Missouri Code of State Regulations › Title 16 - RETIREMENT SYSTEMS › Division 50 - The County Employees' Retirement Fund › Chapter 2 - Membership and Benefits › Section 16 CSR 50-2.010 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 14, July 15, 2024
PURPOSE: This amendment revises the definition of
				  actuarial equivalence for the plan.
(1) When used in these regulations or in
				sections
				50.1000 to
				50.1300,
				RSMo, the words and phrases defined hereinafter shall have the following
				meanings unless a different meaning is clearly required by the context of the
				plan:
(A) Accrued benefit means the amount
				that would be payable at normal retirement date, considering the participant's
				average final compensation, primary Social Security benefit, target replacement
				ratio, and creditable service at the date of termination. Notwithstanding the
				foregoing, a participant's accrued benefit under the plan shall not be less
				than his or her accrued benefit as of December 31, 1999, determined under the
				prior plan;
(B) Active member or
				active participant means an employee who does not currently have an election in
				effect to opt out of the plan, who has not incurred a separation from service,
				and who otherwise meets the criteria necessary to participate in the
				plan;
(C) Actuarial equivalence
				means equality in value of the aggregate amounts expected to be received under
				different forms of payment. Such equality in value shall be based on
				assumptions as to the occurrence of future events. The future events to be
				taken into account are mortality for participants, mortality for a beneficiary,
				and an interest discount for the time value of money. Actuarial assumptions
				shall be specified in writing by the board or its designee, which, for the
				avoidance of doubt may include an actuary, and such writing shall be considered
				a part of the plan or an amendment thereto.
(D) Actuary means an individual who is
				enrolled as an actuary by the Joint Board for the Enrollment of Actuaries
				pursuant to
				29
				U.S.C. 1242, or firm of actuaries, which has
				on its staff such an enrolled actuary, which enrolled actuary or firm of
				actuaries is selected by the board to provide actuarial services for the
				plan;
(E) Annuity means a form of
				payment under which monthly installments are made to a retired participant in
				accordance with the terms of this plan;
(F) Annuity starting date means:
1. The first day of the first period for
				which an amount is payable as an annuity;
2. In the case of a benefit not payable in
				the form of an annuity, the first day on which all events have occurred which
				entitle the participant to such benefit; or
3. In the case of a deferred annuity, the
				annuity starting date is the date for which the annuity payments are to
				commence, not the date that the deferred annuity is elected;
(G) Average final compensation
				means the monthly average of the two (2) highest years of compensation received
				by the participant;
(H) Beneficiary
				means the person, persons, or legal entity entitled to receive benefits under
				this plan which become payable in the event of the participant's
				death;
(I) Board means the Board of
				Directors of the County Employees' Retirement Fund;
(J) Code means the
Internal Revenue
				Code
of 1986, as amended, and includes any regulations
				thereunder;
(K) Compensation means,
				for all periods on or after January 1, 2000, all salary and other compensation
				paid by an employer to an employee as shown on the employee's Form W-2, plus
				amounts paid by an employer but excluded from W-2 compensation by reason of
Internal Revenue Code
sections 125, 402(g)(3), 414(h)(2), or
				457, but not including travel and mileage reimbursement and not including
				compensation in excess of the limit imposed by section 401(a)(17) of the Code.
