Final Average Salary (FAS)

Final average salary, or FAS, is the average of your highest three consecutive years of salary earned whenever they occurred in your salary history. Typically, it is the average of your last three years. Tier 1 members are eligible for an alternative five-year FAS.

We are often asked which payments can and cannot be included in the calculation of a FAS. Following is an attempt to clarify it. If you need more information or clarification, call (800) 348-7298, Ext. 6250.

Three-Year FAS

The Three-Year FAS is available to all tiers and can include payments for:

• Full-time teaching services (e.g., regular compensation);
• Coaching;
• Tutoring;
• Summer school;
• Chaperoning;
• Workshops;
• Driver education;
• Supervision of traditional after-school clubs; and,
• Teaching or administration of educational after-school programs.

The Three-Year FAS cannot include:

• Non-regular compensation (i.e., bonuses, taxable fringe benefits, payments in lieu of health insurance);
• Employer contributions into a tax shelter account;
• Payments made outside contract terms;
• Payments made on the eve of retirement;
• Buyouts;
• Payments for services ordinarily performed by classified positions, consultants, or independent contractors;
• Payments used to purchase health insurance through the district;
• Pay for duties not reasonably incidental to that of an administrator or full-time teacher (e.g., bus driver, district clerk, clerk of the board, school attorney); or,
• Compensation for computer maintenance, master teacher presenter, or similar roles.

Also excluded from the three-year FAS calculation are yearly increases in regular salary exceeding the following limits:

• Tier 1 — 20% of the previous year's salary.
• Tier 2 — 20% of the average of the previous two years' salaries.
• Tiers 3 and 4 — 10% of the average of the previous two years' salaries.

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Five-Year FAS

The Five-Year FAS is available to Tier 1 members only and:

• Will be used automatically if it is higher than the three-year FAS;
• Cannot include payments made to secure your resignation or artificially inflate your FAS; and,
• Cannot include payments not otherwise reportable to NYSTRS, including (but not limited to):
  • Payments made outside the terms of a collective bargaining agreement or long-standing employment agreement.
  • Buyouts.
  • Payments for services ordinarily performed by persons in the classified service, or by consultants or independent contractors.
  • Payments to a member for the purchase of health insurance through the district.
  • Earnings from titles such as bus driver, computer maintenance worker, district clerk, clerk of the board, school attorney, legal consultant or master teacher presenter.

Additionally, if your date of membership is prior to June 17, 1971, the following apply:

• You are not subject to the salary increase limits of the three-year FAS. (Those with a date of membership of June 17, 1971 or later are subject to the limits.)
• You can include termination payments provided (1) they are contained in a collective bargaining agreement or a long-standing employment agreement, and (2) they are made by the end of the calendar year of retirement. Termination payments include retirement incentives, longevity payments and payments for unused leave.

If your date of membership is prior to July 1, 1973, non-regular compensation is includable in a five-year FAS calculation. Non-regular compensation includes, but is not limited to:

• Taxable fringe benefits;
• Bonuses; and,
• Payments in lieu of health insurance.

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