H. B. 3099
(By Delegate Stalnaker)
[Introduced March 18, 2005; referred to the
Committee on Pensions and Retirement then Finance
.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18-7A-3, §18-7A-14, §18-7A-17,
§18-7A-23a, §18-7A-25, §18-7A-26 and §18-7A-34 of the Code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to amending,
adding and alphabetizing the definitions; providing, for the
use of qualified military service; providing, that for
deceased retired participants interest is included in the
calculation of terminal benefits payable; clarifying
provisions for loan repayment; replacing earnable compensation
with gross salary; clarifying maximum loan amount and
technical corrections.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-7A-3, §18-7A-14, §18-7A-17, §18-7A-23a, §18-7A-25,
§18-7A-26 and §18-7A-34 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 7A. STATE TEACHERS RETIREMENT SYSTEM.
§18-7A-3. Definitions.
"Teacher member" means the following persons, if regularly
employed for full-time service: (a) Any person employed for
instructional service in the public schools of West Virginia; (b)
principals; (c) public school librarians; (d) superintendents of
schools and assistant county superintendents of schools; (e) any
county school attendance director holding a West Virginia teacher's
certificate; (f) the executive secretary of the retirement board;
(g) members of the research, extension, administrative or library
staffs of the public schools; (h) the state superintendent of
schools, heads and assistant heads of the divisions under his or
her supervision, or any other employee under the state
superintendent performing services of an educational nature; (i)
employees of the state board of education who are performing
services of an educational nature; (j) any person employed in a
nonteaching capacity by the state board of education, the West
Virginia board of regents [abolished], any county board of
education, the state department of education or the teachers
retirement board, if that person was formerly employed as a teacher
in the public schools; (k) all classroom teachers, principals and
educational administrators in schools under the supervision of the
division of corrections, the division of health or the division of
human services; and (l) employees of the state bod of school
finance, if that person was formerly employed as a teacher in the public schools.
"Nonteaching member" means any person, except a teacher
member, who is regularly employed for full-time service by: (a) Any
county board of education; (b) the state board of education; (c)
the West Virginia board of regents [abolished]; or (d) the teachers
retirement board.
"Members of the administrative staff of the public schools"
means deans of instruction, deans of men, deans of women, and
financial and administrative secretaries.
"Members of the extension staff of the public schools" means
every agricultural agent, boys' and girls' club agent and every
member of the agricultural extension staff whose work is not
primarily stenographic, clerical or secretarial.
"Retirement system" means the state teachers retirement system
provided for in this article.
"Present teacher" means any person who was a teacher within
the thirty-five years beginning the first day of July, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-four, and whose membership in the retirement
system is currently active.
"New entrant" means a teacher who is not a present teacher.
"Regularly employed for full-time service" means employment in
a regular position or job throughout the employment term regardless
of the number of hours worked or the method of pay.
"Employment term" means employment for at least ten months, a month being defined as twenty employment days.
"Present member" means a present teacher who is a member of
the retirement system.
"Total service" means all service as a teacher while a member
of the retirement system since last becoming a member and, in
addition thereto, credit for prior service, if any.
"Prior service" means all service as a teacher completed prior
to the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred forty-one, and
all service of a present member who was employed as a teacher, and
did not contribute to a retirement account because he or she was
legally ineligible for membership during the service.
"Pick-up service" means service that a member was entitled to,
but which the employer has not withheld or paid for.
"Average final salary" means the average of the five highest
fiscal year salaries earned as a member within the last fifteen
fiscal years of total service credit, including military service as
provided in this article, or if total service is less than fifteen
years, the average annual salary for the period on which
contributions were made.
"Accumulated contributions" means all deposits and all
deductions from the earnable compensation of a contributor minus
the total of all supplemental fees deducted from his or her
compensation.
"Regular interest" means interest at four percent compounded annually, or a higher earnable rate if set forth in the formula
established in legislative rules, series seven of the consolidated
public retirement board.
Refund interest" means interest compounded, according to the
formula established in legislative rules, series seven of the
consolidated public retirement board.
"Employer" means the agency of and within the state which has
employed or employs a member.
"Contributor" means a member of the retirement system who has
an account in the teachers accumulation fund.
"Beneficiary" means the recipient of annuity payments made
under the retirement system.
"Refund beneficiary" means the estate of a deceased
contributor or a person he or she has nominated as beneficiary of
his or her contributions by written designation duly executed and
filed with the retirement board.
