A. Retirement benefits for a member retired pursuant to the Educational Retirement Act on or before June 30, 1967 shall be paid monthly and shall be one-twelfth of a sum equal to one and one-half percent of the first four thousand dollars ($4,000) of the member's average annual salary and one percent of the remainder of the member's average annual salary multiplied by the number of years of the member's total service credit.

B. Retirement benefits for a member retired pursuant to the Educational Retirement Act on or after July 1, 1967 but on or before June 30, 1971 shall be paid monthly and shall be one-twelfth of a sum equal to one and one-half percent of the first six thousand six hundred dollars ($6,600) of the member's average annual salary and one percent of the remainder of the member's average annual salary multiplied by the number of years of the member's total service credit.

C. Retirement benefits for a member retired pursuant to the Educational Retirement Act on or after July 1, 1971 but on or before June 30, 1974 shall be paid monthly and shall be one-twelfth of a sum equal to one and one-half percent of the member's average annual salary multiplied by the number of years of the member's total service credit.

D. Retirement benefits for a member retired pursuant to the Educational Retirement Act on or before June 30, 1974 but returning to employment on or after July 1, 1974 for a cumulation of one or more years shall be computed pursuant to Subsection E of this section. Retirement benefits for a member retired pursuant to the Educational Retirement Act on or before June 30, 1974 but returning to employment on or after July 1, 1974 for a cumulation of less than one year shall be computed pursuant to Subsection A of this section if the member's date of last retirement was on or before June 30, 1967 or pursuant to Subsection B of this section if the member's date of last retirement was on or after July 1, 1967 but not later than June 30, 1971 or pursuant to Subsection C of this section if the member's date of last retirement was on or after July 1, 1971 but not later than June 30, 1974.

E. Retirement benefits for a member age sixty or over, retired pursuant to the Educational Retirement Act on or after July 1, 1974 but not later than June 30, 1987, shall be paid monthly and shall be one-twelfth of a sum equal to:

(1) one and one-half percent of the member's average annual salary multiplied by the number of years of service credit for:

(a) prior employment; and

(b) allowed service credit for service performed prior to July 1, 1957, except United States military service credit purchased pursuant to Paragraph (3) of Subsection A of Section 22-11-34 NMSA 1978; plus

(2) two percent of the member's average annual salary multiplied by the number of years of service credit for:

(a) contributory employment;

(b) allowed service credit for service performed after July 1, 1957; and

(c) United States military service credit for service performed prior to July 1, 1957 and purchased pursuant to Paragraph (3) of Subsection A of Section 22-11-34 NMSA 1978.

F. Retirement benefits for a member age sixty or over, retired pursuant to the Educational Retirement Act on or after July 1, 1987 but not later than June 30, 1991, shall be paid monthly and shall be one-twelfth of a sum equal to two and fifteen-hundredths percent of the member's average annual salary multiplied by the number of years of the member's total service credit; provided that this subsection shall not apply to any member who was retired in any of the four quarters ending on June 30, 1987 without having accumulated not less than 1.0 years earned service credit after June 30, 1987.

G. Retirement benefits for a member who retires pursuant to Section 22-11-23 NMSA 1978 on or after July 1, 1991 shall be paid monthly and shall be one-twelfth of a sum equal to two and thirty-five hundredths percent of the member's average annual salary multiplied by the number of years of the member's total service credit; provided that:

(1) the benefit for a member who retires pursuant to Paragraph (3) of Subsection A of Section 22-11-23 NMSA 1978 shall be reduced by:

(a) six-tenths percent for each one-fourth, or portion thereof, year that retirement occurs prior to the member attaining the age of sixty years but after the member attains the age of fifty-five years; and

(b) one and eight-tenths percent for each one-fourth, or portion thereof, year that retirement occurs prior to the member attaining the age of fifty-five years;

(2) the benefit formula provided in this subsection shall not apply to any member who was retired in any of the four consecutive quarters ending on June 30, 1991 without having accumulated at least one year of earned service credit beginning on or after July 1, 1991; and

(3) a member shall be subject to the provisions of Paragraph (1) of this subsection as they existed at the beginning of the member's last cumulated four quarters of earned service credit, regardless of later amendment.

H. Retirement benefits for a member who retires pursuant to Section 22-11-23.1 NMSA 1978 shall be paid monthly and shall be one-twelfth of a sum equal to two and thirty-five hundredths percent of the member's average annual salary multiplied by the number of years of the member's total service credit; provided that:

(1) the benefit for a member who retires pursuant to Paragraph (3) of Subsection A of Section 22-11-23.1 NMSA 1978 shall be reduced by:

(a) six-tenths percent for each one-fourth, or portion thereof, year that retirement occurs prior to the member attaining the age of sixty-five years but after the member attains the age of sixty years; and

(b) one and eight-tenths percent for each one-fourth, or portion thereof, year that retirement occurs prior to the member attaining the age of sixty years; and

(2) a member shall be subject to the provisions of Paragraph (1) of this subsection as they existed at the beginning of the member's last cumulated four quarters of earned service credit, regardless of later amendment.