				Compensation received from sources other than an employer and compensation
				received pursuant to independent contracting relationships shall not be
				included in calculating the retirement benefit. In the case of a participant
				who left the employer to join a uniformed service (as defined in the Uniformed
				Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994), and returns to the
				employ of an employer before his or her reemployment rights under the statute
				expire, compensation, with respect to the plan years in which the participant
				was in the uniformed service, shall mean the compensation the participant would
				have earned had he remained in the employ of the employer. The board has the
				discretionary authority to make a reasonable estimate of this amount. Effective
				January 1, 2009, in accordance with section 414(u)(12) of the Code,
				compensation shall include any differential wage payment (within the meaning of
				section 3401(h)(2) of the Code) made by the employer to an individual who does
				not currently perform services for the employer by reason of qualified military
				service (within the meaning of section 414(u)(5) of the Code) to the extent
				those payments do not exceed the amounts the individual would have received if
				the individual had continued to perform services for the employer. For periods
				before January 1, 2000, compensation shall be determined under the terms of the
				prior plan;
(L) Employee means any
				county elective or appointive officer or employee who is hired and fired by an
				employer and whose work and responsibilities are directed and controlled by the
				employer and who is compensated directly from county funds and whose position
				requires the actual performance of duties during not less than one thousand
				(1,000) hours per year, except county prosecuting attorneys covered pursuant to
				sections
				56.800
				to
				56.840,
				RSMo, circuit clerks and deputy circuit clerks covered under the Missouri State
				Retirement System and county sheriffs covered pursuant to sections
				57.949 to
				57.997,
				RSMo; provided that individuals who receive some pay from a county but who are
				subject to the hiring, supervision, promotion, or termination by an independent
				administrative body (such as the circuit court) or an independent authority are
				not employees of the employer for purposes of the plan. For purposes of the
				plan, the term "independent authority" shall mean any body or authority
				empowered pursuant to statute to i) exercise independent control over certain
				public functions on an independent basis, ii) establish rules for its own
				guidance, and iii) appoint and remove employees and fix their
				companies;
(M) Employer means each
				county in the state, except any city not within a county and counties of the
				first classification with a charter form of government;
(N) The entry date of a full-time employee is
				the hire date unless the employee opted out of the prior plan. The entry date
				of a part-time or seasonal employee shall be the first semiannual entry date
				(January 1 or July 1) after the part-time or seasonal employee satisfies the
				one thousand- (1,000-) hour requirement during the calendar year;
(O) Former employee means a person who ceases
				to be an employee but who is entitled to a benefit from this plan;
(P) Full-time employee means an elective or
				appointive official or employee regularly employed by an employer who is under
				the direct control and supervision of the employer or an elected or appointed
				county official and who is subject to continued employment, promotion, salary
				review, or termination by an employer or an elected or appointed county
				official and who is compensated directly from county funds and whose position
				requires the actual performance of duties during not less than one thousand
				(1,000) hours per calendar year, except county prosecuting attorneys covered
				under sections 56.800-56.840, RSMo, circuit clerks and deputy circuit clerks
				covered under the Missouri State Retirement System and county sheriffs covered
				under sections
				57.949 to
				57.997,
				RSMo, and employees who receive some compensation from an employer but who are
				subject to hiring, supervision, promotion, or termination by an entity other
				than the employer such as an extension council or the circuit court;
(Q) Hire date means the date that an employee
				begins actual employment with an employer;
(R) Hour of service means each hour for which
				an employee is paid or entitled to payment for the performance of duties for
				the employer;
(S) LAGERS means the
				Local Government Employees' Retirement System presently codified at sections
				70.600 to
				70.755,
				RSMo;
(T) Normal form of benefit
				means an annuity paid in equal monthly installments on the first day of each
				calendar month in which the participant shall have lived the entire preceding
				calendar month;
(U) Part-time
				employee means an employee, certified as a part-time employee by the county
				clerk on a form provided by the board or its designee, who works regularly in
				each of the twelve (12) months during a calendar year, and who is employed by
				an employer or an elected or appointed county official who is under the direct
				control and supervision of an employer or an elected or appointed county
				official and who is subject to continued employment, promotion, salary review,
				or termination by an employer or an elected or appointed county official and
				who is compensated directly from county funds and whose position is not
				anticipated to require the actual performance of duties during one thousand
				(1,000) hours or more per calendar year; provided that, a part-time employee
				shall be eligible only for benefits available to part-time employees subject to
				the terms and conditions of the plan and as determined in accordance with the
				plan;
(V) participant means an
				employee covered by this plan and a former employee with a vested accrued
				benefit remaining in the plan;
(W)
				Plan, or CERF, means the County Employees' Retirement Fund, as described in
				sections 50.1000-50.1300, RSMo. The plan intends to satisfy Code section 401(a)
				by meeting the requirements of Code section 414(d), applicable to a
				governmental plan;
(X) Plan year
				means the calendar year;
(Y)
