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eligibility requirements. He applied for disability retirement
benefits from STRS in February 1977, and his application was
approved that same year.
The STRS Employer’s Manual sets forth the required
contribution rates for STRS members and their employers. These
contribution rates show the percentage of each member’s
compensation contributed to STRS by the member and by the
employer. STRS also published a brochure entitled “Disability
Retirement” describing the program, including sections on
eligibility requirements and taxes. Notably, the STRS
publications do not indicate any specific portion of an
employee’s contribution which funds the disability benefit.
Neither the extent nor severity of the disability affects
the computation of the amount of disability benefits. Ohio Rev.
Code Ann. section 3309.40 (Anderson 2002) directs calculation of
the benefit based on the sum of the following: (1) The number of
Ohio service credits actually earned by the member, and (2) the
difference between the member’s age upon disability retirement
and age 60.3 The resulting sum is then multiplied by the “final
average salary”, which is the average of the 3 highest years of
earnings, and a specified factor. Therefore, the amount that a
3 The total disability retirement benefit cannot be less
than 30 percent nor more than 75 percent of the member’s final
average salary. Ohio Rev. Code Ann. sec. 3309.40 (Anderson
2002).
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