GA Code § 47-20-3 (2021)
2021 Georgia Code|Title 47 - Retirement and Pensions|Chapter 20 - Public Retirement Systems Standards|Article 1 - General Provisions|§ 47-20-3. Definitions

 As used in this chapter, the term:    "Accumulated retirement system benefits" means benefits that are attributable under the provisions of a retirement system to employees' service rendered to a specific valuation date.   "Actuarial accrued liability" means that portion, as determined by a particular actuarial cost method, of the actuarial present value of retirement system benefits and expenses which is not provided for by future normal costs.   "Actuarial assumptions" means assumptions as to the occurrence of future events affecting retirement system costs such as: mortality, withdrawal, disability, and retirement; changes in compensation and national pension benefits; rates of investment earnings and asset appreciation or depreciation; procedures used to determine the actuarial value of assets; and other relevant items.   "Actuarial cost method" means a procedure for determining the actuarial present value of retirement system benefits and expenses and for developing an actuarially equivalent allocation of such value to time periods, usually in the form of a normal cost and an actuarial accrued liability. Acceptable actuarial cost methods are the aggregate, attained age, entry age, frozen attained age, frozen entry age, and unit credit methods.   "Actuarial present value" means the value of an amount or series of amounts payable or receivable at various times from a retirement system, determined as of a given date by the application of a particular set of actuarial assumptions.   "Actuarial present value of accumulated retirement system benefits" means the amount as of a valuation date that results from applying actuarial assumptions to the accumulated retirement system benefits, with the actuarial assumptions being used to adjust those benefits to reflect the time value of money, through discounts for interest, and the probability of payment, by means of decrements such as for death, disability, withdrawal, or retirement, between the valuation date and the expected date of payments.   "Actuarial valuation" means the determination, as of a valuation date, of the normal cost, actuarial accrued liability, actuarial value of assets, and related actuarial present values for a retirement system.   "Actuarial value of assets" means the value of cash, investments, and other property belonging to a retirement system, as used by the actuary for the purpose of an actuarial valuation.   "Actuary" means an actuary who is enrolled under Subtitle C of Title III of the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, P.L. 93-406, or an associate of the Society of Actuaries.   "Annual required contribution" means the annual required contribution determined in accordance with the requirements of Governmental Accounting Standards Board Statements No. 25 and No. 27 as in effect on June 15, 2013.   "Beneficiary" means a person receiving or entitled to receive a benefit pursuant to a retirement system.   "Benefit" means any benefit, including disability benefits, which is paid or payable to a beneficiary under a retirement system.   "Benefit increase" means a change in or amendment to a retirement system which results or will result in an increase in the benefits being paid or which will be paid to a beneficiary or potential beneficiary under a retirement system and includes any change in a retirement system which decreases the requirements for becoming eligible to receive a benefit and any change which grants or authorizes a member or members of a retirement system to obtain additional creditable service under the retirement system for service rendered in a capacity other than as a member of the retirement system.   "Employee" means officials and employees of the state or of any department, board, bureau, commission, authority, or other agency thereof and the officials and employees of a political subdivision or any agency thereof who are or who become members of a retirement system.   "Employee contribution" means that part of the compensation of an employee which is paid by or on behalf of an employee as a contribution to a retirement system.   "Employer" means the State of Georgia for any retirement system financially supported in whole or in part by appropriations made by the General Assembly, by the proceeds of a tax levied by law enacted by the General Assembly, or by fines and forfeitures or portions of fines and designated by law as a source of funding for a retirement system; and, for any retirement system supported in whole or in part by the funds of a political subdivision, "employer" means the local governing authority authorizing or providing for the local retirement system.   "Employer contribution" means:   Funds paid by an employer to support financially a retirement system;   Public funds, whether by taxes, fines and forfeitures, or other sources, devoted to the financial support of a retirement system; and   Any other funds, other than employee contributions, used to support financially a retirement system.     "Legislatively controlled retirement system" means a retirement system in existence on January 1, 1984, which was created by an Act of the General Assembly and which may be amended only by an Act of the General Assembly.   "Local governing authority" means the council, board of aldermen, board of commissioners, commissioner, local board of education, or other person or body of persons entrusted by law with the administration, management, and control of the fiscal affairs of a political subdivision.  (19.1) "Negative unfunded actuarial accrued liability" means for any actuarial valuation the excess of actuarial value of assets over the actuarial accrued liability of a retirement system under an actuarial cost method utilized by the retirement system for funding purposes.    "Normal cost" means that portion of the actuarial present value of a retirement system benefits and expenses which is allocated to a valuation year by the actuarial cost method used for the retirement system.  (20.1) "Normal cost contribution" means the contribution for the portion of the actuarial present value of a retirement system's benefits and expenses which is allocated to a valuation year by the actuarial cost method used for the retirement system.    "Political subdivision" means any county, municipality, or local school district of this state or any authority created for or on behalf of any such political subdivision or created for or on behalf of any combination of such political subdivisions.   "Retirement bill" means any bill or resolution introduced into the General Assembly which creates or affects a retirement system.   "Retirement system" means any retirement or pension plan or any other plan or program which exists on January 1, 1984, or which is created or established on or after that date, and which is maintained by an employer or maintained pursuant to law or other authority of an employer for the purpose of paying benefits to employees or their beneficiaries after employees cease active employment by retirement, disability, death, or other termination. The term "retirement system" shall include any plan or program which creates a retired position, commonly referred to as "emeritus," and provides a salary for the retired position in lieu of a retirement benefit. The term "retirement system" shall not include an individual retirement account or other plan which provides for an individual account for each participant and for benefits based solely upon the amount contributed to the participant's account and any income, expenses, gains, and losses and any forfeitures of accounts of other participants which may be allocated to a participant's account.   "Retirement system administrator" means the board of trustees or other body or individual having responsibility, either by law or by other authority of an employer, for the management and administration of a retirement system.  (24.1) "Unfunded accrued liability contribution" means the difference between the total employer and employee contribution and the normal cost contribution.    "Unfunded actuarial accrued liability" means for any actuarial valuation the excess of the actuarial accrued liability over the actuarial value of the assets of a retirement system under an actuarial cost method utilized by the retirement system for funding purposes.     (Code 1981, §47-20-3, enacted by Ga. L. 1983, p. 1368, § 1; Ga. L. 1985, p. 209, § 1; Ga. L. 1987, p. 240, § 1; Ga. L. 2000, p. 131, § 1; Ga. L. 2000, p. 1208, § 1; Ga. L. 2001, p. 21, § 1; Ga. L. 2005, p. 535, §§ 22-26/HB 460; Ga. L. 2014, p. 198, § 1/HB 761.)    The 2014 amendment,  effective July 1, 2014, substituted "as in effect on June 15, 2013" for "or any subsequent applicable Governmental Accounting Standards Board statements" at the end of paragraph (10).   Code Commission notes.   - Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1986, in the second sentence of paragraph (23) a comma was inserted following "emeritus."   U.S. Code.   - Subtitle C of Title III of the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, referred to in paragraph (9), is codified at 29 U.S.C. §§ 1241, 1242.   OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL    Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) pension plan,  which is largely funded by public funds and is operated for employees of MARTA, an instrumentality of a combination of various local governments, is a public retirement system intended to be covered under O.C.G.A. Ch. 20, T. 47. 1987 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 87-13.