				Primary Social Security amount means the old age insurance benefit pursuant to
				section 202 of the Social Security Act (
				42 U.S.C.
				402 ) payable to a participant at age
				sixty-two (62). Such determination shall be at the time that creditable service
				ends without assuming any future increases in compensation, any future
				increases in the taxable wage base, any changes in the formulas used pursuant
				to the Social Security Act, or any future increases in the Consumer Price
				Index; provided, however, that if the participant's creditable service ends
				after age sixty-two (62), the primary Social Security amount shall be
				determined pursuant to the Social Security Act as in effect at the time the
				participant reached age sixty-two (62). However, it shall be assumed that the
				employee will continue to receive compensation at the same rate as that
				received at the time the determination is being made, until the participant
				reaches age sixty-two (62). The first year of compensation as an employee shall
				be regressed at three percent (3%) per year with respect to years prior to the
				period of creditable service. For this purpose, the "first year of
				compensation" shall be the first complete calendar year in which the plan has
				documented information regarding the participant's compensation. If the board
				does not have records of a participant's compensation for a plan year, the
				board may make reasonable estimates of compensation, if the participant does
				not supply the records described in
				16 CSR
				50-2.050;
(Z) Prime rate means the prime rate at any
				given time as listed in the Historical Chart of Prime Rates at
www.nfsn.com/library/
prime/htm, or any other source which the board in its discretion deems to be
				reliable;
(AA) Prior plan means the
				County Employees' Retirement System as in effect on December 31,
				1999;
(BB) Prior service means a
				participant's service rendered prior to August 28, 1994;
(CC) Required beginning date means the April
				first of the calendar year following the later of the calendar year in which
				the participant reaches age seventy and one-half (70 1/2), or the calendar year
				in which the participant separates from service;
(DD) Seasonal employee means an employee,
				certified as such by the county clerk on a form provided by the board or its
				designee, who works intermittently, but less than twelve (12) months, during a
				calendar year and who is employed by an employer or an elected or appointed
				county official who is under the direct control and supervision of an employer
				or an elected or appointed county official and who is subject to continued
				employment, promotion, salary review, or termination by an employer or an
				elected or appointed county official and who is compensated directly from
				county funds, whether or not the position is anticipated to require the actual
				performance of duties during one thousand (1,000) hours or more per calendar
				year; provided that, a seasonal employee shall be eligible only for benefits
				available to seasonal employees subject to the terms and conditions of the plan
				and as determined in accordance with the plan;
(EE) Separation from service means the
				severance of a Participantst's employment with an employer for any reason,
				including retirement; provided that a Participantst shall not be deemed to have
				incurred a separation from service if the Participantst resumes employment with
				an employer within thirty (30) days after terminating employment with an
				employer;
(FF) Survivor annuitant
				means the individual other than a beneficiary eligible to receive an annuity
				following the death of a Participantst who is receiving an annuity;
(GG) Target replacement ratio means:
1. Eighty percent (80%), if a Participantst's
				average final compensation is thirty-six thousand dollars ($36,000) or
				less;
2. Seventy-seven percent
				(77%), if a Participantst's average final compensation is forty-eight thousand
				dollars ($48,000) or less, but greater than thirty-six thousand dollars
				($36,000); and
3. Seventy-two
				percent (72%), if a Participantst's average final compensation is greater than
				forty-eight thousand dollars ($48,000);
(HH) Trust fund means the custodial account
				established to fund benefits under the plan; and
(II) Trustee means the entity, or
				individuals, or committee that is responsible for holding and managing the
				trust fund that is appointed by the board.