## A~ISTIN aa. TXXAS PRICE DANIEL ATTORNEY GENERA,. September27,1948

Hon. Gee. H. Sheppard Opinion’ .fto. V-692 Comptroller of Pub&loAoo@uuts Austin, Texns ,Re: 

## Chiriae ofBoard of h?ustees of Riplojeeb Ret&emeat System to Coq&rol$er to eq**able** ttensfer of funds ,bJ Stite to the, RmDear Sir:

Your recent requert 

### ror an opinion by this 

### Depertaent concmm the Mcrntion that mustbe contained in the eertifioate o$ t&0Wal4 of Trrulteee of the $aployees Retirahent Spetem te the -#l&m to enable the transfer of fun& ae kW oe~tributla?4 tf the Stats to the Employees Retirsmnt Fund, Your 16 ,er contaI4ed’ the following:

“The question has ari@bg in this DsprPtsent as to whether the St&to Board of Trustees shall certify to the CemptreUer the total amount of the oompensation paid such members of the Retlreaent Syatrm, or whether the Comptroller ie authorized to aooept the certificate of the State Board Of **Trustbb8** lfW6h CePt iies the amount of 

### emp1oJQoIii**pbr ,oent (5$ retirement deductions repente&t?~tbb Retlreae;t Srsten for the payroll Or uj ivwi month. shall therefore 

### thanlc you.to aat

Vire~thtll dspartme@ in the. oorreet 

### pq6bduPb in 

### thepremises a Sect$on 62(a), ktioto 16 OSt&Texas Const’ltution, provtdes,’ In papt, a8 ?a~%ws:

“The Legislature 

### shallhar~.~tlw rlht to levy taxes to 

### provide' a 

### &tiF@!Wmt, is-

8 1 ability and Death-Compensation Pimd for the appointive officers 

### andompl6feerof' the estate; provided that 

### thevlbutedHanrn(fee. H, Sheppard, page~2 (V-692)

for undred aftd out)any such person. Eighty Dollars (hphasis added throughArticle 62284 of Vernonqs Civil Statutes was passed pursuant to the power @ahed in Seotlon 62, Aptlcle 16 of the Constitution, papt of which iti quoted aboveo Peptinent p~oviaions of Article 6228a ape%

each memberto th

‘1. The ~plojoes Saving Fund. - The Employees Saving Fundshall be a fund in which shall be accumulated regulrr five pep cent (5$) contributions from the comepnsatlon members, lnoludlng ourrent intepeat earnings O ContPibutiona to and payment from the Employees Saving FIlndshall be madeas follows:

“a. Begimiry on the date of the establishment of the membership and full operation of ‘the ftetirement gJ6tQm

“trein oreated, which data should br tVe (2 to thme (3) months subsequent to the enactmerit of the Retirement Law, eaoh DQpartment of the State shall came to **be** deduoted from the 8alaPJ of each memberon each and every payroll of such department of the State for ba every pa~oll period, Sj.ve per cent? 5sdoS

## HOR. Gee. II. Sheppard, Page 3 (V-692 1

his earnable compensation, provided that the
sumof the deductions madefor a membershall not exceed CneHundredand Eighty Bollars ($180) during any one (1) year. In determining the amount earnable by a memberin a payroll period, the State bard of Trushes mayconsider the rate of annual compensation payable to such memberon the first day of the payroll period as continuing throughout suoh payrell period, and it may omit deduot2onm from compensation for any period less than a full payroll period if
an employee was not a memberon the first day of the payroll period, OD

The Department head of the Statebihili Gertsfy ts the State Board of Trustees on each and every payroll, or in such other manneraa said Board mayprescribe, the amounts @abe deducted; and each
or said amounlsahall **be deduoted;**  **ani** when ddducted ~&all be paid into said lbrpleyees Saving Fund, e Oe Y.ec, 8 11. Collectior 

## orContrlbutiens.

“1. The collectlen es members0oentributions shall be aa SellewsS

“b. !i’hetreasurer or bpopmr **diebum** ing officer or each State &eprtmemt on authority from the department herd shall makedeductions Sromaala&zis 

## 0sthe elaployees as ppovlded In this Act, and shall transmit monthly, 

## OP at such time as the State Board of Trustees shall deoignate
a certified copy of the paJl‘ol1 and the amountspecified to **be**dbduoted Shall 

