A retiree who returns to work for a different municipality can regain membership in the retirement system, keep the annuity from being suspended, and has rules for contributions and later benefit payments.
Sec. 852.109. RESUMPTION OF SERVICE WITH DIFFERENT EMPLOYER BY RETIREE. (a) If a person becomes an employee of a municipality after the effective date of the person's retirement from a participating municipality, and the municipality is not the person's reemploying municipality, the person again becomes a member of the retirement system, and the person's retirement annuity is not suspended. (b) Member contributions under Section 855.402 shall be made on all compensation paid to the employee by the municipality at the same rate as is required of other employees of the department. The retirement system shall credit the contributions on receipt to the member's individual account and shall credit the account with interest at the same rate and in the same manner as the accounts of other members are credited. The compensation paid to the employee by the municipality shall be included in computing the monthly contributions the municipality makes to the benefit accumulation fund. (c) If a person with credited service under this section dies before a payment under Subsection (e) is made, the person's beneficiary, or if there is no beneficiary surviving, the executor or administrator of the person's estate, may elect payment as provided by Section 854.105. (d) The additional service retirement benefit allowable to a person to whom this section applies is, at the option of that person, either: (1) a refund of accumulated contributions made since reemployment plus any accrued interest on the accumulated contributions allowed by the retirement system; or (2) a benefit consisting of: (A) a basic annuity actuarially determined from the sum of the member's contributions made and accumulated since the date the person last became a member together with interest accrued on that amount since the person last became a member and an amount from the benefit accumulation fund equal to the amount of the member's contributions credited to the member's individual account since the person last became a member together with interest accrued on that amount since the person last became a member; or (B) a greater amount authorized by the municipality under Section 855.501. (e) The additional benefit described by Subsection (d)(2) is payable as a standard service retirement benefit or, at the election of the member, any optional benefit authorized under this subtitle that is the actuarial equivalent of the standard retirement benefit. The first benefit payment date under this subsection is the later of the end of the month following the last month of employment or the end of the month following the month in which the person files an application for payment. The first payment may not be made if the person has resumed employment that would result in suspension of a benefit. (f) If a person became an employee of a municipality other than the person's reemploying municipality after the effective date of the person's retirement from a participating municipality, and the person's service retirement annuity was suspended under Section 852.108 as it existed at the time of reemployment, the person may, on written application to the retirement system, resume receiving the suspended annuity. Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 514, Sec. 5, eff. Sept. 1, 1995. Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 121, Sec. 4, eff. Jan. 1, 2002. Amended by: Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1208 (S.B. 350), Sec. 5, eff. June 17, 2011. Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 161 (S.B. 1105), Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2021.