"Earnable compensation" means the full compensation actually
received by members for service as teachers whether or not a part
of the compensation is received from other funds, federal or
otherwise, than those provided by the state or its subdivisions.
Allowances from employers for maintenance of members shall be
considered a part of earnable compensation for those members whose
allowances were approved by the teachers retirement board and
contributions to the teachers retirement system were made, in accordance therewith, on or before the first day of July, one
thousand nine hundred eighty.
"Annuities" means the annual retirement payments for life
granted beneficiaries in accordance with this article.
"Member" means a member of the retirement system.
"Public schools" means all publicly supported schools,
including normal schools, colleges and universities in this state.
"Deposit" means a voluntary payment to his or her account by
a member.
"Plan year" means the twelve-month period commencing on the
first day of July and ending the following thirtieth day of June of
any designated year.
"Internal Revenue Code" means the Internal Revenue Code of
1986, as it has been amended.
"Required beginning date" means the first day of April of the
calendar year following the later of: (a) The calendar year in
which the member attains age seventy and one-half; or (b) the
calendar year in which the member retires or ceases covered
employment under the system.
(a) As used in this article, unless the context clearly
requires a different meaning:
(1) "Accumulated contributions" means all deposits and all
deductions from the gross salary of a contributor plus regular
interest.
(2) "Accumulated net benefit" means the aggregate amount of
all benefits paid to or on behalf of a retired member;
(3) "Annuities" means the annual retirement payments for life
granted beneficiaries in accordance with this article.
(4) "Average final salary" means the average of the five
highest fiscal year salaries earned as a member within the last
fifteen fiscal years of total service credit, including military
service as provided in this article, or if total service is less
than fifteen years, the average annual salary for the period on
which contributions were made.
(5) "Beneficiary" means the recipient of annuity payments made
under the retirement system.
(6) "Contributor" means a member of the retirement system who
has an account in the teachers accumulation fund.
(7) "Deposit" means a voluntary payment to his or her account
by a member.
(8) "Employer" means the agency of and within the state which
has employed or employs a member.
(9) "Employment term" means employment for at least ten
months, a month being defined as twenty employment days.
(10) "Gross salary" means the fixed annual or periodic cash
wages paid by a participating public employer to a member for
performing duties for the participating public employer for which
the member was hired. Gross salary shall also include retroactive payments made to a member to correct a clerical error, or pursuant
to a court order or final order of an administrative agency charged
with enforcing federal or state law pertaining to the member's
rights to employment or wages, with all retroactive salary payments
to be allocated to and considered paid in the periods in which the
work was or would have been done. Gross salary shall not include
lump sum payments for bonuses, early retirement incentives,
severance pay, or any other fringe benefit of any kind including,
but not limited to, transportation allowances, automobiles or
automobile allowances, or lump sum payments for unused, accrued
leave of any type or character.
(11) "Internal Revenue Code" means the Internal Revenue Code
of 1986, as amended.
(12) "Member" means a member of the retirement system.
(13) "Members of the administrative staff of the public
schools" means deans of instruction, deans of men, deans of women,
and financial and administrative secretaries.
(14) "Members of the extension staff of the public schools"
means every agricultural agent, boys' and girls' club agent and
every member of the agricultural extension staff whose work is not
primarily stenographic, clerical or secretarial.
(15) "New entrant" means a teacher who is not a present teacher.
(16) "Nonteaching member" means any person, except a teacher
member, who is regularly employed for full-time service by: (A) Any county board of education; (B) the State Board of Education; or
(C) the Higher Education Policy Commission;
(17) "Pick-up service" means service to which a member is
entitled, but for which the employer has not withheld or paid.
(18) "Plan year" means the twelve-month period commencing on
the first day of July, and ending the following thirtieth day of
June, of any designated year.
(19) "Present member" means a present teacher who is a member
of the retirement system.
(20) "Present teacher" means any person who was a teacher
within the thirty-five years beginning the first day of July, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-four, and whose membership in the
retirement system is currently active.
(21) "Prior service" means all service as a teacher completed
prior to the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
forty-one, and all service of a present member who was employed as
a teacher, and for which the teacher did not contribute to a
retirement account because he or she was legally ineligible for
membership during the service.
(22) "Public schools" means all publicly supported schools,
including normal schools, colleges and universities in this state.
