Arkansas Administrative Code › Agency 088 - Arkansas Teacher Retirement System › Rule 088.00.20-005 - Rule 10: T-DROP and Return of Service

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, June, 2024
ATRS Rule 10 T-DROP AND RETURN TO SERVICE
A.C.A. §§ 24-7-502, 24-7-708
I.
Definitions
A. "DROP" means a deferred retirement option
		  plan enacted by the General Assembly and administered under ATRS or a
		  reciprocal system.
B. "Early
		  participant" means a member who has at least twenty-eight (28) years but less
		  than thirty (30) years of credited service in ATRS including combined service
		  with a reciprocal system, and is authorized by the Board for early
		  participation in the plan.
C.
		  "Fiscal year" means the operating year for the State of Arkansas that begins on
		  July 1 of each calendar year and ends on June 30 of the next calendar
		  year.
D. "Participant" means a
		  member who elects to participate in T-DROP under A.C.A. § 24-7-1301 et
		  seq.
E. "ATRS Employer" means an
		  employer who participates in the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System whose
		  employees are eligible for membership under A.C.A. § 24-7-501 or other
		  applicable law.
F. "Plan deposits"
		  means the deposits made to each participant's T-DROP account pursuant to A.C.A.
		  § 24-7-1306.
G. "Plan
		  interest" means the rate per annum, as the Board shall set prior to the
		  beginning of the fiscal year and applies to subsequent years unless modified by
		  the Board, that is credited in each participant's T-DROP account. The Board
		  shall determine the plan interest rate based upon A.C.A. § 24-7-1307(c).
		  All T-DROP participants that have not retired shall receive plan interest at
		  the end of each fiscal year.
H.
		  "Post 10-year T-DROP interest" means the rate per annum, compounded annually,
		  as the Board shall set and adopt at the end of each fiscal year, credited on
		  June 30 to the balance of the T-DROP participant's account that meets the
		  following criteria:
1. The member
		  participated in T-DROP for ten (10) years by receiving deposits, interest, or
		  both; and
2. The member has not
		  retired.
I. "Quarter"
		  means one-fourth (1/4) of a fiscal year. The four (4) quarters applicable in
		  this rule are:
1st Quarter: July 1 through September 30
2nd Quarter: October 1 through December 31
3rd Quarter January 1 through March 31
4th Quarter: April 1 through June 30
J. "Retiree" means a member receiving an ATRS
		  retirement annuity.
K. "Salary" is
		  defined by A.C.A. § 24-7-202, provided that nonmandatory compensation that
		  is taxable by the IRS is not salary for ATRS purposes.
L. "T-DROP Cash Balance Account" means the
		  financial account set up for a participant who elects to defer distribution of
		  his or her T-DROP account at a time that he or she is eligible to receive a
		  lump-sum distribution of the T-DROP balance.
M. "T-DROP Cash Balance Account interest"
		  means the interest rate per annum applicable to a participant's T-DROP Cash
		  Balance Account, compounded monthly into a participant's T-DROP Cash Balance
		  Account. The interest rates payable on the T-DROP Cash Balance Accounts are set
		  forth in this Rule.
N. "T-DROP
		  Service Credit" shall be determined using the same rules that apply for service
		  credit for an active member with the exception that "on call" availability
		  shall not be used for T-DROP service credit requirements.