text:
(a) Except as limited pursuant to Section 22008:

(1) All amounts that have been overpaid due to inaccurate information, untimely submission, nonsubmission of information, or on the basis of fraud or intentional misrepresentation by, or on behalf of, a recipient of a benefit, annuity, or refund shall be recovered, as applicable, from the member, participant, former member, former participant, or beneficiary. This paragraph excludes amounts overpaid pursuant to paragraph (2), (3), or (4).

(2) All amounts that have been overpaid due to inaccurate information, untimely submission, or nonsubmission of information by an employer that reports directly to the system shall be recovered, as applicable, from that employer.

(3) All amounts that have been overpaid due to inaccurate information, untimely submission, or nonsubmission of information by a county superintendent of schools that reports directly to the system on behalf of an employer shall be recovered, as applicable, from that county superintendent of schools. If the overpayment resulted from an error of an employer, the county superintendent of schools may recover the amounts required from that employer pursuant to Section 23012.

(A) If the county superintendent of schools provided notice to, and received consent from, an employer to submit that employer’s monthly report, inclusive of any modifications by the county superintendent of schools on behalf of the employer, an overpayment due to inaccurate information shall be considered an error of that employer.

(B) If the untimely submission or nonsubmission of information was the result of the employer’s untimely submission or nonsubmission of information, the overpayment shall be considered an error of the employer.

(4) (A) All amounts that have been overpaid due to an error by the system shall be recovered, with interest as specified in subparagraph (B), as follows:

(i) Commencing July 1, 2024, 85 percent of this amount resulting from benefit adjustments that take place within the fiscal year ending in the immediately preceding calendar year, the specific amount of which shall be determined by the board, shall be made as a continuous appropriation from the General Fund to the Controller each July 1 for transfer to the Teachers’ Retirement Fund. If July 1 falls on a weekend or holiday, the funds shall be transferred the next business day.

(ii) Commencing July 1, 2024, 15 percent of this amount resulting from benefit adjustments that take place within the fiscal year ending in the immediately preceding calendar year, the specific amount of which shall be determined by the board, shall be recovered from all employers that report directly to the system in amounts proportionate to their share of contributions for that fiscal year, including the contributions of those employers for whom a county superintendent of schools reports. A county superintendent of schools that reports directly to the system on behalf of employers may recover amounts proportionate to each employer’s share of contributions for that fiscal year from those employers pursuant to Section 23012.

(B) The amount to be recovered in accordance with subparagraph (A) shall be calculated to include regular interest from the date of the overpayment to the date of recovery.

(b) (1) An employer shall remit any amount required to be paid to the system pursuant to this section within 30 days of the date of the invoice. If the system does not receive payment within 30 days, the amount owed to the system shall be recalculated to include regular interest from the initial due date.

(2) If a payment pursuant to paragraph (1) is not received within 30 days of the date of invoice, the Controller shall, upon the order of the board, reduce subsequent payments from the State School Fund to the county for deposit in the county school service fund by the amount owed or, upon the request of a county superintendent of schools to the county auditor, the Controller shall reduce payments to a school district for deposit in the district general fund by the amount owed. The Controller shall then pay to the system the amount owed for deposit in the Teachers’ Retirement Fund.

(c) Determination of an amount that has been overpaid shall be provided in writing by the system to the party responsible for the overpayment pursuant to subdivision (a). The system shall identify the error, document the source of the error, and specify the total amount overpaid due to the error.

(d) This section shall not apply to a recovery made under Section 24015, 24016, or 24017 or to a benefit or allowance reduction required pursuant to Section 24010, 24109, 24114, 24201.5, 24214, or 24214.5.

(e) Except as explicitly provided by its provisions, this section shall not be interpreted to limit the system’s authority to correct benefits.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2025, Ch. 239, Sec. 8. (SB 853) Effective January 1, 2026.)

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS


kind: section

code: EDC

text:
(a) To recover from a member, participant, former member, former participant, or beneficiary an amount overpaid under this part or Part 14 (commencing with Section 26000), as determined pursuant to Section 24616.2, the system shall correct the benefit, annuity, or refund, and the corrected monthly allowance payable under the Defined Benefit Program or the corrected annuity benefit payable under the Defined Benefit Supplement Program or the Cash Balance Benefit Program may be reduced by no more than 15 percent if the amount overpaid was due to inaccurate information, untimely submission, or nonsubmission of information by, or on behalf of, a recipient of the allowance or annuity benefit.

(b) This section does not apply to the collection of overpayments due to fraud or intentional misrepresentation of facts by the recipient of the allowance or benefit.

(c) The amendments to this section enacted during the second year of the 2021–22 Regular Session shall apply when the system notifies a member, participant, former member, former participant, or beneficiary of a benefit adjustment on and after January 1, 2023.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 215, Sec. 4. (SB 432) Effective January 1, 2024.)

division: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

part: 13. STATE TEACHERS' RETIREMENT SYSTEM

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

chapter: 31. Procedures Concerning Payment

path: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS > 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS > 13. STATE TEACHERS' RETIREMENT SYSTEM > 31. Procedures Concerning Payment


text: Losses or gains resulting from overpayment or underpayment of contributions or other amounts under this part within the limits set by the Department of General Services for automatic writeoff, and losses or gains in greater amounts specifically approved for writeoffs by the Department of General Services, shall be debited or credited, as the case may be, to the appropriate reserve in the retirement fund.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2016, Ch. 31, Sec. 20. (SB 836) Effective June 27, 2016.)

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS


text:
The system shall annually report to the board the following information:

(a) The amount of underpayment made to recipients under this part.

(b) The amount to be recovered because of overpayments and the number of overpayments under this part.

(c) The actions taken by the board and the system to reduce the number and amount of overpayments and underpayments under this part.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 1998, Ch. 965, Sec. 218. Effective January 1, 1999.)

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS


text:
(a) The special reserve resulting from the discontinuance of a district retirement salary plan as provided in former Section 14690 prior to its repeal, and a part of which is used annually in the interest of the employees of the district at the discretion of the governing board, is continued in existence and shall continue to be used first as provided in this section.

(b) The district in which the district retirement plan was discontinued and that credited each teacher or other person employed by the district at the time of discontinuance, in a status requisite for membership in this plan, with an amount that bears the same ratio to the portion of the assets delivered to the district pursuant to former subdivision (c) of Section 14690 prior to its repeal, that remained after the creation of the reserve fund for payments under former subdivision (d) of Section 14690 prior to its repeal, as required by former subdivision (e) of Section 14690 prior to its repeal, as the accumulated contributions credited to the member in his or her individual contribution account under the discontinued retirement plan at the time of discontinuance, bore to the total accumulated contributions so credited to all such teachers and persons, but this credit to any active member shall not exceed the amount of the member’s accumulated contributions so credited at that time. The amount so credited to any person shall continue to be increased by interest at rates approved from time to time by the governing board of the district. The accumulated amount at the date upon which the person retires for service or disability under the system shall continue to be applied according to rates and tables adopted by the governing board and then in effect, to provide an annuity payable to the person throughout the balance of his or her life or a lump-sum payment of the total account balance on the date of retirement at the option of the governing board. If the person dies prior to retirement, the amount, with credited interest, shall be paid to his or her designated beneficiary, as it appears on the records of the district, if any, otherwise to the member’s estate. If the person ceases to be employed by the district for any reason other than death, retirement, or attainment of the age at which his or her classification as a permanent employee ceases, he or she shall no longer be credited with or have any right to the accumulated amount, but the amount shall revert to and belong to the district. The arrangement under which annuities and death benefits are paid by a district under this subdivision shall not be considered to be a local retirement system for the purposes of this part, nor shall those payments be taken into account in the calculation of retirement allowances under this plan.

