Sledge v. Employees' Retirement System

Deen, Presiding Judge.

The issue presented by this appeal is whether benefits due under the disability retirement section (OCGA § 47-2-123) of the statutes governing the Employees’ Retirement System of Georgia must be calculated in reference to OCGA § 47-1-120 (c) and (d), which allow the eligibility for service retirement benefits as if the member were age 65, regardless of the member’s age, if the member has tendered thirty or thirty-four years of service, respectively. The trial judge summarized his view that the legislature would not pass legislation graduating the level of projection that a disability applicant is entitled to in accordance with actual years of service established at the time of the application if it intended the applicant to be further entitled to an additional projection by application of the provisions contained in OCGA § 47-2-120 (c) and (d). The trial judge agreed with Op. Att’y Gen. No. 87-9 (February 25, 1987), which points out that the later cited Code section is only available to those persons seeking a service retirement allowance and not those whose retirement allowance is based on the death, disability, or involuntary separation of a member. We agree with the trial judge and adopt the following language of the trial court’s order:

“Plaintiff’s entitlement to a disability allowance is provided by O.C.G.A. § 47-2-123(c) (1). Under this section, Plaintiff receives 75% of the service retirement allowance he would have received at age 60. O.C.G.A. § 47-2-123(c) (1). Thus, his allowance is based on a hypothetical age of 60 and 37 years of service — 16 plus years of actual service and approximately 20 years of additional projected service representing the difference between his age at retirement (39 years) and age 60. The ERS subjected his allowance to an age reduction factor of 25% representing a 5% reduction for each year between the hypothetical age of 60 and age 65.

“Plaintiff contends that his allowance should not have been subject to an age reduction factor under the exceptions of O.C.G.A. § 47-2-120(c) or (d) because he is deemed to have 37 years of service under O.C.G.A. § 47-2-123(c) (1) and that the “service retirement allowance” specified in O.C.G.A. § 47-2-123(c) (1) must be calculated pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 47-2-120(c) and (d). Conversely, Defendant contends that the exceptions contained in O.C.G.A. § 47-2-120(c) and (d) apply only to the calculation of a service retirement allowance and not to a disability allowance.

“Official Code of Georgia Annotated 47-2-123(c) provides that ‘any member who is under 60 years of age shall receive ... a disability allowance which shall consist of’ the retirement allowances provided for in subparagraphs (1) through (4). Under the graduated scheme of these subparagraphs, the projection in age factor to which an applicant is entitled varies in accordance with the number of years of service established at the time the disability application is filed.

“It is a fundamental rule of statutory construction that where the language of a statute is plain and unambiguous, the terms used therein should be given their common and ordinary meaning. Board of Tax Assessors of Decatur Co. v. Catledge, 173 Ga. 656 (1931); Standard Steel Works. Co. v. Williams, 155 Ga. 177 (1922). The language of O.C.G.A. § 47-2-123 is clear on its face, and in light of the way this disability statute is drawn, it would be redundant to read O.C.G.A. § 47-2-123(c) in conjunction with O.C.G.A. § 47-2-120(c) or (d). Clearly, the General Assembly would not pass legislation which would graduate the level of projection a disability applicant is entitled to in accordance with his actual years of service established at the time of application if it intended the applicant to be entitled to an additional projection by application of the provisions contained in O. C.G.A. § 47-2-120(c) or (d). See, e.g., Board of Trustees v. Christ[y], 246 Ga. 553 (1980) (it is presumed that the General Assembly would not enact legislation without reason). For the foregoing reasons and under the facts of this case, the Court holds that O.C.G.A. § 47-2-123(c) does not require reference to O.C.G.A. § 47-2-120(c) or (d), since sdch reference would create a projection on top of a projection, and that under O.C.G.A. § 47-2-123(c) (1) the ERS may properly apply its age reduction factor. It follows that the ERS correctly calculated Plaintiff’s benefits.”

Since the trial court has correctly analyzed the applicability of the Code sections as to disability retirement, we affirm the trial court’s decision.

Judgment affirmed.

Carley, C. J., McMurray, P. J., Banke, P. J., Birdsong and Sognier, JJ., concur. Pope, Beasley and Cooper, JJ., dissent.