Title 45, Title 45 and Cities

(a) Upon the death of a member after retirement, unless the member has selected any of the options provided in § 45-21-30, a benefit is payable consisting of the excess, if any, of the total contributions of the member at the date of retirement, without interest, over the aggrega…

Any member who withdraws from service or who ceases to be a member for any reason other than death or retirement, shall be paid on demand the contributions which were standing to the member’s credit in the member’s individual account in the members’ contribution reserve, without …

(a) Any member who has received a refund upon withdrawal from service has the privilege of making a repayment to the system of the amount that the member received as a refund, including regular interest from the date of receipt of the refund to the date of repayment of the refund…

The retirement system created in this chapter begins operations when at least five (5) municipalities, having a combined number of eligible employees for participation in the system of not less than one hundred fifty (150), have accepted the provisions of this chapter, and the ef…

(a) A beneficiary, or, if the beneficiary is an incompetent, then his or her spouse or domestic partner, or if he or she has no spouse or domestic partner, a guardian of the beneficiary’s estate, may elect to receive a benefit in a retirement allowance, payable throughout life, o…

Any amounts paid or payable under the provisions of any workers’ compensation law, exclusive of Medicare set aside allocation, specific compensation benefits or any benefits due pursuant to the terms of a collective bargaining agreement or as the result of any action for damages …

A retirement system is hereby established and placed under the management of the retirement board created by chapter 8 of title 36, for the purpose of providing retirement allowances for employees of participating municipalities of the state of Rhode Island under the provisions o…

It is the duty of each participating municipality to furnish at the times and in the manner that the retirement board may direct, information concerning the names, ages, length of service, and pay of members employed by a municipality and any other data which the retirement board…

The retirement board shall submit to the governor for transmittal to the general assembly, on or before the first day of December in each year, an annual report showing the financial transactions of the system for the fiscal year next preceding that date. The report shall contain…

There shall be a legal counsel to the board appointed by the general treasurer. The general treasurer is the ex-officio chairperson of the retirement board and the treasurer of the retirement board and he or she shall be responsible for appointing the custodian. There shall be an…

(a) The general treasurer, under the direction and supervision of the retirement board, is charged with the establishment and maintenance of any accounts and statistical records that the retirement board may require, and he or she shall employ any clerical assistance necessary to…

All benefits, allowances and other payments authorized by this chapter shall be made upon vouchers duly approved by the chairperson of the retirement board and countersigned by the chief of the retirement system.

All contributions received by the retirement system from members and participating municipalities shall be paid periodically to the general treasurer and shall be deposited by the treasurer to the credit of the retirement system. All moneys not immediately required for the paymen…

The retirement board shall annually allow regular interest, as may be prescribed by the retirement board, on the various reserves of the retirement system from the interest and dividends earned from investments.

(a) Any municipality may accept this chapter by an ordinance or resolution of its governing body stating the group or groups of employees to be included as provided in § 45-21-7. When the ordinance or resolution has been approved, a certified copy of it shall be forwarded to the …

Except as provided in this section, no member of the board and no employee of the board shall have any interest, direct or indirect, in the gains or profits of any investment made by the retirement board, nor, as a member or employee of the board, directly or indirectly receive a…

(a) Prior to July 1, 2012, each member shall contribute an amount equal to six percent (6%) of salary or compensation earned and accruing to the member; provided, that contributions by any member cease when the member has completed the maximum amount of service credit attainable.…

(a) Each municipality, pursuant to the provisions of 26 U.S.C. § 414(h)(2) of the United States Internal Revenue Code, may, pursuant to appropriate legal action by the municipality, pick up and pay the contributions which would be payable by the employees as members under § 45-21…

(a) Each municipality shall make contributions to the system to provide for the remainder of the obligation for retirement allowances, annuities, and other benefits provided in this chapter, after applying the accumulated contributions of the members, interest income on investmen…

There is transferred to the restricted receipt account established in § 36-8-10.1 up to a maximum of seventeen and one-half (17.5) basis points (0.175%), where one hundred (100.0) basis points equals one percent (1.0%), of the average total investments before lending activities o…

Proposed legislation which directly impacts the retirement system can potentially affect the benefits of all plan participants and beneficiaries. Since it is in the best interests of plan participants and beneficiaries to determine the financial consequences of any proposed legis…

(a) An adequate system of accounts and records is established and maintained for the system that fully reflects the requirements of this chapter. All assets of the system are credited according to the purposes for which they are held in the following designated reserve accounts: …

(a) To determine the employer contribution rate for any participating municipality, the actuary shall compute the costs under chapters 21 and 21.2 of title 45 using the entry age normal cost method. (b) The determination of the employer contribution rate for fiscal year 2013 shal…