(c) The reserve fund created by the district from the assets delivered to it pursuant to subdivision (c) of former Section 14690 prior to its repeal is continued in existence and in the amount equal in amount to the total contributions credited to employees of the district, under former subdivision (b) of former Section 14691 prior to its repeal, and the annuities and death benefits payable under subdivision (b) of former Section 14691 prior to its repeal shall continue to be paid from this reserve fund. If the reserve fund as first created proves insufficient to make the payments required under subdivision (b) of former Section 14691, the district shall continue to make any additions to the reserve fund necessary to provide for those payments.

(d) (1) In addition to any other investments authorized by law for the investment of those funds, the funds of any specialized reserve or reserve fund established pursuant to former Section 14690 or former Section 14691 prior to their repeal may continue to be invested as authorized by Section 31595 of the Government Code for the investment of the funds of a county employees’ retirement system.

(2) The governing board may employ investment advisers to advise it on these investments and the fees for these services may be paid from the special reserve or reserve funds.

(e) The governing board may make additional cost-of-living adjustments in the payments to persons who retired prior to January 1, 1953.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 1996, Ch. 634, Sec. 275. Effective January 1, 1997.)

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS


text: On July 1, 1972, and thereafter all persons who first enter employment in the San Francisco Unified School District or the San Francisco Community College District to perform creditable service subject to coverage under the Defined Benefit Program are members of the plan in accordance with Section 22501. These new members are excluded from coverage under Subchapter II (commencing with Section 401) of Chapter 7 of Title 42 of the United States Code, for service performed as a member of the plan.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 1998, Ch. 965, Sec. 219. Effective January 1, 1999.)

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

chapter: 32. San Francisco Local System

path: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS > 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS > 13. STATE TEACHERS' RETIREMENT SYSTEM > 32. San Francisco Local System


text: Those credentialed members of the San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System on June 30, 1972, who make an irrevocable election to be covered only by the State Teachers’ Retirement Plan under this part for prior and future service performed in San Francisco, shall be allowed to be covered for other certificated service concurrently, where the provisions of the city and county charter permit. This shall not include any credited service, as defined in Section 22121.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2005, Ch. 351, Sec. 34. Effective January 1, 2006.)

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS


text:
(a) All persons on the San Francisco system retired rolls on June 30, 1972, shall remain on the local rolls. The State Teachers’ Retirement System shall continue the subvention in Section 24706 for those persons, shall apply the percentage update and annual improvement factor to payments being made under the Defined Benefit Program directly to those persons, and shall pay the retired death payment upon their death.

(b) The allowance that would have been payable had the member retired solely under the Defined Benefit Program, including the percentage update calculated under Sections 14332, 14333, and 14334, as enacted by Chapter 2 of the Statutes of 1959, as those sections read on December 31, 1974, shall be taken into account in computing the amount of increase for the ten dollar ($10) a month per year of service minimum unmodified allowance.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 1998, Ch. 965, Sec. 221. Effective January 1, 1999.)

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS


text: Persons who select to be covered only by the Defined Benefit Program and already have credit for classified or other noncertificated service in the San Francisco system shall not have that credit transferred to the Defined Benefit Program.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2006, Ch. 655, Sec. 47. Effective January 1, 2007.)

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS


text:
The San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System shall provide concurrent retirement benefits for classified and other noncertificated service in the San Francisco system according to the provisions applicable to miscellaneous employees of the time of the concurrent retirement for:

(a) Members of that system who transfer to the Defined Benefit Program after June 30, 1972.

(b) Persons who were members of both the San Francisco system and the Defined Benefit Program on June 30, 1972.

(c) A person who could have qualified under subdivision (b) if he or she had not taken a refund from either the San Francisco system or the Defined Benefit Program, but not both, provided the person qualifies for and redeposits prior to retirement.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2006, Ch. 655, Sec. 48. Effective January 1, 2007.)

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS


text: Notwithstanding the provisions in Section 24201, a member of the San Francisco system may retire concurrently and receive credit for service performed in other states of the United States, its territories and possessions, and in Canada.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2006, Ch. 655, Sec. 49. Effective January 1, 2007.)

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS


text: The system shall pay from the fund to the San Francisco Unified School District and the San Francisco Community College District the amounts due for subventions required prior to July 1, 1972, on account of persons who retired or died prior to that date.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 1996, Ch. 634, Sec. 281. Effective January 1, 1997.)

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS


text:
Those members who took a refund of their accumulated contributions from the former Los Angeles Unified School District Retirement System or the former Los Angeles Community College District Retirement System or the San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System, prior to July 1, 1972, and who have former Permanent Fund contributions only on deposit related to former local system service shall have those accumulated former Permanent Fund contributions on deposit as of July 1, 1972, treated in the same manner as accumulated retirement contributions of all nonlocal members. Upon discovery and notification to those members, they shall do either of the following:

(a) Redeposit all or a portion of the accumulated retirement contributions required to bring the account into full balance with regular interest prior to retirement under this part.

(b) Leave those former Permanent Fund accumulated contributions on deposit and receive a reduced retirement allowance under the law as it read on June 30, 1972.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2005, Ch. 351, Sec. 36. Effective January 1, 2006.)

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

path: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS > 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS > 13. STATE TEACHERS' RETIREMENT SYSTEM > 33. Los Angeles Unified School District Plan


text: Those members who took a refund of their accumulated retirement contributions from the former Los Angeles Unified School District Retirement System or the former Los Angeles Community College District Retirement System or the San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System, prior to July 1, 1972, and who also took a refund of their Permanent Fund contributions from the State Teachers’ Retirement System with respect to the Defined Benefit Program, and who redeposited their contributions in the local system but who did not redeposit their Permanent Fund contributions in the State Teachers’ Retirement System with respect to the Defined Benefit Program, shall redeposit all or a portion of the accumulated retirement contributions required to bring the account into full balance with regular interest from the date of refund to the date of payment. The redeposit may be made immediately upon notification by the system and shall be made prior to retirement under this part. The redeposit shall be made in a lump sum or by installment payments as specified by the chief executive officer.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2005, Ch. 351, Sec. 37. Effective January 1, 2006.)

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

chapter: 33. Los Angeles Unified School District Plan


text:
(a) All payments from the district retirement fund shall be made in the same manner as payments from school district funds but shall be subject to approval of the district retirement board. Warrants drawn on the fund shall be signed by at least one member of the district retirement board who shall be designated by the board.

(b) The duties imposed upon the county treasurer shall be a part of his or her official duties, for the faithful performance of which he or she shall be liable upon his or her official bond.

history: (History: Repealed and added by Stats. 1993, Ch. 893, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 1994.)

