1. (a) An eligible member may purchase one or two years of equivalent membership service credit for eligible work experience in accordance with Government Code §823.404 and subject to any plan qualification requirements, including permissive service credit purchase restrictions. Permissive service credit purchase restrictions may limit the purchase of non-qualified service as defined in Texas Government Code §823.006 to five years. A member is eligible to establish equivalent membership service credit for eligible work experience if the member is employed by a TRS-covered employer and has at least five years of TRS membership service credit.
2. (b) Equivalent membership service credit for eligible work experience may be established by depositing with TRS the amounts described in subsection (c) of this section and by submitting certification in the form and manner prescribed by TRS that the member is entitled to salary step credit under §21.403(b) of the Education Code and is eligible to purchase the service credit.
3. (c) For each year of equivalent membership service credit described in this section, the eligible member must deposit the actuarial present value, at the time of deposit, of the additional standard retirement annuity benefits that would be attributable to the conversion of the work experience into service credit. Upon receipt by TRS of the required amount, the member will be credited with the additional year(s) of service credit up to the maximum years of permissive service credit allowed.
4. (d) To calculate these amounts, TRS will use the cost factors obtained from the Service Purchase Tables furnished by the TRS actuary of record. The tables cross reference the member's age with years of credited service (before purchase). Table 1 sets forth the cost, per $1,000 of annual salary, to purchase one year of service. Table 2 shows the cost, per $1,000 of annual salary, to purchase two years of service. The shaded regions of the tables reflect age and service combinations where the purchase of service results in the immediate eligibility for unreduced retirement benefits.
   Attached Graphic
   
   Attached Graphic
   
5. (e) The cost factor reflected at the intersection of the eligible member's age and service in the non-shaded areas reflects the cost per $1,000 of current annual salary to purchase one year of service (Table 1) or two years of service (Table 2). The cost factor reflected at the intersection of the eligible member's age and service in the shaded areas is the cost per $1,000 of final average compensation. The final average compensation will be used in calculating the cost where the purchase of the service results in immediate eligibility for unreduced retirement benefits and will be calculated as if the member were retiring at the time the service credit is purchased. The cost factor remains constant after 30 years of service. Therefore, when an eligible member's service exceeds 30 years, the applicable cost factor is found at the intersection of the member's age and 30 years of service. TRS will calculate the cost to purchase service under this section by dividing either the current annual salary or the final average compensation (as applicable) by 1000 and multiplying the resulting quotient by the appropriate cost factor obtained from the tables.
6. (f) The purchase cost described in subsection (e) of this section assumes a lump-sum deposit will be made. If deposits are made over a period of time as allowed by TRS, the purchase cost will be adjusted to reflect the actuarial present value of the benefits attributable to the purchased service.

Source Note:The provisions of this §25.161 adopted to be effective February 4, 2000, 25 TexReg 598.