By Senator Sanders
ENROLLED, An Act,
To amend Sections 16-25-21 and 36-27-24, Code of Alabama, 1975 to increase the maximum funding period for which the accrued liability contribution is calculated for the Teachers' Retirement System and the Employees' Retirement System from 20 years to 30 years.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. Sections 16-25-21 and 36-27-24, Code of Alabama 1975 are hereby amended to read as follows:§16-25-21.
Effective October 1, 1997, all the assets of the retirement system shall be credited according to the purpose for which they are held among three funds, namely: The Annuity Savings Fund, the Pension Accumulation Fund, and the Expense Fund. The operation of the former Pension Reserve Fund and the Annuity Reserve Fund shall be discontinued as of such date, the balance of the former Pension Reserve Fund shall be transferred to the Pension Accumulation Fund, and the balance of the former Annuity Reserve Fund shall be transferred to the Pension Accumulation Fund.
(1) The Annuity Savings Fund shall be a fund in which shall be accumulated contributions from the compensation of members to provide for their annuities. Contributions to and payments from the Annuity Savings Fund shall be made as follows:
a. Each employer shall cause to be deducted from the salary of each member on each and every payroll of such employer for each and every payroll period five percent of his earnable compensation. In determining the amount earnable by a member in a payroll period, the Board of Control may consider the rate of annual compensation payable to such member on the first day of the payroll period as continuing throughout such payroll period, and it may omit deductions from compensation for any period less than a full payroll period if a teacher was not a member on the first day of the payroll period, and to facilitate the making of deductions it may modify the deduction required of any member by such an amount as shall not exceed one tenth of one percent of the annual compensation upon the basis of which such deduction is to be made.
b. The deductions provided for herein shall be made notwithstanding that the minimum compensation provided for by law for any member shall be reduced thereby. Every member shall be deemed to consent and agree to the deduction made and provided for herein and shall receipt for his full salary or compensation, and payment of salary or compensation less such deduction shall be a full and complete discharge and acquittance of all claims and demands whatsoever for the service rendered by such person during the period covered by such payment, except as to the benefits provided under this chapter. The employer shall certify to the Board of Control on each and every payroll or in such other manner as the board may prescribe the amount to be deducted; and each of said amounts shall be deducted, and when deducted shall be paid into the Annuity Savings Fund and shall be credited, together with regular interest thereon, to the individual account of the member from whose compensation said deduction was made.
c. In addition to the contributions deducted from compensation as hereinbefore provided, subject to the approval of the Board of Control, any member may deposit in the Annuity Savings Fund by a single payment or by an increased rate of contribution an amount computed to be sufficient to purchase an additional annuity which, together with his prospective retirement allowance, will provide for him a total retirement allowance not to exceed one half of his average final compensation at age 60. Such additional amounts so deposited shall become a part of his accumulated contributions except in the case of retirement, when they shall be treated as excess contributions returnable to the member in cash or as an annuity of equivalent actuarial value and shall not be considered in computing his pension. The contributions and interest credits of a member withdrawn by him, or paid to his estate or to his designated beneficiary in event of his death, shall be paid from the Annuity Savings Fund. Should a member cease to be a member other than by retirement under the provisions of this title, an amount equivalent to the difference, if any, between his accumulated contributions and the amount then paid shall be transferred to the Expense Fund. Upon the retirement of a member or the death of an eligible member where an allowance to the surviving spouse is payable, his accumulated contributions shall be transferred from the Annuity Savings Fund to the Pension Accumulation Fund.
d. Notwithstanding the preceding provisions, no deductions shall be made from any member's salary on account of which the employer's contribution is in default.