I. Retirement benefits for a member who retires pursuant to Section 22-11-23.2 NMSA 1978 shall be paid monthly and shall be one-twelfth of a sum equal to two and thirty-five hundredths percent of the member's average annual salary multiplied by the number of years of the member's total service credit; provided that:

(1) the benefit for a member retiring pursuant to Paragraph (3) of Subsection A of Section 22-11-23.2 NMSA 1978 shall be reduced by:

(a) six-tenths percent for each one-fourth, or portion thereof, year that retirement occurs prior to the member attaining the age of sixty-five years but after the member attains the age of sixty years; and

(b) one and eight-tenths percent for each one-fourth, or portion thereof, year that retirement occurs prior to the member attaining the age of sixty years; and

(2) a member shall be subject to the provisions of Paragraph (1) of this subsection as they existed at the beginning of the member's last cumulated four quarters of earned service credit, regardless of later amendment.

J. Retirement benefits for a member who retires in accordance with Section 22-11-23.3 NMSA 1978 shall be paid monthly and:

(1) in an amount equal to one-twelfth of the sum of the following:

(a) for the first ten years of the member's service credit, one and thirty-five hundredths percent of the member's average annual salary multiplied by the member's years of service credit between one-fourth of a year and ten years;

(b) for that portion of the member's service credit earned after ten years of service credit and through twenty years of service credit, two and thirty-five hundredths percent of the member's average annual salary multiplied by the member's years of service credit between ten and twenty years;

(c) for that portion of the member's service credit earned after twenty years of service credit and through thirty years of service credit, three and thirty-five hundredths percent of the member's average annual salary multiplied by the member's years of service credit between twenty and thirty years; and

(d) for that portion of the member's service credit earned after thirty years of service credit, two and four-tenths percent of the member's average annual salary multiplied by the member's years of service credit over thirty years; or

(2) if the member retires in accordance with:

(a) Subsection A of Section 22-11-23.3 NMSA 1978 and is under fifty-eight years of age, in an amount equal to the result determined under Paragraph (1) of this subsection, but reduced to the actuarial equivalent, based on what is at the time of the member's retirement the most current set of actuarial factors determined by the board, of the benefit the member would receive if the member had retired at fifty-eight years of age;

(b) Subsection C of Section 22-11-23.3 NMSA 1978 and is sixty years of age or older and under sixty-five, in an amount equal to the result determined under Paragraph (1) of this subsection, but reduced by six-tenths percent for each one-fourth, or portion thereof, year before the member reaches age sixty-five; or

(c) Subsection C of Section 22-11-23.3 NMSA 1978 and is younger than sixty years of age, in an amount equal to one and eight-tenths percent for each one-fourth, or portion thereof, year before the member reaches sixty years of age.

K. In determining a member's average annual salary for purposes of this section:

(1) the data set shall consist of the annual salary of each of the last five years, or any consecutive five years, for which contribution was made by the member, whichever produces a higher result; and

(2) lump-sum payments made after July 1, 2010 of accrued sick leave or annual leave shall be excluded from the calculation.

L. On and after July 1, 2019, if the member's average annual salary is greater than sixty thousand dollars ($60,000):

(1) the salary in a first twelve-month interval that occurs beginning July 1, 2019 or thereafter of the five-year period used to determine the average annual salary shall be adjusted to exclude any increase in salary in excess of thirty percent of the salary in the twelve consecutive months of service credit preceding the five-year period; and

(2) the salary in each of the four succeeding twelve-month intervals that occur beginning July 1, 2019 or thereafter of the five-year period, as adjusted to exclude any increase in salary in the twelve months preceding each such succeeding twelve-month interval that is in excess of the thirty-percent limitation provided in this subsection, shall be used to determine if the salary in that succeeding twelve-month interval exceeds the thirty-percent limitation and to adjust the salary to exclude any increase in excess of that limitation in determining the average annual salary.

M. On July 1, 2020 and on each July 1 thereafter, the salary threshold for applying the thirty-percent limitation provided for in Subsection L of this section shall be adjusted by applying an adjustment factor equal to the change in the consumer price index between the next preceding calendar year and the preceding calendar year if there is an increase in the consumer price index between the next preceding calendar year and the preceding calendar year.

