Ohio Code 3307.14 – Creation of funds – trustees
The state teachers retirement board shall be the trustee of certain funds hereby created as follows:
Terms Used In Ohio Code 3307.14
- Actuary: means an actuarial professional contracted with or employed by the state teachers retirement board, who shall be either of the following:
(1) A member of the American academy of actuaries;
(2) A firm, partnership, or corporation of which at least one person is a member of the American academy of actuaries. See Ohio Code 3307.01
- 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.
- Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
- Beneficiary: means any person eligible to receive, or in receipt of, a retirement allowance or other benefit provided by this chapter. See Ohio Code 3307.01
- compensation: includes amounts paid by an employer as a retroactive payment of earnings, damages, or back pay pursuant to a court order, court-adopted settlement agreement, or other settlement agreement if the retirement system receives both of the following:
(i) Teacher and employer contributions under sections 3307. See Ohio Code 3307.01
- Contributor: means any person who has an account in the teachers' savings fund or defined contribution fund, except that "contributor" does not mean a member or retirant's surviving spouse with an account in an STRS defined contribution plan. See Ohio Code 3307.01
- Employer: means the board of education, school district, governing authority of any community school established under Chapter 3314 of the Revised Code, a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics school established under Chapter 3326 of the Revised Code, college, university, institution, or other agency within the state by which a teacher is employed and paid. See Ohio Code 3307.01
- Employer contribution: means the amount paid by an employer, as determined by the employer rate, including the normal and deficiency rates, contributions, and funds wherever used in this chapter. See Ohio Code 3307.01
- Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
- Member: means any person included in the membership of the state teachers retirement system, which shall consist of all teachers and contributors as defined in divisions (B) and (D) of this section and all disability benefit recipients, as defined in section 3307. See Ohio Code 3307.01
- state: means the state of Ohio. See Ohio Code 1.59
- STRS defined benefit plan: means the plan described in sections 3307. See Ohio Code 3307.01
- STRS defined contribution plan: means the plans established under section 3307. See Ohio Code 3307.01
- Superannuate: means both of the following:
(1) A former teacher receiving from the system a retirement allowance under section 3307. See Ohio Code 3307.01
- Teacher: means all of the following:
(a) Any person paid from public funds and employed in the public schools of the state under any type of contract described in section 3311. See Ohio Code 3307.01
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
- Year: means the year beginning the first day of July and ending with the thirtieth day of June next following, except that for the purpose of determining final average salary under the plan described in sections 3307. See Ohio Code 3307.01
(A) The “teachers’ savings fund” is the fund in which shall be accumulated the contributions deducted from the compensation of teachers participating in the STRS defined benefit plan, as provided by section 3307.26 of the Revised Code, together with the interest credited thereon. Such accumulated contributions refunded upon withdrawal, or payable to an estate or beneficiary as provided in this chapter, shall be paid from this fund. Any accumulated contributions forfeited by the failure of a contributor, an estate, or a beneficiary to claim the same shall be transferred from this fund to the guarantee fund. The accumulated contributions of a member or of a teacher who qualifies for a benefit under section 3307.35 of the Revised Code shall be transferred at the member’s or teacher’s retirement from the teachers’ savings fund to the annuity and pension reserve fund. The accumulated contributions of a member who dies prior to superannuation retirement that are forfeited by the qualified beneficiary in exchange for monthly survivor benefits, as provided by section 3307.66 of the Revised Code, shall be transferred to the survivors’ benefit fund. The accumulated contributions of a superannuate or other system retirant as defined in section 3307.35 of the Revised Code shall be transferred to the survivors’ benefit fund for payment of a lump-sum benefit to a beneficiary as provided in that section. As used in this division, “accumulated contributions” has the same meaning as in section 3307.50 of the Revised Code.
(B) The “employers’ trust fund” is the fund to which the employer contribution made on behalf of a teacher participating in the STRS defined benefit plan shall be credited and in which shall be accumulated the reserves held in trust for the payment of all pensions or other benefits provided by sections 3307.35, 3307.58, 3307.59, 3307.60, 3307.63, 3307.631, 3307.66, and 3307.6912 of the Revised Code, to teachers retiring or receiving disability benefits in the future or to their qualified beneficiaries, and from which the reserves for such pensions and other benefits shall be transferred to the annuity and pension reserve fund and to the survivors’ benefit fund. The balances as of August 31, 1957, in the employers accumulation fund shall be transferred to this fund. As of September 1, 1957, an additional amount shall be transferred from the employers’ trust fund to the annuity and pension reserve fund in the amount required to complete the funding of the prior service, as defined in section 3307.50 of the Revised Code, and military service pensions then payable.
(C) The “annuity and pension reserve fund” is the fund from which shall be paid all annuities, pensions, and disability benefits under the STRS defined benefit plan and annuities payable under section 3307.352 of the Revised Code for which reserves have been transferred from the teachers’ savings fund and the employers’ trust fund.
(D) The “survivors’ benefit fund” is the fund from which shall be paid the survivors’ benefits provided by section 3307.66 of the Revised Code and the lump sum payment to beneficiaries as provided in section 3307.35 of the Revised Code, and to which shall be transferred from the employers’ trust fund the amount required to fund all liabilities as of the end of each year.
(E) The “guarantee fund” is the fund from which interest is transferred and credited on the amounts in the funds described in divisions (A), (B), (C), and (D) of this section, and is a contingent fund from which the special requirements of said funds may be paid by transfer from this fund. All income derived from the investment of funds by the state teachers retirement board as trustee under section 3307.15 of the Revised Code, together with all gifts and bequests, or the income therefrom, shall be paid into this fund.
Any deficit occurring in any other fund that will not be covered by payments to that fund, as otherwise provided in this chapter, shall be paid by transfers of amounts from the guarantee fund to such fund or funds. Should the amount in the guarantee fund be insufficient at any time to meet the amounts payable therefrom, the amount of such deficiency, with regular interest, shall be paid by an additional employer rate of contribution as determined by the actuary and shall be approved by the board, and the amount of such additional employer contribution shall be credited to the guarantee fund.
The board may accept gifts and bequests. Any funds that may come into the possession of the board in this manner or that may be transferred from the teachers’ savings fund by reason of lack of a claimant, or any surplus in any fund created in divisions (A) to (F) of this section, or any other funds whose disposition is not otherwise provided for, shall be credited to the guarantee fund.
(F) The expense fund is the fund from which shall be paid the expenses for the administration and management of the state teachers retirement system as provided by this chapter.
(G) The “defined contribution fund” is the fund in which shall be accumulated the contributions deducted from the compensation of teachers participating in an STRS defined contribution plan, as provided in section 3307.26 of the Revised Code, together with any earnings and employer contributions credited thereon.
(H) The “health care fund” is the fund in which shall be accumulated any amounts allocated by the board for health care coverage described in section 3307.39 of the Revised Code, together with any earnings credited thereon. The fund shall be established under 26 U.S.C. § 401(h) as a separate account. It is the fund from which shall be paid health care coverage made available under section 3307.39 of the Revised Code, except that payments from the fund shall be limited as provided by 26 U.S.C. § 401(h).