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

path: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS > 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS > 13. STATE TEACHERS' RETIREMENT SYSTEM > 34. Administration of the District Retirement Salary Plan


text:
(a) Any other provisions of law to the contrary notwithstanding, whenever any retirement benefits under a district retirement system payable solely by reason of death of the retired member to his or her estate, heir or beneficiary have been unclaimed for a period of four years from the date of notification, by the district retirement system, by means of United States mail, to the estate, heir or beneficiary, such funds shall revert to and become a part of the contributions of the district and shall be applied to reduce the cost to the taxpayers of the district maintaining the retirement system.

(b) The district retirement system may at any time after reversion of these benefits to the district and upon receipt of proper information satisfactory to it, return from district contributions, an amount equal to that which had, on account of the deceased member, reverted to the district.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

chapter: 34. Administration of the District Retirement Salary Plan


text:
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, whenever any warrant drawn in payment of contributions or accumulated contributions or benefits under a district retirement system, remains unclaimed or the claimant cannot be found, the proceeds of the warrant shall be redeposited in the respective fund, or funds, from which they were derived, and held for the claimant, without further accumulation of interest, and the redeposit shall not operate to reinstate the membership of the claimant in the district retirement system. If the proceeds, whether heretofore or hereafter redeposited, are not claimed within four years after the date of redeposit, they shall revert to and become a part of the contributions of the district and shall be applied to reduce the cost to the taxpayers of the district maintaining the retirement system and on account of which the contributions were made.

(b) The provisions of this section shall apply to warrants drawn under a district retirement system and that would become void under Section 85270.

(c) The district retirement system may at any time, after the reversion of proceeds to the district maintaining the retirement system, and upon receipt of proper information satisfactory to it, return from district contributions, an amount equal to those proceeds, to the credit of the claimant to be administered in the manner prescribed under the district retirement system.

(d) The deposit in those funds of the proceeds of unclaimed and unpaid warrants prior to September 7, 1955, in accordance with the procedure specified in this section, is hereby validated, ratified, and confirmed.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS


text:
(a) If any benefit is payable by a district retirement system to the estate of a deceased person, whether because the estate is the beneficiary of the person or because no beneficiary was designated or because an allowance payable to the person had accrued and remained unpaid at the date of the death, and the estate would not be administered if no amount were due from the system, then the benefit shall be paid directly without procuring letters of administration to the surviving next of kin of the deceased, or the guardians of the survivors’ estates, share and share alike. The payment shall be made in the same order in which the following groups are listed:

(1) Spouse.

(2) Children and issue of deceased children by right of representation.

(3) Father and mother.

(4) Brothers and sisters.

(5) Nieces and nephews.

(b) Payment may also be made to persons in the groups listed in subdivision (a) to the extent those persons are the only beneficiaries under the last will and testament of a deceased former member of a district retirement system, without the probate of the will.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2016, Ch. 50, Sec. 29. (SB 1005) Effective January 1, 2017.)

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS


text: Except in the case where the deceased former member of a district retirement system leaves a will, no payment shall be made to persons included in any group specified in subdivision (a) of Section 24803, if at the date of death of any person or persons to whom any benefit is payable by a district retirement system there are living persons in any of the groups preceding it, as listed. Payment to the persons in any group, upon receipt from them of an affidavit upon a form supplied by the system, that there were no surviving individuals in the groups preceding it, or that they are one of the beneficiaries in any group specified in subdivision (a) of Section 24803 under the will of the deceased former member, and that the estate of the deceased will not be administered, is in full discharge of the liability of the board and system on account of the death.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS


text:
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, whenever any member of the district retirement system dies while in active membership status, including those on a deferred membership status, or within four months after the termination of the member’s employment in a status requisite for membership in the retirement system, benefits payable at death, unless a claim by someone other than the designated beneficiary or beneficiaries is filed with the retirement system during the period provided in this section, shall be paid to the beneficiary or beneficiaries designated by him on a form provided by the retirement system and on file in the office of the retirement system prior to the death of the member.

(b) Payment to a beneficiary or beneficiaries designated in the form on file in the retirement system at the date of death by a warrant drawn prior to any claim under a will or under community property rights, shall constitute full discharge of any and all liability of the district retirement board and retirement system by reason of the member’s death. The retirement system shall provide a 30-day claim period subsequent to notification of death before drawing a warrant in favor of the designated beneficiary or beneficiaries.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS


text:
(a) A district retirement salary plan established under Sections 24800 to 24812, inclusive, in any school district or districts, in which the average daily attendance of all districts combined is in excess of 200,000, governed by the same governing board, may be discontinued by the governing board of the district or districts, with the consent of the majority of the active members of the system expressing their desires with respect to the discontinuance of the plan evidenced in the manner the governing board may prescribe. However, no discontinuance of any retirement plan shall be effective for any purpose unless provision is made for retirement allowances for active and retired employees of the district as provided in subdivisions (b), (c), (d), and (e).

(b) (1) Active and retired employees of the district or districts who otherwise would be members of the plan, other than teachers and persons employed in a status requisite for membership in the State Teachers’ Retirement System or who were so employed prior to retirement, shall be made members and beneficiaries, respectively, of the Public Employees’ Retirement System according to Part 3 (commencing with Section 20000) of Division 5 of Title 2 of the Government Code, including transfer to the system of the accumulated contributions of the employees, together with any other assets of the plan as may be determined.

(2) With respect to persons who are members of the plan at its discontinuance, it shall be provided in the contract making the employees members of the Public Employees’ Retirement System, that their respective rates of contribution under the system shall be based on the age at the nearest birthday on July 1, 1944, or at the respective later effective dates of their membership in the plan, all instead of the age at the nearest birthday at the effective date of membership in the employees’ system.

(3) Each employee of the district or districts who is included in the contract, but who during all or part of his or her employment in a status requisite for membership in the plan was not a member thereof, because of his or her election under an available option, or who failed to redeposit upon reentry into membership contributions previously withdrawn, shall have the right to elect by written document filed with the Board of Administration of the Public Employees’ Retirement System, at any time within 90 days after the date upon which the notice of the right to make the election is mailed by the system to the member’s latest address on file in the office of the system, and prior to the date of retirement, to contribute to the system, subject to minimum payments fixed by the board of administration, and in one or more sums, or in not to exceed 60 monthly payments, an amount which, when added to his or her accumulated contributions, including interest, transferred as required in paragraph (1), will make a total amount equal to the accumulated contributions, including interest, that would have been credited to him or her in the plan, if he or she had never elected not to be a member thereof, or if he or she had redeposited the withdrawn contributions upon reentry, as the case may be. The employee shall pay to the Public Employees’ Retirement System interest on the unpaid balance of the amount payable to the system, beginning with the date of discontinuance of the plan at the rate of interest currently used from time to time under the system. If the employee elects to make, and makes the contributions, and pays the interest, but not otherwise, he or she shall receive credit under the employees’ system, as state service, for all the service rendered while he or she was not a member of the plan, because of his or her optional exclusion, or for all service upon which the withdrawn contributions were based, and for the purpose of paragraph (2) shall be considered as a member of the plan at its discontinuance and from November 1, 1937, or later beginning date of the service. Regardless of whether the contributions are made, the employee shall receive credit for service with which he or she was credited or would have been credited if he or she had been a member, as prior service under the plan. The contributions under this paragraph shall be added to and administered in the same manner as the contributions transferred under paragraph (1).

