§ 3.85.055. Contributions for Plans I and II.

A.

During the member's participation in the plan, a member employed on or before June 30, 1977, shall contribute bi-weekly to the plan an amount not to exceed six percent of the member's bi-weekly compensation. During the member's participation in the plan, a member initially employed on or after July 1, 1977, shall contribute bi-weekly to the plan an amount not to exceed six percent of the member's bi-weekly compensation. Notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraph "E" below, the municipality shall make contributions on an actuarially determined basis generally on a municipality/member contribution ratio of 2.5 to 1. Such contributions shall not be subject to federal taxation until they are recovered from the plan in the form of benefits or refunds as permitted by Section 414(h) of the Internal Revenue Code. Member contributions shall be made through payroll deduction and shall earn interest at the rate of not less than four percent for the first year through December 31, 1993 and thereafter, interest shall be compounded on a bi-weekly basis using the decimal fraction found by dividing the interest rate by 26. Actuarially determined municipal contributions shall be made on a pay period basis by taking the total annually required municipal contribution and dividing the total by 26.

B.

Retired police officers and firefighters under the former City of Anchorage Retirement Plan for policemen and firemen as of June 30, 1977, who became retired members of the system on July 1, 1977, and their beneficiaries, shall continue to receive benefits under the system.

C.

Retired employees or beneficiaries of retired employees of the municipality or of any former government, the rights and liabilities of which have been assumed by the municipality, who are receiving benefits under any plan other than the former City of Anchorage Retirement Plan for Policemen and Firemen as of June 30, 1977, shall not receive benefits under this system.

D.

An independent actuarial valuation of Plans I and II shall be made every year. The actuary shall determine the percentage of biweekly compensation required to maintain Plans I and II on an actuarially sound basis and shall report to the board the percentage attributable to the members and the percentage attributable to the municipality.

E.

The municipality, in addition to the payroll deductions of members, shall contribute additional monies to the system in an amount to ensure that the system is at all times financially sound.

F.

No person may maintain a claim for any benefits or receive any benefits under this system unless all contributions received by the system on behalf of that person and any interest previously withdrawn are in the possession of the system at the time of the application for benefits.

G.

If a member is subject to a layoff prior to becoming eligible for a retirement benefit or is involuntarily terminated and in either circumstance, the member leaves his or her accumulated contributions in the system, the member shall upon reemployment or reinstatement with continuous service again be deemed a member of the plan in which the member was a participant at the time of the layoff or termination. If a member who is subject to a layoff or involuntary termination withdraws contributions from the system, the member's rights in the system, including all credited service are forfeited.

H.

No member shall be required to buy back prior service credit. If the member chooses to do so, however, all required payments must be made before benefits based on that prior service credit can be received. A member electing to buy back prior service has 180 days to notify the retirement board of the member's intent to repurchase the credited service which has been forfeited. Failure to notify the retirement board within the time provided for in this section shall constitute a forfeiture of the right to buy back prior service. The retirement board will provide the member with optional repurchase schedules. Simple interest at nine percent, compounded annually shall be calculated on the outstanding balance. Failure to make the required payments in full prior to the member's date of retirement will result in only a percentage of the service being repurchased credited to the member. The percentage shall be determined by dividing the total amount paid to the retirement board, by the total required payment as previously calculated on the entire outstanding balance at the time of the member's notice of intent to restate previous credited service that was forfeited.

I.

In the case of a member who is retired on disability prior to becoming vested in the system, the member shall, upon recovery and reinstatement by the municipality in a covered position, be reinstated in the plan in which the member participated prior to disability. If the member recovers and the disability benefit is terminated without the member returning to the service of the municipality in a covered position, the member shall have no further rights in the system, except in the event that the member's disability payments did not equal or exceed the amount of member contributions. In such cases, the member shall receive the unused balance of the contribution account in a lump sum, with interest on the unused balance from the date the disability benefits terminated to the date of distribution of the account balance.

J.

As of the effective date of this chapter, Plans I and II are in a surplus funded status. Resumption of contributions to Plans I and II shall not be required unless, as determined and required by the actuary for the system, the funded status of the plans falls below 100 percent funding; nor, shall contributions be continued after 100 percent funding is again achieved.

(AO No. 2000-65, § 3, 4-18-00; AO No. 2003-137, § 1, 10-7-03)