2005 Arizona Revised Statutes - Revised Statutes §38-737  Employer contributions; definition

(L99, Ch. 327, sec. 5)

A. Employer contributions for the biennial period shall be a percentage of compensation of all employees of the employers, excluding the compensation of those employees who are members of the defined contribution program administered by ASRS, as determined by the ASRS actuary pursuant to this section for June 30 of the even-numbered year immediately preceding the biennial period, except that beginning with fiscal year 2001-2002 the contribution rate shall not be less than two per cent of compensation of all employees of the employers. The total employer contribution shall be determined on the projected unit credit method. Except as provided in subsection D of this section, the total employer contributions shall be equal to the employer normal cost plus the amount required to amortize the past service funding requirement over a rolling thirty-year period.

B. All contributions made by the employer and allocated to the fund established by section 38-712 are irrevocable and shall be used as benefits under this article or to pay expenses of ASRS.

C. The required employer contributions shall be determined every other year by an actuary who is selected by the board and who is a fellow of the society of actuaries. ASRS shall provide a preliminary report by November 1 and a final report by December 15 of each even-numbered year to the governor, the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the senate on the contribution rate for the two ensuing fiscal years.

D. For the fiscal years ending June 30, 1995 through June 30, 1997 and commencing with fiscal year ending June 30, 1998 through June 30, 2013 the funding period used to determine the valuation of ASRS and employer contributions payable beginning July 1 of the following year or biennial period shall be determined by the ASRS actuary using the following schedule:

Valuation for the Biennial period

Fiscal year ending Funding period ends

June 30, 1995 June 30, 2005

June 30, 1996 June 30, 2007

June 30, 1997 June 30, 2009

June 30, 1998 July 1, 1999 to June 30, 2001 June 30, 2011

June 30, 2000 July 1, 2001 to June 30, 2003 June 30, 2015

June 30, 2002 July 1, 2003 to June 30, 2005 June 30, 2019

June 30, 2004 July 1, 2005 to June 30, 2007 June 30, 2023

June 30, 2006 July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2009 June 30, 2027

June 30, 2008 July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2011 June 30, 2031

June 30, 2010 July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2013 June 30, 2035

June 30, 2012 July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2015 June 30, 2039

E. If at any time between June 30, 1995 and June 30, 2013 ASRS becomes underfunded, the funding period immediately and permanently reverts to the period provided in subsection A of this section.

F. For the purposes of this section "biennial period" means the two year period beginning on July 1 of an odd-numbered year and ending on June 30 of the next odd-numbered year.