Arizona Laws 38-844.05. Deferred retirement option benefits and participation accounts
A. A deferred retirement option plan participation account is an account established within the system on behalf of each deferred retirement option plan participant. All benefits accrued pursuant to this article shall be accounted for in the deferred retirement option plan participation account. A deferred retirement option plan participant does not have a claim on the assets of the system with respect to the member’s deferred retirement option plan participation account and assets shall not be set aside for any deferred retirement option plan participant that are separate from all other system assets.
Terms Used In Arizona Laws 38-844.05
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Average monthly benefit compensation: means the result obtained by dividing the total compensation paid to an employee during a considered period by the number of months, including fractional months, in which such compensation was received. See Arizona Laws 38-842
- Board: means the board of trustees of the system, who are the persons appointed to invest and operate the fund. See Arizona Laws 38-842
- Credited service: means the member's total period of service before the member's effective date of participation, plus those compensated periods of the member's service thereafter for which the member made contributions to the fund. See Arizona Laws 38-842
- Participant: means a member who is subject to a domestic relations order. See Arizona Laws 38-842
- System: means the public safety personnel retirement system established by this article. See Arizona Laws 38-842
B. All amounts credited to a member’s deferred retirement option plan participation account are fully vested.
C. A member’s deferred retirement option plan participation account shall be credited with the following:
1. An amount, credited monthly, that is computed in the same manner as a normal retirement benefit using the factors of credited service and average monthly benefit compensation in effect on the date of deferred retirement option plan participation.
2. For the first sixty months, an amount, credited monthly, that represents interest on the amount credited pursuant to paragraph 1 of this subsection at a rate equal to the assumed rate of return determined by the board.
D. Beginning on or before January 1, 2023, at the end of the first sixty-month period, for a member who extended the member’s period of participation in the deferred retirement option plan past sixty months, the system shall transfer the accumulated balance of a member’s deferred retirement option plan participation account to an account created for the member in a defined contribution plan. For the subsequent period of time in the deferred retirement option plan, up to twenty-four months, all deferred retirement option plan benefits that are accrued and credited monthly pursuant to subsection C, paragraph 1 of this section shall be deposited in the member’s defined contribution plan account. A member may not withdraw the assets of the member’s defined contribution plan account until the member terminates employment.
E. The participant is not entitled to receive any amount prescribed by Section 38-856.05 or 38-857 during the deferred retirement option plan participation period.