New Hampshire Revised Statutes 100-A:14 – Administration
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I. The administration of this system is vested in a board of 13 trustees. Each newly appointed or reappointed trustee shall have familiarity with or experience in finance or business management. The state treasurer shall be an ex officio voting member of the board. The governor and council shall appoint 4 trustees, to be known as nonmember trustees, who shall be qualified persons with investment and/or financial experience as provided in this paragraph and not be members of the system, and who shall serve for a term of 3 years and until their successors are appointed and qualified. The nonmember trustees of the board shall have substantial experience in the field of institutional investment or finance, taking into account factors such as educational background, business experience, and professional licensure and designations. The original appointment of the nonmember trustees shall be made to provide for staggered terms. The remaining 8 members of the board shall consist of: one employee member, one teacher member, one permanent police member, one permanent fireman member, and 4 employer members. The New Hampshire state employees’ association, the New Hampshire education association, the New Hampshire police association, and the New Hampshire state permanent firemen’s association shall each annually nominate from their members a panel of 5 persons, all of whom shall be active members of the retirement system, no later than May 31 of each year, and the panels so named shall be filed with the secretary of state no later than June 10 of each year. From the above named panels the governor and council shall appoint the active member trustees of the board as needed so as to maintain the representation on the board. The governor and council shall appoint the employer members of the board with one member nominated by the New Hampshire Association of Counties, one member nominated by the New Hampshire Municipal Association, one member nominated by the New Hampshire School Boards Association, and one member to represent management of state employees. Members appointed to the board in the manner aforesaid shall serve for a term of 3 years. Each member so appointed shall hold office until his or her successor shall be appointed and qualified. Whenever a vacancy occurs, the governor and council shall fill the vacancy by appointing a member who shall serve for the unexpired term. The governor shall designate one of the nonmember trustees to serve as chairman of said board of trustees.
II. The board of trustees shall establish such rules and regulations as it deems necessary for the proper administration of this chapter.
III. The members of the board of trustees shall serve without compensation but shall be reimbursed for actual and necessary travelling and other expenses and disbursements incurred or made by them in the discharge of their official duties.
IV. Each trustee, including the chairman, shall be entitled to one vote in the board of trustees. Seven trustees shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business of the board of trustees. Seven votes shall be necessary for any resolution or action by the board at any meeting.
V. The board of trustees shall have the full power to employ and compensate such employees on such terms as may be necessary as charges upon the funds of the retirement system, and establish personnel policies without regard to any personnel or civil service law or personnel or civil service rule of the state. The employees of the retirement system shall not be classified employees of the state within the meaning of N.H. Rev. Stat. § 21-I:49. Notwithstanding, any individual employed by the retirement system whose employment calls for 30 hours or more work in a normal calendar week, and whose position is anticipated to have a duration of 6 months or more, shall be entitled to elect to receive such health, dental, life insurance, deferred compensation, and retirement benefits as are afforded to classified employees of the state. Upon election by such individual, the retirement system shall pay from its funds the state’s share of such benefits. Any remaining costs of health, dental, and life insurance benefits which an individual elects to receive pursuant to this paragraph, shall be withheld from such individual’s salary as a payroll deduction. Written notice of the availability of these benefit options shall be provided to each individual upon employment by the retirement system. It may also engage such actuarial, medical, and like services as may be required to transact the business of the system. The compensation for such special services, and all other expenses of the board necessary, hereto, shall be paid at such rates and in such amounts as the board shall approve. Service as an employee of the retirement system shall be creditable service for purposes of N.H. Rev. Stat. § 21-I:30. Any retirement system employee who transfers, without a break in service, to a state classified service position shall transfer all the days of sick leave credit and annual leave credit that the retirement system employee has accumulated pursuant to this section. At the time of such a transfer, the employee shall immediately begin to accrue annual and sick leave as granted at the time of the transfer by the receiving agency according to the employee’s continuous years worked.
V-a. The board of trustees shall have the power to purchase, receive, take by grant, gift, devise, bequest, or otherwise acquire, own, hold, improve, employ, use, and otherwise deal in and with property or any interest therein, whether tangible or intangible, for the purposes of this chapter.
