirement allowance calculated from both periods of membership service, one based on the initial retirement and one based on the second retirement following reemployment. If the total years of membership service and prior service of a member who has been reemployed equals or exceeds thirty, the years of membership service on which the original retirement allowance was based may be reduced by a fraction of the years of service equal to the number of years by which the total years of membership service and prior service exceeds thirty divided by thirty, if this reduction in years of service will increase the total retirement allowance of the member. The additional retirement allowance calculated for the period of reemployment shall be added to the retirement allowance calculated for the initial period of membership service and prior service, adjusted as provided in this subsection. The retirement allowance calculated for the initial period of membership service and prior service shall not be adjusted for any other factor than years of service. The retired member shall not receive a retirement allowance based upon more than a total of thirty years of service. Effective July 1, 1998, a redetermination of a retirement allowance as authorized by this subsection for a retired member whose combined service exceeds the applicable years of service for that member as provided in sections 97B.49A through 97B.49G shall have the determination of the member’s reemployment benefit based upon the percentage multiplier as determined for that member as provided in sections 97B.49A through 97B.49G.

(4) The system shall pay to the member the accumulated contributions of the member and all of the employer contributions, plus interest plus interest dividends as provided in section 97B.70, for all completed calendar years, compounded as provided in section 97B.70, on the covered wages earned by a retired member that are not used in the recalculation of the retirement allowance of a member. A payment of contributions to a member pursuant to this subsection shall be considered a retirement payment and not a refund and the member shall not be eligible to buy back the period of reemployment service.

(5) If a retired reemployed member incurs a break in service, as defined in this subsection, and the member has failed to request an increase in the member’s monthly allowance or a distribution of the member’s and employer’s accumulated contributions prior to the break in service, and if the amount of the increase in the member’s monthly retirement allowance would be less than six hundred dollars per year, the system shall distribute the lump sum amount payable under subsection 4. For purposes of this subsection, a “break in service” means four consecutive calendar quarters in which no wages are reported to the system. The lump sum payment shall be made within one hundred eighty days after the calendar quarter in which the member has a break in service. A member who receives a mandatory distribution under this subsection shall have sixty days to return the distribution to the system and request an increase in the member’s monthly allowance.

92 Acts, ch 1201, §42; 96 Acts, ch 1187, §28, 29; 98 Acts, ch 1183, §32 – 34; 2000 Acts, ch 1077, §33 – 35; 2001 Acts, ch 68, §21, 24; 2002 Acts, ch 1135, §19; 2003 Acts, ch 145, §286; 2004 Acts, ch 1103, §29; 2006 Acts, ch 1091, §5; 2008 Acts, ch 1032, §201; 2022 Acts, ch 1006, §1, 3