ENGROSSED
Senate Bill No. 348
(By Senators Plymale, Oliverio, Snyder, Prezioso, Dugan, Scott,
Jackson, Deem, Boley and Walker)
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[Introduced March 17, 1997; referred to the Committee on
Pensions; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact sections two, seventeen and eighteen,
article ten, chapter five of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, all relating to
removing mental health centers from the public employees
retirement system except for the purpose of continuing
participation by current members; giving current members
optional withdrawal without losing service credit; requiring
mental health centers now participating in the public
employees retirement system to provide private pension plans
for current employees at their option and for future employees
within a time certain; and requiring mental health centers to
provide to current members notice of their option to withdraw
including comparative actuarial projections of individual accounts.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections two, seventeen and eighteen, article ten,
chapter five of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to
read as follows:
ARTICLE 10. WEST VIRGINIA EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT ACT.
§5-10-2. Definitions.
The following words and phrases as used in this article,
unless a different meaning is clearly indicated by the context,
shall have the following meanings:
(1) "State" means the state of West Virginia;
(2) "Retirement system" or "system" means the West Virginia
public employees retirement system created and established by this
article;
(3) "Board of trustees" or "board" means the board of trustees
of the West Virginia public employees retirement system;
(4) "Political subdivision" means the state of West Virginia,
a county, city or town in the state; a school corporation or
corporate unit; any separate corporation or instrumentality
established by one or more counties, cities or towns, as permitted
by law; any corporation or instrumentality supported in most part
by counties, cities or towns; any public corporation charged by law
with the performance of a governmental function and whose jurisdiction is coextensive with one or more counties, cities or
towns,
any agency or organization established by, or approved by
the department of mental health for the provision of community
health or mental retardation services, and which is supported in
part by state, county or municipal funds; Provided, That: any
mental health agency participating in the public employees
retirement system on or before the first day of July, one thousand
nine hundred ninety-seven, shall be deemed a political subdivision
solely for the purpose of permitting those employees who are
members of the public employees retirement system to remain members
and continue to participate in the retirement system at their
option after the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-seven.
(5) "Participating public employer" means the state of West
Virginia, any board, commission, department, institution or
spending unit, and shall include any agency created by rule of the
supreme court of appeals having full-time employees, which for the
purposes of this article shall be deemed a department of state
government; and any political subdivision in the state which has
elected to cover its employees, as defined in this article, under
the West Virginia public employees retirement system;
(6) "Employee" means any person who serves regularly as an
officer or employee, full time, on a salary basis, whose tenure is
not restricted as to temporary or provisional appointment, in the service of, and whose compensation is payable, in whole or in part,
by any political subdivision, or an officer or employee whose
compensation is calculated on a daily basis and paid monthly or on
completion of assignment, including technicians and other personnel
employed by the West Virginia national guard whose compensation, in
whole or in part, is paid by the federal government:
Provided,
That members of the state Legislature, the clerk of the House of
Delegates, the clerk of the state Senate, employees of the state
Legislature whose term of employment is otherwise classified as
temporary and who are employed to perform services required by the
Legislature for its regular sessions or during the interim between
regular sessions and who have been or are so employed during
regular sessions or during the interim between regular sessions for
eight or more years, members of the legislative body of any
political subdivision and judges of the state court of claims shall
be considered to be employees, anything contained herein to the
contrary notwithstanding. In any case of doubt as to who is an
employee within the meaning of this article the board of trustees
shall decide the question;
(7) "Member" means any person who is included in the
membership of the retirement system;
(8) "Retirant" means any member who retires with an annuity
payable by the retirement system;
(9) "Beneficiary" means any person, except a retirant, who is entitled to, or will be entitled to, an annuity or other benefit
payable by the retirement system;
(10) "Service" means personal service rendered to a
participating public employer by an employee, as defined in this
article, of a participating public employer;
(11) "Prior service" means service rendered prior to the first
day of July, one thousand nine hundred sixty-one, to the extent
credited a member as provided in this article;
(12) "Contributing service" means service rendered by a member
within this state and for which such member made contributions to
a public retirement system account of this state, to the extent
credited him as provided by this article, such revised definition
