Introduced Version
Senate Bill 419 History
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Senate Bill No. 419
(By Senators Jenkins and McCabe)
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[Introduced March 4, 2013; referred to the Committee on Pensions;
and then to the Committee on Finance .]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §18-7A-3, §18-7A-14, §18-7A-17, §18-7A-
23, §18-7A-25 and §18-7A-26 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; and to amend said code by adding thereto a
new section, designated §18-7A-14c, all relating to the
Teachers Retirement System; specifying the time period in
which a participating public employer allocates and reports
gross salary to the retirement board; including nonteachers
within the definition of "present member"; adding a definition
for the terms "retire" and "retirement"; modifying the
definition of "teacher member"; correction of errors;
requiring nonteachers to file a statement with the retirement
board detailing the length of service being claimed for
retirement credit; clarifying that members granted prior
service credit for qualified military service shall have been
honorably discharged from active duty; clarifying provisions for purchasing out-of-state service credit for members who
transferred from the Teachers' Defined Contribution Retirement
System; providing that a nonteaching member shall not be
considered absent from service while serving as an officer
with a statewide professional teaching association; requiring
that members make written request to the retirement board to
receive credit for service previously credited by the Public
Employees Retirement System; providing that all interest paid
or transferred on service credit from the Public Employees
Retirement System be deposited in the reserve fund; providing
that an inactive member may elect to receive an annuity at age
sixty; providing that the sole primary beneficiary of a member
is eligible for an annuity if the contributor was fifty years
old with twenty-five years' service; providing that a refund
beneficiary shall receive the contributor's accumulated
contributions up to the plan year of contributor's death;
providing that a refund beneficiary shall be paid the
Teachers' Defined Contribution Retirement System member
contributions transferred plus the vested portion of employer
contributions and any earnings; providing that an actively
contributing member who is at least sixty years of age is
eligible for an annuity; providing that any member who has
thirty years of total service in the state as a nonteaching
member is eligible for an annuity; specifying that anyone who becomes a new member on or after July 1, 2013, shall have five
or more years of contributory service to qualify for
retirement; providing that a nonteaching member who is fifty-
five years of age and has served thirty years in the state is
eligible for an annuity; clarifying that a nonteaching member
is eligible for disability benefits; clarifying the
computation of a member's annuity; providing for the
commencement date of disability annuity benefits; and making
technical corrections.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-7A-3, §18-7A-14, §18-7A-17, §18-7A-23, §18-7A-25 and
§18-7A-26 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be
amended and reenacted; and that said code be amended by adding
thereto a new section, designated §18-7A-14c, all to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 7A. STATE TEACHERS RETIREMENT SYSTEM.
§18-7A-3. Definitions.
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) "Actuarially equivalent" or "of equal actuarial value"
means a benefit of equal value computed upon the basis of the
mortality table and interest rates as set and adopted by the
retirement board in accordance with the provisions of this article:
Provided, That when used in the context of compliance with the
federal maximum benefit requirements of Section 415 of the Internal
Revenue Code, "actuarially equivalent" shall be computed using the
mortality tables and interest rates required to comply with those
requirements.
(4) "Annuities" means the annual retirement payments for life
granted beneficiaries in accordance with this article.
(5) "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: Provided, That salaries for
determining benefits during any determination period may not exceed
the maximum compensation allowed as adjusted for cost of living in
accordance with section seven, article ten-d, chapter five of this
code and Section 401(a)(17) of the Internal Revenue Code.
(6) "Beneficiary" means the recipient of annuity payments made
under the retirement system.
(7) "Contributor" means a member of the retirement system who has an account in the teachers accumulation fund.
(8) "Deposit" means a voluntary payment to his or her account
by a member.
(9) "Employer" means the agency of and within the state which
has employed or employs a member.