VI. The board of trustees shall keep in convenient form such data as may be necessary for actuarial valuation of the various funds of the retirement system and for checking the experience of the system.
VII. The board of trustees shall keep a record of all its proceedings. It shall annually make a report showing the fiscal transactions of the retirement system for the preceding fiscal year, the amount of the accumulated cash and securities of the system and the last balance sheet showing the financial condition of the system by means of an actuarial valuation of the assets and liabilities of the system, and shall file the same with the secretary of state.
VII-a. The board of trustees shall submit a report each quarter by January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1, to the chairpersons of the house and senate executive departments and administration committees. Such report shall describe recent board actions including any changes to actuarial assumptions and investment returns.
VIII. Immediately after the establishment of the retirement system, the board of trustees shall adopt mortality and service tables for use in all calculations in connection with the system, and shall certify the rates of contribution payable under the provisions hereof. The board of trustees shall also determine from time to time the rate or rates of regular interest for use in all calculations, except as otherwise provided, with the rate of 4 percent per annum compounded annually applicable from the date of establishment until changed by the board.
IX. In 1970, and at least once in each 5-year period thereafter, the board shall have an actuary make an actuarial investigation into the mortality, service and compensation experience of the members and beneficiaries of the retirement system, and a valuation of the assets and liabilities of its funds, and taking into account the result of such investigation and valuation, the board shall adopt such mortality, service and other tables as shall be deemed necessary, and certify the rates of contribution payable under the provisions of this chapter.
X. On the basis of regular interest and the tables last adopted by the board of trustees, the board shall have an actuary make periodic valuations of the contingent assets and liabilities of the funds of the retirement system. Such valuations shall be prepared at least once in each 2-year period commencing June 30, 1977.
XI. The board of trustees shall annually notify each active member of the amount of his earnable compensation, contributions deducted, and interest credited on his contributions during the previous fiscal year; the total of his member annuity savings fund; his date of birth; his accrued service credits; and such other information as the board of trustees believe will inform the member of his status in the system. The notice shall be prepared prior to the end of each calendar year based on information through June 30 of such year. The first notice shall be due by December 31, 1976.
XII. The executive director appointed pursuant to N.H. Rev. Stat. § 100-A:44 shall notify the selectmen of all towns, all city councils, and the superintendent or chief fiscal officer of all school districts within 10 days of the introduction and within 30 days of the enactment of any legislative measure relative to the retirement systems which would affect the retirement system costs to cities, towns and school districts. For the purposes of this paragraph, “legislative measure” shall mean any bill or joint resolution introduced in either the senate or the house of representatives but shall not include amendments to bills or joint resolutions.
XIII. Administrative Cost Assessment. Other provisions of law notwithstanding, the cost of administration of the retirement system as provided in this section shall be a charge upon the funds of the retirement system. The amount of administrative expense recorded monthly by the department of administrative service, division of accounting services, shall be paid to the state treasurer by the board of trustees. The board shall biennially review the administrative expenses for the previous biennium and shall submit in a budget for legislative appropriation, those amounts that the board, in its reasonable discretion, may deem necessary for the efficient operation of the system. Administrative balances accrued prior to June 30, 2001 shall be retained by the retirement system and expended for ongoing operations.
XIII-a. Notwithstanding the requirements of paragraph XIII, the cost to the retirement system of the actuarial and professional assessment of proposed legislation required by N.H. Rev. Stat. § 14:44 shall be initially paid from assets of the retirement system, but shall be submitted to the governor for reimbursement. Not later than 30 days after the adjournment of each legislative session, the governor shall reimburse the retirement system for such costs. The governor is authorized to draw a warrant for said sum out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.
XIV. The board of trustees shall have the authority to recover for the retirement system any benefits deemed not payable under this chapter as a result of a death of any retiree or beneficiary, or as the result of the remarriage of a surviving spouse in receipt of benefits.
XV. The board of trustees shall, consistent with N.H. Rev. Stat. § 21-I:13, V, provide the commissioner of the department of administrative services with information necessary for the commissioner to carry out the responsibilities set forth in N.H. Rev. Stat. § 21-I:27, including such information as the name and social security number of each covered retiree, spouse, and dependent; the retiree agency-identifying information in a format compatible with the billing needs of the department; and such other information that the commissioner of the department of administrative services shall request in order to carry out the retiree health benefits program administration.
