COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 2511
(By Delegates Higgins, Reed and Ashley)
(Originating in the House Committee on Pensions and Retirement)
[April 2, 1993]
A BILL to amend and reenact sections twenty-nine and thirty-one,
article ten, chapter five of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to further
amend said article ten by adding thereto a new section,
designated section twenty-two-e, relating to the public
employees retirement act; reductions in employer and
employee contributions to the retirement fund; and providing
supplemental benefits for retirees under specified
conditions.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections twenty-nine and thirty-one, article ten,
chapter five of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and
that said article ten be further amended by adding thereto a new
section, designated section twenty-two-e, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 10. WEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT ACT.
§5-10-22e. Supplemental benefits for retirees effective July 1,
1993; calculation of benefits and conditions of
payment.
A supplement to retirement benefits provided shall be paid
prospectively to all eligible retirees who have been retired
three years or more, as calculated herein, effective the first
day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-three, and with
recalculation of such supplement on every three-year anniversary
date thereafter, and using the applicable percent for such
anniversary date, both as set forth in the schedule in this
section. Each survivor beneficiary shall receive that pro rata
share of the deceased retiree's supplement, as recalculated on
each anniversary date of such deceased retiree, as such
survivor's benefit constitutes a percentage of the former total
benefit of such deceased retiree.
The supplemental benefit shall be computed on the basis of
the monthly benefit received at retirement and said triennial
supplement shall be an additional five percent of the original
monthly benefit. The initial supplemental benefit and each
succeeding triennial five percent supplement shall be calculated
as a percent increase of the original monthly retirement
benefits, as provided in the schedule hereinafter set forth in
this section.
The triennial five percent supplements shall only be
calculated and paid on amounts up to, but not exceeding, the
first five hundred dollars of original monthly retirement
benefits. Each triennial increase shall not therefore exceedtwenty-five dollars monthly:
Provided,
That the supplements
shall only be paid upon a finding by the consolidated public
retirement board, in consultation with the state actuary, that,
if paid in the subsequent fiscal year, the supplement will cause
no unfunded liability to result in the retirement fund:
Provided, however,
That if the board finds that the payment of
the supplement at the percentages provided by the schedule set
forth herein will cause an unfunded liability in the retirement
fund, the consolidated retirement board may reduce the amount of
the supplement to be paid to all retirees on a pro rata basis so
as to provide a supplement at a rate which will cause no unfunded
liability to accrue to the retirement fund.
S C H E D U L E
Retirement AnniversarySupplemental Benefit to
of Retiree:Be Calculated on basis of
From Date of Retirement Original Monthly Benefit Check
3rd Anniversary of Retirement Five Percent (5%)
6th Anniversary of Retirement Ten Percent (10%)
9th Anniversary of Retirement Fifteen Percent (15%)
12th Anniversary of Retirement Twenty Percent (20%)
15th Anniversary of Retirement Twenty-five Percent (25%)
18th Anniversary of Retirement Thirty Percent (30%)
21st Anniversary of Retirement Thirty-five Percent (35%)
24th Anniversary of Retirement Forty Percent (40%)
27th Anniversary of Retirement Forty-five Percent (45%)
30th Anniversary of Retirement Fifty Percent (50%)
Any retiree who becomes reemployed and has his or herretirement suspended, and later retires with different benefits,
shall have their supplemental benefits calculated from the year
of their final retirement and on the basis of the new monthly
benefit.
Except for the initial award of supplemental benefits on
the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-three,
the subsequent recalculated triennial supplemental annuities
shall become effective the first month following the triennial
month of eligibility.
All recalculated supplements for retirees who have been
retired for more than thirty years shall use the percent set
forth in the schedule for the thirtieth anniversary of retirement
so that no retiree shall have an increase above the increase
provided upon the thirtieth anniversary of retirement.
Eligible retirees may elect to receive the supplemental
benefits provided under this section or may elect to receive the
supplemental benefits provided in any other section of this
article whichever may be the greater:
Provided:
That in no event
may any retiree receive the supplemental benefit provided in this
section and at the same time receive a supplemental retirement
benefit under any other provision of this article.
This supplemental benefit shall go into force and effect on
the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-three.
§5-10-29. Members' deposit fund; members' contributions.
(a) The members' deposit fund is hereby created continued.
It shall be the fund in which shall be accumulated, at regular
interest, the contributions deducted from the compensation of
members, and from which refunds of accumulated contributionsshall be paid and transfers made as provided in this section.