(23) "Refund beneficiary" means the estate of a deceased
contributor or a person he or she has nominated as beneficiary of
his or her contributions by written designation duly executed and filed with the Consolidated Public Retirement Board.
(24) "Refund interest" means interest compounded, according to
the formula established in legislative rules, series seven of the
Consolidated Public Retirement Board.
(25) "Regular interest" means interest at four percent
compounded annually, or a higher earnable rate if set forth in the
formula established in legislative rules, series seven of the
Consolidated Public Retirement Board.
(26) "Regularly employed for full-time service" means
employment in a regular position or job throughout the employment
term regardless of the number of hours worked or the method of pay.
(27) "Required beginning date" means the first day of April of
the calendar year following the later of: (A) The calendar year in
which the member attains age seventy and one-half; or (B) the
calendar year in which the member retires or ceases covered
employment under the system.
(28) "Retirement Board" means the Consolidated Public
Retirement Board.
(29) "Retirement system" means the State Teachers Retirement
System provided for in this article.
(30) "Teacher member" means the following persons, if
regularly employed for full-time service: (A) Any person employed
for instructional service in the public schools of West Virginia;
(B) principals; (C) public school librarians; (D) superintendents of schools and assistant county superintendents of schools; (E) any
county school attendance director holding a West Virginia teacher's
certificate; (F) members of the research, extension, administrative
or library staffs of the public schools; (G) the State
Superintendent of schools, heads and assistant heads of the
divisions under his or her supervision, or any other employee under
the State Superintendent performing services of an educational
nature; (H) employees of the State Board of Education who are
performing services of an educational nature; (I) any person
employed in a nonteaching capacity by the State Board of Education,
any county board of education, or the State Department of
Education, if that person was formerly employed as a teacher in the
public schools; (J) all classroom teachers, principals and
educational administrators in schools under the supervision of the
Division of Corrections, the Department of Health and Human
Resources; and (K) employees of the State Board of School Finance,
if that person was formerly employed as a teacher in the public
schools.
(31) "Total service" means all service as a teacher or
nonteacher while a member of the retirement system since last
becoming a member and, in addition thereto, credit for prior
service, if any.
(b) The masculine gender shall be construed so as to include
the feminine.
(c) Age in excess of seventy years shall be considered to be
seventy years.
§18-7A-14. Contributions by members.
(a) At the end of each month every member of the retirement
system shall contribute six percent of that member's monthly
earnable compensation gross salary to the retirement board:
Provided, That any member employed by the West Virginia Board of
Directors of the 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 gross salary,
unless otherwise provided in section fourteen-a of this article.
(b) 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
considered to have given consent to such the deductions. No
deductions, however, shall may be made from the earnable
compensation gross salary of any member who retired because of age
or service, and then resumed service unless as provided in section
thirteen-a of this article.
(c) The aggregate of employer contributions, due and payable
under this article, shall equal annually the total deductions from
the earnable compensation gross salary of members required by this
section. Beginning the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four, the rate shall be seven and one-half percent;
beginning on the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-five, the rate shall be nine percent; beginning on the first
day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-six, the rate shall
be ten and one-half percent; beginning on the first day of July,
one thousand nine hundred ninety-seven, the rate shall be twelve
percent; beginning on the first day of July, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-eight, the rate shall be thirteen and one-half
percent; and beginning on the first day of July, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-nine and thereafter, the rate shall be fifteen
percent.
(d) 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 gross salary.
(e) Each contributor shall file with the Consolidated Public
Retirement Board or with the employer to be forwarded to the
retirement board an enrollment form showing the contributor's date
of birth and other data needed by the retirement board.
§18-7A-17. Statement and computation of teachers' service;
qualified military service.
(a) Under rules adopted by the Retirement Board, each teacher
shall file a detailed statement of his or her length of service as
a teacher for which he or she claims credit. The Retirement Board shall determine what part of a year is the equivalent of a year of
service. In computing the service, however, it shall credit no
period of more than a month's duration during which a member was
absent without pay, nor shall it credit for more than one year of
service performed in any calendar year.