(4) Service rendered by active employees, who are made members of the Public Employees’ Retirement System, prior to the assumption by the district or districts of the function under which the service was rendered, such as, but not limited to, cafeterias and student body activities, shall be credited under the employees’ system, provided the service qualified for credit under the discontinued plan.

(5) The contract making the active employees members of the Public Employees’ Retirement System, shall include the employees with respect to service rendered in a status in which they are not eligible for membership in the State Teachers’ Retirement System, as provided in Section 20491 of the Government Code, and also with respect to service rendered in a status in which they are eligible for membership, but that is no longer credited under the retirement system, and the service shall be credited in the same manner applicable to service otherwise qualifying for credit.

(6) Retirement allowances being paid under the discontinued plan to retired employees of the district or districts, who are made beneficiaries of the Public Employees’ Retirement System, shall be changed by action of the governing board of the districts, effective at the discontinuance of the plan, to retirement allowances calculated on the basis of service used in the calculation of the respective allowances under the plan, and average annual salary earnable during the highest three consecutive years of creditable service, calculated according to the methods used at the date of discontinuance, under the plan in determining salary earnable, but excluding any salary based on overtime as provided in Section 20025.2 of the Government Code, but otherwise according to the formulae under the employees’ system that apply to active employees who are made members thereof. The changed allowances shall be paid to beneficiaries for time commencing on the date they are made beneficiaries of the employees’ system. No allowance shall be reduced by the change.

(7) If two or more districts under the control and management of a single governing board are participants in the plan, one contract between the board of administration and the governing board may include all the districts. The governing board may apportion the total contributions required under the contract, among the districts on the basis of total salaries upon which the contributions are computed, and on the basis of other pertinent information.

(8) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the contract making active employees members of the Public Employees’ Retirement System, shall include teachers and persons employed in a status requisite for membership in the State Teachers’ Retirement System, with respect to service rendered in a status in which they would have been eligible for membership in the Public Employees’ Retirement System, if the district or districts by which they were employed had been participating in that system under Part 3 (commencing with Section 20000) of Division 5 of Title 2 of the Government Code. Contributions deducted from salary earned by the employees in that service, together with credited interest, and standing to the credit of the employees at the effective date of discontinuance of the plan, shall be subject to paragraph (1), in the same manner as they would have been so subject if the employees had been employed at the date of the discontinuance, in a status which was not requisite for membership in the State Teachers’ Retirement System. The employees shall be members of the Public Employees’ Retirement System with the same effect, but only with respect to that service, as if they had been employed in a status that would have qualified them for membership under other paragraphs of this subdivision. The employees shall continue in membership and shall be entitled to benefits in the same manner as if they individually were credited with at least five hundred dollars ($500) in accumulated contributions. In the computation of the members’ benefits under the Public Employees’ Retirement System, their compensation earnable while they are members of the State Teachers’ Retirement System shall be taken into consideration.

(c) Notwithstanding Sections 35161, 35162, Article 1 (commencing with Section 7000) of Chapter 1 of Part 5, Article 2 (commencing with Section 10010) of Chapter 1 of Part 7, Article 1 (commencing with Section 12500) of Chapter 5 of Part 8, this part, Article 5 (commencing with Section 32340) of Chapter 3 of Part 19, and Part 25 (commencing with Section 44000), contributions to the discontinued district retirement plan made by teachers and other persons employed by the district or districts in a status requisite for membership in the State Teachers’ Retirement System standing to their individual credit at the date of discontinuance of the district retirement plan shall be deposited in the Retirement Annuity Fund with credited interest, to be applied on the amount due from the teachers, but not to exceed the amount due. Likewise an amount equal to the actuarial equivalent of the annuity portion of the retirement allowance to which the respective retired teachers and other persons employed by the district or districts, prior to retirement, in a status requisite for membership in the State Teachers’ Retirement System were entitled under the plan, based on the interest rate and mortality tables used in its determination, shall be deposited in the Retirement Annuity Fund, to be applied on the amount due from the respective retired teachers, but not to exceed the amount due. Any excess of the contributions with credited interest or the actuarial equivalents, as the case may be, over the respective amounts due under those sections, shall be paid to the respective active and retired teachers and other persons. Further amounts, if any, due under those sections after the deposits, shall be paid to the Retirement Annuity Fund by the respective active and retired teachers and other persons. If any of the teachers or other persons who is not retired, is not entitled to credit under the State Teachers’ Retirement System for all or part of his or her service credited under the plan, or if any of the retired teachers or other persons is not entitled to a retirement allowance from the system, either before or after the discontinuance, the provisions of this subdivision about contributions and credited interest or about the actuarial equivalent of annuity portions of retirement allowances, as the case may be, shall not apply to him or her with respect to service that is not credited under the state system, until and unless he or she becomes entitled to credit for that service or to an allowance from the state system, based on service that was credited to him or her under the discontinued plan. The balance of the assets held in the various funds of the discontinued district retirement plan after the transfers, deposits, and payments required by this section, or after establishment of reserves from which the transfers, deposits, and payments shall be made, shall be delivered to the district or districts in which the plan is discontinued.

(d) The district or districts in which the district retirement plan is discontinued shall pay monthly to teachers and other persons employed by the district or districts, prior to retirement, in a status requisite for membership in the State Teachers’ Retirement System who were retired prior to the date of the discontinuance an amount equal to the amount by which the retirement allowance to which any of the retired teachers or other persons was entitled under the plan exceeds the increase in the teacher’s or other person’s retirement allowance under the State Teachers’ Retirement System resulting from the discontinuance. If the amount payable to any teacher or other person, under the previous sentence, is less than two dollars ($2), the district or districts may pay, in lieu of that amount, one amount that shall be actuarially equivalent to the monthly amount thereafter payable, according to the interest rate and mortality table used in the determination of the teacher’s or other person’s retirement allowance under the district retirement plan. The payment of the actuarially equivalent amount shall discharge fully the district’s liability to the teacher or other person under this subdivision. The arrangement under which the amounts are paid by the district shall not be considered to be a local retirement system for the purposes of Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 22000) to Chapter 19 (commencing with Section 23200), inclusive, and Chapter 21.5 (commencing with Section 23700), nor shall the amount be taken into account in the calculation of retirement allowances under the State Teachers’ Retirement System. If any of the teachers or other persons is not entitled to a retirement allowance from the State Teachers’ Retirement System, either before or after discontinuance, the district or districts shall pay monthly to him or her, an amount equal to his or her retirement allowance under the plan prior to the discontinuance. If any teacher or other person has left the service of the district or districts, and is in a status under the plan, which if continued would qualify him or her for a retirement allowance without his or her return to that service, but is in a status that would otherwise not qualify him or her for retirement under the state system, the district or districts shall pay monthly to the teacher or other person, beginning at the date upon which he or she would have qualified for service retirement under the plan, an amount equal to the retirement allowance for which he or she would have qualified if the plan had not been discontinued. If any teacher or other person has credit under the plan for service that does not qualify for credit under either the State Teachers’ Retirement System or Public Employees’ Retirement System, the district or districts shall pay monthly to the teacher or other person, beginning on the date upon which he or she would have qualified for service retirement under the plan, an amount equal to the retirement allowance for which he or she would have qualified on the basis of that service if the plan had not been discontinued. If the individual at a later date becomes entitled to a retirement allowance from the state system, based on service that was credited to him or her under the discontinued plan, the monthly payments shall cease, and he or she shall become subject to subdivision (c), and the first four sentences of this subdivision, in the same manner as he or she would have been subject, if he or she had been entitled to a retirement allowance at the date of discontinuance, but calculation of actuarial equivalents and amounts payable shall be made as of the later date.

