Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes > Chapter 128 > Article 3 - Retirement System for Counties, Cities and Towns

• Accumulated contribution: shall mean the sum of all amounts deducted from the compensation of a member and credited to his individual account in the annuity savings fund, together with regular interest thereon, as provided in N. See North Carolina General Statutes 128-21
• Actuarial equivalent: shall mean a benefit of equal value when computed upon the basis of actuarial assumptions as shall be adopted by the Board of Trustees. See North Carolina General Statutes 128-21
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Amortization: Paying off a loan by regular installments.
• Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
• Annuity: shall mean payments for life derived from the accumulated contribution of a member. See North Carolina General Statutes 128-21
• Annuity reserve: shall mean the present value of all payments to be made on account of any annuity or benefit in lieu of any annuity computed at regular interest upon the basis of such mortality tables as shall be adopted by the Board of Trustees. See North Carolina General Statutes 128-21
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Average final compensation: shall mean the average annual compensation, not including any terminal payments for unused sick leave, of a member during the four consecutive calendar years of creditable service producing the highest such average; but shall not include any compensation, as determined by the Board of Trustees, for the reimbursement of expenses or payments for housing or any other allowances whether or not classified as salary and wages. See North Carolina General Statutes 128-21
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Beneficiary: shall mean any person in receipt of a pension, an annuity, a retirement allowance or other benefit as provided by this Article. See North Carolina General Statutes 128-21
• Board of Trustees: shall mean the Board provided for in N. See North Carolina General Statutes 128-21
• Compensation: shall mean all salaries and wages prior to any reduction pursuant to sections 125, 401(k), 403(b), 414(h)(2), and 457 of the Internal Revenue Code, not including any terminal payments for unused sick leave, derived from public funds which are earned by a member of the Retirement System for service as an employee in the unit of the Retirement System for which he is performing full-time work. See North Carolina General Statutes 128-21
• Compliance investigation: means an independent review or examination by Retirement Systems Division staff or authorized representatives who are assisting the Retirement Systems Division staff of records, activities, actions, or decisions by employers or other affiliated or associated entities having an impact on a Retirement System or benefits administered by the Board of Trustees. See North Carolina General Statutes 128-21
• Consumer Price Index: shall mean the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), U. See North Carolina General Statutes 128-21
• Contingent beneficiary: Receiver of property or benefits if the first named beneficiary fails to receive any or all of the property or benefits in question before his (her) death.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Creditable service: shall mean the total of "prior service" plus "membership service" plus service, both noncontributory and purchased, for which credit is allowable as provided in N. See North Carolina General Statutes 128-21
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Duly acknowledged: means notarized, including electronic notarization, or verified through an identity authentication service approved by the Department of State Treasurer. See North Carolina General Statutes 128-21
• Earnable compensation: shall mean the full rate of the compensation that would be payable to an employee if he worked the full normal working time, including any allowance of maintenance or in lieu thereof received by the member. See North Carolina General Statutes 128-21
• Embezzlement: In most states, embezzlement is defined as theft/larceny of assets (money or property) by a person in a position of trust or responsibility over those assets. Embezzlement typically occurs in the employment and corporate settings. ^{Source: OCC}
• Employee: shall mean any person who is regularly employed in the service of and whose salary or compensation is paid by the employer as defined in subdivision (11) of this section, whether employed or appointed for stated terms or otherwise, except teachers in the public schools and except such employees who hold office by popular election as are not required to devote a major portion of their time to the duties of their office. See North Carolina General Statutes 128-21
• Employer: shall mean any county, incorporated city or town, the board of alcoholic control of any county or incorporated city or town, the North Carolina League of Municipalities, and the State Association of County Commissioners. See North Carolina General Statutes 128-21
• Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Filing: when used in reference to an application for retirement shall mean the receipt of an acceptable application on a form provided by the Retirement System. See North Carolina General Statutes 128-21
• Firefighter: means a person (i) who is a full-time paid employee of an employer that participates in the Local Governmental Employees' Retirement System and maintains a fire department certified by the North Carolina Department of Insurance and (ii) who is actively serving in a position with assigned primary duties and responsibilities for the prevention, detection, and suppression of fire. See North Carolina General Statutes 128-21
• 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.