(2) The Pension Accumulation Fund shall be the fund in which shall be accumulated all reserves, other than amounts held in the Annuity Savings Fund for the payment of all pensions and other benefits. Contributions to and payments from the Pension Accumulation Fund shall be made as follows:
a. On account of each member there shall be paid monthly by the employer an amount equal to a certain percentage of the earnable compensation of each member to be known as the "normal contribution" and an additional amount equal to a percentage of his earnable compensation to be known as the "accrued liability contribution," and these two amounts shall be paid monthly into the Pension Accumulation Fund. The Teachers' Retirement System shall recommend to the Legislature on or before the first legislative day of each regular session of the Legislature the rate for the following fiscal year. The Legislature shall set the rate in the annual appropriation bill.
b. On the basis of regular interest and of such mortality and other tables as shall be adopted by the Board of Control, the actuary engaged by the board to make such valuation required by this title shall, immediately after making such valuation, determine the uniform and constant percentage of the earnable compensation of the average new entrant which, if contributed on the basis of his compensation throughout his entire period of active service, would be sufficient to provide for the payment of any pension payable on his account. The rate per centum so determined shall be known as the "normal contribution" rate. The normal contribution rate shall be determined by the actuary after each valuation.
c.1. The accrued liability contribution rate shall be computed by the actuary on the basis of each valuation as the per centum rate of the total annual compensation of all members which is sufficient to liquidate the unfunded accrued liability over a period to be determined by the Board of Control which shall be not less than 10 nor more than 30 years.
2. The unfunded accrued liability shall be computed by the actuary as the total liabilities of the system which are not dischargeable by the assets of the Annuity Savings Fund and the Pension Accumulation Fund and the present value of the aforesaid normal contributions. For purposes of computing the unfunded accrued liability the assets shall be determined as follows:
On June 30, 1997, the assets shall be determined by using the market value of such assets. For subsequent years the value of the assets shall be determined by the system's actuary using a five year smoothed market value.
d. The total amount payable in each year to the Pension Accumulation Fund shall be not less than the sum of the per centum rates known as the normal contribution rate and the accrued liability contribution rate of the total compensation earnable by all members during the year.
e. All interest and dividends earned on the funds of the retirement system shall be credited to the Pension Accumulation Fund. The amounts needed to allow regular interest on the reserves in the Annuity Savings Fund shall be transferred in accordance with the provisions of this chapter from the Pension Accumulation Fund. The Board of Control, in its discretion, may transfer to and from the Pension Accumulation Fund the amount of any surplus or deficit which may develop in the Annuity Savings Fund or the Expense Fund.
f. Upon the death of a member on account of whom no survivor allowance is payable under subdivisions (2) and (3) of subsection (g) of Section 16-25-14, the death benefit as provided in subdivision (3) of subsection (g) of such section equal to the accumulated contributions not to exceed $5,000 shall be payable from the Pension Accumulation Fund.
(3) The Expense Fund shall be the fund from which the expenses of the administration of the retirement system shall be paid, exclusive of amounts payable as retirement allowances and as other benefits provided herein. Any amounts credited to the accounts of members withdrawing before retirement and not returnable under the provisions of subsection (g) of Section 16-25-14 shall be credited to the Expense Fund. Any additional contributions required to meet the expenses of the retirement system shall be made as provided in paragraphs c., d. and e. of subdivision (4) of this section.
(4) a. On or before October 1 of each year, each local board of education, the State Board of Education, the governing boards of the University of Alabama, Auburn University and the University of Montevallo and the Executive Committee of the Alabama Education Association shall file with the Board of Control of the retirement system a certified statement containing the following information concerning the members of the retirement system employed by such boards for the scholastic year beginning on July first preceding said date: Name, address, monthly salary, annual salary and such other information as the Board of Control may require. On or before July 31 of each year, each local board of education; the State Board of Education; the governing boards of the University of Alabama, Auburn University, and the University of Montevallo and the Executive Committee of the Alabama Education Association shall file with the Board of Control of the retirement system a certified statement containing the following information concerning members of the retirement system employed by such boards during the scholastic year ending on June 30 preceding said date: name, address, monthly salary actually paid, total annual salary actually paid and such other information as the Board of Control may require.
