Arizona Laws 38-814. Termination of plan; adjustment and refund
A. If the plan terminates, each member’s accrued benefits to the date of termination become one hundred percent nonforfeitable to the extent funded. After provision is made for all expenses of the plan, including expenses of liquidation, the assets of the plan shall be allocated by the payment or provision for the payment of benefits in the following order of preference:
Terms Used In Arizona Laws 38-814
- Accumulated contributions: means the sum of all member contributions deducted from the member's salary pursuant to section 38-810, subsection A plus the amount transferred to the fund on behalf of the member plus the amount deposited in the fund pursuant to section 38-816. See Arizona Laws 38-801
- Actuarial equivalent: means equality in present value of the aggregate amounts expected to be received under two different forms of payment, based on mortality and interest assumptions adopted by the board. See Arizona Laws 38-801
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Board: means the board of trustees of the system. See Arizona Laws 38-801
- Elected official: means :
(a) Every elected official of this state who was a member of the plan on December 31, 2013. See Arizona Laws 38-801
- Employer: means a department, agency or political subdivision of this state that makes employer contributions to the plan pursuant to section 38-810 on behalf of an elected official who participates in the plan. See Arizona Laws 38-801
- 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
- including: means not limited to and is not a term of exclusion. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Month: means a calendar month unless otherwise expressed. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Pension: means a series of monthly payments to a person who is entitled to receive benefits under the plan. See Arizona Laws 38-801
- Person: includes a corporation, company, partnership, firm, association or society, as well as a natural person. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Plan: means the elected officials' retirement plan. See Arizona Laws 38-801
1. To pay each elected official and nonretired former elected official an amount equal to his accumulated contributions.
2. To continue to pay pensions to retired members or their beneficiaries.
3. To provide for potential rights of elected officials and former elected officials on an equitable and nondiscriminatory basis according to generally accepted actuarial principles.
4. To pay any excess to this state.
B. The allocations in subsection A of this section may be implemented through the existing trust, a new trust instrument for that purpose or the purchase by the board of insurance company contracts, or by a combination of these methods. An elected official has no rights or claims on the plan or this state beyond the capacity of the assets held by the board to provide benefits in accordance with subsection A of this section.
C. If the allocations produce a pension of less than twenty-five dollars per month for any person, the board may pay a lump sum of actuarial equivalent value in lieu of the pension.
D. If more than the correct amount of employer or member contributions is paid into the plan by an employer through a mistake of fact, the board shall return those contributions to the employer if the employer requests return of the contributions within one year after the date of the overpayment. The board may not pay an employer earnings attributable to excess contributions but shall reduce the amount returned to an employer pursuant to this subsection by the amount of losses attributable to the excess contributions.