• following: when used by way of reference to any section of a statute, shall be construed to mean the section next preceding or next following that in which such reference is made; unless when some other section is expressly designated in such reference. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Fraud investigation: means an independent review or examination by Retirement Systems Division staff or authorized representatives who are assisting the Retirement Systems Division staff of records, activities, actions, or decisions by employers or other affiliated or associated entities having an impact on the Retirement System. See North Carolina General Statutes 128-21
• Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
• in writing: may be construed to include printing, engraving, lithographing, and any other mode of representing words and letters: Provided, that in all cases where a written signature is required by law, the same shall be in a proper handwriting, or in a proper mark. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• Juror: A person who is on the jury.
• Law Enforcement Officer: means a full-time paid employee of an employer, who possesses the power of arrest, who has taken the law enforcement oath administered under the authority of the State as prescribed by N. See North Carolina General Statutes 128-21
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Medical board: shall mean the board of physicians provided for in N. See North Carolina General Statutes 128-21
• Member: shall mean any person included in the membership of the Retirement System as provided in N. See North Carolina General Statutes 128-21
• Membership service: shall mean service as an employee rendered while a member of the Retirement System or membership service in a North Carolina Retirement System that has been transferred into this system. See North Carolina General Statutes 128-21
• month: shall be construed to mean a calendar month, unless otherwise expressed; and the word "year" a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed; and the word "year" alone shall be equivalent to the expression "year of our Lord. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• oath: shall be construed to include "affirmation" in all cases where by law an affirmation may be substituted for an oath, and in like cases the word "sworn" shall be construed to include the word "affirmed. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Pension: shall mean payments for life derived from money provided by the employer. See North Carolina General Statutes 128-21
• Pension reserve: shall mean the present value of all payments to be made on account of any pension or benefit in lieu of any pension computed at regular interest upon the basis of such mortality tables as shall be adopted by the Board of Trustees. See North Carolina General Statutes 128-21
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• personal property: shall include moneys, goods, chattels, choses in action and evidences of debt, including all things capable of ownership, not descendable to heirs at law. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• Prior service: shall mean the service of a member rendered before the date he becomes a member of the System, certified on his prior service certificate and allowable as provided by N. See North Carolina General Statutes 128-21
• property: shall include all property, both real and personal. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Regular interest: shall mean interest compounded annually at such rate as shall be determined by the Board of Trustees in accordance with N. See North Carolina General Statutes 128-21
• Regularly employed: shall mean employment in a position for which the duties require not less than 1,000 hours of work in a calendar year, provided that the term shall not include any individuals whose employment is considered "temporary employment" as defined in subdivision (22b) of this section or "statutorily-required interim employment" as defined in subdivision (22a) of this section. See North Carolina General Statutes 128-21
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Rescue squad worker: means a person (i) who is a full-time paid employee of an employer that participates in the Local Governmental Employees' Retirement System and maintains a rescue squad or emergency medical services team certified by the North Carolina Department of Insurance or the Department of Health and Human Services and (ii) who is actively serving in a position with assigned primary duties and responsibilities for the alleviation of human suffering and assistance to persons who are in difficulty, who are injured, or who become suddenly ill, by providing proper and efficient care or emergency medical services. See North Carolina General Statutes 128-21
• Retirement allowance: shall mean the sum of the annuity and the pension, or any optional benefit payable in lieu thereof. See North Carolina General Statutes 128-21
• Retirement System: shall mean the North Carolina Local Governmental Employees' Retirement System as defined in this Article. See North Carolina General Statutes 128-21
• seal: shall be construed to include an impression of such official seal, made upon the paper alone, as well as an impression made by means of a wafer or of wax affixed thereto. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• Service: shall mean service as an employee as described in subdivision (10) of this section and paid for by the employer as described in subdivision (11) of this section. See North Carolina General Statutes 128-21
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories, so called; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Temporary employment: shall mean employment for a limited term, in no case to exceed 12 consecutive months on a nonrecurring basis, for an employer as defined in subdivision (11) of this section. See North Carolina General Statutes 128-21
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• United States: shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
• Year: shall mean the regular fiscal year beginning July 1, and ending June 30; in the following calendar year unless otherwise defined by regulation of the Board of Trustees. See North Carolina General Statutes 128-21