Prosecuting Attorneys' Retirement Fund Handbook
Applicability
If you were serving as a prosecuting attorney or chief deputy prosecuting attorney on or after January 1, 1990, you are a member of the Prosecuting Attorneys' Retirement Fund. The Public Employees' Retirement Fund (PERF) is the administrator of your benefit system, and the PERF Board of Trustees determines your eligibility for benefits.
Summary of PARF Benefits
The Prosecutors' Fund benefits are detailed in this handbook. These benefits will be offset by the applicable PERF benefit entitlement, if any, on the date you begin benefits from the Prosecutors' Fund.
The PERF benefit entitlement may completely offset any monthly benefits due from the Prosecutors' Fund. If this situation occurs, you will receive a one-time payment of your Prosecutors' Fund contributions plus interest credited and compounded annually at five and one-half percent (5.5%). Under this circumstance, you will not receive a monthly benefit from the Prosecutors' Fund.
To receive your contributions and earned interest, you must submit a Refund Application (State Form #4445) to the Prosecutors' Fund. This form is available from the PERF office.
Contributions
If you are a prosecuting attorney or chief deputy prosecuting attorney, you must contribute six percent (6%) of the state paid portion of your salary. This six percent (6%) contribution will be withheld by the Auditor of the State.
In addition to the state paid portion of your salary, you may receive a salary from the county. Since the county paid portion of your salary is not used in the benefit calculation, contributions are not required on this salary.
Important Reminder About PERF: As prosecuting attorneys and chief deputy prosecuting attorneys, you are also PERF members, and your three percent (3%) PERF contributions are paid on your behalf by the State.
Withdrawal
If you cease service as a prosecuting or chief deputy prosecuting attorney and are not eligible for retirement benefits, you are entitled to receive a refund of your total contributions plus interest at the rate of five and one-half percent interest (5.5%) compounded annually. The payment is to be made no later than sixty (60) days after the date that the refund application is received by the PERF board.
Once you have withdrawn your contributions plus interest, you are not entitled to receive service credit prior to the date of your withdrawal. There are no provisions to allow a repayment of the funds withdrawn; therefore, you cannot recover this service credit. Please be sure you are confident you will not return to a prosecuting or chief deputy prosecuting attorney position prior to requesting a refund.
Important Notice: Federal law prohibits the Prosecutors' Fund from making distributions from the Fund prior to "separation from employment".
Uninterrupted service in any capacity or reemployment with the same employer that, in effect, is a continuation of employment, prevents the Prosecutors' Fund from making distributions to you. The prohibition applies whether or not you remain in the Prosecutors' Fund if you remain in service with the same employer.
Benefits
Retirement Benefits
Eligibility
You are entitled to receive a monthly retirement benefit if you:
- Are at least sixty-two (62) years of age, and
- Have at least eight (8) years of creditable service, or if you
- Meet the requirements for disability benefits.
However, you must not be receiving any salary or be entitled to receive any salary for services currently performed in a position covered by the Prosecutors' Fund.
Your retirement date must be:
- After the cessation of service,
- On the first day of a month, and
- Not more than six (6) months before the date the retirement application is received by the PERF board.
If you are eligible and apply for a benefit at sixty-five (65) years of age, you are eligible for annual retirement benefit that equals the product of:
The highest state portion of an annual salary (state portion only) paid to the participant before separation from service
The percentage prescribed in the following table:
|
Table A | |
|
Years of Service |
Percentage |
|
Less than 8 |
0 |
|
8 |
24% |
|
9 |
27% |
|
10 |
30% |
|
11 |
33% |
|
12 |
50% |
|
13 |
51% |
|
14 |
52% |
|
15 |
53% |
|
16 |
54% |
|
17 |
55% |
|
18 |
56% |
|
19 |
57% |
|
20 |
58% |
|
21 |
59% |
|
22 or more |
60% |
Early Retirement
If you are not sixty-five (65) years of age, you are entitled to receive a reduced annual retirement benefit that equals the benefit that would be payable if you were sixty-five (65) reduced by one-fourth percent (.25%) for each month that you age at retirement precedes your sixty-fifth (65th) birthday.
Retirement benefits paid from the Prosecutors' Fund are reduced by pension benefits paid from PERF.
Please note: PERF benefit payments attributed to the employee's annuity savings account are not a part of the pension benefits and do not reduce the Prosecutors' Fund benefits.
Eligibility
If you become disabled while in active service as a prosecuting attorney or chief deputy prosecuting attorney, you may receive monthly benefits for the duration of your disability if:
- You have at least five (5) years of creditable service; and
- You have qualified for Social Security disability benefits (or you have qualified for federal civil service disability benefits and have provided proof of qualification).
Your disability is subject to verification at least once a year until you reach age sixty-five (65).
Exclusions
Benefits may not be provided for a disability:
- Resulting from an intentionally self-inflicted injury or attempted suicide while sane or insane;
- Resulting from the participant's commission or attempted commission of a felony or
- That begins within two (2) years after a participant's entry or reentry into active service as a prosecuting attorney or chief deputy prosecuting attorney and that was caused or contributed to by a mental or physical condition that manifested itself before the participant entered or reentered active service.