(b) For the purpose of this article, the Retirement Board
shall grant prior service credit to new entrants and other members
of the retirement system for service in any of the Armed Forces of
the United States in any period of national emergency within which
a federal Selective Service Act was in effect. For purposes of
this section, "armed forces" includes women's army corps, women's
appointed volunteers for emergency service, army nurse corps,
spars, women's reserve and other similar units officially parts of
the military service of the United States. The military service is
considered equivalent to public school teaching, and the salary
equivalent for each year of that service is the actual salary of
the member as a teacher for his or her first year of teaching after
discharge from military service. Prior service credit for military
service shall not exceed ten years for any one member, nor shall it
exceed twenty-five percent of total service at the time of
retirement. Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this
subsection, contributions, benefits and service credit with respect
to qualified military service shall be provided in accordance with
Section 414(u) of the Internal Revenue Code. For purposes of this section, "qualified military service" has the same meaning as in
Section 414(u) of the Internal Revenue Code. The retirement board
is authorized to determine all questions and make all decisions
relating to this section and, pursuant to the authority granted to
the Retirement Board in section one, article ten-d, chapter five of
this code, may promulgate rules relating to contributions, benefits
and service credit to comply with Section 414(u) of the Internal
Revenue Code. No military service credit may be used in more than
one retirement system administered by the Consolidated Public
Retirement Board.
(c) For service as a teacher in the employment of the federal
government, or a state or territory of the United States, or a
governmental subdivision of that state or territory, the Retirement
Board shall grant credit to the member: Provided, That the member
shall pay to the system double the amount he or she contributed
during the first full year of current employment, times the number
of years for which credit is granted, plus interest at a rate to be
determined by the Retirement Board. The interest shall be
deposited in the reserve fund and service credit granted at the
time of retirement shall not exceed the lesser of ten years or
fifty percent of the member's total service as a teacher in West
Virginia. Any transfer of out-of-state service, as provided in
this article, shall may not be used to establish eligibility for a
retirement allowance and the Retirement Board shall grant credit for the transferred service as additional service only: Provided,
however, That a transfer of out-of-state service is prohibited if
the service is used to obtain a retirement benefit from another
retirement system: Provided further, That salaries paid to members
for service prior to entrance into the retirement system shall may
not be used to compute the average final salary of the member under
the retirement system.
(d) Service credit for members or retired members shall may
not be denied on the basis of minimum income rules promulgated by
the Teachers Retirement Board: Provided, That the member or
retired member shall pay to the system the amount he or she would
have contributed during the year or years of public school service
for which credit was denied as a result of the minimum income rules
of the Teachers Retirement Board.
(e) No members shall be considered absent from service while
serving as a member or employee of the Legislature of the State of
West Virginia during any duly constituted session of that body or
while serving as an elected member of a county commission during
any duly constituted session of that body.
(f) No member shall may be considered absent from service as
a teacher while serving as an officer with a statewide professional
teaching association, or who has served in that capacity, and no
retired teacher, who served in that capacity while a member, shall
may be considered to have been absent from service as a teacher by reason of that service: Provided, That the period of service
credit granted for that service shall may not exceed ten years:
Provided, however, That a member or retired teacher who is serving
or has served as an officer of a statewide professional teaching
association shall make deposits to the Teachers Retirement Board,
for the time of any absence, in an amount double the amount which
he or she would have contributed in his or her regular assignment
for a like period of time.
(g) The Teachers Retirement Board shall grant service credit
to any former or present member of the West Virginia Public
Employees Retirement System who has been a contributing member for
more than three years, for service previously credited by the
Public Employees Retirement System and: (1) Shall require the
transfer of the member's contributions to the teachers retirement
system; or (2) shall require a repayment of the amount withdrawn
any time prior to the member's retirement: Provided, That there
shall be added by the member to the amounts transferred or repaid
under this subsection an amount which shall be sufficient to equal
the contributions he or she would have made had the member been
under the Teachers Retirement System during the period of his or
her membership in the Public Employees Retirement System plus
interest at a rate to be determined by the Board compounded
annually from the date of withdrawal to the date of payment. The
interest paid shall be deposited in the reserve fund.(h) For service as a teacher in an elementary or secondary
parochial school, located within this state and fully accredited by
the West Virginia Department of Education, the Retirement Board
shall grant credit to the member: Provided, That the member shall
pay to the system double the amount contributed during the first
full year of current employment, times the number of years for
which credit is granted, plus interest at a rate to be determined
by the Retirement Board. The interest shall be deposited in the
reserve fund and service granted at the time of retirement shall
not exceed the lesser of ten years or fifty percent of the member's
total service as a teacher in the West Virginia public school
system. Any transfer of parochial school service, as provided in
this section, may not be used to establish eligibility for a
retirement allowance and the board shall grant credit for the
transfer as additional service only: Provided, however, That a
transfer of parochial school service is prohibited if the service
is used to obtain a retirement benefit from another retirement system.
