COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 564
(By Senators Tomblin, Lucht and Wehrle)
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[Originating in the Committee on Pensions;
reported March 30, 1993.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact sections fourteen and eighteen,
article seven-a, chapter eighteen of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
all relating to increasing employer contribution to teachers
retirement system.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections fourteen and eighteen, article seven-a,
chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to
read as follows:
ARTICLE 7A. STATE TEACHERS RETIREMENT SYSTEM.
§18-7A-14. Contributions by members.
At the end of each month every member of the retirement
system shall contribute six percent of that member's monthly
earnable compensation to the retirement board:
Provided, That
any member employed by the West Virginia board of directors ofthe state college system or the board of trustees of the
university system at an institution of higher education under its
control shall contribute on the member's full earnable
compensation, unless otherwise provided in section fourteen-a of
this article.
Annually, the contributions of each member shall be credited
to the member's account in the teachers accumulation fund. The
contributions shall be deducted from the salaries of the members
as herein prescribed and every member shall be deemed to have
given consent to such deductions. No deductions, however, shall
be made from the earnable compensation of any member who retired
because of age or service, and then resumed service unless as
provided in section thirteen-a of this article.
The aggregate of employer contributions, due and payable
under this article, shall equal annually fifteen percent of the
earnable compensation of members required by this section.
Payment by an employer to a member of the sum specified in
the employment contract minus the amount of the employee's
deductions shall be deemed to be a full discharge of the
employer's contractual obligation as to earnable compensation.
Each contributor shall file with the retirement board or
with the employer to be forwarded to the retirement board an
enrollment form showing his date of birth and other data needed
by the retirement board.
§18-7A-18. Funds created; fund transfers.
The funds created are the teachers accumulation fund, the
employers accumulation fund, the benefit fund, the reserve fundand the expense fund. Each fund shall constitute a separate
trust.
(a) The teachers accumulation fund shall be the fund in
which the contributions of members shall be accumulated. The
accumulated contributions of a member returned to him upon his
withdrawal, or paid to his estate or designated beneficiary in
the event of death, shall be paid from the teachers accumulation
fund. Any accumulated contributions forfeited by failure to
claim such contributions shall be transferred from the teachers
accumulation fund to the reserve fund.
(b) Beginning on the first day of July, one thousand nine
hundred eighty-four, contributions of employers shall be
deposited in the employers accumulation fund through state
appropriations and such amounts shall be included in the budget
bill submitted annually by the governor.
Beginning on the first day of July, one thousand nine
hundred eighty-nine, each county shall deposit in the employers
accumulation fund an amount equal to one and one-half percent of
all salary paid in excess of that authorized for minimum salaries
in sections two and eight-a, article four, chapter eighteen-a of
this code and any salary equity authorized in section five of
said article or any county supplement equal to the amount
distributed for salary equity among the counties; beginning on
the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety, the rate
shall increase to three percent; beginning on the first day of
July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-one, the rate shall
increase to four and one-half percent; beginning on the first dayof July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-two, and thereafter,
the rate shall be six percent; and beginning on the first day of
July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-three, and thereafter, the
rate shall be fifteen percent.
(c) The benefit fund shall be the fund from which annuities
shall be paid. Upon the retirement of a member, his accumulated
contributions shall be transferred from the teachers accumulation
fund to the benefit fund; the accumulated employers' contribution
shall be transferred from the employers accumulation fund to the
benefit fund; and annually a sum for prior service pension and
disability credits, if needed, shall be transferred from the
reserve fund to the benefit fund. Any deficit occurring in the
benefit fund which is not automatically met by payments to that
fund, as provided for by this article, shall be met by additional
transfers from the employers accumulation fund and, if necessary,
by transfers from the teachers accumulation fund.
(d) The retirement board is hereby authorized to accept
gifts and bequests. All gifts, bequests and interest earnings
from investments received by the board shall be deposited in the
reserve fund. Any funds that may come into possession of the
retirement system in this manner or which may be transferred from
the teachers accumulation fund by reason of the lack of a
claimant or because of a surplus in any of the funds, or any
other moneys the disposition of which is not otherwise provided
for, shall be credited to the reserve fund. The retirement board
shall allow interest on the contributions in the teachers
accumulation fund. Such interest shall be paid from the reservefund and credited to the teachers accumulation fund. Any deficit
occurring in any fund which would not be automatically covered by
the payments to that fund as otherwise provided by this article
shall be met by transfers from the reserve fund to such fund. In
the reserve fund shall be accumulated moneys from retirement
board appropriations to pay the accrued liabilities of the
system, caused by the granting of prior service, ad hoc increases
granted prior to the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
eighty, and disability pensions. Costs associated with board
investments, such as premiums, accrued interest and commissions,
shall be paid from the reserve fund.
(e) The expense fund shall be the fund from which shall be
paid the expense incurred in the administration of the retirement
system. The retirement board is herewith authorized to pay, from
the expense fund, membership fees in such voluntary organizations
as the national council on teacher retirement, anything in this
code to the contrary notwithstanding. Interest on loans to
members shall be deposited in the expense fund.
The retirement board is herewith given sole authority to
direct and approve the making of any and all fund transfers as
provided herein, anything in this code to the contrary
notwithstanding.