(10) "Employer error" means an omission, misrepresentation or
violation of relevant provisions of the West Virginia Code or of
the West Virginia Code of State Regulations or the relevant
provisions of both the West Virginia Code and of the West Virginia
Code of State Regulations by the participating public employer that
has resulted in an underpayment or overpayment of contributions
required. A deliberate act contrary to the provisions of this
section by a participating public employer does not constitute
employer error.
(11) "Employment term" means employment for at least ten
months, a month being defined as twenty employment days.
(12) "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 be allocated and reported
in the fiscal year in which the work was done. Gross salary also
includes retroactive payments made to a member to correct a
clerical error, or made 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 does 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.
(13) "Internal Revenue Code" means the Internal Revenue Code
of 1986, as it has been amended.
(14) "Member" means any person who has accumulated
contributions standing to his or her credit in the state Teachers
Retirement System. A member shall remain a member until the
benefits to which he or she is entitled under this article are paid
or forfeited, or until cessation of membership pursuant to section
thirteen of this article.
(15) "Members of the administrative staff of the public
schools" means deans of instruction, deans of men, deans of women,
and financial and administrative secretaries.
(16) "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.
(17) "New entrant" means a teacher who is not a present teacher.
(18) "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 Higher Education Policy Commission; (D) the West Virginia
Council for Community and Technical College Education; or (E) a
governing board, as defined in section two, article one, chapter
eighteen-b of this code: Provided, That any person whose employment
with the Higher Education Policy Commission, the West Virginia
Council for Community and Technical College Education or a
governing board commences on or after July 1, 1991, is not
considered a nonteaching member.
(19) "Plan year" means the twelve-month period commencing on
July 1 and ending the following June 30 of any designated year.
(20) "Present member" means a present teacher or nonteacher
who is a member of the retirement system.
(21) "Present teacher" means any person who was a teacher
within the thirty-five years beginning July 1, 1934, and whose
membership in the retirement system is currently active.
(22) "Prior service" means all service as a teacher completed
prior to July 1, 1941, 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.
(23) "Public schools" means all publicly supported schools,
including colleges and universities in this state.
(24) "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.
(25) "Refund interest" means interest compounded, according to
the formula established in legislative rules, series seven of the
Consolidated Public Retirement Board, 162 CSR 7.
(26) (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, 162 CSR 7.
(27) (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.
(28) (27) "Required beginning date" means April 1 of the
calendar year following the later of: (A) The calendar year in
which the member attains age seventy and one-half years; or (B) the
calendar year in which the member retires or ceases covered
employment under the system after having attained the age of
seventy and one-half years.
(28) "Retirant" means any member who commences an annuity
payable by the retirement system.
____(29) "Retirement board" means the Consolidated Public
Retirement Board created pursuant to article ten-d, chapter five of
this code.
____(29) (30) "Retirement system" means the state Teachers
Retirement System established by this article.
(30) (31) "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 director of the retirement board;
(G) members of the research, extension, administrative or library
staffs of the public schools; (H)(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; (I)
(H) employees of the State Board of Education who are performing
services of an educational nature; (J)(I) any person employed in a
nonteaching capacity by the State Board of Education, any county
board of education, the State Department of Education or the State
Teachers Retirement Board, if that person was formerly employed as
a teacher in the public schools; (K)(J) 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; (L)(K) an employee of the State
Board of School Finance, if that person was formerly employed as a
teacher in the public schools; and (M)(L) any person designated as
a 21st Century Learner Fellow pursuant to section eleven, article
three, chapter eighteen-a of this code who elects to remain a
member of the State Teachers Retirement System provided in this
article.
(31) (32) "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.
Age in excess of seventy years shall be considered to be
seventy years.
§18-7A-14. Contributions by members; contributions by employers;
correction of errors; forfeitures.
(a) At the end of each month every member of the retirement
system shall contribute six percent of that member's monthly gross
salary to the retirement board: Provided, That any member employed
by a state institution of higher education shall contribute on the
member's full earnable compensation, unless otherwise provided in
section fourteen-a of this article. The sums are due the state
Teachers Retirement System at the end of each calendar month in
arrears and shall be paid not later than fifteen days following the end of the calendar month. Each remittance shall be accompanied by
a detailed summary of the sums withheld from the compensation of
each member for that month on forms, either paper or electronic,
provided by the State Teachers Retirement System for that purpose.