XVI. Access to Information From Vital Records for Retirement System Purposes. The retirement system shall have a direct and tangible interest in death, marriage, and divorce vital records information of members and beneficiaries, limited to name of registrant, date of birth, place of birth, social security number, date of vital event, place of vital event, marital status, and name of spouse. The secretary of state and the executive director of the New Hampshire retirement system shall enter into a memorandum of understanding for the purposes of delineating specific procedures for access to this limited data set.
II. The board of trustees shall establish such rules and regulations as it deems necessary for the proper administration of this chapter.
Terms Used In New Hampshire Revised Statutes 100-A:14
- Active member: means a member who is employed by a retirement system participating employer and who is both receiving earnable compensation and earning service credit for which the retirement system receives payment of full employer and member contributions under N. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 100-A:1
- Actuary: shall mean (a) a member of the American Academy of Actuaries or (b) an individual who has demonstrated to the satisfaction of the state insurance commissioner that he has the educational background necessary for the practice of actuarial science and has had at least 7 years of actuarial experience. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 100-A:1
- Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
- Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Bequest: Property gifted by will.
- biennially: when applied to meetings and elections in towns, shall mean the biennial meetings and elections required by law to be holden in the month of November biennially, dating from the commencement of biennial elections in 1878; and the word "annual" when applied to meetings and elections in towns, shall mean the annual meetings and elections required by law to be holden in the month of March. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:7
- board: shall mean the board provided for in N. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 100-A:1
- Board of trustees: or "board" shall mean the board provided for in N. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 100-A:1
- Creditable service: shall mean prior service plus membership service, as provided in N. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 100-A:1
- Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
- Devise: To gift property by will.
- Earnable compensation: shall mean :
(a) For members who have attained vested status prior to January 1, 2012 the full base rate of compensation paid, as determined by the employer, plus any overtime pay, holiday and vacation pay, sick pay, longevity or severance pay, cost of living bonus, annual attendance stipend or bonus, additional pay for extracurricular and instructional activities for full-time teachers and full-time employees who are employed in paraprofessional or support position, additional pay for instructional activities of full-time faculty of the community college system, and any military differential pay, plus the fair market value of non-cash compensation paid to, or on behalf of, the member for meals or living quarters if subject to federal income tax, but excluding other compensation except cash incentives paid by an employer to encourage members to retire, supplemental pay paid by the employer while the member is receiving workers' compensation, and teacher development pay that is not part of the contracted annual salary. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 100-A:1 - Employee: shall mean any regular classified, nonclassified, or unclassified officer or employee of the state or any department, commission, institution or agency of the state government by which an employee is paid through the office of the state treasurer, or employees of the general court who work on a full-time basis and are eligible for other state benefits, but whose salary is calculated on a per diem basis, or any employee of the retirement system, or any full-time employee of the community college system of New Hampshire who is an active retirement system member or who elects membership in the retirement system, or of any of the groups authorized to participate under this chapter but excluding any person who is a teacher, permanent policeman, or permanent fireman as defined in this section, or who is a member or attache of the general court or member of the executive council. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 100-A:1
- Employer: shall mean (a) the state or any department, commission, institution, or agency of the state government by which an employee is paid through the office of the state treasurer with respect to their employees, (b) the state, the local school district, or other employers of teachers eligible for membership in the system with respect to the teachers in their employ, (c) any police department or police force of the state, or of any county, city, town, village, or precinct in the state with respect to the permanent policemen in their employ, (d) any fire department of the state, or of any county, city, town, village, or precinct in the state with respect to the permanent firemen in their employ, (e) any political subdivision that has elected to participate under N. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 100-A:1
- Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
- governor and council: shall mean the governor with the advice and consent of the council. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:31-a
- Joint resolution: A legislative measure which requires the approval of both chambers.
- Legislative session: That part of a chamber's daily session in which it considers legislative business (bills, resolutions, and actions related thereto).
- Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
- Member: shall mean any person included in the membership of the retirement system, as provided in N. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 100-A:1
- Permanent fireman: for the purposes of membership in group II and other provisions of this chapter, shall mean any person, whether elected or appointed, who is regularly employed on a full-time basis by the state in a job certified by the director of personnel as conforming to the requirements of this paragraph, or by any of its political subdivisions in a job certified by the governing body of the political subdivision as conforming to the requirements of this paragraph, which job shall be in one of the following categories
(a) A firefighter who:
(1) Has the authority and responsibility to engage in the prevention, control, or extinguishment of fires, and who performs activities that are required for and directly concerned with the prevention, control, or extinguishment of fires, including incidental non-firefighting functions. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 100-A:1 - Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
- Regular interest: shall mean interest at such rate or rates compounded annually as may be set from time to time by the board of trustees in accordance with N. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 100-A:1
- Retirement: shall mean withdrawal from active service with a retirement allowance granted under the provisions hereof. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 100-A:1
- Retirement system: shall mean the New Hampshire Retirement System as defined in N. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 100-A:1
- Service: shall mean service as an employee, a teacher, a permanent policeman or a permanent fireman which is paid for by an employer. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 100-A:1
- State: shall mean the state of New Hampshire. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 100-A:1
- Teacher: shall mean any regular or special teacher, principal, supervisor or administrator, librarian or other member of the teaching or professional staff engaged in the service of the public elementary and secondary schools located within the state and supported by and under the control of the state, the local school district, or other employers of teachers eligible for membership in the system. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 100-A:1
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
III. The members of the board of trustees shall serve without compensation but shall be reimbursed for actual and necessary travelling and other expenses and disbursements incurred or made by them in the discharge of their official duties.
IV. Each trustee, including the chairman, shall be entitled to one vote in the board of trustees. Seven trustees shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business of the board of trustees. Seven votes shall be necessary for any resolution or action by the board at any meeting.
V. The board of trustees shall have the full power to employ and compensate such employees on such terms as may be necessary as charges upon the funds of the retirement system, and establish personnel policies without regard to any personnel or civil service law or personnel or civil service rule of the state. The employees of the retirement system shall not be classified employees of the state within the meaning of N.H. Rev. Stat. § 21-I:49. Notwithstanding, any individual employed by the retirement system whose employment calls for 30 hours or more work in a normal calendar week, and whose position is anticipated to have a duration of 6 months or more, shall be entitled to elect to receive such health, dental, life insurance, deferred compensation, and retirement benefits as are afforded to classified employees of the state. Upon election by such individual, the retirement system shall pay from its funds the state’s share of such benefits. Any remaining costs of health, dental, and life insurance benefits which an individual elects to receive pursuant to this paragraph, shall be withheld from such individual’s salary as a payroll deduction. Written notice of the availability of these benefit options shall be provided to each individual upon employment by the retirement system. It may also engage such actuarial, medical, and like services as may be required to transact the business of the system. The compensation for such special services, and all other expenses of the board necessary, hereto, shall be paid at such rates and in such amounts as the board shall approve. Service as an employee of the retirement system shall be creditable service for purposes of N.H. Rev. Stat. § 21-I:30. Any retirement system employee who transfers, without a break in service, to a state classified service position shall transfer all the days of sick leave credit and annual leave credit that the retirement system employee has accumulated pursuant to this section. At the time of such a transfer, the employee shall immediately begin to accrue annual and sick leave as granted at the time of the transfer by the receiving agency according to the employee’s continuous years worked.
V-a. The board of trustees shall have the power to purchase, receive, take by grant, gift, devise, bequest, or otherwise acquire, own, hold, improve, employ, use, and otherwise deal in and with property or any interest therein, whether tangible or intangible, for the purposes of this chapter.
VI. The board of trustees shall keep in convenient form such data as may be necessary for actuarial valuation of the various funds of the retirement system and for checking the experience of the system.
VII. The board of trustees shall keep a record of all its proceedings. It shall annually make a report showing the fiscal transactions of the retirement system for the preceding fiscal year, the amount of the accumulated cash and securities of the system and the last balance sheet showing the financial condition of the system by means of an actuarial valuation of the assets and liabilities of the system, and shall file the same with the secretary of state.
VII-a. The board of trustees shall submit a report each quarter by January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1, to the chairpersons of the house and senate executive departments and administration committees. Such report shall describe recent board actions including any changes to actuarial assumptions and investment returns.
