A~ISTIN aa. TXXAS PRICE DANIEL ATTORNEY GENERA,. 

September 27, 1948 

Hon. Gee. H. Sheppard Opinion’ .fto. V-692 

Comptroller of Pub&lo Aoo@uuts 

Austin, Texns ,Re: Chiriae of Board 

of h?ustees of Riplojeeb Ret&emeat System 

to Coq&rol$er to eqable ttensfer of funds 

,bJ Stite to the, RmDear Sir: 

Your recent requert ror an opinion by this Depertaent concmm the Mcrntion that must be contained 

in the eertifioate o$ t&0 Wal4 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 emp1oJQoI ii** pbr ,oent (5$ retirement deductions repente&t?~tbb Retlreae;t 

Srsten for the payroll Or uj ivwi month. 

shall therefore thanlc you .to a at Vire~thtll dspartme@ in the. oorreet pq6bduPb in the premises a 

Sect$on 62(a), ktioto 16 OS t&Texas Const’ltution, provtdes,’ In papt, a8 ?a~%ws: 

“The Legislature shall har~.~tlw rl ht 

to levy taxes to provide' a &tiF@!Wmt, 8 is- 1 

ability and Death-Compensation Pimd for the 

appointive officers and ompl6feer of' the 

estate; provided that the vlbuted 
Han rn (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 

above o Peptinent p~oviaions of Article 6228a ape% 

each member to th 

‘1. The ~plojoes Saving Fund. - The 

Employees Saving Fund shall 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 FIlnd shall be 

made as follows: 

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

“t 

rein 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 member on 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 

sum of the deductions made for a member shall 

not exceed Cne Hundred and Eighty Bollars 

($180) during any one (1) year. In determining the amount earnable by a member in a 

payroll period, the State bard of Trushes 

may consider the rate of annual compensation payable to such member on 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 member on the first 

day of the payroll period, O D 

The Department head of the 

Statebihili Gertsfy ts the State Board of 

Trustees on each and every payroll, or in 

such other manner aa said Board may prescribe, the amounts @a be deducted; and each 

or said amounls ahall be deduoted; ani when 

ddducted ~&all be paid into said lbrpleyees 

Saving Fund, e O e 

Y.ec, 8 11. Collectior or Contrlbutiens. 

“1. The collectlen es members0 oentributions shall be aa SellewsS 

“b. !i’he treasurer or bpopmr diebuming officer or each State &eprtmemt on 

authority from the department herd shall 

make deductions Srom aala&zis 0s the 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 

amount specified to be dbduoted Shall bs 

paid tb the Employees Sivlngs Fund OS the 

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 him be 

credited to the Employees Saving Fad, o o o 

'2, ‘The collection of the State’s 

contributions shall be made as Sollews: 
Hon. Gee. H, Sheppard, paue 4 (V-692) 

“a* From and 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, from the 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 

who are members of 

ystem and whese compenea- 

“d. For the purpose of computing 

the total amount of the compensation of 

From the provisions of the Constitution above 

set out, it Is apparent that a matching of contributions’ 

by the State of those made by,empleyees to the Employees 

Retirement System was intended. Bo one will doubt t&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. Any system under which the State would contribute 

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 same amount as the employees would definitely be with- 
Ron. (too. H. Sheppard, page 5 (V-690) 

in the intent manifested In the aenstltutional and legislative provisions. The proper amount to be transferred by the Comptroller to the Retirement Fund as the 

contributions of the State would be an aaount equal to 

the contributions of member employees, ao long as the 

contributions of member employees 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 

sum of One Hundred and Eighty Dollars ($I&) for any menber . There are instances where a literal compliance with 

the provisions made in 

tion 8B, of Artlale 622 8 

aragraph a, Subsection 2 of Seca would result in the violation 

of the constitutional provisions made in Seatlon 16a, 

Article 16 of our Constitution. For example, members 

of the Retirement System who are 70 years of age or 

older ana who have~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 weold transfer an 

amount equal to 5s of such pay Into the Retirement Fund, 

the result be%blg a transfer of State mmey into the fund 

whea MI dontrlbution had been made by members of the Retirement System. 

A certificate of the State Boar e Trustees 

ef the amount of employees’ five peroent t 5s f retirement deductions reported to the ReOirement System fW 

the payrell of any given month Is in eubetantlal aeqllanob with the Act, and is more ef an sceurrte 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. Suah a aonstruction Is a modifiaation or the literal meaning of 

the language used in paragraph a, Subeectlon’2 of SSCtlon 8b of the Retirement Aat, ‘In order to carry out the 

intent of the Legielat@re &n a more logical manner. we 

are, therefore, ef the opinion that the Comptroller aan 

acaeBt the certificates of the Board of Trustees of the 

RetLrement System which aePtffy the ameuut ef employees1 

fiti4 per cent (5s) deduotlene reported to the RotirBment 

System. Such certificates lay be rrrd a0 the baees rup 

makl.nE the 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 System which certifies the amount of the five 

per oent (5%) deductions from the. aompensation of aembcr employees reported to the 

Retirement System. The Comptroller may use 

suah E certificate as the basis for making 

the contribution of the State to the Retirement Fund. 

Yours very truly, 

AmQluap ~BmRMa OF TEXAS 

cBK:Eli 

.