b. The collection of members' contributions shall be as follows: Each local board of education, the State Board of Education, the governing boards of the University of Alabama, Auburn University and the University of Montevallo and the Executive Committee of the Alabama Education Association shall cause to be deducted on each and every payroll period subsequent to the date of the establishment of the retirement system the contributions payable by each member as provided in this chapter. Each employer shall transmit monthly, or at such time as the Board of Control shall designate, the total amount so deducted to the Secretary-Treasurer of the Board of Control accompanied by an itemized statement of the contributions of each individual member of the retirement system. The Secretary-Treasurer of the Board of Control after making a record of all such receipts shall transmit the same to the State Treasurer to be held for use according to the provisions of this chapter. Notwithstanding anything in this section, the Board of Control may modify the form of reports required of employers and may modify the method of collecting the contributions of members so that employers may retain the amounts so deducted and have a corresponding amount deducted from funds otherwise payable to them.
c. The employer's contributions shall be made from the same funds used to pay salaries based on the employer cost rate determined under paragraph a. of subdivision (2).
d. Where member contributions are made from salaries paid from federal funds, the employer shall pay from federal funds to the Teachers' Retirement System the amount calculated as a percentage of the salaries of those teachers to be contributed by the employer in accordance with subdivisions (2) and (3) of this section. Such amounts shall be paid at the same time as the member contributions are made to the retirement system. The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to funds received under the provisions of the Hatch Act of 1887, as amended in 1955, and the McIntyre-Stennis Act (Cooperative Forestry Research Act of 1962) of the Congress of the United States, for the support of agriculturally related research.
e. Where member contributions are made from salaries paid by the Alabama Education Association, the Alabama Education Association shall pay the employer costs calculated as a percentage of the salaries of those employees to be contributed as employer in accordance with subdivisions (2) and (3) of this section. Such amounts shall be paid monthly and at the same time as the member contributions are made to the Teachers' Retirement System.
f. To the extent that employer cost is collected for any increase in benefits payable to retired employees of local boards of education and state institutions of higher education who are retired under the Employees' Retirement System, there shall be a transfer of funds from these funds to the Employees' Retirement System for each year such benefits are payable.
g. Employer cost provided for in this article together with member contributions required under this article shall be paid to the Teachers' Retirement System on the first day of the month following the month in which the related member salary is earned. Delinquent accounts shall accrue interest at the actuarial assumed investment rate beginning 30 days after the original due date. The member contributions for each member shall be reported to the Teachers' Retirement System in a format prescribed by the Teachers' Retirement System.
§36-27-24.
"Funds for assets of retirement system - Creation; composition; contributions to and disbursements from funds generally; appropriations.
(a) Effective October 1, 1997, all the assets of the retirement system shall be credited according to the purpose for which they are held among three funds, namely, the Annuity Savings Fund, the Pension Accumulation Fund, and the Expense Fund. The operation of the former Pension Reserve Fund and the Annuity Reserve Fund shall be discontinued as of such date and the balance of the former Pension Reserve Fund shall be transferred to the Pension Accumulation Fund, and the balance of the former Annuity Reserve Fund shall be transferred to the Pension Accumulation Fund.
(b) Annuity Savings Fund. The Annuity Savings Fund shall be a fund in which shall be accumulated contributions from the compensation of members to provide for their annuities.
Contributions to and payments from the Annuity Savings Fund shall be made as follows: Effective October 1, 1971, each employer shall cause to be deducted from the salary of each member on each and every payroll of such employer for each and every payroll period five percent of his earnable compensation; except, that in the case of a state policeman, the rate of 10 percent of earnable compensation shall apply, and in computing all retirement benefits it shall be assumed that a seven percent rate of contribution had applied with respect to service as a state policeman prior to July 1, 1957. In determining the amount earnable by a member in a payroll period, the Board of Control may consider the rate of annual compensation payable to such member on the first day of the payroll period as continuing through such payroll period, and it may omit deductions from compensation for any period less than a full payroll period if an employee was not a member on the first day of the payroll period, and, to facilitate the making of deductions, it may modify the deductions required of any member by such an amount as shall not exceed one tenth of one percent of the annual compensation upon the basis of which such deductions are made.