(b) Annually, the contributions of each member shall be
credited to the member's account in the State Teachers Retirement
System Fund. The contributions shall be deducted from the salaries
of the members as prescribed in this section and every member shall
be considered to have given consent to the 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.
(c) The aggregate of employer contributions, due and payable
under this article, shall equal annually the total deductions from
the gross salary of members required by this section. Beginning
July 1, 1994, the rate shall be seven and one-half percent;
beginning on July 1, 1995, the rate shall be nine percent;
beginning on July 1, 1996, the rate shall be ten and one-half
percent; beginning on July 1, 1997, the rate shall be twelve
percent; beginning on July 1, 1998, the rate shall be thirteen and
one-half percent; and beginning on July 1, 1999, and thereafter,
the rate shall be fifteen percent: Provided, That the rate shall be
seven and one-half percent for any individual who becomes a member of the State Teachers Retirement System for the first time on or
after July 1, 2005, or any individual who becomes a member of the
State Teachers Retirement System as a result of the voluntary
transfer contemplated in article seven-d of this chapter.
(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 considered to be a full discharge of the
employer's contractual obligation as to earnable compensation.
(e) Each contributor shall file with the 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.
(f) If any change or employer error in the records of any
participating public employer or the retirement system results in
any member receiving from the system more or less than he or she
would have been entitled to receive had the records been correct,
the board shall correct the error, and as far as is practicable
shall adjust the payment of the benefit in a manner that the
actuarial equivalent of the benefit to which the member was
correctly entitled shall be paid. Any employer error resulting in
an underpayment to the retirement system may be corrected by the
member remitting the required employee contribution and the
participating public employer remitting the required employer
contribution. Interest shall accumulate in accordance with the legislative rule, Retirement Board Reinstatement Interest, 162 CSR
7, and any accumulating interest owed on the employee and employer
contributions resulting from the employer error shall be the
responsibility of the participating public employer. The
participating public employer may remit total payment and the
employee reimburse the participating public employer through
payroll deduction over a period equivalent to the time period
during which the employer error occurred.
(g) (f) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this article,
forfeitures under the retirement system shall not be applied to
increase the benefits any member would otherwise receive under the
retirement system.
§18-7A-14c. Correction of errors; underpayments; overpayments.
(a) General rule: If any change or employer error in the
records of any employer or the retirement system results in any
member, retirant or beneficiary receiving from the plan more or
less than he or she would have been entitled to receive had the
records been correct, the retirement board shall correct the error.
If correction of the error occurs after the effective retirement
date of a retirant, and as far as is practicable, the retirement
board shall adjust the payment of the benefit in a manner that the
actuarial equivalent of the benefit to which the retirant was
correctly entitled shall be paid.
(b) Underpayments: Any error resulting in an underpayment to the retirement system of required contributions may be corrected by
the member or retirant remitting the required member contribution
and the employer remitting the required employer contribution.
Interest shall accumulate in accordance with the Legislative Rule
162 CSR 7 concerning retirement board refund, reinstatement,
retroactive service, loan and employer error interest factors and
any accumulating interest owed on the member and employer
contributions resulting from an employer error shall be the
responsibility of the employer. The employer may remit total
payment and the member reimburse the employer through payroll
deduction over a period equivalent to the time period during which
the employer error occurred. If the correction of an error
involving an underpayment of required contributions to the
retirement system will result in increased payments to a retirant,
including increases to payments already made, any adjustments shall
be made only after the retirement board receives full payment of
all required member and employer contributions, including interest.