(b) The contributions of a member to the retirement system
(including any member of the Legislature, except as otherwise
provided in subsection (g) of this section) shall be a sum of not
less than three and five-tenths percent of his annual
compensations but not more than four and five-tenths percent of
his or her annual compensations, as determined by the board of
trustees:
Provided,
That commencing on the first day of July,
one thousand nine hundred ninety-three, the contributions of a
member to the retirement system, including any member of the
Legislature, except as otherwise provided in subsection (g) of
this section, shall be a sum of not more than three and
five-tenths percent of his or her annual compensations as
determined by the consolidated retirement board. The said
contributions shall be made notwithstanding that the minimum
salary or wages provided by law for any member shall be thereby
changed. Each member shall be deemed to consent and agree to the
deductions made and provided for herein. Payment of a member's
compensation less said deductions shall be a full and complete
discharge and acquittance of all claims and demands whatsoever
for services rendered by him or her to a participating public
employer, except as to benefits provided by this article.
(c) The officer or officers responsible for making up the
payrolls for payroll units of the state government and for each
of the other participating public employers shall cause the
contributions, provided for in subsection (b) above, to be
deducted from the compensations of each member in the employ of
the participating public employer, on each and every payroll, foreach and every payroll period, from the date the member enters
the retirement system to the date his or her membership
terminates. When deducted, each of said amounts shall be paid by
the participating public employer to the retirement system; said
payments to be made in such manner and form, and in such
frequency, and shall be accompanied by such supporting data, as
the board of trustees consolidated retirement board shall from
time to time prescribe. When paid to the retirement system, each
of said amounts shall be credited to the members' deposit fund
account of the member from whose compensations said contributions
were deducted.
(d) In addition to the contributions deducted from the
compensations of a member, as heretofore provided, a member shall
deposit in the members' deposit fund, by a single contribution or
by an increased rate of contribution as approved by the board of
trustees, the amounts he may have withdrawn therefrom and not
repaid thereto, together with regular interest from the date of
withdrawal to the date of repayment. In no case shall a member
be given credit for service rendered prior to the date he
withdrew his contributions or accumulated contributions, as the
case may be, until he returns to the members' deposit fund all
amounts due the said fund by him.
(e) Upon the retirement of a member, or if a survivor
annuity becomes payable on account of his death, in either event
his accumulated contributions standing to his credit in the
members' deposit fund shall be transferred to the retirement
reserve fund.
(f) In the event an employee's membership in the retirementsystem terminates and no annuity becomes or will become payable
on his account, any accumulated contributions standing to his
credit in the members' deposit fund, unclaimed by the said
employee, or his legal representative, within three years from
and after the date his membership terminated, shall be
transferred to the income fund.
(g) Any member of the Legislature who is a member of the
retirement system and with respect to whom the term "final
average salary" includes a multiple of eight, pursuant to the
provisions of subdivision (15), section two of this article,
shall contribute to the retirement system on the basis of his
legislative compensation the sum of five hundred forty dollars
each year he participates in the retirement system as a member of
the Legislature.
§5-10-31. Employers accumulation fund; employers contributions.
(a) The employers accumulation fund is hereby created
continued. It shall be the fund in which shall be accumulated
the contributions made by the participating public employers to
the retirement system, and from which transfers shall be made as
provided in this section.
(b) Based upon the provisions of section thirteen of this
article, the participating public employers contributions to the
retirement system for members' service, as determined by the
consolidated public retirement board, shall be determined,
according to subdivisions one, two, three and four below, for the
state as the state division, and for the other participating
public employers as the public employer division.
(1) The participating public employers contributions formembers' current service shall be a percent of the members'
annual compensation which will equal an amount which if paid
annually by the participating public employers during the
members' future service will be sufficient to provide, for the
normal cost at the time annuities will become payable on their
account, of the annuity payable to such member and to amortize
any unfunded liability over a forty year period. difference
between the annuity reserves for the future service portions of
the annuities to be paid and the present value of the members'
future net contributions:
Provided,
That the participating
public employers contribution rate shall not exceed eight and one
half percent of each members' annual compensation. The
consolidated public retirement board shall review the percentage
of employer contributions at least once every three years and
recommend to the Legislature any adjustments which may be
required to maintain the actuarial soundness of the retirement
fund.
(2) The participating public employers contributions for
members' accrued service shall be a percent of the members'
annual compensation which will equal an amount which if paid
annually by the participating public employers over a period of
years, to be determined by the board of trustees, will amortize,
at regular interest, the unfunded annuity reserves for the
accrued portions of the annuities to be paid on account of
members.
(3) The participating public employers contributions for
annuities being paid retirants and beneficiaries shall be a
percent of the members' annual compensations which will equal anamount which if paid annually by the participating public
employers over a period of years, to be determined by the board
of trustees, will amortize, at regular interest, the unfunded
annuity reserves for annuities being paid retirants and
beneficiaries.
(4) In no year shall the total of the contributions,
provided for in subdivisions one, two and three above, to be paid
by any participating public employer exceed ten and five-tenths
percent of the total payroll for the members in the employ of
such participating public employer for the preceding fiscal year.