(i) Active members who previously worked in CETA
(Comprehensive Employment and Training Act) may receive service
credit for time served in that capacity: Provided, That in order
to receive service credit under the provisions of this subsection
the following conditions must be met: (1) The member must have
moved from temporary employment with the participating employer to
permanent full-time employment with the participating employer within one hundred twenty days following the termination of the
member's CETA employment; (2) the Retirement Board must receive
evidence that establishes to a reasonable degree of certainty as
determined by the Board that the member previously worked in CETA;
and (3) the member shall pay to the board an amount equal to the
employer and employee contribution plus interest at the amount set
by the Retirement Board for the amount of service credit sought
pursuant to this subsection: Provided, however, That the maximum
service credit that may be obtained under the provisions of this
subsection is two years: Provided further, That a member must
apply and pay for the service credit allowed under this subsection
and provide all necessary documentation by the thirty-first day of
March, two thousand three: And provided further, That the
Retirement Board shall exercise due diligence to notify affected
employees of the provisions of this subsection.
(j) If a member is not eligible for prior service credit or
pension as provided in this article, then his or her prior service
shall may not be considered a part of his or her total service.
(k) A member who withdrew from membership may regain his or
her former membership rights as specified in section thirteen of
this article only in case he or she has served two years since his
or her last withdrawal.
(l) Subject to the provisions of subsections (a) through (l),
inclusive, of this section, the Retirement Board shall verify as soon as practicable the statements of service submitted. The
Retirement Board shall issue prior service certificates to all
persons eligible for the certificates under the provisions of this
article. The certificates shall state the length of the prior
service credit, but in no case shall may the prior service credit
exceed forty years.
(m) Notwithstanding any provision of this article to the
contrary, when a member is or has been elected to serve as a member
of the Legislature, and the proper discharge of his or her duties
of public office require that member to be absent from his or her
teaching or administrative duties, the time served in discharge of
his or her duties of the legislative office are credited as time
served for purposes of computing service credit: Provided, That
the Retirement Board may not require any additional contributions
from that member in order for the Retirement Board to credit him or
her with the contributing service credit earned while discharging
official legislative duties: Provided, however, That nothing
herein may be construed to relieve the employer from making the
employer contribution at the member's regular salary rate or rate
of pay from that employer on the contributing service credit earned
while the member is discharging his or her official legislative
duties. These employer payments shall commence as of the first day
of June, two thousand: Provided further, That any member to which
the provisions of this subsection apply may elect to pay to the Board an amount equal to what his or her contribution would have
been for those periods of time he or she was serving in the
Legislature. The periods of time upon which the member paid his or
her contribution shall then be included for purposes of determining
his or her final average salary as well as for determining years of
service: And provided further, That a member utilizing using the
provisions of this subsection is not required to pay interest on
any contributions he or she may decide to make.
(n) The teachers Retirement Board shall grant service credit
to any former member of the State Police Death, Disability and
Retirement System who has been a contributing member for more than
three years, for service previously credited by the State Police
Death, Disability and Retirement System; and: (1) Shall require
the transfer of the member's contributions to the Teachers
Retirement System; or (2) shall require a repayment of the amount
withdrawn any time prior to the member's retirement: Provided,
That the member shall add to the amounts transferred or repaid
under this paragraph an amount which is sufficient to equal the
contributions he or she would have made had the member been under
the Teachers Retirement System during the period of his or her
membership in the State Police Death, Disability and Retirement
System plus interest at a rate of six percent to be determined by
the Retirement Board compounded annually from the date of
withdrawal to the date of payment. The interest paid shall be deposited in the reserve fund.
§18-7A-23a. Terminal benefits.
For the purposes of this section, the term "accumulated net
benefit" means the aggregate amount of all benefits paid to or on
behalf of a member. This includes, without limitation: (a)
Benefits paid to the member as an annuity; (b) any lump sum
distributions paid to the member or to any other person on account
of the member's rights to benefits from the plan; (c) survivor
benefits paid to any person or persons on account of the member's
rights to benefits from the plan; and (d) any other distributions
on account
of the member's rights to benefits from the plan whether
they are paid in the nature of a refund of contributions, interest
on contributions, lump sum distributions, or annuity type benefits.
