SECTIONS 20530-20538 - California Statutes

GOVERNMENT CODE

SECTION 20530-20538

20530. Any cash and securities to the credit of the local system
and held on account of persons who become members of this system
shall be transferred to this system, as of the effective date of the
contract. The board may make arrangements with the agency for the
transfer of assets, other than an amount equal to the total member
contributions, over an appropriate period following the effective
date of the contract, if it finds that transfer as of the effective
date is not possible without hardship to the agency because of
contractual restrictions on the return of assets of the local system
held by an insurance carrier. The board shall in that case credit, as
interest income, the portion of the assets transferred as is
necessary to compensate the retirement fund for loss of earnings
because of the delay in transfer, the amount to be determined by
applying a rate that is equal to the difference between the average
rate of earnings of the fund on investments made in fixed income
securities during the fiscal year preceding the date of contract and
the annual interest rate to the balance of the assets not
transferred. The value at which the securities shall be credited to
the contracting agency shall be determined by the board. In crediting
transferred cash, as the contracting agency's contributions, the
board may fix the credit, by writing down the book value of
securities purchased with that cash, at an amount that will result in
an interest return under the securities at least equal to the
current rate of interest credited to contributions. As of that date,
the governing body or head of the local system shall certify the
proportion, if any, of its funds that represents the accumulated
contributions of the members, and the relative shares of the members.

20530.1. (a) An agency whose contract provides for participation of
its employees in this system may request the employees' service,
with the contracting agency, prior to the date the employees became
members of this system, be credited under this system. If the
employees are members of a local retirement system and received
service and contribution credits under that local retirement system,
credit in this system may be granted if the system administrator
certifies that the local system may be transferred.
(b) This section shall apply only to members employed by the
contracting agency on the effective date of the contract or the
amendment to the contract in which the contracting agency elects to
be subject to the provisions of this section. Any cash and securities
to the credit of the local retirement system and held on account of
affected employees shall be transferred to this system as of said
effective date.
(c) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), the board may make
arrangements with the agency for the transfer of all or a portion of
assets, or all or a portion of service credit, over an appropriate
period following the effective date of the contract or the amendment
to the contract, if it finds that transfer as of the effective date
is not possible without hardship to the agency or its employees.
Nothing in these arrangements for the partial transfer of assets or
service credit shall affect the crediting of service for purposes of
determining eligibility for benefits under this system. Interest may
be charged at the discretion of the board.
(d) This section may not apply to any contracting agency unless
and until the agency elects to be subject to this section by contract
or amendment to the contract made in the manner prescribed for
approval of contracts.

20531. (a) Shares of members in the funds of a local employer shall
be credited to the respective individual accounts of the local
agency members who have been included in this system, and
administered as if made during membership in this system, except that
the annuity provided by those contributions with accumulated
interest shall be deducted first from the pension that otherwise
would be payable on account of prior service and the balance of the
contributions with accumulated interest shall be deducted from the
pension that otherwise would be payable on account of current
service. The total of the funds transferred to this system shall be
offset against the prior or current service liability, as the case
may be, before determining the contribution to be paid by the
contracting agency.
(b) A former member of the local retirement system who withdrew
any contributions prior to the effective date of that agency's
contract with this system is entitled to credit for the service upon
which those contributions were made if he or she elects to deposit
any of those withdrawn contributions with this system under the terms
and conditions specified in Section 20750. Any amounts so deposited
with this system shall be administered as provided in this section.
(c) As used in subdivision (b), "former member" shall also include
any former member of the local retirement system who failed to
exercise the right of election pursuant to paragraph (3) of
subdivision (b) of Section 24810 of the Education Code.

20532. The contracting agency shall make the contribution for its
employees in this system, as recommended by the actuary and approved
by the board and certified by it to the contracting agency.
The contribution may consist of fixed sums, percentages of
compensation of contract members, or both, and shall be paid to this
system as provided in the contract.
The actual contribution is subject to adjustment by the board as
may be necessary on account of any additional prior service credits
that the contracting agency may desire to provide for its employees
in this system or on account of experience under this system as
determined by periodical investigation, valuation and determination
required to be made by the board, including adjustments determined as
necessary by the board, even after the total contributions
determined, plus subsequent adjustments, if any, have been completely
paid.

20533. The employer contribution rate adopted under this part or
because of amendments to the contract or to this part, apply to all
compensation upon the basis of which member's contributions are
deducted after those percentages became or become effective, without
regard to the time when the service was rendered for which the
compensation is paid.
If correction of the amount of compensation reported requires
additional employer contributions, the contributions shall be
computed using the employer rate in effect at the time of the
adjustment.

20534. The board may make arrangements with any contracting agency
for the payment of the prior service liability on terms that its
financial condition will permit.

20535. The expense of determining initially the approximate and
actual contributions, with respect to its employees, shall be
assessed against and paid by the public agency on whose account it is
incurred. Payment shall be made directly to the consulting actuary,
if any, and directly to the board for services rendered by its
employees.

20536. (a) The board may include each year in the contribution
required of the contracting agency a reasonable amount, which may
differ from agency to agency, to cover the costs of administering
this system as it affects the active and retired employees of that
agency. The board may also assess a contracting agency a reasonable
amount to cover costs incurred because of the agency's failure to
submit reports and forward contributions on a timely basis. The
payments shall be credited to the current appropriation for support
of the board and available for expenditure by the board.
(b) Upon request, the board shall provide information to a
contracting agency concerning the amount of administrative costs to
be charged to each contracting agency with respect to those plans
within the system in which the contracting agency participates.

20537. The board may charge interest on the amount of any payment
due and unpaid by a contracting agency until payment is received.
Interest shall be charged at the actuarial interest rate. The
interest shall be deemed interest earnings for the year in which the
late payment is received.

20538. (a) All amounts due to the retirement system by a
contracting agency under this part shall be paid through an
electronic funds transfer method prescribed by the board. This
payment requirement is effective upon declaration by the board.
(b) A contracting agency that is unable, for good cause, to comply
with subdivision (a), may apply to the board for a waiver that
allows the agency to pay in an alternate manner as prescribed by the
board, but not by credit card payment.