(e) If any person who was retired prior to the discontinuance from a position requisite for membership in the State Teachers’ Retirement System, under a district retirement salary plan that is discontinued pursuant to this section, elected either under the plan or under the system, but not under both, to have the retirement allowance modified according to an option under which he or she would receive a smaller allowance and provide a benefit for his or her beneficiary, the person shall have the right, to be exercised not later than 60 days after the discontinuance of the plan, to change his or her election under the State Teachers’ Retirement System with respect to the options. Any computations of actuarial equivalent under a changed election shall be made as of the date of discontinuance of the plan, and no adjustment shall be included in the computation on account of retirement allowance payments made prior to that date.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 1994, Ch. 933, Sec. 107. Effective September 28, 1994.)

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS


text:
The balance of the assets delivered to the district pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 24806, after the transfers, deposits and payments required by that section, or after establishment of reserves from which those deposits and payments shall be made, shall be allocated and distributed as follows:

(a) Sixty-five percent of the balance shall be distributed to the undistributed reserve of the general fund of the district to be reduced to cash as necessary and appropriated in any year by majority vote of the governing board. Until the balance of the assets has been reduced to cash, the governing board may invest and reinvest the assets in securities legal for the investment of funds of the State Teachers’ Retirement System when in the judgment of the governing board any sale and reinvestment is advisable. Ten percent of this amount shall be used only for maintenance operation.

(b) Twenty percent of the balance shall be transferred to a special account in the undistributed reserve of the district’s general fund to be reduced to cash as necessary in order to be used only for the purpose of reducing the tax collected pursuant to former Section 23401, as it read on January 1, 1979, in order to provide the contributions required by Section 22950 to the Teacher’s Retirement Fund. In the event that the special account is not wholly distributed for the purpose of making the contribution, the balance in the special account shall be released to the undistributed reserve. Until the balance of the assets has been reduced to cash, the governing board may invest and reinvest the assets in securities legal for the investment of funds of the State Teachers’ Retirement System when in the judgment of the governing board any sale and reinvestment is advisable.

(c) (1) Fifteen percent of the balance shall be held intact by the district in an annuity reserve fund from which shall be provided a supplementary annuity at time of retirement under any California public retirement system to or on behalf of those members of the local district retirement system who were on the active roll or members on the retired roll of such local district retirement system as of June 30, 1972, and those members added to the active and retired rolls between June 30, 1972, and any later date of discontinuance, and those probationary or permanent certificated employees of the district holding memberships in California public retirement systems other than the local district retirement system who are making contributions to those systems on June 30, 1972, or on any later date of discontinuance. The supplement annuity may be paid in lump sum or in installments for the life of the person eligible, or his or her beneficiary, after his or her retirement.

(2) No participant in the annuity reserve fund shall have vested rights to the benefits of this annuity reserve fund until he or she has continued in active service for a period of five years from the date of discontinuance of the local district retirement system, except participants who have separated from service by reason of retirement, including deferred retirement, or death.

(3) An account shall be opened in the name of each person eligible to participate in the benefits of the annuity reserve fund to which shall be credited his or her share of the annuity reserve fund. The individual participant’s share of this fund shall bear the same ratio to the total of this fund as his or her annuity savings contributions, including interest earned, to the retirement system, to which he or she is making annuity contributions as of June 30, 1972, or any later date of discontinuance, or, if a retired member, the date of retirement prior to June 30, 1972, bears to the total annuity savings contributions, including interest earned, of all such participants in the retirement systems to which they are making contributions at the date of discontinuance, including total contributions to the local district retirement system previously made by living members on the retired roll. The fund shall include principal and interest in the account of any participant forfeited because the participant separated from service, except by reason of retirement, including deferred retirement, or death, within five years from June 30, 1972, or other date of discontinuance. The forfeiture shall be treated as earnings of the fund.

(4) As of June 30 each year, and on any other dates the annuity reserve fund board may determine, the earnings of the fund less administrative expense shall be credited to the accounts of the remaining participants in the annuity reserve fund on the ratio that the participant’s individual account balance bears to the total balance of the annuity reserve fund. The cost of administering the fund shall be charged against the assets of the fund, as approved by the governing board of the school district.

(5) When a participant separates from service, the earnings since the preceding date on which the earnings of the fund, less administrative expenses, were credited to the accounts of the participants, shall remain in the fund. Any member whose accumulated contributions to the local retirement system exceed the amount required by law to be deposited by the member in the State Teachers’ Retirement System’s Annuity Fund upon discontinuance of the local system may deposit to his or her credit all or part of the excess amount in the annuity reserve fund.

(6) The governing board of the school district that maintained the discontinued local district retirement system shall establish an annuity reserve fund board of not more than seven members, the majority of whom shall be composed of certificated employees who are participants in the annuity reserve fund. The certificated employees on the annuity reserve fund board shall be elected by participants in the annuity reserve fund. The annuity reserve fund board shall have the authority to make rules and regulations necessary for the management of the annuity reserve fund in accordance with modern business practice. The local district retirement board shall continue to function as the annuity reserve board pending its establishment.

(7) Except as otherwise restricted by the California Constitution or by law, the annuity reserve fund board may, in its discretion, invest or reinvest the assets of the fund through the purchase, holding, or sale thereof of any investment, financial instrument, or financial transaction, if the investment, financial instrument, or financial transaction is prudent in the informed opinion of the annuity reserve fund board.

(8) All securities and cash of the annuity reserve fund shall be held in a trust fund in the county treasury. The county treasurer, as one of his or her official duties, shall be a member ex officio of the annuity reserve fund board established to invest the assets of this fund.

(9) Any funds raised for the support of the local district retirement system and not appropriated to any specific account shall be transferred to the annuity reserve fund. All payments from the district’s annuity reserve fund shall be made in the same manner as payments from school district funds. The annuity reserve fund board may, at its discretion, request the district governing board to hold an election among existing annuity reserve fund participants as to whether the board should distribute existing funds in the annuity fund. The annuity reserve fund board may prescribe all rules and regulations regarding such an election and may distribute the funds if a majority of the members so elect.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS


text: Any certificated employee of a district having an annuity reserve fund may enter into an amendment of his or her employment contract for the purpose of effecting a reduction in salary. The reduction shall be deposited by the employer, at the employee’s request, in the district’s annuity reserve fund. The deposits shall be used to provide the employee an annuity within the meaning of Section 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C.A. Sec. 403(b)).