The amounts counted will be the amounts actually paid without
regard to any optional form of any annuity benefit.
For the purposes of this section, the term "accumulated
employee contributions" means all money the member has contributed
to the plan, whether the form of the contribution was after tax
deductions from wages, before tax deductions from wages, direct
remittance by the member to repay contributions and interest
previously distributed and direct remittance by the member to pay
imputed contributions for period which were not subject to
contributions but may be counted for benefit purposes under the
plan. The term accumulated employee contributions does not include any amount credited under the provisions of the plan as interest on
member contributions.
For the purposes of this section, the term "member's account"
means the excess of the accumulated employee contributions over the
accumulated net benefit payments at any point in time and the term
"member" includes each individual who has contributed, or will
contribute in the future, to the teachers retirement system,
including each retirant. (a) This section provides for the payment
of the balance in the a retired member's account to paid in the
manner described herein in the event that all claims to benefits
payable to, or on behalf of, a member expire before his or her
member account has been fully exhausted. The expiration of such
rights to benefits would be on at the occasion of later of either
the death of the retired member and any and all beneficiaries who
might have a claim to regular benefit payments under the plan, for
any form of benefit. Without limitation, this would include the
demise of beneficiaries of survivor annuities and beneficiaries of
any lump sum distributions drawing benefits under a straight life
annuity, or the death of a survivor annuitant drawing benefits
under any optional form of benefit selected by the retired member.
(b) In the event that all claims to benefits payable to, or on
behalf of, a retired member expire, and the accumulated employee
contributions exceed his or her the accumulated net benefit
payments paid to or on behalf of the retired member, the balance in the retired member's account shall be paid to the person or persons
as the retired member has nominated by written designation duly
executed and filed with the Retirement Board. of Trustees. If
there be no designated person or persons surviving survive the
retired member following the expiration of claims, the excess of
the accumulated employee contributions over the accumulated net
benefit, if any, shall be paid to his or her the retired member's
estate: In no case may the plan retain any amount of the
accumulated employee contributions remaining in the member's
account, but it shall retain interest earned on the same
accumulated employee contributions in the instance of a member's or
beneficiary's post-retirement death. Provided, That the provisions
of this section shall be retroactive to all members who entered
retirement status on or after the ninth day of June, two thousand.
§18-7A-25. Eligibility for retirement allowance.
(a) Any member who has attained the age of sixty years or who
has had thirty-five years of total service as a teacher in West
Virginia, regardless of age, shall be is eligible for an annuity.
No new entrant nor present member shall be eligible for an annuity,
however, if either has less than five years of service to his or
her credit.
(b) Any member who has attained the age of fifty-five years
and who has served thirty years as a teacher in West Virginia shall
be is eligible for an annuity.
(c) Any member who has served at least thirty but less than
thirty-five years as a teacher or nonteaching member in West
Virginia and is less than fifty-five years of age, shall be is
eligible for an annuity, but the same shall be the reduced
actuarial equivalent of the annuity the member would have received
if such the member were age fifty-five at the time such annuity was
the member applied for the annuity.
(d) The request for any annuity shall be made by the member in
writing to the Retirement Board, but in case of retirement for
disability, the written request may be made by either the member or
the employer.
(e) A member shall be is eligible for annuity for disability
if he or she satisfies the conditions in either subdivision (a) or
subdivision (b) and meets the conditions of subdivision (c) as
follows:
(a) (1) His or her service as a teacher or nonteaching member
in West Virginia must total at least ten years, and service as a
teacher or nonteaching member must have been terminated because of
disability, which disability must have caused absence from service
for at least six months before his or her application for
disability annuity is approved.
(b) (2) His or her service as a teacher or nonteaching member
in West Virginia must total at least five years, and service as a
teacher or nonteaching member must have been terminated because of disability, which disability must have caused absence from service
for at least six months before his or her application for
disability annuity is approved and said the disability is a direct
and total result of an act of student violence directed toward the
member.
(c) (3) An examination by a physician or physicians selected
by the Retirement Board must show that the member is at the time
mentally or physically incapacitated for service as a teacher or
nonteaching member, that for such service as a teacher or
nonteaching member the disability is total and likely to be
permanent, and that he or she the member should be retired in
consequence thereof.