N. Unless otherwise required by the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, a member shall begin receiving retirement benefits by age seventy years and six months, or upon termination of employment, whichever occurs later.

History: 1953 Comp., § 77-9-29, enacted by Laws 1967, ch. 16, § 153; 1971, ch. 12, § 4; 1974, ch. 5, § 4; 1985, ch. 170, § 1; 1987, ch. 86, § 2; 1991, ch. 140, § 2; 1993, ch. 69, § 9; 2003, ch. 39, § 8; 2009, ch. 286, § 3; 2009, ch. 288, § 17; 2013, ch. 61, § 6; 2019, ch. 258, § 5.

Cross references. — For the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, see 26 U.S.C.

The 2019 amendment, effective July 1, 2019, added retirement eligibility provisions for employees who begin employment on or after July 1, 2019; added a new Subsection J and redesignated former Subsection J as Subsection K; in Subsection K, added new paragraph designations "(1)" and "(2)", in Paragraph K(1), after "shall", deleted "be computed on the basis" and added "consist of the annual salary of each", and in Paragraph K(2), after "calculation", deleted "of salary"; and added Subsections L and M and redesignated former Subsection K as Subsection N.

The 2013 amendment, effective July 1, 2013, provided for the reduction of retirement benefits; in the title of the section, added "reductions"; in Subsection G, in the introductory sentence, after "benefits for a member", deleted "age sixty or over, retired" and added "who retires"; added Paragraphs (1) and (3) of Subsection G; in Paragraph (2) of Subsection G, at the beginning of the sentence, added "the benefit formula provided in"; in Subparagraph (a) of Paragraph (1) of Subsection H, after the word "six-tenths", deleted "of one", after "retirement occurs prior to the", deleted "member's sixty-fifth birthday" and added "member attaining the age of sixty-five years", and after "but after the", deleted "sixtieth birthday" and added "member attains the age of sixty years"; in Subparagraph (b) of Paragraph (1) of Subsection H, after "retirement occurs prior to the", deleted "member's sixtieth birthday" and added "member attaining the age of sixty years; and"; added Paragraph (2) of Subsection H; and added Subsection I.

The 2009 amendment, effective July 1, 2011, in Subsection D, replaced each occurrence of "his" with "the member's"; in Subsection G, after "retired pursuant to", deleted "the Educational Retirement Act" and added "Section 22-11-23 NMSA 1978"; added Subsection H; and in Subsection I, after "whichever is higher", added the remainder of the sentence.

The 2003 amendment, effective June 20, 2003, inserted "credit" following "years earned service" near the end of Subsection F; and inserted "Unless otherwise required by the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986," at the beginning of the second sentence of Subsection H.

The 1993 amendment, effective June 18, 1993, added the second sentence of Subsection H.

The 1991 amendment, effective June 14, 1991, inserted "but not later than June 30, 1991" near the beginning of Subsection F; added Subsection G; redesignated former Subsection G as Subsection H; and made a minor stylistic change in Subsection D.

Exemption from income tax permitted. — The legislature may grant a special income tax exemption to one kind of public employee, teachers, yet deny the same exemption to other public employees. Vaughn v. State Taxation & Revenue Dep't, 1982-NMCA-112, 98 N.M. 362, 648 P.2d 820, superseded by statute, Pierce v. State, 1996-NMSC-001, 121 N.M. 212, 910 P.2d 288.

Repeal of tax exemption. — Because no private contractual rights were granted by the retirement plan, there was no impairment or breach of contract resulting from the 1990 repeal of the tax exemption provision and, although the plan conferred property rights that vested upon accumulating minimum earned service credits, those rights did not include the right to receive pension benefits exempt from tax. Pierce v. State, 1996-NMSC-001, 121 N.M. 212, 910 P.2d 288.

Because the retirement plan provided no contractual or vested right to receive an irrevocable tax exemption, there was no constitutionally protected private interest in the tax exemption and there was no due process violation when the exemption was repealed. Pierce v. State, 1996-NMSC-001, 121 N.M. 212, 910 P.2d 288.

"Trading" tax exemptions for health care. — Repeal of the state income tax exemptions for teacher pensions and public employee pensions does not remedy constitutional defects of the proposed retiree health care act under a theory that those exemptions would be "traded" for retiree health care. Those exemptions are not property rights, irrepealable contractual entitlements, or pension benefits. Hence, elimination of the favorable tax treatment for current retirees is not consideration for a multi-million dollar health care plan that the state proposes to provide them. 1990 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 90-03.

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — What constitutes "salary," "wages," "pay," or the like, within pension law basing benefits thereon, 14 A.L.R.2d 634.