A. Each member shall contribute to the fund an amount equal to the amount prescribed in subsection G of this section. Contributions of members shall be made by payroll deductions. Every member is deemed to consent to these deductions. Payment of a member’s compensation, less these payroll deductions, constitutes a full and complete discharge and satisfaction of all claims and demands by the member relating to remuneration for the member’s services rendered during the period covered by the payment, except with respect to the benefits provided under the plan. A member may not, under any circumstance, borrow from, take a loan against or remove contributions from the member’s account before the termination of membership in the plan or the receipt of a pension.

Terms Used In Arizona Laws 38-810

  • Action: includes any matter or proceeding in a court, civil or criminal. See Arizona Laws 1-215
  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • Board: means the board of trustees of the system. See Arizona Laws 38-801
  • Determination: means a written document that indicates to a participant and alternate payee whether a domestic relations order qualifies as a plan approved domestic relations order. See Arizona Laws 38-801
  • Elected official: means :

    (a) Every elected official of this state who was a member of the plan on December 31, 2013. See Arizona Laws 38-801

  • Employer: means a department, agency or political subdivision of this state that makes employer contributions to the plan pursuant to section 38-810 on behalf of an elected official who participates in the plan. See Arizona Laws 38-801
  • fiscal year: means the period beginning on July 1 of any year and ending on June 30 of the next succeeding year. See Arizona Laws 38-801
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • Fund: means the elected officials' retirement plan fund. See Arizona Laws 38-801
  • including: means not limited to and is not a term of exclusion. See Arizona Laws 1-215
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Month: means a calendar month unless otherwise expressed. See Arizona Laws 1-215
  • Pension: means a series of monthly payments to a person who is entitled to receive benefits under the plan. See Arizona Laws 38-801
  • Person: includes a corporation, company, partnership, firm, association or society, as well as a natural person. See Arizona Laws 1-215
  • Plan: means the elected officials' retirement plan. See Arizona Laws 38-801
  • System: means the public safety personnel retirement system. See Arizona Laws 38-801
  • United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Arizona Laws 1-215

B. The board‘s office shall be credited monthly with monies collected pursuant to Section 12-119.01, subsection B, paragraph 2, Section 12-120.31, subsection D, paragraph 2, Section 12-284.03, subsection A, paragraph 6, section 22-281, subsection C, paragraph 3 and section 41-178. The monies credited to the fund pursuant to this subsection shall be deposited in the fund on a monthly basis, and there shall be a complete accounting of the determination of these monies deposited in the fund.

C. Beginning on July 1, 2018, as determined by actuarial valuations performed by the plan’s actuary each employer shall make contributions on a level percent of compensation basis for all employees of the employer who are either members under this article, article 3.1 of this chapter or article 2 of this chapter pursuant to section 38-727, subsection B sufficient under the actuarial valuation to meet both the normal cost plus the actuarially determined amount required to amortize the unfunded accrued liability over a closed period of at least twenty and not more than thirty years that is established by the board taking into account the recommendation of the plan’s actuary and the employer’s contribution under the elected officials’ defined contribution retirement system established pursuant to article 3.1 of this chapter and the employer’s contribution under article 2 of this chapter for members who are eligible pursuant to section 38-727, subsection B. The employer also shall pay the amount required by Section 38-797.05 for members under article 2 of this chapter who are eligible pursuant to section 38-727, subsection B and the amount required by article 3.2 of this chapter for members under article 3.1 of this chapter. The monies deposited in the fund pursuant to subsection B of this section shall be used to supplement the contributions required of all employers under the plan. The employer level percent compensation contribution that is paid pursuant to this subsection, less the amount contributed by the employer pursuant to section 38-833 and section 38-737 for members eligible pursuant to section 38-727, subsection B, shall not be used to pay for an increase in benefits that is otherwise payable to members but shall be used to meet the normal cost plus an amount to amortize the unfunded accrued liability.

D. In any fiscal year, an employer’s contribution to the plan in combination with member contributions may not be less than the actuarially determined normal cost for that fiscal year. After the close of any fiscal year, if the plan’s actuary determines that the actuarial valuation of the fund contains excess valuation assets and is more than one hundred percent funded, the board shall account for fifty percent of the excess valuation assets in a stabilization reserve account. After the close of any fiscal year, if the plan’s actuary determines that the actuarial valuation of the fund has a valuation asset deficiency and an unfunded actuarial accrued liability, the board shall use any valuation assets in the stabilization reserve account, to the extent available, to limit the decline in the fund’s funding ratio to not more than two percent.

E. The department of administration and the treasurer of each county and participating city and town shall transfer to the board the contributions provided for in subsections A and C of this section within ten working days after each payroll date. The state, county treasurers and clerks of the superior court shall transfer the monies credited under subsection B of this section to the board on or before the fifteenth day of each calendar month that follows the month in which the court fees were collected. Contributions and monies credited under subsection B of this section and transferred after these dates shall include a penalty equal to ten percent a year, compounded annually, for each day that the contributions or monies credited under subsection B of this section are late. Delinquent payments due under this subsection, together with interest charges as provided in this subsection and court costs, may be recovered by action in a court of competent jurisdiction against the person or persons responsible for the payments or, at the request of the board, may be deducted from any other monies, including excise revenue taxes, payable to a political subdivision by any department or agency of this state. If requested by the board, the state, county treasurers or clerks of the superior court shall transfer the monies credited under subsection B of this section, in an amount determined by the board, directly to the qualified governmental excess benefit arrangement established pursuant to Section 38-803.01.

F. The employer shall pay the member contributions required of members on account of compensation earned after August 7, 1985. The paid contributions shall be treated as employer contributions for the purpose of determining tax treatment under the United States internal revenue code. The effective date of the employer payment shall not be before the date the retirement plan has received notification from the United States internal revenue service that pursuant to section 414(h) of the United States internal revenue code the member contributions paid will not be included in gross income for income tax purposes until the paid contributions are distributed by refund or pension payments. The employer shall pay the member contributions from monies established and available in the retirement deduction account, which monies would otherwise have been designated as member contributions and paid to the retirement plan. Member contributions paid pursuant to this subsection shall be treated for all other purposes, in the same manner and to the same extent, as member contributions made before August 7, 1985.

G. An elected official who became a member of the plan before July 20, 2011 shall contribute seven percent of the member’s gross salary pursuant to subsection A of this section. The amount contributed pursuant to subsection A of this section by an elected official who became a member of the plan on or after July 20, 2011 is: 

1. For fiscal year 2011-2012, ten percent of the member’s gross salary.

2. For fiscal year 2012-2013, eleven and one-half percent of the member’s gross salary.

3. For fiscal year 2013-2014 and each fiscal year thereafter, thirteen percent of the member’s gross salary.

H. For fiscal year 2011-2012 and each fiscal year thereafter, the amount of the member’s contribution that exceeds seven percent of the member’s compensation shall not be used to reduce the employer’s contributions that are calculated pursuant to subsection C of this section.

I. In fiscal years 2013-2014 through 2042-2043, the sum of $5,000,000 is appropriated in each fiscal year from the state general fund to the elected officials’ retirement plan fund to supplement the normal cost plus an amount to amortize the unfunded accrued liability pursuant to subsection C of this section. Monies appropriated pursuant to this subsection shall not be used to pay for an increase in benefits that is otherwise payable to members and shall only be used as specified in this subsection. Monies appropriated pursuant to this subsection are exempt from the provisions of section 35-190 relating to lapsing of appropriations.