Amount
If you qualify for disability under the Prosecuting Attorneys' Retirement Fund, the amount of your annual benefit will equal the product of:
- The annual salary (State portion only) that you were receiving at the time of separation from service, multiplied by
- The percentage described in the following table:
Disability Benefits
|
TABLE B | |
|
Your Years of Service |
Percentage |
|
less than 5 |
-0- |
|
5-10 |
40% |
|
11 |
41% |
|
12 |
42% |
|
13 |
43% |
|
14 |
44% |
|
15 |
45% |
|
16 |
46% |
|
17 |
46% |
|
18 |
48% |
|
19 |
49% |
|
20 or more |
50% |
Disability benefits paid from the Prosecutors' Fund are reduced by pension benefits paid from PERF.
Please note: PERF benefit payments attributed to the employee's annuity savings account are not a part of the pension benefits and do not reduce the Prosecutors' Fund benefits.
Survivors of Members Entitled to Benefits:
If you should die and on the date of your death you:
- Were receiving benefits, or
- Were in ACTIVE service and had completed ten (10) years of creditable service as a prosecuting or chief deputy prosecuting attorney, or
- Met the requirements for disability benefits,
Your survivors are entitled to received benefits as follows:
Spouse (IC 33-39-7-19): The surviving spouse is entitled to a benefit for life which is equal to the greater of:
- Seven thousand dollars ($7,000); or
- Fifty percent (50%) of the monthly retirement benefit you were drawing at the time of death, or to which you would have been entitled had you retired and begun receiving retirement benefits on the date of death (including the pre-age sixty-five (65) retirement reductions set forth in the early retirement section of this handbook).
NOTE: Benefits payable to a surviving spouse are reduced by the amounts, if any, payable to the surviving spouse under the PERF program.
Dependent Child (IC 33-39-7-20): If your spouse does not survive you or if your spouse survives you but then dies, your dependent child is entitled to the benefit your spouse would receive (or was receiving).
If there is more than one dependent child, the dependent children will share the benefit equally.
Each dependent child is entitled to receive the benefit until the child becomes eighteen (18) years of age, or during the entire period of the child's physical or mental disability, whichever period is longer.Benefits payable to a dependent child are reduced by any benefits payable from the PERF program.
Benefits payable to a dependent child are reduced by any benefits payable from the PERF program.
Survivors of Members NOT Entitled to Benefits:
If there are no benefits payable to your survivors, and if a withdrawal application is filed with the PERF Board by your survivors or your estate, the total of your contributions plus interest (5.5%), minus any payments made to you, will be paid to:
- Your surviving spouse
- Any dependent(s) if your spouse does not survive or
- Your estate, if a spouse or dependent does not survive.
Income Tax Concerns
Refunds Before Retirement
If you terminate employment prior to being eligible for monthly pension benefits, you can withdraw your six percent (6%) contributions and accumulated interest from the fund. The interest portion of your refund will be taxable (as ordinary income) in the year you received the refund.
If you are under the age of fifty-nine and one-half (59 1/2) at the time you separate from service, an additional ten percent (10%) penalty may be imposed on the taxable amount.
The 6% contributions that were withheld from your pay are not subject to further taxation.
An explanation of your three payment choices and the tax consequences of those choices follows:
- Choice A: To have the total amount of your Prosecutors' Fund account (less the mandatory withholding for federal income tax) paid directly to you.
- Choice B: To have all of the taxable portion of your Prosecutors' Fund account paid in the form of a direct rollover to an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) or a Qualified Retirement Plan which has provisions allowing it to accept the rollover on your behalf.
- Choice C: (may be selected only if you want a partial rollover amount of at least $500) To have a part of the taxable portion of your Prosecutors' Fund account paid in the form of a DIRECT ROLLOVER to an IRA or a Qualified Retirement Plan which has provisions allowing it to accept the rollover on your behalf.
If you elect Choice B or C, the Prosecutors' Fund will deliver to you a check payable to the trustee of the IRA or Qualified Retirement Plan and a separate check payable to you representing your non-taxable portion and any taxable portion not directly rolled over. You will then be responsible for delivering the check to the trustee of the IRA or Qualified Retirement Plan that you specified on your Prosecutors' Fund refund form.
NOTE: There will be no income tax withholding on any amount directly rolled over.
CAUTION: You should consult the IRA trustee or your professional tax advisor if you need further information regarding the taxes on your refund.
Refunds After Retirement
The taxable portion of your benefit will be computed under the Simplified Method for Reporting Annuities in the IRS regulations. Once the total six percent (6%) you have contributed to the Fund has been excluded from income, all future benefits paid will be taxable.
These tax rules are complex. If you need further tax assistance, you should contact your local IRS office or tax consultant.
Working After Retirement
Except as detailed in the Important Notes, you may work in any position that is not covered by the Prosecutors' Fund and still receive retirement benefits from the Fund. If you return to work in a position covered by the Prosecutors' Fund, your benefit from that Fund will be stopped. When you terminate your employment from the position covered by the Prosecutors' Fund and apply to resume your benefits, a new benefit payment will be calculated.
