CREDITABLE SERVICE

Richmond, Va., City Code ch. 22, art. VI

in effect

Richmond, Va., City Code § 22-174 Creditable service defined.

Sec. 22-174. - Creditable service defined. The term "creditable service" shall mean, for any member who is in service at any time after January 1, 1974, the member's total service as an eligible employee, whether or not continuous, exclusive of any separate period of service of less than nine months in duration. Creditable service shall be counted in terms of years, with creditable service in excess of complete years being counted as a fractional part of a year. Creditable service shall not include periods during which the member is on leave without pay and has not made the required member contributions unless otherwise required by law, and creditable service shall not include any service for which a member contribution was required if the member contribution account has been distributed. In addition, creditable service shall include the service described below: (1) Any person who was a member of the abolished system and in the Armed Forces of the United States on December 22, 1952, or any member of the system subsequently entering the Armed Forces of the United States, being on leave of absence from service, shall be entitled to have included as creditable service the member's period of service in the Armed Forces of the United States as defined in Section 414(u) of the Internal Revenue Code, provided that the member's discharge therefrom was not dishonorable and the member reenters service within one year after discharge, in the case of military service ending prior to December 13, 1994, or within the time required by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 for military service ending after December 12, 1994. This service shall only be included to the extent that such member makes up for any missed member contributions that would have been required under Section 22-112(a) had the member's employment not been so interrupted. (2) Creditable service shall also include any service as an employee of the State or an agency thereof which the City Council, by ordinance, has heretofore or shall in the future recognize as creditable service toward participation in retirement benefits of the system. (3) For vested members (other than those elected to participate in the defined contribution plan established pursuant to Section 22-142), creditable service shall also include 50 percent of a member's unused sick leave earned as an eligible employee of the City, however, creditable service of a DROP member is limited to 50 percent of such member's unused sick leave earned as an eligible employee of the City which the DROP member does not elect to retain as sick leave under the guidelines established pursuant to Section 22-204. (4) Creditable service shall also include part-time service in the classified or unclassified service where the member regularly served a minimum of at least 20 hours per week, such part-time service was for a period of at least 18 months, and such part-time service and service as an eligible employee has been continuous with no interval between such period of part-time service and service as an eligible employee. Creditable service for such part-time service shall be on the basis of one month for each two months of such service for which contributions are paid. (5) For members who transferred from City employment to employment with the Richmond Hospital Authority, in conjunction with the creation of the authority effective July 1, 1993, all unused sick leave which the member was not permitted to carry over at the time of transfer of employment shall be recognized and included as creditable service for purposes of participation in retirement benefits of the system, provided that the amount of unused sick leave to be included as creditable service shall be appropriately certified by the Department of Human Resources. (6) Creditable service shall include any period of severance that is authorized by ordinance. (7) In addition, any person admitted to membership in the system who was, at the effective date of the transfer and assignment to the Director of Finance of the duties of the Commissioner of Revenue of the City, an employee of the Commissioner of Revenue of the City and a member of the State Retirement System, shall be entitled to credit toward eligibility for retirement pursuant to Sections 22-197 through 22-199, 22-238 and 22-240 for the length of such service as an employee of the Commissioner of Revenue of the City. Such service, however, shall not be counted in determining the allowances or benefits that may be awarded pursuant to Sections 22-202, 22-239, 22-241, 22-296, 22-297, 22-299 and 22-317. (8) For a member whose employment is interrupted, creditable service shall be included only to the extent that such member makes up for any missed member contributions that would have been required under Section 22-112(a) had the member's employment not been so interrupted. Make up contributions shall be made starting with the date of reemployment and continuing for up to three times the length of the member's break in service; provided, however, that the repayment period shall not exceed five years. If the member does not make up all of the missed contributions, such member's creditable service under this section shall be prorated for the amount actually repaid. Makeup contributions shall not be subject to any otherwise applicable contribution limits under Section 402(g), 402(h), 403(b), 408, 415 or 457 of the Internal Revenue Code as applied with respect to the plan year or taxable year in which the contribution is made. (9) Any person with less than 35 years of creditable service who was a member of the system while employed by Richmond Public Schools and who subsequently is hired by the City as a result of a merger or consolidation of Richmond Public Schools and City job functions, shall: a. Remain in the system; b. Continue to accrue creditable service; and c. Not be deemed a member of the defined contribution plan under Section 22-142. (Code 1993, § 23.1-34; Code 2004, § 78-171; Code 2015, § 22-174; Code 2020, § 22-174; Ord. No. 2003-254-226, § 1, 7-28-2003; Ord. No. 2006-60-128, § 2, 5-30-2006; Ord. No. 2007-298-279, § 1, 12-10-2007; Ord. No. 2011-88-76, § 1, 5-23-2011)

Richmond, Va., City Code § 22-175 Filing of statement of service.

Sec. 22-175. - Filing of statement of service. If the Board shall deem it necessary in order to determine the status of a member or an eligible employee or a person claiming entitlement to benefits under the Richmond Retirement System, the Board may, under such rules and regulations as it may adopt, require such person to file a statement of creditable service, such statement to include a detailed description of all services rendered as an eligible employee and other information as the Board may require. Until any required statement is filed, no benefits shall be payable under this article. (Code 1993, § 23.1-35; Code 2004, § 78-172; Code 2015, § 22-175; Code 2020, § 22-175)

Richmond, Va., City Code § 22-176 Determination of years of creditable service.