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS


text: Notwithstanding Section 24807, the annuity reserve fund board may adopt rules allowing participants who have reached 70 years of age to withdraw their benefits.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS


text: The governing board may provide that members of the annuity reserve fund board be paid one hundred dollars ($100) for each meeting, not to exceed one meeting each month, if they are not being paid by the governing board for any other assignment at the time of the meeting. The compensation shall be a charge against the annuity reserve fund.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS


text:
(a) Notwithstanding Section 24806, persons other than teachers and other persons employed in a status requisite for membership in the State Teachers’ Retirement System, who are active or retired members of a district retirement salary plan established under Sections 24800 to 24812, inclusive, in any school district or districts in which the average daily attendance of all districts combined is in excess of 200,000, governed by the same governing board, may be transferred by the governing board of the district or districts, with the consent of the majority of the active members of the plan expressing their desires with respect to the transfer evidenced in the manner the governing board prescribes. However, no transfer of the active and retired members shall be effective for any purpose unless provision is made for retirement allowances for active and retired employees of the district as provided in subdivision (b).

(b) (1) Active and retired employees, including future employees, of the district or districts who otherwise would be members of the plan, persons who are members of the district’s retirement salary plan, and persons who were employees on June 30, 1957, and who attained age 65 years or over during the 12 months immediately preceding July 1, 1957, other than teachers and persons employed in a status requisite for membership in the State Teachers’ Retirement System or who were so employed prior to retirement, shall be made members and beneficiaries, respectively, of the Public Employees’ Retirement System according to the provisions of Part 3 (commencing with Section 20000) of Division 5 of Title 2 of the Government Code, including transfer to the system of the accumulated contributions of the members, together with the other assets of the plan as may be determined. However, the total of the other assets transferred shall not be greater than the portion of the reserves of the plan that is allocable to the active and retired employees, as determined by actuarial valuation. In the valuation the portion of the reserves allocable to the active and retired employees proposed to be transferred shall be determined as an amount which bears the same ratio to the total reserves under the plan as the liabilities under the plan on account of the active and retired employees bear to the total liabilities under the plan on account of all active and retired employees under the plan. On the effective date of the contract making the active employees members of the Public Employees’ Retirement System, the employees shall cease to be members of the plan, and neither they nor retired persons who are made beneficiaries of the state system, shall be paid or have any right to any allowance or other benefit under the plan for time beginning with the effective date.

(2) With respect to persons who are members of the plan at the transfer, it shall be provided in the contract making the employees members of the Public Employees’ Retirement System, that their respective rates of contribution under the plan shall be based on the age at the nearest birthday at July 1, 1944, or at the respective later effective dates of their membership in the plan, all instead of the age at the nearest birthday at the effective date of membership in the employees’ system.

(3) Each employee of the district or districts who is included in the contract, but who during all or part of his or her employment in a status requisite for membership in the plan was not a member thereof, because of his or her election under an available option, or who, while employed in a status not requisite for membership in the plan, was a member of the State Teachers’ Retirement System and was contributing to that system, or who did not redeposit upon reentry into membership contributions previously withdrawn, shall have the right to elect by written document filed with the Board of Administration of the Public Employees’ Retirement System, at any time within 90 days after the date upon which the notice of the right to make the election is mailed by the system either to the member’s latest address on file in the office of the system, or to the office of the governing board of the district or districts, and prior to the date of retirement, to contribute to the system, subject to minimum payments fixed by the board of administration, and in one or more sums, or in not to exceed 60 monthly payments, an amount which, when added to his or her accumulated contributions, including interest, transferred as required in paragraph (1), will make a total amount equal to the accumulated contributions, including interest, that would have been credited to him or her in the plan, if he or she had never elected not to be a member thereof, or if he or she had been a member of the plan during the time he or she was a member of the State Teachers’ Retirement System and was contributing to the system, or if he or she had redeposited the withdrawn contributions upon reentry, as the case may be. The employee shall pay to the Public Employees’ Retirement System interest on the unpaid balance of the amount payable to the system, beginning with the date of transfer, at the rate of interest currently used from time to time under the system. If the employee elects to make, and makes the contributions, and pays the interest, but not otherwise, he or she shall receive credit under the employees’ system, as state service, for all the service rendered while he or she was not a member of the plan, because of his or her optional exclusion, or for service rendered while he or she was contributing to the State Teachers’ Retirement System, provided the service is no longer credited under the teachers’ system, or for all service upon which the withdrawn contributions were based, and for the purpose of paragraph (2) shall be considered as a member of the plan at the transfer and from November 1, 1937, or later beginning date of the service. Regardless of whether the contributions are made, the employee shall receive credit for service with which he or she was credited or would have been credited if he or she had been a member, as prior service under the plan. The contributions under this paragraph shall be added to and administered in the same manner as the contributions transferred under paragraph (1).

(4) Service rendered by active employees who are made members of the Public Employees’ Retirement System prior to or after the assumption by the district or districts of the function under which the service was rendered, but prior to the effective date of the contract making active employees members, and the compensation for which was paid wholly or in part from funds other than the funds of the district or districts, shall be credited under the employees’ system, provided the service qualified for credit under the plan.

(5) The contract making the active employees members of the Public Employees’ Retirement System, shall include the employees with respect to service rendered in a status in which they are not eligible for membership in the State Teachers’ Retirement System, as provided in Section 20491 of the Government Code, and also with respect to service rendered in a status in which they are eligible for that membership, but that is no longer credited under the teachers’ retirement system, and the service shall be credited in the manner applicable to service otherwise qualifying for credit.

(6) Retirement allowances being paid under the plan to retired employees of the district or districts, who are made beneficiaries of the Public Employees’ Retirement System, shall be changed by action of the governing board of the district, effective at the transfer, to retirement allowances calculated on the basis of service used in the calculation of the respective allowances under the plan, and average annual salary earnable during the highest three consecutive years of creditable service, calculated according to the methods used at the date of transfer, under the plan in determining salary earnable, but excluding any salary based on overtime as provided in Section 20025.2 of the Government Code, but otherwise according to the formulae under the employees’ system that apply to active employees who are made members of the employees’ system. The changed allowances shall be paid to the beneficiaries for time commencing on the date they are made beneficiaries of the employees’ system. No allowance shall be reduced by the change.

(7) If two or more districts under the control and management of a single governing board are participants in the plan, one contract between the board of administration and the governing board may include all the districts. The governing board may apportion the total contributions required under the contract, among the districts on the basis of total salaries upon which the contributions are computed, and on the basis of other pertinent information.

