AK Stat § 14.25.220 (2021)
2021 Alaska Statutes|Title 14. Education, Libraries, and Museums|Chapter 25. Teachers' Retirement|Article 2. Teachers' Defined Benefit Retirement Plan.|Sec. 14.25.220. Definitions.

In AS 14.25.009 - 14.25.220, unless the context requires otherwise, (1) “active member” means a member who is employed by an employer, is receiving compensation on a full-time or part-time basis and is making contributions to the plan, or a member making contributions under AS 14.20.330 or 14.20.345; (2) “actuarial adjustment” means the adjustment necessary to obtain equality in value of the aggregate expected payments under two different forms of pension payments, considering expected mortality and interest earnings on the basis of assumptions, factors, and methods specified in regulations issued under the plan that are formally adopted by the board and that clearly preclude employer discretion in the determination of the amount of any member's benefit; (3) “administrator” means the commissioner of administration or the commissioner's designee under AS 14.25.003; (4) “annuitant” means a retired member or a disabled member who is receiving a benefit under this plan; (5) “average base salary” means the result obtained by dividing the sum of the member's three highest years' base salary by three, or if a member does not have three years base salary, then by dividing the sum of all base salaries by the number of years of base salary; the base salary for a year in which credit is granted for disability totaling more than one-third of a year may not be used in the computation of the average base salary; the base salary in a school year for which the member receives compensation for less than two-thirds of a year may not be used in the computation of the average base salary; if compensation is received for more than two-thirds of a year, the full base salary for that school year shall be used in the computation of the average base salary; (6) “base salary” (A) means the total remuneration payable under contract for a full year of membership service, including addenda to the contract but, for a member first hired on or after July 1, 1996, does not include remuneration in excess of the limitations set out in 26 U.S.C. 401(a)(17); (B) has the same meaning as “compensation” under AS 39.35.680(9) when applied to a state legislator who elects membership under AS 14.25.040(b); (7) “beneficiary” means a person designated by a member to receive benefits that may be due from the plan upon the member's death; (8) “BIA service” means service, including partial years, as a teacher, a certificated person employed in a full-time position requiring a teaching certificate as a condition of employment, or a Bureau of Indian Affairs professional educator in a school or school system contracted or operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Alaska; (9) “board” means the Alaska Retirement Management Board established under AS 37.10.210; (10) “compensation” means the total remuneration paid under contract to a member for services rendered during a school year, including cost-of-living differentials, payments for leave that is actually used by the member, the amount by which the member's wages are reduced under AS 39.30.150(c), an amount that is contributed by the employer under a salary reduction agreement and that is not includable in the gross income of the employee under 26 U.S.C. 125 or 132(f)(4), and the amount deferred under an employer-sponsored deferred compensation plan or the tax shelter annuity plan approved by the Department of Education and Early Development, but does not include retirement benefits, welfare benefits, per diem, expense allowances, workers' compensation payments, or payments for leave not used by the member, whether those leave payments are scheduled payments, lump-sum payments, donations, or cash-ins; for purposes of AS 14.25.050, compensation paid includes any payment made after June 30 of a school year for services rendered before the end of the school year; (11) “credited service” means (A) all membership service as defined in this section, territorial employment as defined in this section, plus outside, military, and Alaska BIA service, with outside and military service limited to 10 years except under the conditions set out in AS 14.25.100; (B) for purposes of eligibility for benefits under AS 14.25.009 - 14.25.220, service for which no indebtedness is owed; (12) “deferred vested member” means an inactive member who meets the service requirements of a vested member; (13) “dependent child” means an unmarried child of a member, including an adopted child, who is dependent upon the member for support and who is either (A) less than 19 years old, or (B) less than 23 years old and registered at and attending on a full-time basis an accredited educational or technical institution recognized by the Department of Education and Early Development; the age limits set out in this paragraph do not apply to a child who is totally and permanently disabled; (14) “disabled member” means a member who is terminated, who has not received a refund from the plan, and who is receiving a disability benefit from the plan; (15) “early retirement” means retirement under AS 14.25.110(b); (16) “employer” means a public school district, the Board of Regents of the University of Alaska, the Department of Education and Early Development, the Regional Resource Centers, or the state legislature with respect to a state legislator who elects membership under AS 14.25.040(b); (17) “fiscal year” means the period beginning on July 1 and ending on June 30 of the following calendar