(a) A member of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS) who was subject to a membership waiting period during a period of employment that was between September 1, 2003, and August 31, 2005, pursuant to Government Code §822.001, as amended by Ch. 201, 78th Leg., R.S. 2003, may purchase one year of equivalent membership service credit in TRS in accordance with Government Code §823.406 and this section.
(b) A member is eligible to purchase one year of service credit under this section if the following requirements are met:
  (1) the individual served at least 4 1/2 months in an eligible position during the school year in which the waiting period ended or, in the alternative, the individual served a full semester of more than four calendar months in an eligible position during the school year in which the waiting period ended or the individual entered into an employment contract or oral or written work agreement for a period which would qualify the individual for a year of service credit but who actually renders only 90 working days of service, and
  (2) any portion of that service was performed during the membership waiting period, and
  (3) the individual did not serve a sufficient length of time during the school year after becoming eligible for TRS membership to earn a year of membership service credit in the retirement system.
(c) A member may not purchase service credit under this section until after the end of the school year in which the waiting period ended. If requested by TRS, in order to purchase service credit under this section, a member shall provide verification of service and salary during the school year in which the waiting period service was performed. The verification must be in a form that TRS finds acceptable to determine that the member meets the requirements of this section.
(d) Equivalent membership service credit may be established under this section by depositing with TRS the amount described in this subsection. To establish service credit for the year, 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 service credit to be purchased under this section.
(e) Upon receipt by TRS of the required amount, the member will be credited with the year of service credit. A member may not receive more than one year of service credit for the service performed in a school year.
(f) To calculate the amount required by this section, TRS will use the cost factors and method described in §25.302 of this title (relating to Calculation of Actuarial Cost).
(g) No credit will be applied to the cost of a year of membership waiting period service credit for any TRS contributions made in the same school year.
(h) The purchase cost described in subsection (f) of this section is based on a lump-sum deposit. If deposits are made by installment payments, the purchase cost will be adjusted to reflect a non-refundable installment fee of 9%.

Source Note: The provisions of this §25.164 adopted to be effective April 28, 2004, 29 TexReg 3968; amended to be effective April 3, 2006, 31 TexReg 2870; amended to be effective March 8, 2007, 32 TexReg 1085; amended to be effective April 1, 2011, 36 TexReg 1838