2006 Louisiana Laws - RS 11:3688 — Administration

§3688.  Administration

A.  Board of Trustees.  (1)  The general administration and responsibility for the proper operation of the retirement system and for making effective the provisions of this Subpart are hereby vested in a Board of Trustees which shall be organized immediately after a majority of the trustees provided for in this section shall have qualified and taken the oath of office.

(2)(a)  The Board of Trustees shall consist of eight trustees as follows:

(i)  Two shall be members of the system with ten or more years of creditable service, elected by vote of membership for terms of five years each.

(ii)  One retiree of the system elected by vote of the retirees of the system for a term of three years.  The first retired member is to take office effective January 1, 1996.

(iii)  Two shall be members of the executive staff of the board of commissioners to be appointed by the board of commissioners for terms of three years each.

(iv)  The superintendent of the harbor police and the secretary of the retirement board shall be ex-officio members of the board.

(b)  These members shall select an eighth trustee who shall not be an employee or a member of the dock board and who shall be experienced in investing money and who shall serve for a term of two years.

(3)  If a vacancy occurs in the office of a trustee, the vacancy shall be filled for the unexpired term in the same manner as the office was previously filled.

(4)  The trustees shall serve without compensation but they shall be reimbursed from the Expense Fund for all necessary expenses that they may incur through service on the Board.

(5)  Each trustee shall, within ten days after his appointment or election, take an oath of office that, so far as it devolves upon him, he will diligently and honestly administer the affairs of the said Board, and that he will not knowingly violate or willingly permit to be violated any of the provisions of law applicable to the retirement system.  Such oath shall be subscribed to by the member making it, and certified by the officer before whom it is taken, and immediately filed in the office of the Secretary of State.

(6)  Each trustee shall be entitled to one vote in the Board.  Four votes shall be necessary for a decision by the trustees at any meeting of said Board.

(7)  Subject to the limitations of this Subpart, the Board of Trustees shall, from time to time, establish rules and regulations for the administration of the funds created by this Subpart for the transaction of its business.

(8)  The Board of Trustees shall elect from its membership a Chairman and shall by a unanimous vote appoint a Secretary who shall be one of its members.  The Board of Trustees shall engage such actuarial and other services as shall be required to transact the business of the retirement system.  The compensation of all persons engaged by the Board of Trustees, and all other expenses of the Board necessary for the operation of the retirement system shall be paid at such rates and in such amounts as the Board of Trustees shall approve.

(9)  The Board of Trustees shall keep in convenient form such data as shall be necessary for actuarial valuation of the various funds of the retirement system, and for checking the experience of the system.

(10)  The Board of Trustees shall keep a record of all of its proceedings which shall be open to public inspection.  It shall publish annually 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 retirement system.

B.  Legal advisor.  The Attorney General shall be the legal advisor of the Board of Trustees.

C.  Medical board.  The Board of Trustees shall designate a Medical Board to be composed of three physicians not eligible to participate in the retirement system.  If required, other physicians may be employed to report on special cases.  The Medical Board shall arrange for and pass upon all medical examinations required under the provisions of this Subpart, and shall investigate all essential statements and certificates by or on behalf of a member in connection with an application for disability retirement, and shall report in writing to the Board of Trustees its conclusion and recommendations upon the matters referred to it.

D.  Actuary; duties and actuarial assumptions.  (1)  The Board of Trustees shall designate an actuary who shall be the technical advisor of the Board of Trustees on matters regarding the operation of the fund created by the provisions of this Subpart, and shall perform such other duties as are required in connection therewith.

(2)  Immediately after the establishment of the retirement system, the actuary shall make such investigation of the mortality, service and compensation experience of the members of the system as he shall recommend and the Board of Trustees shall authorize, and on the basis of such investigation he shall recommend for adoption by the Board of Trustees such tables and such rates as are required in Subparagraphs (3)(a) and (b) of this Section.  The Board of Trustees shall adopt tables and certify rates, and as soon as practicable thereafter the actuary shall make a valuation based on such tables and rates of the assets and liabilities of the funds created by this Subpart.

(3)  In the year of nineteen hundred seventy-two, and at least once in each five-year period thereafter, the actuary shall make an actuarial investigation into the mortality, service and compensation experience of the members and beneficiaries of the retirement system, and shall make a valuation of the assets and liabilities of the funds of the system, and taking into account the result of such investigation and valuation, the Board of Trustees shall:

(a)  Adopt for the retirement system such mortality, service and other tables as shall be deemed necessary.

(b)  Certify the rates of contribution payable by the employer on account of new entrants.

(4)  On the basis of such tables as the Board of Trustees shall adopt, the actuary shall make an annual valuation of the assets and liabilities of the funds of the system created by this Subpart.

(5)(a)  Unless different actuarial assumptions are formally adopted and disclosed, the following assumptions shall be used in determining actuarial equivalents:

(i)  Interest shall be compounded annually at the rate of seven percent per annum.

(ii)  Annuity rates shall be determined on the basis of the 1971 Group Annuity Unisex Mortality Tables.

(b)  The board of trustees may authorize the use of interest and mortality rates in determining the actuarial equivalents which are different from the actuarial assumptions used for other purposes in this Subpart.  Any change in such actuarial assumptions shall be considered a part of this retirement system and shall be considered an amendment to the provisions of this Section.  In order to be effective, such change must be formally adopted by the board of trustees and disclosed to members of the retirement system.

Designated from Acts 1971, No. 71, §8 by Acts 1991, No. 74, §3, eff. June 25, 1991; Acts 1995, No. 909, §1; Acts 1997, No. 10, §1; Acts 1998, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 97, §1, eff. May 5, 1998.