Trina Kay Prufer: Meaning of the term “Actual Benefits”

From Trina Kay Prufer

October 7, 2023

Meaning of the term “Actual Benefits”

I must admit I was very surprised to hear Neville’s answer to my question last week at the Parma town hall regarding the meaning of:

“Actual benefits will be paid in accordance with STRS law in effect at the time of your retirement”.

Neville indicated this only meant the original benefit awarded at the time of retirement.

I then went back to the ORC for guidance and did some digging. Below is the current law in the ORC on retirees’ vested benefit.

Turns out the current version of the ORC is pretty paltry in its section on definitions, however the 2008 version provides additional specificity. In the 2008 version, the original benefit is called a “ base allowance“; the word “benefit“ has a more inclusive definition.

There is a difference in the two words as used in the ORC - the sentence does not say ” base allowance”. You be the judge.