year; (18) “former member” means a member who is terminated and who received a total refund of the balance of the mandatory contribution account, or who has requested in writing a refund of the balance of the mandatory contribution account; (19) “full-time teacher” means a teacher occupying a position requiring teaching on a regular basis for the normal work period per day or week at a teaching assignment, excluding teaching as an assistant or graduate assistant or teaching on a substitute, temporary, or per diem basis; (20) “inactive teacher or member” means a member who is terminated and who has not received a refund from the plan or a member who is on leave of absence and who is not making contributions under AS 14.20.345; (21) “Internal Revenue Code” means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended; (22) “member contribution account” means the total maintained by the plan of the member's mandatory contributions, indebtedness principal and interest payments, interest credited to each of those accounts, and adjustments to the account in accordance with AS 14.25.173; (23) “membership service” means (A) full or part-time service as a teacher in a public school in the Territory or State of Alaska, or both, under the supervision and control of the Territorial Board of Education or the Department of Education and Early Development or the school board of a city, regional educational attendance area, or borough school district; (B) full-time or part-time teaching at the University of Alaska or a full-time administrative position at the University of Alaska that requires academic standing and that has been approved for inclusion in the plan by the administrator; (C) any period during which the teacher receives a disability benefit under this plan or is on an approved sabbatical leave granted in accordance with AS 14.20.310; (D) continuous service as a state legislator when performed by a state legislator who elects membership under AS 14.25.040(b), subject to the requirements of AS 14.25.040(c); (E) full-time or part-time service as an employee of the Special Education Service Agency, subject to the requirements of AS 14.25.047; or (F) full-time or part-time service as an Alaska Native language or culture expert, subject to the requirements of AS 14.25.048; (24) “military service” means active duty in the armed forces of the United States; (25) “nonpublic school” means a school established by an agency other than a state that is primarily supported by other than public funds, and operation of whose program rests with other than publicly elected or appointed officials, and is state approved or accredited; (26) “non-vested member” means an active or inactive member who does not meet the requirements of a vested member or deferred vested member; (27) “normal retirement” means retirement under AS 14.25.110(a); (28) “outside service” means service for full years as defined by 47(A)(x) and 47(B)(xi) of this section (A) as a certificated full-time elementary or secondary teacher or a certificated person in a full-time position requiring a teaching certificate as a condition of employment in an out-of-state public school within the United States, or in a school outside the United States supported by funds of the United States; (B) as a certificated full-time elementary or secondary teacher or a certificated person in a full-time position requiring a teaching certificate as a condition of employment in an approved or accredited nonpublic school within the United States, or in a school outside the United States supported by funds of the United States; (C) in a full-time position requiring academic standing in an out-of-state institution of higher learning accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency as listed in the Education Directory - Colleges and Universities by the National Center for Education Statistics; (D) as a full-time teacher in an approved or accredited nonpublic institution of higher learning in Alaska; (29) “part-time teacher” means a teacher occupying a position requiring teaching on a regular basis for at least 50 percent of the normal workweek at a teaching assignment, excluding teaching as an assistant or graduate assistant, or teaching on a substitute, temporary, or per diem basis; (30) “past service liability” means the actuarially determined excess of the accrued liability of the plan over the value of the plan's assets, as of the date of the last actuarial valuation; (31) “permanent disability” means a physical or mental condition that, in the judgment of the administrator, based upon medical reports and other evidence satisfactory to the administrator, presumably prevents a member from satisfactorily performing the member's usual duties for the member's employer or the duties of another position or job that an employer makes available for which the member is qualified by training or education; (32) “plan” means the retirement benefit plan established under AS 14.25.009 - 14.25.220; (33) “prescribed rate of interest” means the rate of interest used for computing employer contributions, for preparing actuarial tables used by the plan, for crediting interest to members' contributions, and for charging interest on members' indebtedness accounts; (34) “public school” means a school operated by publicly elected or appointed school officials in which the program and activities are under the control of those officials and that is supported by public funds; (35) “qualified domestic relations order” means a divorce or dissolution judgment under AS 25.24, including an order approving a property settlement, that (A) creates or recognizes the