(c) Overpayments: (1) When mistaken or excess employer
contributions, including any overpayments, have been made to the
retirement system by an employer, due to error or other reason, the
retirement board shall credit the employer with an amount equal to
the erroneous contributions, to be offset against the employer's
future liability for employer contributions to the retirement
system. Earnings or interest shall not be credited to the employer.
(2) When mistaken or excess member contributions, including
any overpayments, have been made to the retirement system, due to
error or other reason, the retirement board shall have sole
authority for determining the means of return, offset or credit to
or for the benefit of the member of the amounts, and may use any
means authorized or permitted under the provisions of Section
401(a), et seq. of the Internal Revenue Code and guidance issued
thereunder applicable to governmental plans. Alternatively, in its
full and complete discretion, the retirement board may require the
employer to pay the member the amounts as wages, with the
retirement board crediting the employer with a corresponding amount
to offset against its future contributions to the retirement
system: Provided, That the wages paid to the member shall not be
considered compensation for any purposes under this article.
Earnings or interest shall not be returned, offset, or credited
under any of the means used by the retirement board for returning
mistaken or excess member contributions, including any
overpayments, to a member.
§18-7A-17. Statement and computation of teachers' service;
qualified military service.
(a) Under rules adopted by the retirement board, each teacher
and nonteaching member shall file a detailed statement of his or
her length of service as a teacher or nonteacher 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 who were honorably discharged from
active duty 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
twelve percent of that member's gross salary earned during the
first full year of current employment whether a member of the
Teachers' Retirement System or the Teachers' Defined Contribution
Retirement System, 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 purchase of
out-of-state service, as provided in this article, shall not be
used to establish eligibility for a retirement allowance and the
retirement board shall grant credit for the transferred purchased
service as additional service only: Provided, however, That a
transfer purchase 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 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 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) (d) 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) (e) No member shall be considered absent from service as a teacher or nonteacher while serving as an officer with a
statewide professional teaching association, or who has served in
that capacity, and no retired teacher retirant, who served in that
capacity while a member, shall 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 not
exceed ten years: Provided, however, That a member or retired
teacher retirant who is serving or has served as an officer of a
statewide professional teaching association shall make deposits to
the Teachers Retirement Board System, 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) (f) The Teachers Retirement Board System shall grant
service credit to any former or present member of the West Virginia
Public Employees Retirement System who has been a contributing
member of the Teachers' Retirement System for more than three
years, for service previously credited by the Public Employees
Retirement System upon his or her written request and: (1) Shall
require the transfer of the member's Public Employees Retirement
System accumulated contributions to the Teachers Retirement System;
or (2) shall require a repayment of the amount withdrawn from the
Public Employees Retirement System, plus interest at a rate to be
determined by the retirement board, compounded annually from the date of withdrawal to the date of payment, any time prior to the
member's effective retirement date: 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 All interest paid
or transferred shall be deposited in the reserve fund.
(h) (g) 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 twelve percent of
that member's gross salary earned during the first full year of
current employment whether a member of the Teachers' Retirement
System or the Teachers' Defined Contribution Retirement System,
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
retirement 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) (h) 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 board retirement board must
receive evidence that establishes to a reasonable degree of
certainty as determined by the board retirement board that the
member previously worked in CETA; and (3) the member shall pay to
the board retirement board an amount equal to the employer and
employee contribution plus interest at the amount set by the board
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 March 31,2003: And provided further,
That the board retirement board shall exercise due diligence to
notify affected employees of the provisions of this subsection.
(j) (i) If a member is not eligible for prior service credit
or pension as provided in this article, then his or her prior
service shall not be considered a part of his or her total service.
(k) (j) 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) (k) Subject to the provisions of subsections (a) through
(l), inclusive, of this section, the board 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 the prior service credit
exceed forty years.
(m) (l) 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
board retirement board may not require any additional contributions
from that member in order for the board retirement board to credit
him or her with the contributing service credit earned while
discharging official legislative duties: Provided, however, That
nothing in this section 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 June 1,2000: Provided further, That any member to which the
provisions of this subsection apply may elect to pay to the board
retirement 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
using the provisions of this subsection is not required to pay
interest on any contributions he or she may decide to make.