being retroactive and applicable to the first day of April, one
thousand nine hundred eighty-eight, and thereafter;
(13) "Credited service" means the sum of a member's prior
service credit and contributing service credit standing to his
credit as provided in this article;
(14) "Compensation" means the remuneration paid a member by a
participating public employer for personal services rendered by him
to the participating public employer. In the event a member's
remuneration is not all paid in money, his participating public
employer shall fix the value of the portion of his remuneration
which is not paid in money;
(15) "Final average salary" means either: (a) The average of
the highest annual compensation received by a member (including a member of the Legislature who participates in the retirement system
in the year one thousand nine hundred seventy-one or thereafter)
during any period of three consecutive years of his credited
service contained within his ten years of credited service
immediately preceding the date his employment with a participating
public employer last terminated; or (b) if he has less than five
years of credited service, the average of the annual rate of
compensation received by him during his total years of credited
service; and in determining the annual compensation, under either
(a) or (b) of this subdivision, of a member of the Legislature who
participates in the retirement system as a member of the
Legislature in the year one thousand nine hundred seventy-one or in
any year thereafter, his actual legislative compensation (the total
of all compensation paid under sections two, three, four and five,
article two-a, chapter four of this code) in the year one thousand
nine hundred seventy-one or in any year thereafter, plus any other
compensation he receives in any such year from any other
participating public employer including the state of West Virginia,
without any multiple in excess of one times his actual legislative
compensation as aforesaid and other compensation, shall be used:
Provided, That "final average salary" for any former member of the
Legislature or for any member of the Legislature in the year one
thousand nine hundred seventy-one who, in either event, was a
member of the Legislature on the thirtieth day of November, one thousand nine hundred sixty-eight, or the thirtieth day of November
, one thousand nine hundred sixty-nine, or the thirtieth day of
November, one thousand nine hundred seventy, or on the thirtieth
day of November in any one or more of said three years, and who
participated in the retirement system as a member of the
Legislature in any one or more of such years of one thousand nine
hundred sixty-eight, one thousand nine hundred sixty-nine or one
thousand nine hundred seventy, means: (i) Either (notwithstanding
the provisions of this subdivision (15) preceding this proviso) one
thousand five hundred dollars multiplied by eight, plus the highest
other compensation such former member or member received in any one
of said three years from any other participating public employer
including the state of West Virginia; or (ii) "final average
salary" determined in accordance with (a) or (b) of this
subdivision, whichever computation shall produce the higher final
average salary (and in determining the annual compensation under
(ii) of this proviso, the legislative compensation of any such
former member shall be computed on the basis of one thousand five
hundred dollars multiplied by eight, and the legislative
compensation of any such member shall be computed on the basis set
forth in the provisions of this subdivision immediately preceding
this proviso or on the basis of one thousand five hundred dollars
multiplied by eight, whichever computation as to such member shall
produce the higher annual compensation);
(16) "Accumulated contributions" means the sum of all amounts deducted from the compensations of a member and credited to his
individual account in the members' deposit fund, together with
regular interest thereon;
(17) "Regular interest" means such rate or rates of interest
per annum, compounded annually, as the board of trustees shall from
time to time adopt;
(18) "Annuity" means an annual amount payable by the
retirement system throughout the life of a person. All annuities
shall be paid in equal monthly installments, using the upper cent
for any fraction of a cent;
(19) "Annuity reserve" means the present value of all payments
to be made to a retirant or beneficiary of a retirant on account of
any annuity, computed upon the basis of such mortality and other
tables of experience, and regular interest, as the board of
trustees shall from time to time adopt;
(20) "Retirement" means a member's withdrawal from the employ
of a participating public employer with an annuity payable by the
retirement system;
(21) "Actuarial equivalent" means a benefit of equal value
computed upon the basis of such mortality table and regular
interest as the board of trustees shall from time to time adopt;
and
(22) The masculine gender shall include the feminine gender,
and words of the singular number with respect to persons shall
include the plural number, and vice versa.
§5-10-17. Retirement system membership.
The membership of the retirement system shall consist of the
following persons:
(a) All employees, as defined in section two of this article,
who are in the employ of a political subdivision the day preceding
the date it becomes a participating public employer and who
continue in the employ of the said participating public employer on
and after the said date shall become members of the retirement
system; and all persons who become employees of a participating
public employer on or after the said date shall thereupon become
members of the system; except as provided in subdivisions (b) and
(c) of this section.
