Arizona Laws 38-712. ASRS purpose; trust fund
A. The primary intent of ASRS is to:
Terms Used In Arizona Laws 38-712
- ASRS: means the Arizona state retirement system established by this article. See Arizona Laws 38-711
- Compensation: means :
(a) For members whose membership began on or before December 31, 2019, the gross amount paid to a member by an employer as salary or wages, including amounts that are subject to deferred compensation or tax shelter agreements, for services rendered to or for an employer, or that would have been paid to the member except for the member's election or a legal requirement that all or part of the gross amount be used for other purposes, but does not include amounts paid in excess of compensation limits established in section 38-746. See Arizona Laws 38-711
- Employer: means :
(a) This state. See Arizona Laws 38-711
- Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
- Interest: means the assumed actuarial investment earnings rate approved by the board. See Arizona Laws 38-711
- Internal revenue code: means the United States internal revenue code of 1986, as amended. See Arizona Laws 38-711
- Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
- Person: includes a corporation, company, partnership, firm, association or society, as well as a natural person. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- State: means this state, including any department, office, board, commission, agency, institution or other instrumentality of this state. See Arizona Laws 38-711
1. Provide an incentive in the recruitment and retention of employees of the highest possible quality.
2. Contribute toward providing a total compensation package that is generally equivalent to comparable employment in other public and private organizations in this state.
3. Provide a retirement system that encourages employees to remain in service for periods of time that will provide public employers with the full benefit of the training and experience gained by the employees.
4. Provide an orderly method of promoting and maintaining a high level of service to the public through an equitable separation procedure that is available to employees at retirement or on becoming a person with a disability.
5. Provide a base retirement benefit that is less than one hundred per cent of a member’s post-retirement income requirements, recognizing that personal savings and social security also contribute toward total post-retirement income requirements.
B. ASRS is a defined benefit plan as described in section 414(j) of the internal revenue code. As provided in section 38-771, some eligible members of ASRS are entitled to benefits under the defined contribution program administered by ASRS. With respect to the portion of ASRS that provides benefits to members entitled to benefits under the defined contribution program that are derived from employer contributions and that are based partly on the balance of the separate account of a member, ASRS is a plan described in section 414(k) of the internal revenue code and shall comply with all applicable provisions of section 414(k) of the internal revenue code.
C. A public employee’s retirement trust fund is established to afford an optimum degree of security to the members of ASRS. All monies and other assets of ASRS are a part of the trust fund. All accounts, depositories and funds of ASRS are included within the trust fund.
D. Except as provided in section 38-738, an employer does not have a beneficial interest in any asset of the trust fund, and no part of the trust fund may ever revert to or be paid, directly or indirectly, to an employer. All liabilities with respect to members and their beneficiaries shall be satisfied before any part of the corpus or income of the trust fund is used for or diverted to purposes other than for the exclusive benefit of members or their beneficiaries.