The deductions provided for in this subsection shall be made notwithstanding that the minimum compensation provided for by law for any member shall be reduced thereby. Every member shall be deemed to consent and agree to the deduction made and provided for in this subsection and shall receipt for his full salary or compensation and payment of salary or compensation less such deductions shall be a full and complete discharge and acquittance of all claims and demands whatsoever for the services rendered by such person during the period covered by such payment, except as to the benefits provided under this article. The employer shall certify to the Board of Control in each and every payroll or in such other manner as the board may prescribe the amounts to be deducted, and each of said amounts shall be deducted and, when deducted, shall be paid into the Annuity Savings Fund and shall be credited, together with regular interest thereon, to the individual account of the member from whose compensation said deduction was made.
In addition to the contributions deducted from compensation as provided in this subsection, subject to the approval of the Board of Control, any member may deposit in the Annuity Savings Fund by a single payment or by an increased rate of contribution an amount computed to be sufficient to purchase an additional annuity which, together with his prospective retirement allowance, will provide for him a total retirement allowance not to exceed one half of his average final compensation at age 60. Such additional amounts so deposited shall become a part of his accumulated contributions, except in the case of retirement, when they shall be treated as excess contributions returnable to the member in cash or as an annuity of equivalent actuarial value and shall not be considered in computing his pension.
The contributions and interest credits of a member withdrawn by him or paid to his estate or to his designated beneficiary in event of his death shall be paid from the Annuity Savings Fund. Should a member cease to be a member other than by retirement under the provisions of this article, an amount equivalent to the difference, if any, between his accumulated contributions and the amount then paid shall be transferred to the Expense Fund. Upon the retirement of a member or the death of an eligible member where an allowance to a surviving spouse or other designated beneficiary is payable, his accumulated contributions shall be transferred from the Annuity Savings Fund to the Pension Accumulation Fund.
Notwithstanding the preceding provisions, no deductions shall be made from any member's salary on account of which the employer's contributions are in default.
The State Personnel Board, with the approval of the Governor, may provide that the state shall pick up member contributions to the Employees' Retirement System of Alabama as required by this subsection on behalf of all state employees who participate in the Employees' Retirement System by a corresponding reduction in the salary of the member, such pick-up to be mandatory for all such employees, and the contributions so picked up shall be treated as employer contributions in determining tax treatment under the Internal Revenue Code. These contributions shall be paid from the same source of funds which is used in paying earnings to the employee. If employee contributions are so picked up they shall be treated for all other purposes of state law in the same manner and to the same extent as employee contributions made prior to the date picked up.
(c) Pension Accumulation Fund. The Pension Accumulation Fund shall be the fund in which shall be accumulated all reserves other than the amounts held in the Annuity Savings Fund for the payment of all pensions, all allowances granted to surviving spouses or other designated beneficiaries and other benefits payable from contributions made by the employer and from which shall be paid all pensions, all allowances granted to surviving spouses or other designated beneficiaries and other benefits on account of members with prior service credit.
Contributions to and payments from the Pension Accumulation Fund shall be made as follows: On account of each member there shall be paid monthly by the employer an amount equal to a certain percentage of the earnable compensation of each member to be known as the "normal contribution" and an additional amount equal to a percentage of his earnable compensation to be known as the "accrued liability contribution," and these two amounts shall be paid monthly into the Pension Accumulation Fund; provided, that in the case of a state policeman, such percentage rates of contributions shall be calculated separately. The percentage rate of such contributions shall be fixed for each fiscal year on the basis of the liabilities of the retirement system as shown by the last annual actuarial valuation, and such percentage rate as established by such valuation shall take effect the following October 1 and continue in effect for the fiscal year.
On the basis of regular interest and of such mortality and other tables as shall be adopted by the Board of Control, the actuary engaged by the board to make such valuation required by this article during the period over which the accrued liability contribution is payable shall, immediately after making such valuation, determine the uniform and constant percentage of the earnable compensation of the average new entrant which, if contributed on the basis of his compensation throughout his entire period of active service, would be sufficient to provide for the payment of any pension payable on his account. The percentage rate so determined shall be known as the "normal contribution" rate. The normal rate of contributions shall be determined by the actuary after each valuation.