(b) The membership of the retirement system shall not include
any person who is a member of, or who has been retired by, the
state teachers retirement system, the judges retirement system, the
retirement system of the division of public safety, or any
municipal retirement system for either, or both, policemen or
firemen; and the bureau of employment programs, by the commissioner
of such bureau, may elect whether its employees will accept
coverage under this article or be covered under the authorization
of a separate enactment:
Provided, That such exclusions of
membership shall not apply to any member of the state Legislature,
the clerk of the House of Delegates, the clerk of the state Senate
or to any member of the legislative body of any political subdivision provided he
or she once becomes a contributing member
of the retirement system:
Provided, however, That any retired
member of the retirement system of the division of public safety,
and any retired member of any municipal retirement system for
either, or both, policemen or firemen may on and after the
effective date of this section become a member of the retirement
system as provided in this article, without receiving credit for
prior service as a municipal policeman or fireman or as a member of
the division of public safety
: Provided further, That the
membership of the retirement system shall not include any person
who becomes employed by the Prestera center for mental health
services, valley comprehensive mental health center, Westbrook
health services and eastern panhandle mental health center on or
after the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety- seven.
(c) Any member of the state Legislature, the clerk of the
House of Delegates, the clerk of the state Senate and any employee
of the state Legislature whose employment is otherwise classified
as temporary and who is employed to perform services required by
the Legislature for its regular sessions or during the interim
between regular sessions and who has been or is so employed during
regular sessions or during the interim between sessions for ten or
more years, or any member of the legislative body of any other
political subdivision shall become a member of the retirement system provided he
or she notifies the retirement system in writing
of his
or her intention to be a member of the system and files a
membership enrollment form as the board of trustees shall
prescribe, and each person, upon filing his
or her written notice
to participate in the retirement system, shall by said act
authorize the clerk of the House of Delegates or the clerk of the
state Senate or such person or legislative agency as the
legislative body of any other political subdivision shall designate
to deduct such member's contribution, as provided in subsection
(b), section twenty-nine of this article, and after said deductions
have been made from said member's compensation, such deductions
shall be forwarded to the retirement system.
(d) Should any question arise regarding the membership status
of any employee, the board of trustees has the final power to
decide the question.
§5-10-18. Termination of membership; reentry.
(a) When a member of the retirement system retires or dies,
he
or she ceases to be a member. When a member leaves the employ
of a participating public employer for any other reason, he or she
ceases to be a member and forfeits service credited to him or her
at that time. If he
or she becomes reemployed by a participating
public employer he
or she shall be reinstated as a member of the
retirement system and his
or her credited service last forfeited by
him or her shall be restored to his
or her credit:
Provided, That he
or she must be reemployed for a period of one year or longer to
have such service restored:
Provided, however, That he
or she
returns to the members' deposit fund the amount, if any, he
or she
withdrew therefrom, together with regular interest thereon from the
date of withdrawal to the date of repayment, and that such
repayment begins within two years of the return to employment and
that the full amount be repaid within five years of the return to
employment.
(b) Effective on the first day of July, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-seven, and continuing through the first day of July,
one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight, any employee of the
Prestera center for mental health services, valley comprehensive
mental health center, Westbrook health services and eastern
panhandle mental health center who is a member of the retirement
system may elect to withdraw from membership without forfeiting
service credited to him or her.
(c) The Prestera center for mental health services, valley
comprehensive mental health center, Westbrook health services and
eastern panhandle mental health center, and their successors in
interest, shall provide for their employees a pension plan in lieu
of the public employees retirement system on or before the first
day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-seven, and continuing
thereafter during the existence of the named mental health centers
and their successors in interest.
(d) The administrative bodies of the Prestera center for
mental health services, valley comprehensive mental health center,
Westbrook health services and eastern panhandle mental health
center shall, on or before the first day of May, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-seven, give written notice to each employee who is
a member of the public employees retirement system of the option to
withdraw from or remain in the system. The notice shall include a
copy of this section and a statement explaining the member's
options regarding membership. The notice shall include a statement
in plain language giving a full explanation and actuarial
projection figures in support thereof regarding the individual
member's current account balance, vested and nonvested, and his or
her projected return upon remaining in the public employees
retirement system until retirement, disability or death, in
comparison with the projected return upon withdrawing from the
public employees retirement system and joining a private pension
plan provided by the community mental health center and remaining
therein until retirement, disability or death. The administrative
bodies shall keep in their respective records a permanent record of
each employee's signature confirming receipt of the notice.
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