(8) The contract making these active employees members of the Public Employees’ Retirement System shall provide that the service included in the calculation of the completed years of service as a basis for the portion of the basic death benefit provided in subdivision (b) of Section 21361 of the Government Code for persons who were members of the plan at transfer, shall not be limited to service under the Public Employees’ Retirement System, but instead that service rendered as members of the plan shall also be included.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS


text: If two or more districts have been included in one contract between the Board of Administration of the Public Employees’ Retirement System, and the governing board of the districts, as provided in paragraph (7) of subdivision (b) of Section 24810, and if, since that inclusion, two or more of the districts have been combined into a unified district, the unified district, by amendment to the contract, may, notwithstanding Section 20580 of the Government Code, be substituted for the districts so combined, and for all purposes of the contract.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS


text: If two districts, one of which is a community college district, have been included in one contract between the Board of Administration of the Public Employees’ Retirement System and the governing board of the districts, as provided in paragraph (7) of subdivision (b) of Section 24810, and thereafter members of the governing board of the community college district are precluded by law from serving as members of the governing body of the other district, the contract shall be deemed a separate contract as to each district. The Board of Administration of the Public Employees’ Retirement System shall determine the accumulated contributions held for or as having been made by each district and its employees, and shall credit the contributions to the respective contracts. Benefits based on all service of an employee to the districts prior to the date upon which employees’ elections to serve the respective districts are effective shall be a liability of the contract of the district employing the person on the effective date. A person retired prior to the effective date shall, for all purposes of this section, be deemed an employee of the district other than the community college district.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS


text:
(a) The contract executed under Section 24810, and making persons other than teachers and other persons employed in a status requisite for membership in the State Teachers’ Retirement System, who are active or retired members of a district retirement salary plan established under Sections 24800 to 24812, inclusive, members and beneficiaries of the Public Employees’ Retirement System, shall be amended to include as members or beneficiaries, teachers and other persons who were employed in a status requisite for membership in the State Teachers’ Retirement System, who ceased to be members of the plan if it was discontinued, or if the plan was not discontinued, who resign instead of retiring and are refunded their accumulated contributions under that plan, or who retire or have retired under the district plan and relinquish or have relinquished their right to allowances from the plan with credit for service rendered in a status in which they would have been eligible for membership in the Public Employees’ Retirement System, if the district or districts by which they were employed had been participating in that system under Part 3 (commencing with Section 20000) of Division 5 of Title 2 of the Government Code, but only if the service qualified for credit under the plan and is not credited under any other retirement system.

(b) The service of a person who ceased to be a member, or resigns or has resigned instead of retiring, or who relinquishes or has relinquished, shall be administered under the contract in exactly the same manner as that applied to service of persons who were retired under the local retirement system at the effective date of that contract, and were made beneficiaries, or who were not retired and were made members of the system on that date. The retirement allowances being received by the relinquishing persons, on account of service that would have been credited under the Public Employees’ Retirement System as stated, shall be adjusted in the same manner that allowances were adjusted under paragraph (6) of subdivision (b) of Section 24810. Any member who is credited with service in accordance with this section, shall pay to the Public Employees’ Retirement System, at times and in the manner fixed by the board of administration of that system, an amount equal to contributions with interest, that the member received as a refund from the plan, and that were based on service credited, plus interest from the date of refund to the date of the payment, at the interest rate in effect under the system at the date of payment. Contributions required of the district or districts shall be determined by proper valuation, and the contributions set forth in the contract shall be adjusted accordingly.

(c) A retirement allowance based on the credited service shall be payable and retirement shall become effective, under the Public Employees’ Retirement System beginning on the first day of the month next following the effective date of this section, in the case of a person who then is retired under the State Teachers’ Retirement System, or otherwise on the later effective date of the member’s retirement under the teachers’ system. The allowance shall be based on the person’s age when the allowance begins, and on the same average salary as that upon which his or her allowance under the State Teachers’ Retirement System, is based.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS


text: The governing boards of two or more school districts, in none of which the employees are entitled to the benefits of a pension or retirement system maintained by a city, city and county, or county in which the district, or a part thereof, is located, meeting in joint session, may in their discretion, submit to the qualified electors of the districts, and upon petition signed by not less than 10 percent of the qualified electors of each district the governing boards shall submit to the qualified electors of the districts the proposition of establishing a joint plan for a retirement salary to be paid by the districts to all teachers fulfilling the requirements of the plan in the public schools of the districts and to other employees of the districts as the governing boards may determine, or, in the case of a petition, other employees specified in the petition, and to provide, out of funds of the districts, a portion of the cost thereunder, including expenses incident to the administration of the plan.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

article: 1. Establishment of Plan

path: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS > 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS > 13. STATE TEACHERS' RETIREMENT SYSTEM > 35. Joint District Salary Retirement Plan > 1. Establishment of Plan


text: The proposition of establishing the plan may be submitted to the electors of the districts at any general or special election called and held in the districts, as the governing boards of the districts may determine. The governing boards of the school districts may order the elections that shall be called and held in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 5300) of Part 4.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

chapter: 35. Joint District Salary Retirement Plan

article: 1. Establishment of Plan


text: The governing boards calling the election shall consolidate the election and submit to the electors of the respective districts on the same day the question of whether a district retirement plan shall be established in the districts. Within the territory affected by the order of consolidation, the election precinct polling places and voting booths shall, in every case, be the same. There shall be only one set of election officers in each precinct. The propositions to be voted upon within the respective districts may be set forth on one ticket or ballot. All proceedings had in the premises shall be recorded in one set of election papers, and the election shall be held in all respects as though there were only one election.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

article: 1. Establishment of Plan


text: The election may be consolidated with any other election pursuant to Part 3 (commencing with Section 10400) of Division 10 of the Elections Code.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 1994, Ch. 923, Sec. 26. Effective January 1, 1995.)

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

article: 1. Establishment of Plan


text: The election shall be called by posting notices, signed by a majority of the governing board of each district, not less than 10 days before the election. If there is a newspaper of general circulation published in any of the districts, notice shall be published in such a newspaper at least once, and at least 10 days prior to the election.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

article: 1. Establishment of Plan


text: In all respects not otherwise specified the election shall be called and held, and returns canvassed and the result announced in the manner provided for the holding of elections for the purpose of authorizing bonds of the school districts, so far as the provisions of the laws are applicable. The governing boards of the school districts in which the election is held shall, for the purposes of this section, be considered as one board.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

article: 1. Establishment of Plan


text: There shall be printed on the ballots to be used at the election the proposition: “Shall the governing boards of (here insert the names of the districts under the control of the boards submitting the proposition) school districts be authorized to establish a plan for a joint district retirement salary for the teachers and such other employees of the districts as the governing boards or the petition determines.” To the right of or below the proposition to be voted on, the words “Yes” and “No” shall be printed on separate lines, with voting targets.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2025, Ch. 303, Sec. 8. (AB 1512) Effective January 1, 2026.)