VIII. Immediately after the establishment of the retirement system, the board of trustees shall adopt mortality and service tables for use in all calculations in connection with the system, and shall certify the rates of contribution payable under the provisions hereof. The board of trustees shall also determine from time to time the rate or rates of regular interest for use in all calculations, except as otherwise provided, with the rate of 4 percent per annum compounded annually applicable from the date of establishment until changed by the board.
IX. In 1970, and at least once in each 5-year period thereafter, the board shall have an actuary make an actuarial investigation into the mortality, service and compensation experience of the members and beneficiaries of the retirement system, and a valuation of the assets and liabilities of its funds, and taking into account the result of such investigation and valuation, the board shall adopt such mortality, service and other tables as shall be deemed necessary, and certify the rates of contribution payable under the provisions of this chapter.
X. On the basis of regular interest and the tables last adopted by the board of trustees, the board shall have an actuary make periodic valuations of the contingent assets and liabilities of the funds of the retirement system. Such valuations shall be prepared at least once in each 2-year period commencing June 30, 1977.
XI. The board of trustees shall annually notify each active member of the amount of his earnable compensation, contributions deducted, and interest credited on his contributions during the previous fiscal year; the total of his member annuity savings fund; his date of birth; his accrued service credits; and such other information as the board of trustees believe will inform the member of his status in the system. The notice shall be prepared prior to the end of each calendar year based on information through June 30 of such year. The first notice shall be due by December 31, 1976.
XII. The executive director appointed pursuant to N.H. Rev. Stat. § 100-A:44 shall notify the selectmen of all towns, all city councils, and the superintendent or chief fiscal officer of all school districts within 10 days of the introduction and within 30 days of the enactment of any legislative measure relative to the retirement systems which would affect the retirement system costs to cities, towns and school districts. For the purposes of this paragraph, “legislative measure” shall mean any bill or joint resolution introduced in either the senate or the house of representatives but shall not include amendments to bills or joint resolutions.
XIII. Administrative Cost Assessment. Other provisions of law notwithstanding, the cost of administration of the retirement system as provided in this section shall be a charge upon the funds of the retirement system. The amount of administrative expense recorded monthly by the department of administrative service, division of accounting services, shall be paid to the state treasurer by the board of trustees. The board shall biennially review the administrative expenses for the previous biennium and shall submit in a budget for legislative appropriation, those amounts that the board, in its reasonable discretion, may deem necessary for the efficient operation of the system. Administrative balances accrued prior to June 30, 2001 shall be retained by the retirement system and expended for ongoing operations.
XIII-a. Notwithstanding the requirements of paragraph XIII, the cost to the retirement system of the actuarial and professional assessment of proposed legislation required by N.H. Rev. Stat. § 14:44 shall be initially paid from assets of the retirement system, but shall be submitted to the governor for reimbursement. Not later than 30 days after the adjournment of each legislative session, the governor shall reimburse the retirement system for such costs. The governor is authorized to draw a warrant for said sum out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.
XIV. The board of trustees shall have the authority to recover for the retirement system any benefits deemed not payable under this chapter as a result of a death of any retiree or beneficiary, or as the result of the remarriage of a surviving spouse in receipt of benefits.
XV. The board of trustees shall, consistent with N.H. Rev. Stat. § 21-I:13, V, provide the commissioner of the department of administrative services with information necessary for the commissioner to carry out the responsibilities set forth in N.H. Rev. Stat. § 21-I:27, including such information as the name and social security number of each covered retiree, spouse, and dependent; the retiree agency-identifying information in a format compatible with the billing needs of the department; and such other information that the commissioner of the department of administrative services shall request in order to carry out the retiree health benefits program administration.
XVI. Access to Information From Vital Records for Retirement System Purposes. The retirement system shall have a direct and tangible interest in death, marriage, and divorce vital records information of members and beneficiaries, limited to name of registrant, date of birth, place of birth, social security number, date of vital event, place of vital event, marital status, and name of spouse. The secretary of state and the executive director of the New Hampshire retirement system shall enter into a memorandum of understanding for the purposes of delineating specific procedures for access to this limited data set.