TCERA membership status is assigned based on the current circumstances for the member.
Active – An employee who is eligible for membership at the beginning of a pay period becomes active with TCERA as of the first day of the pay period. If the hire date is in the middle of a pay period, active membership begins as of the first day of the following pay period.
Deferred Non-Vested – An employee who terminates employment with less than five years of service is a Deferred Non-Vested member.
Deferred Vested – an employee who terminates employment with five years or more of service credit is a Deferred Vested member.
Deferred Reciprocal – an employee in any Deferred status who has established an outgoing reciprocal link with another system is a Deferred Reciprocal member. This may also be referred to as inter-system membership.
Members of TCERA fall under a variety of retirement formulas adopted by the Tulare County Board of Supervisors that are assigned based on various “tiers” of benefits. TCERA has four different membership Tiers based on the date of plan membership:
Tier 1 – Membership date prior to 1980.
Tier 2 – Membership date on or after January 1, 1980 through December 31, 1989.
Tier 3 – Membership date on or after January 1, 1990 through December 31, 2012.
Tier 4 – Membership date on or after January 1, 2013.
More information regarding membership and tier can be found within the TCERA Plan Summary: A Guide to Plan Benefits.