(f) Continuance of the disability of the retired teacher
member shall be established by medical examination, as prescribed
in the preceding paragraph, annually for five years after
retirement, and thereafter at such times as the retirement board
may require. Effective the first day of July, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-eight, a member who has retired because of a
disability may select an option of payment under the provisions of
section twenty-eight of this article: Provided, That any option
selected under the provisions of section twenty-eight of this
article shall be in all respects the actuarial equivalent of the
straight life annuity benefit the disability retiree receives or
would receive if the options under section twenty-eight of this article were not available and that no beneficiary or beneficiaries
of the disability annuitant may receive a greater benefit, nor
receive any benefit for a greater length of time, than such the
beneficiary or beneficiaries would have received had the disability
retiree not made any election of the options available under said
section twenty-eight. In determining the actuarial equivalence,
the Retirement Board shall take into account the life expectancies
of the member and the beneficiary: Provided, however, That the
life expectancies may at the discretion of the Board be established
by an underwriting medical director of a competent insurance
company offering annuities. Payment of the disability annuity
provided in this article shall cease immediately if the retirement
board finds that the disability of the retired teacher member no
longer exists, or if the retired teacher member refuses to submit
to medical examination as required by this section.
§18-7A-26. Computation of annuities.
(a) Annuitants whose annuities were approved by the Retirement
Board effective before the first day of July, one thousand nine
hundred eighty, shall be paid the annuities which were approved by
the Retirement Board.
(b) Annuities approved by the Retirement Board effective after
the thirtieth day of June, one thousand nine hundred eighty, shall
be computed as provided herein.
(c) Upon establishment of eligibility for a retirement allowance, a member shall be granted an annuity which shall be the
sum of the following:
(a) (1) Two percent of the member's average salary multiplied
by his or her total service credit as a teacher member. In this
paragraph "average salary" shall mean means the average of the
highest annual salaries received by the member during any five
years contained within his or her last fifteen years of total
service credit: Provided, That the highest annual salary used in
this calculation for certain members employed by under the control
of the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission under its
control shall be four thousand eight hundred dollars, as provided
by section fourteen-a of this article; and chapter; and
(b) (2) The actuarial equivalent of the voluntary deposits of
the member in his or her individual account up to the time of his
or her retirement, with regular interest.
(d) The disability annuities of all teachers retired for
disability shall be based upon a disability table prepared by a
competent actuary approved by the Retirement Board.
(e) Upon the death of an annuitant receiving permanent
disability benefits or the death of an annuitant who qualified for
an annuity as the surviving spouse of an active member, or because
of permanent disability, designated beneficiary or the estate of
the deceased, or beneficiary designated for such purpose, shall be paid the difference, if any, between the member's contributions
with regular interest thereon, and the sum of the annuity payments.
Upon the death of a spouse who was named as the member's survivor,
a retirant may elect an annuity option approved by the Retirement
Board in an amount adjusted on a fair basis to be of equal
actuarial value as the annuity prospectively in effect relative to
the surviving member at the time the new option is elected.
(f) All annuities shall be paid in twelve monthly payments.
In computing the monthly payments, fractions of a cent shall be
deemed are considered a cent. The monthly payments shall cease
with the payment for the month within which the beneficiary dies,
and shall begin with the payment for the month succeeding the month
within which the annuitant became eligible under this article for
the annuity granted; in no case, however, shall may an annuitant
receive more than four monthly payments which are retroactive after
the Board receives his or her application for annuity. Beginning
with the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four,
the monthly payments shall be made on the twenty-fifth day of each
month, except the month of December, when the payment shall be made
on the eighteenth day of December. If the date of payment falls on
a holiday, Saturday or Sunday, then the payment shall be made on
the preceding workday.
(g) In case the Retirement Board receives data affecting the
approved annuity of a retired teacher, the annuity shall be changed in accordance with the data, the change being effective with the
payment for the month within which the Board received the new data.
(h) Any person who has attained the age of sixty-five and who
has served at least twenty-five years as a teacher or nonteaching
member prior to the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
forty-one, shall be eligible for prior service credit and for prior
service pensions as prescribed in this section.
§18-7A-34. Loans to members.
