2023 Texas Statutes › Vernon's Civil Statutes › Title 109 - Pensions › Article 6243a-1. Pension System for Police Officers and Firefighters in Certain Cities › Part 5. Membership › Section 5.07. Purchase of Pension Service by Group B Members

Sec. 5.07.  PURCHASE OF PENSION SERVICE BY GROUP B MEMBERS.  (a)  A Group B member who is on active service and has previously elected not to become a contributing member of the old plan or Plan A may purchase pension service from the fund for that period during which the member performed active service with either department until the effective date of the member's Group B membership.  No pension service may be given to the Group B member except to the extent that payment is made for the pension service in accordance with Subsection (d) of this section.
(b)  Payment for the purchase of pension service under Subsection (a) of this section shall be equal to the amount of contributions the Group B member would have made to the old plan and Plan A had the member been a contributing member of either of the plans during the period for which the pension service is being purchased, plus interest calculated in accordance with procedures adopted by the board from time to time.
(c)  Subject to Subsection (d) of this section, a Group B member who is on active service may repay the fund all or a portion of the employee contributions withdrawn by an alternate payee pursuant to the terms of a qualified domestic relations order with interest, calculated at the interest rate from time to time used in the pension system's actuarial rate of return assumptions, compounded annually, on the contributions for the period from the date the contributions were withdrawn until the date the principal and accrued interest are repaid, and receive pension service as a Group B member, in accordance with Subsection (d) of this section, for the period for which the contributions and interest were paid.
(d)   If payment of the entire amount of pension service a member is entitled to under Subsection (a) or (c) of this section or under Section 4.04(h-1) of this article is not completed by the earlier of the date the Group B member begins participation in DROP or the date the member leaves active service, pension service will be provided only for the number of full years of pension service that the contributions and interest paid under those provisions will purchase, computed based on the most recent years for which the member was entitled to purchase pension service.  Except for pension service that is picked up by the city under the authority of Section 414(h)(2) of the code, a fractional year of pension service may be purchased only if less than a full year of pension service is available for purchase.
(e)  The amounts paid but insufficient to purchase one or more whole years of pension service that remain available for purchase, including any interest paid by the Group B member, must be returned to the Group B member or, if the Group B member has died, to the Group B member's designee, without any accrued interest on the returned money.
(f)  Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, any amounts that have been picked up and paid by the city may not be paid to a member or designee, and the member shall be given credit for all years, and fractions of years, of pension service that can be purchased with the picked-up contributions.
Sec. 5.08.  MEMBERS IN UNIFORMED SERVICES.  (a)  In this section, "service in the uniformed services" has the meaning assigned by the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (38 U.S.C. Section 4301 et seq.), as amended.
(a-1)  A member who is reemployed by the city after an absence due to service in the uniformed services shall receive contributions, benefits, and pension service that are no less favorable than those required by Section 414(u) of the code in accordance with the procedure described by Subsection (c) of this section.
(b)  To the extent a provision of this section that was in effect before November 25, 1996, would provide a member who was on active service with the pension system before November 25, 1996, with greater rights, the prior provision of this section applies.
(c)  Payment for credit for pension service under this section shall be made in accordance with Section 5.07 of this article and a uniform and nondiscriminatory procedure adopted by the board.