Glossary

Accumulated member contributions

means amounts deducted from the salary of a member and credited to the member’s individual account, together with interest if any, credited to that account; it also includes repaid withdrawn contributions not including interest paid thereon, or amounts paid to purchase service credit as allowed under the PERA Act.

Active duty

for purposes of acquiring service credit under NMSA 1978, Section 10-11-7, as amended, for periods of active duty with uniformed service of the United States, means full-time duty in the active uniformed service of the United States, including full-time training duty, annual training duty, and attendance while in the active military service, at a school designated as a service school by law or by the secretary of the military department concerned. “Active duty” does not include full-time national guard duty, which is training or other duty performed by a member of the air or army national guard of a state or territory, for which the member is entitled to pay from the United States or for which the member has waived pay from the United States.“Active duty” includes duty in the full-time military service reserve components activated pursuant to a federal call to duty, deployment for a peacekeeping mission or other declared national emergency.

Adult correctional officer member

means a person who is an adult correctional officer or an adult correctional officer specialist employed by the corrections department or its successor agency.

Affiliated Public Employer

means the state and any public employer affiliated with the association as provided in the Public Employees Retirement Act.

Another retirement program

means retirement plans established by the Judicial Retirement Act, Magistrate Retirement Act, and the Educational Retirement Act.

Association

means the public employees retirement association established under the Public Employees Retirement Act.

Disability Retired Member

means a retired member who is receiving a pension pursuant to the disability retirement provisions of the Public Employees Retirement Act.

Disability Retirement Pension

means the pension paid pursuant to the disability retirement provisions of the Public Employees Retirement Act.

Educational Retirement System

means that retirement system provided for in the Educational Retirement Act.

Elected official

means a person elected to a public office by registered voters, who is paid a salary; “elected official” includes a person who is appointed to fill an unexpired term of an elected public office, who is paid a salary.

Employee

means any employee of an affiliated public employer

Filed

means that PERA has received the complete document as evidenced by a writing on the document indicating the date of receipt by PERA.

Final Average Salary

means the final average salary calculated in accordance with the provisions of the applicable coverage plan.

Fire member

means any member who is employed as a firefighter by an affiliated public employer, is paid a salary and has taken the oath prescribed for firefighters. The term shall not include volunteer firefighters or any civilian employees of a fire department.

Form of Payment

means the applicable form of payment of a pension provided for in Section 10-11-117 NMSA 1978.

Former Member

means a person who was previously employed by an affiliated public employer, who has terminated that employment and who has received a refund of member contributions.

Fund

means the funds included under the Public Employees Retirement Act.

Hazardous duty

member means a juvenile or adult correctional officer employed by the children, youth and families department or its successor agency, but does not include any member who is a “police member” or a “fire member”. A hazardous duty member shall, however, be considered a state policeman for federal Social Security Act purposes.

Leave office

means an elected official’s successor has been duly elected or appointed and qualified for office, or upon the date of death of an elected official.

Legal representative

means “personal representative” as defined in the Probate Code of New Mexico which includes executor, administrator, successor personal representative, special administrator and persons who perform substantially the same functions under the law governing their status, or an attorney or a person acting pursuant to a power of attorney for a member, retired member or beneficiary.

A. Member means a currently employed, contributing employee of an affiliated public employer, or a person who has been but is not currently employed by an affiliated public employer, who has not retired and who has not received a refund of member contributions; “member” also includes the following:

(1) adult correctional officer member means a member who is an adult correctional officer or an adult correctional officer specialist employed by a correctional facility of the corrections department or its successor agency;

(2) hazardous duty member means a member who is a juvenile correctional officer employed by the children, youth and families department or its successor agency;

(3)municipal detention officer member means a member who is employed by an affiliated public employer other than the state and who has inmate custodial responsibilities at a facility used for the confinement of persons charged with or convicted of a violation of a law or ordinance;

(4)municipal fire member means any member who is employed as a full-time nonvolunteer firefighter by an affiliated public employer and who has taken the oath prescribed for firefighters;

(5) municipal police member means any member who is employed as a police officer by an affiliated public employer, other than the state, and who has taken the oath prescribed for police officers; and “state police member” means any member who is an officer of the New Mexico state police and who taken the oath prescribed for such officers.

Membership

means membership in the association.

Municipal detention officer

means a member who is employed by an affiliated public employer other than the state who has inmate custodial responsibilities at a facility used for the confinement of persons charged or convicted of a violation of a law or ordinance. “Municipal detention officer includes both juvenile and adult municipal detention officers.