(n) (m) The Teachers Retirement Board System 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 to be determined by the board
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-23. Withdrawal and death benefits.
(a) Benefits upon withdrawal from service prior to retirement
under the provisions of this article shall be as follows:
(1) A contributor who withdraws from service for any cause
other than death, disability or retirement shall, upon application,
be paid his or her accumulated contributions up to the end of the
fiscal year preceding the year in which application is made, after
offset of any outstanding loan balance, plus accrued loan interest,
pursuant to section thirty-four of this article, but in no event
shall interest be paid beyond the end of five years following the year in which the last contribution was made: Provided, That the
contributor, at the time of application, is then no longer under
contract, verbal or otherwise, to serve as a teacher; or
(2) If the contributor inactive member has completed twenty
years of total service, he or she may elect to receive at
retirement age sixty an annuity which shall be computed as provided
in this article: Provided, That if the contributor inactive member
has completed at least five, but fewer than twenty, years of total
service in this state, he or she may elect to receive at age sixty-
two an annuity which shall be computed as provided in this article.
The contributor inactive member must notify the retirement board in
writing concerning the election. If the contributor inactive member
has completed fewer than five years of service in this state, he or
she shall be subject to the provisions as outlined in subdivision
(1) of this subsection.
(b) Benefits upon the death of a contributor prior to
retirement under the provisions of this article shall be paid as
follows:
(1) If the contributor was at least fifty years old and if his
or her total service as a teacher or nonteaching member was at
least twenty-five years at the time of his or her death, then the
surviving spouse of the deceased, provided the spouse is designated
as the sole primary refund beneficiary, is eligible for an annuity
computed as though the deceased were actually a retired teacher retirant at the time of death and had selected a survivorship
option which pays the spouse the same monthly amount which would
have been received by the deceased; or
(2) If the facts do not permit payment under subdivision (1)
of this subsection, then the following sum shall be paid to the
refund beneficiary of the contributor: (A) The contributor's
accumulated contributions up to the plan year of his or her death
plus an amount equal to his or her employee member contributions.
Provided, That the latter sum shall emanate from the Employer's
Accumulation Fund; and (B) the refund beneficiary of any individual
who became a member of the retirement system as a result of the
voluntary transfer contemplated in article seven-d of this chapter
shall also be paid the member contributions plus the vested portion
of employer contributions made on his or her behalf to the
Teachers' Defined Contribution Retirement System, plus any earnings
thereon, as of June 30, 2008, as stated by the retirement board.
§18-7A-25. Eligibility for retirement allowance.
(a) Any actively contributing member who has attained the age
of sixty years or any member who has had thirty-five years of total
service as a teacher or nonteaching member in West Virginia,
regardless of age, is eligible for an annuity. No new entrant nor
present member is eligible for an annuity, however, if either has
less than five years of service to his or her credit: Provided,
That on and after July 1, 2013, any person who becomes a new member of this retirement system shall, in qualifying for retirement under
this section, have five or more years of contributory service, all
of which shall be actual, contributory ones.
(b) Any member who has attained the age of fifty-five years
and who has served thirty years as a teacher or nonteaching member
in West Virginia 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 is eligible for
an annuity, but the annuity shall be the reduced actuarial
equivalent of the annuity the member would have received if the
member were age fifty-five at the time such annuity was applied
for.
(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 is eligible for annuity for disability if he or
she satisfies the conditions in either subdivision (1) or (2) of
this subsection and meets the conditions of subdivision (3) of this
subsection as follows:
(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.
(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 the disability is a direct and
total result of an act of student violence directed toward the
member.
(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 that service the disability is total
and likely to be permanent and that he or she should be retired in
consequence of the disability.