The accrued liability contribution rate shall be computed by the actuary on the basis of each valuation as the percentage rate of the total annual compensation of all members which is sufficient to liquidate the accrued liability over a period to be determined by the Board of Control which shall be not less than 10 nor more than 30 years.
The unfunded accrued liability shall be computed by the actuary as the total liabilities of the system which are not dischargeable by the assets of the Annuity Savings Fund and the Pension Accumulation Fund and the present value of the aforesaid normal contributions.
For purposes of computing the unfunded accrued liability the assets shall be determined as follows:
On September 30, 1997, the assets shall be determined by using the market value of such assets. For subsequent years the value of the assets shall be determined by the system's actuary using a five year smoothed market value.
The total amount payable in each year to the Pension Accumulation Fund shall be not less than the sum of the percentage rates known as the normal contribution rate and the accrued liability contribution rate of the total compensation earnable by all members during the preceding year.
All interest and dividends earned on the funds of the retirement system shall be credited to the Pension Accumulation Fund. The amounts needed to allow a regular interest on the reserves in the Annuity Savings Fund shall be transferred in accordance with this article from the Pension Accumulation Fund. The Board of Control, in its discretion, may transfer to and from the Pension Accumulation Fund the amounts of any surplus or deficit which may develop in the Annuity Savings Fund, or the Expense Fund.
Upon the death of a member on account of whom no survivor allowance is payable under subdivisions (2) and (3) of subsection (c) of Section 36-27-16, the death benefit as provided in subdivision (4) of subsection (c) of Section 36-27-16 equal to the accumulated contributions, not to exceed $5,000.00, shall be payable from the Pension Accumulation Fund.
(d) Expense Fund. The Expense Fund shall be the fund from which the expenses of the administration of the retirement system shall be paid, exclusive of amounts payable as retirement allowances and as other benefits provided in this chapter. In addition thereto and on account of each member of the retirement system, there shall be paid monthly by the employer an amount equal to a certain percentage of the earnable compensation of each member for the administrative expenses of the retirement system. The percentage rate of such contribution shall be fixed by the Board of Control on the basis of the cost exclusive of that provided by interest not returnable. Any amounts credited to the accounts of the members withdrawing before retirement and not returnable under the provisions of subsection (c) of Section 36-27-16 shall be credited to the Expense Fund.
(e) Employer's contributions. For each biennium beginning October 1, 1965, each employer shall pay to the retirement system the rates provided in this section and thereafter, at least 30 days preceding October 1 of each fiscal year, the Board of Control shall certify to the chief fiscal officer of each employer the percentage rates of earnable compensation of the members required to be paid to the retirement system in accordance with subsections (c) and (d) of this section.
The employer's contribution on account of the membership of employees whose salaries are paid in whole or in part from funds derived from federal grants shall be paid from funds derived from said federal grants in accordance with statutes governing the administration of said grants and in proportion to salaries paid therefrom. At such time and in such manner as may be required, the Board of Control shall certify to each department of state receiving a federal grant the amount due and payable from said grant as the employer's contribution to the retirement system on account of the membership of said department whose salaries are paid in whole or in part from funds derived from such federal grants. The fiscal agent of the department shall authorize the State Comptroller to draw a warrant or warrants in payment of the amount certified as due and payable from federal grants.
(f) Appropriations. There is hereby appropriated annually from the fund from which salaries of the employees of each employer are paid the amounts sufficient to carry out the provisions of this section. In the case of those departments supported wholly by transfers from other state funds, there is hereby appropriated from the supporting funds such additional amounts as may be necessary to pay the employer contribution of each department so supported in the same proportion as the other state funds contribute to the support and maintenance of such department.
(g) Employer cost provided for in this article together with member contributions required under this article shall be paid to the Employees' Retirement System on the first day of the month following the month in which the related member salary is earned. Delinquent accounts shall accrue interest at the actuarial assumed investment rate beginning 30 days after the original due date. The member contributions for each member shall be reported to the Employees' Retirement System in a format prescribed by the Employees' Retirement System."
Section 2. This act shall become effective immediately following its passage and approval by the Governor, or upon its otherwise becoming law.