Arkansas Administrative Code › Agency 088 - Arkansas Teacher Retirement System › Rule 088.00.19-004 - Rule 10 T-Drop and Return to Service

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, June, 2024
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 of service
		  with an ATRS or reciprocal employer but less than thirty (30) years, and
		  participates in T-DROP under the requirements of A.C.A. §
								24-7-1314
		  and any Board rules promulgated for early participants.
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. "Participating 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.