Purchasing Service Credit
Types of Purchasable Service Credit
Previously Exempted or Waived Ohio Public
Service
Section 3307.73, Revised Code
You may be eligible to purchase previously exempted or waived membership for
other Ohio public service and/or Ohio noncontributing public teaching service.
Eligibility Requirements
The following is a list of basic eligibility requirements:
- You must be a member of STRS Ohio with at least 1.5 years of contributing
service in STRS Ohio, OPERS or SERS.
- STRS Ohio members who are also members of OPERS or SERS must purchase credit
for previously exempted or waived Ohio public service from the system in which
the member has the greatest number of years of service credit.
Health care coverage implications:
- Members who purchase this service and enroll in an STRS Ohio health care
plan pay the full premium for health care coverage until they attain retirement
eligibility without the use of this service.
- Once a member attains retirement eligibility without the use of this service, the premium for health care coverage is determined including the credit, assuming 15 years of eligible health care service credit.
- STRS Ohio health care coverage is optional for members who are eligible for coverage.
- Members retiring Jan. 1, 2004, or later must have at least 15 years of
service credit to have access to the STRS Ohio Health Care Program.
Members should talk to an STRS Ohio benefits counselor before buying this service.
Call us toll-free at 1-888-227-7877 for an appointment.
Maximum Credit
There is no limit to the amount of credit you can buy, except that total service
credit cannot exceed one year in any STRS Ohio fiscal year.
Certification
To request the following certification forms, contact STRS Ohio toll-free at
1-888-227-7877.
- OPERS — for other previously exempted or waived Ohio public service.
- SERS — for previously exempted or waived nonteaching service in a public school in Ohio.
- For previously exempted or waived noncontributing public teaching service
in Ohio.
Cost
The cost is based on 100% of the additional liability resulting from the purchase.
The 100% liability cost is calculated on your attained age and the salary base at the time of purchase. The salary base is the greater of your earnings for the preceding fiscal year or the most recent 12 months of earnings at the time of purchase. If the previous 12 months or preceding fiscal year was for partial service, a full-time equivalent is calculated for the salary base.
To estimate a cost, refer to the table in Step 1. Multiply the percentage opposite your age by the salary base at the time of purchase. This is the cost for 1.00 year of service.
Example:
Assume a member, currently age 39, worked full time from June 1, 1989, through
Aug. 29, 1989, for the Lima Parks & Recreation Department. Because this
member signed a waiver, no retirement contributions were submitted to OPERS.
The member’s current salary base is $45,000.
To estimate the cost to purchase three months of credit for waived service:
Step 1: Using the table below, find the factor for
age 39 and multiply it by the salary base.
$45,000 x 22.5% = $10,125 per year
100% Liability Cost Factors
| Age |
Percentage |
Age |
Percentage |
| 25 |
11.2 |
50 |
30.6 |
| 26 |
12.2 |
51 |
30.6 |
| 27 |
13.2 |
52 |
30.6 |
| 28 |
14.3 |
53 |
30.1 |
| 29 |
15.3 |
54 |
29.5 |
| 30 |
16.3 |
55 |
28.9 |
| 31 |
17.3 |
56 |
28.4 |
| 32 |
18.4 |
57 |
27.8 |
| 33 |
19.4 |
58 |
27.3 |
| 34 |
20.4 |
59 |
26.7 |
| 35 |
21.4 |
60 |
26.2 |
| 36 |
21.7 |
61 |
25.2 |
| 37 |
22.0 |
62 |
24.2 |
| 38 |
22.3 |
63 |
23.2 |
| 39 |
22.5 |
64 |
22.2 |
| 40 |
22.8 |
65 |
21.2 |
| 41 |
23.3 |
66 |
20.3 |
| 42 |
23.9 |
67 |
19.5 |
| 43 |
24.4 |
68 |
18.6 |
| 44 |
24.9 |
69 |
17.7 |
| 45 |
25.5 |
70 |
16.9 |
| 46 |
26.5 |
71 |
16.0 |
| 47 |
27.5 |
72 |
15.2 |
| 48 |
28.6 |
73 |
14.3 |
| 49 |
29.6 |
74 |
13.4 |
Step 2: Estimate the amount of credit eligible for purchase.
3 months ÷ 12 months = .25
Step 3: Multiply the number of years of purchasable
credit by the answer from Step 1.
0.25 x $10,125 = $2,531
In this example, the current cost to purchase 0.25 of a year of credit for
waived service is approximately $2,531.
Interest will accrue on previously exempted or waived Ohio public
service credit if:
- You have been inactive from public employment for one or more years from
the date of purchase; or
- You have made a partial purchase of this type of purchasable service.
To determine the interest, use the table below and increase your
purchase cost by multiplying by the interest factor for your number of years
of inactive status or by the number of years since your date of partial purchase.
|
Years of inactive status |
Interest factor |
Years of inactive status |
Interest factor |
| 1 |
1.0800 |
11 |
2.3316 |
| 2 |
1.1664 |
12 |
2.5182 |
| 3 |
1.2597 |
13 |
2.7196 |
| 4 |
1.3605 |
14 |
2.9372 |
| 5 |
1.4693 |
15 |
3.1722 |
| 6 |
1.5869 |
16 |
3.4259 |
| 7 |
1.7138 |
17 |
3.7000 |
| 8 |
1.8509 |
18 |
3.9960 |
| 9 |
1.9990 |
19 |
4.3157 |
| 10 |
2.1589 |
20 |
4.6610 |