Pension

means a series of monthly payments to a retired member or survivor beneficiary as provided in the Public Employees Retirement Act

Permissive service credit

means service credit recognized by the retirement system for purposes of calculating a member’s retirement benefit, which is available only by making a voluntary additional contribution which does not exceed the amount necessary to fund the benefit attributable to such service credit. A vested member may purchase a total of five (5) years of permissive service credit as permitted by the Internal Revenue Code Section 415(n)(3)(B) limitations on nonqualified service credit. “Permissive service credit” includes service eligible for purchase under NMSA 1978, Sections 10-11-7, as amended.

Police member

means any member who is employed as a police officer by an affiliated public employer, who is paid a salary, and who has taken the oath prescribed for police officers. The term shall not include volunteers, hazardous duty members, or employees who do not perform primarily police functions including, but not limited to jailers, cooks, matrons, radio operators, meter checkers, pound employees, crossing guards, police judges, park conservation officers, and game wardens. A member who is employed by an affiliated public employer as a police officer and as a non-police officer employee shall be regarded as a police member if more than fifty percent of the member’s total salary is paid as a police officer.

Private retirement program

for the purpose of exclusion from membership under NMSA 1978, Section 10-11-3(B)(5) means a retirement program of the affiliated public employer which meets the internal revenue service minimum standards regarding benefits as outlined in 26 C.F.R. Section 31.3121(b) (7)F of the Employment Tax Regulations and IRS Rev. Proc. 91-40.

Public Employer

means the state, any municipality, city, county, metropolitan arroyo flood control authority, economic development district, regional housing authority, soil and water conservation district, entity created pursuant to a joint powers agreement, council of government, conservancy district,water and sanitation district, water district and metropolitan water board, including the boards, departments, bureaus and agencies of a public employer, so long as these entities fall within the meaning of governmental plan as that term is used in Section 414(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended

Reenlistment

as used in NMSA 1978, Section 10-11-6(A)(3), means enlistment or voluntary entry into one of the armed services as either enlisted personnel or as a commissioned officer.

Retired member

means a person who is being paid a normal, deferred or disability pension on account of that person’s membership in the association. “Retired member” shall not include any persons receiving a pre-retirement survivor pension, post-retirement survivor pension, or reciprocity retirement pension where the payer system is not PERA, or any other person unless specifically included by definition as a “retired member”.

Refund beneficiary

means a person designated by the member, in writing, in the form prescribed by the association, as the person who would be refunded the member’s accumulated member contributions payable if the member dies and no survivor pension is payable or who would receive the difference between pension paid and accumulated member contributions if the retired member dies before receiving in pension payments the amount of the accumulated member contributions.

Retirement Board

means the retirement board provided for in the Public Employees Retirement Act

Salary

means the base salary or wages paid a member, including longevity pay, for personal services rendered to an affiliated public employer. “Salary includes a member’s fixed, periodical compensation from full or part time employment; shift differentials; and wages paid while absent from work on account of vacation, holiday, injury or illness, which means payment made by continuing the member on the regular payroll. “Salary” includes incentive pay that is not temporary and becomes part of member’s base salary. “Salary” also includes temporary promotions, temporary salary increases, but no other temporary differentials. “Salary” shall not include overtime pay, allowances for housing, clothing, equipment or travel, payments for unused sick leave, unless the unused sick leave payment is made through continuation of the member on the regular payroll for the period represented by that payment. “Salary” also does not include lump sum payments which are not part of the member’s fixed periodical compensation, such as lump sum annual and sick leave or occasional payments to elected officials for attending meetings, allowances for any purpose, employer contributions to a private retirement program, or other fringe benefits, even if they are paid to or for a member on a regular basis, and any other form of remuneration not specifically designated by law as included in salary for Public Employees Retirement Act purposes.

State legislator member

means a person who is currently serving or who has served as a state legislator or lieutenant governor and who has elected to participate in a state legislator member coverage plan. A former legislator or former lieutenant governor may be a “state legislator member” whether or not currently receiving a pension under a state legislator member coverage plan.

State system

means a retirement program provided for in the Public Employees Retirement Act, Magistrate Retirement Act, or Judicial Retirement Act.

State Retirement System Acts

means collectively the Public Employees Retirement Act [Chapter 10, Article 11 NMSA 1978], the Magistrate Retirement Act [10-12C-1 NMSA 1978], the Judicial Retirement Act [10-12B-1 NMSA 1978] and the Volunteer Firefighters Retirement Act [Chapter 10, Article 11A NMSA 1978]

Survivor Beneficiary

means a person who receives a pension or who has been designated to be paid a pension as a result of the death of a member or retired member

Terminate employment

means that a member has a complete break in service and an absolute cessation of employment with all affiliated public employers, including employment as an elected official, as evidenced by a personnel action form or other equivalent document, and the member is not reemployed by an affiliated public employer for 30 days; or upon the date of death of a member.