§ 1000. Military service credit. Notwithstanding any law to the
contrary, a member of a public retirement system of the state, as
defined in subdivision twenty-three of section five hundred one of this
chapter, shall be eligible for credit for military service as
hereinafter provided:
1. A member, upon application to such retirement system, may obtain a
total not to exceed three years of service credit for up to three years
of military duty, as defined in section two hundred forty-three of the
military law, if the member was honorably discharged from the military
and all or part of such military service was rendered during the
following periods: (a) commencing December seventh, nineteen hundred
forty-one and terminating December thirty-first, nineteen hundred
forty-six; (b) commencing June twenty-seventh, nineteen hundred fifty
and terminating January thirty-first, nineteen hundred fifty-five; or
(c) commencing February twenty-eighth, nineteen hundred sixty-one and
terminating May seventh, nineteen hundred seventy-five;
2. A member, upon application to such retirement system, may obtain a
total not to exceed three years of service credit for up to three years
of military duty, as defined in section two hundred forty-three of the
military law, if honorably discharged therefrom, if all or part of such
services was rendered in the military conflicts referenced below, as
follows:
(a) hostilities participated in by the military forces of the United
States in Lebanon, from the first day of June, nineteen hundred
eighty-three to the first day of December, nineteen hundred
eighty-seven, as established by receipt of the armed forces
expeditionary medal, the navy expeditionary medal, or the marine corps
expeditionary medal;
(b) hostilities participated in by the military forces of the United
States in Grenada, from the twenty-third day of October, nineteen
hundred eighty-three to the twenty-first day of November, nineteen
hundred eighty-three, as established by receipt of the armed forces
expeditionary medal, the navy expeditionary medal, or the marine corps
expeditionary medal;
(c) hostilities participated in by the military forces of the United
States in Panama, from the twentieth day of December, nineteen hundred
eighty-nine to the thirty-first day of January, nineteen hundred ninety,
as established by receipt of the armed forces expeditionary medal, the
navy expeditionary medal, or the marine corps expeditionary medal; or
(d) hostilities participated in by the military forces of the United
States, from the second day of August, nineteen hundred ninety, to the
end of such hostilities in case of a veteran who served in the theater
of operations including Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the
United Arab Emirates, Oman, the Gulf of Aden, the Gulf of Oman, the
Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and the airspace above these locations.
3. A member must have at least five years of credited service (not
including service granted hereunder) to be eligible to receive credit
under this section.
4. To obtain such credit, a member shall pay such retirement system,
for deposit in the fund used to accumulate employer contributions, a sum
equal to the product of the number of years of military service being
claimed and three percent of such member's compensation earned during
the twelve months of credited service immediately preceding the date
that the member made application for credit pursuant to this section. If
permitted by rule or regulation of the applicable retirement system, the
member may pay such member costs by payroll deduction for a period which
shall not exceed the time period of military service to be credited
pursuant to this section. In the event the member leaves the employer
payroll prior to completion of payment, he or she shall forward all
remaining required payments to the appropriate retirement system prior
to the effective date of retirement. If the full amount of such member
costs is not paid to the appropriate retirement system prior to the
member's retirement, the amount of service credited shall be
proportional to the total amount of the payments made prior to
retirement.
5. In no event shall the credit granted pursuant to this section, when
added to credit granted for military service with any retirement system
of this state pursuant to this or any other provision of law, exceed a
total of three years.
6. To be eligible to receive credit for military service under this
section, a member must make application for such credit before the
effective date of retirement. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions
of this subdivision, an individual who retired on or after December
twenty-first, nineteen hundred ninety-eight and before the effective
date of this section may make application for credit pursuant to this
section within one year following the effective date of this section, in
which event, the cost to the retiree would be based on the twelve month
period immediately preceding retirement.
7. All costs for service credited to a member pursuant to this
section, other than the member costs set forth in subdivision three of
this section, shall be paid by the state and all employers which
participate in the retirement system in which such member is granted
credit.
8. A member who has purchased military service credit pursuant to
section two hundred forty-four-a of the military law shall be entitled
to a refund of the difference between the amount paid by the member for
such purchase and the amount that would be payable if service had been
purchased pursuant to this section.
9. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the event of death
prior to retirement, amounts paid by the member for the purchase of
military service credit pursuant to this section shall be refunded, with
interest, to the extent the military service purchased with such amounts
does not produce a greater death benefit than would have been payable
had the member not purchased such credit.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the event of
retirement, amounts paid by the member for the purchase of military
service credit pursuant to this section shall be refunded, with
interest, to the extent the military service purchased with such amounts
does not produce a greater retirement allowance than would have been
payable had the member not purchased such credit.