existence of an alternate payee's right to, or assigns to an alternate payee the right to, receive all or a portion of the member contribution account or benefits payable with respect to a member; (B) sets out the name and last known mailing address, if any, of the member and of each alternate payee covered by the order; (C) sets out the amount or percentage of the member's benefit, or of any survivor's benefit, to be paid to the alternate payee, or sets out the manner in which that amount or percentage is to be determined; (D) sets out the number of payments or period to which the order applies; (E) sets out the plan to which the order applies; (F) does not require any type or form of benefit or any option not otherwise provided by AS 14.25.009 - 14.25.220; (G) does not require an increase of benefits in excess of the amount provided by AS 14.25.009 - 14.25.220, determined on the basis of actuarial value; and (H) does not require the payment, to an alternate payee, of benefits that are required to be paid to another alternate payee under another order previously determined to be a qualified domestic relations order; (36) “retired teacher or member” means a member who is terminated, who has not received a refund from the plan, and who is receiving a benefit, other than disability, from the plan; (37) “retirement” means that period of time from the first day of the month following (A) the date of termination; and (B) application for retirement in which a person is appointed to receive a retirement benefit, other than a disability benefit; (38) “retirement benefit” means the annuity received by a retired member from the plan; (39) “retirement fund” or “fund” means the fund in which the assets of the plan, including income and interest derived from the investment of money, are deposited and held; (40) “Retirement System of 1945” and “Retirement Fund of 1945” or like terms mean the system and fund established in sections 37-5-21 - 37-5-35, ACLA 1949; (41) “school year” means the 12-month period beginning July 1 of each year and ending June 30 of the following year; (42) “supplemental contribution account” means the account maintained by the plan to record the supplemental contributions of each member, including interest and adjustments to the account; (43) “system” means all retirement plans established under the teachers' retirement system; (44) “teacher” and “member” are used interchangeably under AS 14.25.009 - 14.25.220 and mean a person eligible to participate in the plan and who is covered by the plan, limited to (A) a certificated full-time or part-time elementary or secondary teacher, a certificated school nurse, or a certificated person in a position requiring a teaching certificate as a condition of employment in a public school of the state, the Department of Education and Early Development, or the Department of Labor and Workforce Development; (B) a full-time or part-time teacher of the University of Alaska or a person occupying a full-time administrative position at the University of Alaska that requires academic standing; the approval of the administrator must be obtained before an administrative position qualifies for membership in the plan; however, a teacher or administrative person at the university who is participating in a university retirement program under AS 14.40.661 - 14.40.799 is not a member under this plan; (C) a state legislator who elects membership under AS 14.25.040(b); (45) “territorial employment” means non-teaching employment with the Territory of Alaska as provided under AS 14.25.105; territorial employment is not membership service; (46) “vested member” or “vested teacher” means an active member who has completed either (A) 15 years of service, the last five of which have been membership service, for a member first hired before July 1, 1975; (B) eight years of membership service; (C) five years of membership and three years of BIA service; or (D) 12 school years of part-time membership service or 12 school years in each of which the member earned either part-time or full-time membership service; (47) “year of service” means service, except for military and territorial service, during the dates set for a school year; partial-year service credit is given for membership and BIA service as follows: (A) before July 1, 1969, during any school year, (i) less than 20 days, no credit; (ii) 20 days or more but less than 35 days, 0.2 years; (iii) 35 days or more but less than 49 days, 0.3 years; (iv) 49 days or more but less than 63 days, 0.4 years; (v) 63 days or more but less than 77 days, 0.5 years; (vi) 77 days or more but less than 91 days, 0.6 years; (vii) 91 days or more but less than 105 days, 0.7 years; (viii) 105 days or more but less than 119 days, 0.8 years; (ix) 119 days or more but less than 133 days, 0.9 years; (x) 133 days or more, 1.0 years; (B) on or after July 1, 1969, during any school year, (i) less than nine days, no credit; (ii) nine days or more but less than 27 days, 0.1 years; (iii) 27 days or more but less than 45 days, 0.2 years; (iv) 45 days or more but less than 63 days, 0.3 years; (v) 63 days or more but less than 81 days, 0.4 years; (vi) 81 days or more but less than 100 days, 0.5 years; (vii) 100 days or more but less than 118 days, 0.6 years; (viii) 118 days or more but less than 136 days, 0.7 years; (ix) 136 days or more but less than 154 days, 0.8 years; (x) 154 days or more but less than 172 days, 0.9 years; (xi) 172 days or more, 1.0 years; (C) service performed on a part-time basis will be credited in proportion to the amount of credit that would have been received for service performed on a full-time basis.