(a) A An actively contributing member of the retirement system
upon written application may borrow from his or her individual
account in the teachers accumulation fund, subject to these
restrictions:
(1) Loans shall be made in multiples of ten dollars, the
minimal loan being one hundred dollars and the maximum being eight
thousand dollars: Provided, That the maximum amount of any loan
when added to the outstanding balance of all other loans shall not
exceed the lesser of the following: (a) Fifty Eight thousand
dollars reduced by the excess (if any) of the highest outstanding
balance of loans during the one-year period ending on the day
before the date on which the loan is made, over the outstanding
balance of loans to the member on the date on which the loan is
made; or (b) fifty percent of the member's contributions to his or
her individual account in the teachers accumulations fund: Provided, however, That if the total amount of loaned money
outstanding exceeds forty million dollars, the maximum shall not
exceed three thousand dollars until the Retirement Board determines
that loans outstanding have been reduced to an extent that
additional loan amounts are again authorized.
(2) Interest charged on the amount of the loan shall be six
percent per annum, or a higher rate as set by the Retirement Board:
Provided, That interest charged shall be commercially reasonable in
accordance with the provisions of Section 72(p)(2) of the Internal
Revenue Code, and the federal regulations issued thereunder. If
repayable in installments, the interest shall may not exceed the
annual rate so established upon the principal amount of the loan,
for the entire period of the loan, and such the charge shall be
added to the principal amount of the loan. The minimal interest
charge shall be for six months.
(3) No member shall be is eligible for more than one
outstanding loan at any time.
(4) If a refund is payable to the borrower or his or her
beneficiary before he or she the borrower repays the loan with
interest, the balance due with interest to date shall be deducted
from such the refund.
(5) From his or her monthly salary as a teacher or a
nonteacher the member shall pay the loan and interest by deductions which will pay the loan and interest in substantially level
payments in not more than sixty nor less than six months. Upon
notice of loan granted and payment due, the employer shall be
responsible for making such salary deductions and reporting them to
the Retirement Board. At the option of the Retirement Board, loan
deductions may be collected as prescribed herein for the collection
of members' contribution, or may be collected through issuance of
warrant by employer. If the borrower decides to make loan payments
while not paid for service as a teacher, is no longer employed as
a teacher or nonteaching member, the borrower must make monthly
loan payments directly to the Consolidated Public Retirement Board
and the Retirement Board must accept such the payments.
(6) The entire unpaid balance of any loan, and interest due
thereon, shall, at the option of the Retirement Board, become due
and payable without further notice or demand upon the occurrence
with respect to the borrowing member of any of the following events
of default: (A) Any payment of principal and accrued interest on
a loan remains unpaid after the same becomes due and payable under
the terms of the loan or after such grace period as may be
established in the discretion of the Retirement Board; (B) the
borrowing member attempts to make an assignment for the benefit of
creditors of his or her refund or benefit under the retirement
system; or (C) any other event of default set forth in rules
promulgated by the Retirement Board in accordance with the authority granted pursuant to section one, article ten-d, chapter
five of this code: Provided, That any refund or offset of an
unpaid loan balance shall be made only at the time the member is
entitled to receive a distribution under the Retirement System.
(7) Loans shall be evidenced by such form of obligations and
shall be made upon such additional terms as to default, prepayment,
security and otherwise as the Retirement Board may determine.
(8) Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, the loan
program authorized by this section shall comply with the provisions
of Section 72(p)(2) and Section 401 of the Internal Revenue Code,
and the federal regulations issued thereunder, and accordingly, the
Retirement Board is authorized to: (A) Apply and construe the
provisions of this section and administer the plan loan program in
such a manner as to comply with the provisions of Section 72(p)(2)
and Section 401 of the Internal Revenue Code and the federal
regulations issued thereunder; (B) adopt plan loan policies or
procedures consistent with these federal law provisions; and (C)
take such actions as it deems necessary or appropriate to
administer the plan loan program created hereunder in accordance
with these federal law provisions. The Retirement Board is further
authorized in connection with the plan loan program to take any
actions that may at any time be required by the Internal Revenue
Service regarding compliance with the requirements of Section
72(p)(2) or section 401 of the Internal Revenue Code, and the federal regulations issued thereunder, notwithstanding any
provision in this article to the contrary.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is for technical corrections,
to provide that interest be included in terminal benefits payable
to retired member's named beneficiary, clarify maximum loan amount,
to establish the limited use of qualifying military service, to
alphabetize, amend and add certain definitions and to clarify the
repayment and amount of loans.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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