Regular interest requirements, and the maintenance of reserves in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, are guaranteed by the respective participating municipalities, which guaranty extends only to their proportionate interests in the retirement system as determined upo…

The right of a member or beneficiary to a pension, an annuity, a retirement allowance, to the return of contributions, any benefit or right accrued or accruing to any person under the provisions of this chapter, and the moneys of the retirement system created under this chapter, …

Every person who knowingly or willfully makes or presents or in any way procures the making or presentation of any false or fraudulent affidavit or affirmation concerning any claim for retirement allowance or payment of retirement allowance, shall, in every case, forfeit a sum no…

The right to amend, alter, or repeal this chapter at any time or from time to time is expressly reserved, and in that event the liability of the municipal employees’ retirement system is limited in the case of a member or a person claiming through the member to the contributions …

A municipality may withdraw from the retirement system established by this chapter or may withdraw any of its departments or agencies by the same procedure provided in § 45-21-4 for acceptance of the chapter; provided, that the withdrawal does not relieve the municipality from th…

(a) The optional provisions of § 45-21-30 are applicable only to a member applying for a service retirement allowance and an accidental disability retirement allowance and an ordinary disability retirement allowance or any inactive member applying for retirement under vested righ…

(a) Upon death of a member having (1) at least ten (10) years of membership service on or before June 30, 2012, or (2) for active contributing members on or after July 1, 2012, at least five (5) years of membership service, the spouse or domestic partner of the member has the opt…

(a) The local legislative bodies of the cities and towns may extend to their respective employees automatic adjustment increases in their service retirement allowances, by a resolution accepting any of the plans described in this section: (1) Plan A. All employees and beneficiari…

(a) Any active municipal employee who served on active duty in the armed service of the United States or in the merchant marine service of the United States as defined in § 2 of chapter 1721 of the public laws, 1946, may purchase credit for that service up to a maximum of four (4…

Any retired member of the system is permitted to reenter the service of the system for not more than seventy-five (75) working days in a calendar year without interruption of pension benefits. Pension payments, however, are suspended when that period is exceeded. This seventy-fiv…

Every person, who was an employee of the town of Warren receiving retirement benefits prior to July 1, 1974, shall be paid benefits at a rate equivalent to that in effect for retirees on and after July 1, 1974; provided, that the town of Warren shall annually contribute to the sy…

(a) Any member who was employed by a municipality, as defined in § 45-21-2, which did not elect to accept this chapter, as provided in § 45-21-4, shall be given credit for that service for the various purposes of this system; provided, that the member pays to the retirement syste…

Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, any member who, at the time of retirement from service, has in effect life insurance provided for as a benefit of his or her employment, shall, after retirement, be entitled to keep the policy of life insurance in effect…

(a) Members who are laid off for any reason and are not on leave without pay may purchase up to one year’s credit for retirement purposes; provided, that the member did not withdraw his or her retirement contributions while on layoff, and returns to active membership; provided, f…

(a) If subsequent to January 1, 1991, a member sustains a loss of salary due to a deferral of salary or a reduction of salary in order to avoid shutdowns or layoffs, or because of a retrenchment of state or local finances, then in calculating the service retirement allowance of t…

(a) Upon withdrawal from the system, the retirement board retains in the system from contributions made by the members from the municipality and by the municipality the following amounts: (1) An amount equal to the actuarial value, determined in accordance with the actuarial tabl…

(a) All municipal retirees of the town of North Kingstown and the beneficiaries of municipal retirees of the town of North Kingstown are given a one-time percentage increase to their original retirement benefit in multiples of two percent (2%) as follows up to a maximum of twenty…

Notwithstanding any other provisions of the retirement law or rulings of the retirement board in accordance with the powers vested in this chapter, no member is allowed to purchase service credits for time while incarcerated in prison, including but not limited to work release pr…

Notwithstanding any other provision of the retirement laws of this state, any active member of the municipal employees’ retirement system who was sixty (60) years of age or greater when their employment commenced, and commenced employment before June 22, 1989, and was ineligible …

Any retired member of the municipal employees retirement system with a pension sufficient to pay premiums is entitled to purchase individual health insurance benefits out of the retiree’s pension payroll, as long as the health insurance is from a company either subject to chapter…

Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter or of any other public or general law to the contrary, the retirement board shall permit individuals who purchase service credit to do so in installments. The retirement board shall create, by rule and regulation, provisions al…

(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law, or the provisions of any municipality’s home rule charter, to the contrary, for purposes of funding any unfunded liability for other post-employment benefits including, but not limited to, health care and dental ca…

The holding of any section or sections or parts of this chapter to be void, ineffective, or unconstitutional for any cause shall not be deemed to affect any other section or part hereof.