Sec. 22-176. - Determination of years of creditable service. The Board shall determine by appropriate rules and regulations how much service in any year is the equivalent of a year of creditable service in the Richmond Retirement System, but in no case shall it allow credit for more than one year of creditable service for all service rendered in any period of 12 consecutive months. (Code 1993, § 23.1-36; Code 2004, § 78-173; Code 2015, § 22-176; Code 2020, § 22-176)

Richmond, Va., City Code § 22-177 Purchase of prior service.

Sec. 22-177. - Purchase of prior service. (a) Any vested member who is an eligible employee may purchase creditable service for service for all or part of the following: (1) Certified creditable service in the retirement system of the Commonwealth or another state or of a political subdivision. (2) Any period of full-time service rendered to a participating employer on a temporary, seasonal, provisional, Comprehensive Employment Training Act (CETA) or contractual basis, provided that such period has not been previously included in the creditable service. (b) The service credits should not be considered in the calculation of any retirement benefit by another retirement system. (c) The member must pay an amount of the following percentages, for each year of creditable service to be credited, of the member's present annual creditable compensation or of the member's average final compensation during the member's 36 highest consecutive months of creditable service with the City, whichever is greater: (1) For a general member, an amount equal to ten percent; and (2) For a public safety member, an amount equal to 15 percent. (d) Creditable service purchased under this section shall not be considered in determining eligibility for unreduced early retirement, if the member's retirement is within five years of the date of purchase of service credit; provided, however, creditable service purchased in connection with a portability agreement shall be considered in determining eligibility for unreduced early retirement, provided such purchase is made at least 90 days prior to such retirement. (e) Payment may be made in a lump sum or by payroll deduction in equal installments over a period not to exceed the service credit being purchased. Should the deduction be terminated prior to purchasing the entire period, which might otherwise be credited, the member shall be credited with the number of additional months of service for which payments are made. If the deduction is continued beyond the point at which the entire period has been purchased, the member shall be credited with no more than the entire period, which might otherwise have been credited, and the excess amount deducted shall be refunded to the member. Any purchase of prior service made within 90 days of the member's effective date of retirement shall be made by a lump sum payment. (f) The system shall accept a direct trustee-to-trustee transfer of a lump sum in cash from a plan established pursuant to Section 457(b) of the Internal Revenue Code by a governmental employer or a plan or program established pursuant to Section 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code as payment by a member for the purchase of creditable service. The cost will be determined as described in Subsection (c) of this section. (Code 1993, § 23.1-37; Code 2004, § 78-174; Code 2015, § 22-177; Code 2020, § 22-177; Ord. No. 2003-254-226, § 1, 7-28-2003)

Richmond, Va., City Code § 22-178 Portability of service credit.

Sec. 22-178. - Portability of service credit. (a) The Executive Director and the Board of Trustees of the system are hereby authorized to enter into reciprocal agreements with the Virginia Retirement System (VRS) and any political subdivision of the Commonwealth that sponsors a defined benefit retirement system which is not supplemental to VRS. (b) The reciprocal agreements shall be in accordance with Code of Virginia, §§ 51.1-801.1 and 51.1-143.1 and shall permit members of the defined benefit plan to transfer their vested service credit between the system and VRS or any political subdivision for the purpose of determining retirement benefits. Such agreements shall also provide for the direct transfer, between the system and VRS or the political subdivision, of assets associated with such transferred service credit. All reciprocal agreements shall be designed to be cost neutral to the system, thereby creating no additional unfunded liabilities. Any election by a member to transfer service credit pursuant to such a reciprocal agreement must be submitted in writing no later than 18 months after first becoming an eligible employee. (c) Before entering into any such agreement, the agreement shall be approved as to form and legality by the City Attorney. (Code 1993, § 23.1-38; Code 2004, § 78-175; Code 2015, § 22-178; Code 2020, § 22-178; Ord. No. 2003-254-226, § 1, 7-28-2003; Ord. No. 2007-323-2008-1, § 1, 1-14-2008; Ord. No. 2009-207-214, § 1, 11-23-2009)

Richmond, Va., City Code § 22-179 Purchase of additional service.

Sec. 22-179. - Purchase of additional service. At the date of separation from City employment, any vested member in a position eligible to participate in the provisions of Section 22-317(a) may purchase up to a maximum of five years of unqualified, additional service to be counted as creditable service in order to meet that member's retirement eligibility. Such member shall pay an amount equal to the actuarial equivalent as determined by the system's actuary for each year of creditable service to be purchased. (Code 2004, § 78-176; Code 2015, § 22-179; Code 2020, § 22-179; Ord. No. 2003-171-178, § 1(23.1-37.1), 5-27-2003)

Source: City of Richmond, Virginia, Code (2026 recodification) and Charter (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/va/richmond/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTIICICO_CH22PURE_ARTVICRSEFetched: 11/8/2026