House Bill 1069

    Florida House of Representatives - 1999                HB 1069

        By Representative Betancourt






  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to retirement; amending s.

  3         231.495, F.S.; revising a provision of law

  4         governing retirement annuities purchased by a

  5         school board as a retirement benefit; providing

  6         for a lump-sum payout rather than an annuity

  7         under certain circumstances; providing an

  8         effective date.

  9

10  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

11

12         Section 1.  Section 231.495, Florida Statutes, is

13  amended to read:

14         231.495  Retirement annuities authorized.--

15         (1)  District school boards are authorized to purchase

16  annuities for all school personnel with 25 or more years of

17  creditable service who have reached age 50 and have applied

18  for retirement under the Florida Retirement System or who have

19  reached age 55 and have applied for retirement under plan E of

20  the Teachers' Retirement System.  No such annuity shall

21  provide for more than the total difference in retirement

22  income between the retirement benefit based on average monthly

23  compensation and creditable service as of the member's early

24  retirement date and the early retirement benefit.  District

25  school boards may also purchase annuities for members of the

26  Florida Retirement System who have out-of-state teaching

27  service in another state or country which is documented as

28  valid by the appropriate school board. Such annuities may be

29  based on no more than 5 years of out-of-state teaching service

30  and may equal, but not exceed, the benefits that would be

31  payable under the Florida Retirement System if credit for

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 1999                HB 1069

    573-137-99






  1  out-of-state teaching was authorized under that system.

  2  District school boards are authorized to invest funds,

  3  purchase annuities, or provide local supplemental retirement

  4  programs for purposes of providing annuities for school

  5  personnel. All retirement annuities shall comply with s. 14,

  6  Art. X of the State Constitution.

  7         (2)  If at any time the present value of the remaining

  8  nonforfeitable retirement benefits payable to any person

  9  pursuant to subsection (1) does not exceed $5,000, the board

10  may, in its discretion, pay such person, or his or her

11  beneficiary, a lump-sum amount equal to the present value of

12  those benefits in lieu of purchasing an annuity.  For the

13  purposes of this section, the present value of any benefit

14  shall be calculated by using the applicable mortality table

15  and applicable interest rate prescribed by s. 417(e)(3) of the

16  Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or any successor thereto.

17         Section 2.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

18  law.

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21                          HOUSE SUMMARY

22
      Revises a provision of law governing the purchase of an
23    annuity as a retirement benefit for school personnel by
      the district school board to permit a lump-sum
24    distribution of retirement benefits rather than an
      annuity of retirement benefits that do not exceed $5,000.
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