(f) Continuance of the disability of the retired member
retirant shall be established by medical examination, as prescribed
in subdivision (3), subsection (e) of this section, annually for
five years after retirement, and thereafter at such times required
by the retirement board. Effective July 1,1998, 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 retirant receives or would receive if the options under
said section were not available and that no beneficiary or
beneficiaries of the disability annuitant retirant may receive a
greater benefit, nor receive any benefit for a greater length of
time, than the beneficiary or beneficiaries would have received had
the disability retiree retirant not made any election of the
options available under said section. 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 retirement
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 retirant no longer exists, or if the retired teacher
retirant refuses to submit to medical examination as required by
this section.
§18-7A-26. Computation of annuities.
(a) Annuitants Retirants whose annuities were approved by the
retirement board effective before July 1, 1980, shall be paid the
annuities which were approved by the retirement board.
(b) Annuities approved by the retirement board effective after
June 30, 1980, shall be computed as provided in this section.
(c) Upon establishment of eligibility for a retirement
allowance, a member shall be granted an annuity which shall be the
sum of the following two percent of the member's average salary
multiplied by his or her total service credit, subject to reduction
if necessary to comply with the maximum benefit provisions of
Section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code and section twenty-eight-a
of this article.
(1) Two percent of the member's average salary multiplied by
his or her total service credit as a teacher. In this subdivision
subsection "average salary" means the average of the highest annual
salaries received by the member during any five plan 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 the West Virginia
Higher Education Policy Commission under its control shall be
$4,800, as provided by section fourteen-a of this article.
(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 disabled retirants shall be based upon a disability
table prepared by a competent actuary approved by the retirement board. Disability annuity benefits will begin the first day of the
month following the latter of: (1) Six months of absence caused by
said disability; (2) date of written report by physician selected
by retirement board stating member is mentally or physically
incapacitated for service and that disability is total and likely
to be permanent; and (3) termination of employment.
(e) Upon the death of an annuitant a retirant who qualified
for an annuity as the surviving spouse of an active member or
because of permanent disability, 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
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 retirant became eligible under this article for
the annuity granted; in no case, however, shall an annuitant a retirant receive more than four monthly payments which are
retroactive after the retirement board receives his or her
application for annuity. 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 December 18. 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 retirant, the annuity shall
be changed in accordance with the data, the change being effective
with the payment for the month within which the retirement 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 nonteacher
prior to July 1, 1941, is eligible for prior service credit and for
prior service pensions as prescribed in this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to specify the time period
for allocating and reporting gross salary to the retirement board,
to add the term "nonteachers" to the definition of "present
member", to add a definition for the terms "retire" and
"retirement", to add a new section relating to correction of
errors, to modify the definition of "teacher member", to require
nonteachers to provide a written statement to the retirement board
for years of service being claimed, to clarify that members granted
prior service credit for qualified military service must be
honorably discharged from active duty, to clarify provisions for
purchasing out of state service credit for members who transferred
from the TDC Plan, to require members to make written request to
the retirement board to receive previously credited service from PERS, to require that all interest paid or transferred on
previously credited PERS service be deposited in the reserve fund,
to provide that an inactive member may elect to receive an annuity
at age 60, to allow a sole primary beneficiary of a member is
eligible for an annuity if the contributor was 50 years old with 25
years of service, to allow a refund beneficiary to receive the
member's contributions and vested employer contributions plus any
earnings transferred from the TDC Plan, to provide that an actively
contributing member who is at least age 60 is eligible to receive
an annuity, to provide that any member who has 30 years of in state
service as a nonteaching member is eligible to receive an annuity,
to require that anyone who becomes a new member on or after July 1,
2013 to have at least 5 years of contributory service, to allow a
nonteaching member who is 50 and has 30 years of in state service
to be eligible for an annuity, to clarify the computation of a
member's annuity, to provide for the commencement date of
disability annuity benefits, and to make technical corrections.
This bill was recommended for introduction and passage during
the 2013 Regular Session of the Legislature by the Consolidated
Public Retirement Board.
§18-7A-14c is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring
have been omitted.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.