## bs paid tb the Employees Sivlngs Fund OSthe Employees Retirement System, aStar which the’ Executive Secretary of the Board ef TrrtN6 shall m&Pe a rEN#d 

## as all receipts and turn payments over to the Treaeurer of the State of Texas and by himbe credited to the Employees Saving Fad, o o o 

## '2, ‘Thecollection of the State’s contributions shall be made as Sollews:Hon. Gee. H, Sheppard, paue 4 (V-692)



### “a* Fromand after the date of the establishment ef the membership and full operation of the Retirement System created by this Act takes effect, there is hereby allocated and 

### rpproprieted’to the Rmplogees Retirement System of Texas, in accordance with this Act, 

### fromthe several funds from which the employeea benefited by this Act; receive their reepectiv salaries, a mm equal to five per cent 

### % 55) of the total oompmsatien **paid** to the said respective emplo ees said Retirement 13 whoare membersof

ystem and whese compenea-



### “d. For the purpose of computing the total amount of the compensation of

Fromthe provisions of the Constitution above set out, it Is apparent that a matching of contributions’ by the State of those madeby,empleyees to the Employees Retirement System was intended. 

### Bo one 

### willdoubtt&t the intention or the Legislature In the enacting of Article6228a, Vernonqs Civil Statutes, was that of carrying into effect the provisions, and the intent manifested therein, of Section 16a, Article 16 of the Censtltution. Anysystem under which the State 

### wouldcontribute
a different amount from that aontrlbuted by the employees would not be In accordance with the general scheme of the law. But a system under which the State contributes the sameamountas the employees would definitely be with-Ron. (too. H. Sheppard, page 5 (V-690)

in the intent manifested In the aenstltutional and legislative provisions. Theproper amount to be transferred **by** the Comptroller to the Retirement Fundas the contributions of the State would be an aaount equal to the contributions of memberemployees, ao long as the contributions of memberemployees do not exceed five per cent (5%) of the compensation paid by the State to the Individual employees and shall in no one ear exceed the
sumof OneHundredand Eighty Dollars ($I&) for any menber

. There are instances where a literal compliance with the provisions madein tion 8B, of Artlale 

### 6228 aragraph a, Subsection 2 of Seca would result in the violation of the constitutional provisions madein Seatlon 16a, Article 16 of our Constitution. For example, members of the Retirement System whoare 70years of age or older 

### anawhohave~been State employees for ten or more years do net contribute to the Retlrenmt Fund, 

### Their pay, however, would be included in 

### a ~ertlficate of the total amount of compensation paid to Retirement System members. Under the prorlsl#n3 of the paragraph of the Act above mentioned, th) Comptroller 

### weoldtransferan amount equal to 5s of such pay Into the Retirement Fund, the result be%blga transfer of State mmey into the fund wheaMIdontrlbution had been madeby 

### members of the Retirement System.

A certificate of the State Boar e Trustees ef the amount of employees’ five peroent 5s retire

### t f ment

### deductionsreported to the ReOirement System fW the payrell of any given month Is in eubetantlal aeqllanob with the Act, and is more ef 

### ansceurrte oertifloate
or ract upon whlah the Comptroller aa11

### rltieat the transrer of State 

### fads ceneonant with the legirlatlve intent than a certiriaate 

## 0r the total amount of aonpensatlen paid to Retirement System 

## mdbe~rs.Suaha aonstruction Is a modifiaation or the literal meaning of the 

### languageused in paragraph a, Subeectlon’2 of SSCtlon 8b of the Retirement Aat, ‘In order to carry out the intent of the Legielat@re &na more logical manner. we are, therefore, ef the 

### opinionthat the Comptroller aan acaeBt the certificates of the Board of Trustees of the RetLrement System which aePtffy the 

### ameuutef employees1 fiti4 per cent (5s) deduotlene reported to the RotirBment System. Such certificates lay be rrrd a0 the baees 

## rup makl.nEthe aontributione of tha St8te to the Employeee Retirement Fund.Hon. Ooo. H. Sheppard, page 6 (V-692)

The State Comptrsller Is authorized to accept the certificate of the Board of Trustees of the Employees Retirement Systemwhich certifies the amount of the five per oent (5%) deductions from the. aompensation of aembcr employees reported to the Retirement System. The Comptroller mayuse suah Ecertificate as the basis for making the contribution of the State to the Retirement Fund.

Yours very truly, AmQluap ~BmRMaOFTEXAS

cBK:Eli

.