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

article: 1. Establishment of Plan


text: If, at the election, a majority of the voters in each district voting on the proposition cast their ballots in favor of the proposition, the governing boards shall establish a joint district retirement salary plan for the teachers and for such other employees of the districts as the boards or the petition determine.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

article: 1. Establishment of Plan


text: If a majority of the votes cast in each district on the proposition is in the negative, the governing boards shall not submit the proposition again within a period of six months after the date of the election.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

article: 1. Establishment of Plan


text: Every teacher and every other employee of the school districts for which the plan for district retirement is adopted, who is employed by the districts at the time of the adoption of the plan, and who signs an agreement to be subject to the burdens of the district retirement plan, shall be entitled to the benefits and subject to the burdens of the plan and of this chapter. Every teacher employed in the public schools of the districts after the adoption of the provisions of this chapter by the governing boards of the districts, and any other employees the boards or the petition determines, shall be bound by the benefits and burdens of this chapter.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

article: 2. Administration of the Plan

path: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS > 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS > 13. STATE TEACHERS' RETIREMENT SYSTEM > 35. Joint District Salary Retirement Plan > 2. Administration of the Plan


text: Any plan shall not be adopted or established until the governing boards, after any inquiry and hearing they may direct, find that the respective contributions of the teachers and other employees and the districts provided for in the plan, are substantially in accordance with the more recent generally prevailing rates of contributions in public institutions that have established retirement systems, and that the plan is in accordance with sound business practice and with recognized actuarial methods.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

article: 2. Administration of the Plan


text: The plan may provide that the retirement salary shall be a stipulated monthly sum, or that all benefits under the retirement feature of the plan shall be based upon the monthly salary for each year of future active service in the district earned by the employee up to the date of retirement and upon the average monthly salary earned by the teacher or other eligible employee during the year immediately preceding the adoption of the plan and the number of years of past active service of the employee in the district, and subject to those provisions made in the plan for minimum benefits. No employee with less than 15 years’ service in the district prior to normal retirement age shall receive the benefit of the minimum. In no instance shall the retirement benefits be based upon or allowed for any amount of salary in excess of the sum of five hundred dollars ($500) per month.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

article: 2. Administration of the Plan


text: In lieu of the authorizations or requirements provided for in Sections 24920 and 24922, the plan may provide only that the retirement salary shall be based on service rendered prior to the effective date of the plan or prior to July 1, 1944, and shall be an amount which, when added to the retirement allowance the respective member is entitled to receive under the State Teachers’ Retirement System, shall equal a sum of not less than one hundred dollars ($100) per month and Sections 24920 and 24922 shall not be applicable thereto. The costs of the benefits under such a plan may be met by the contributions of the districts alone, notwithstanding Sections 35161, 35162, Article 1 (commencing with Section 7000) of Chapter 1 of Part 5, Article 2 (commencing with Section 10010) of Chapter 1 of Part 7, Article 1 (commencing with Section 12500) of Chapter 5 of Part 8, this part, Article 5 (commencing with Section 32340) of Chapter 3 of Part 19, and Part 25 (commencing with Section 44000), and only teachers who have credit for service rendered prior to that date shall be subject to the plan.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

article: 2. Administration of the Plan


text:
(a) A plan established under this chapter that is intended to provide supplemental benefits only on account of service rendered before July 1, 1944, may be discontinued by the governing board of the district, subject to the following conditions:

(1) Notwithstanding Sections 35161, 35162, Article 1 (commencing with Section 7000) of Chapter 1, Article 2 (commencing with Section 10010) of Chapter 1 of Part 7, Article 1 (commencing with Section 12500) of Chapter 5 of Part 8, this part, Article 5 (commencing with Section 32340) of Chapter 3 of Part 19, and Part 25 (commencing with Section 44000), any teacher who is not retired on July 1, 1956, shall be entitled to the contributions made by him or her to the discontinued plan with interest credited in accordance with the rules and regulations of the local retirement plan up to and including June 30, 1957. Likewise, a teacher who retired prior to July 1, 1956, shall be entitled to a refund equal to the actuarial equivalent, at his or her attained age, of the annuity that would have been provided by the total contributions required of the member under the system, based on interest and mortality tables currently in use, less the amount of any contributions remaining unpaid on the date of discontinuance. The amount to which any teacher is entitled under this section shall be paid to him or her within 90 days of his or her request in writing on a form provided by and filed with the local retirement system. All requests shall be filed prior to July 1, 1959.

(2) The district in which the plan is discontinued shall pay monthly to teachers, who were retired prior to the date of the discontinuance, an amount equal to the amount by which the retirement allowance to which any of these retired teachers was entitled under the plan exceeds the increase in the teacher’s retirement allowance under the State Teachers’ Retirement System after the discontinuance. In lieu of the monthly payment, the district may elect to pay in a single sum the amount that shall be the actuarial equivalent to the monthly amount thereafter payable, according to the interest rate and mortality table currently in use under the plan. Payment of the amount shall discharge fully the district’s liability to the teacher under this subdivision. The arrangement under which the amounts are paid by the district shall not be considered to be a local retirement system for the purposes of Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 22000) to Chapter 31 (commencing with Section 24600), inclusive, nor shall the amount be taken into account in the calculation of the retirement allowances under the State Teachers’ Retirement System.

(b) Any person who was retired prior to July 1, 1956, from a position requisite for membership in the State Teachers’ Retirement System, under a district supplemental retirement salary plan which has been discontinued pursuant to this section, and elected either under the plan or under the system, but not under both, to have a portion of his or her retirement allowance modified according to an option under which he or she would receive a smaller allowance and provide for a benefit for his or her beneficiary, that person shall have the right, to be exercised not later than 60 days after July 5, 1956, to change his or her election under the State Teachers’ Retirement System with respect to those options. Any computations of actuarial equivalents under a changed election shall be made as of the effective date, and no adjustment shall be included in the computation on account of retirement allowance payments made prior to that date.

(c) When any local retirement plan is discontinued under this section, all funds remaining in the district retirement fund of the local system shall be transferred to the general fund of the school district in which the plan is discontinued. Thereafter any payments to meet continuing obligations of the district arising from the establishment or discontinuance of the plan shall be paid from the general fund of the district.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

article: 2. Administration of the Plan


text: The governing boards, after the adoption of the plan, shall at regular intervals, each not exceeding a period of five years, secure a general survey and actuarial report of the plan, and the boards shall from time to time amend the plan in any manner found to be advisable to meet changed conditions, or, in the light of experience, considered necessary.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

article: 2. Administration of the Plan


text: A plan under which the districts establishing it agree to pay to employees who become entitled to retirement salaries within a specified period, not exceeding 15 years, after the establishment of the plan, a specified sum that, during the life expectancy of the employees, will be approximately equal, in the aggregate, to the aggregate difference, during the life expectancy, between the maximum salary paid to employees in the respective classes of the retiring employees, and the salaries paid to beginning employees in the classes, shall be construed to comply with the provisions of this chapter requiring the plan to be in accordance with sound business practices and recognized actuarial methods.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

article: 2. Administration of the Plan


text: For the purpose of providing funds that may be necessary to make the payments required by any joint district retirement plan, district taxes shall be levied and collected annually by the respective districts at the same time and in the same manner as other district taxes are levied and collected. The tax shall be in addition to any other district tax now or hereafter authorized by law, and shall not be considered in fixing maximum rates of tax for school district or community college district purposes.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

article: 2. Administration of the Plan


text: Every joint district retirement plan shall provide that only those teachers and other employees who have served as teachers or employees of the districts for at least 20 years of service immediately preceding retirement, and who have reached a minimum age specified in the joint district retirement plan, which shall not be less than 55 years, shall be entitled to a district retirement salary.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

article: 2. Administration of the Plan


text: The plan may provide for the retirement of teachers or other employees on account of disability after 10 years of service immediately prior to the retirement, the proportion of the disability retirement salary to the full retirement salary to be specified in the plan.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

article: 2. Administration of the Plan


text: Absence from service by reason of a leave of absence granted by the governing board of an employing district shall not be construed as a break in the continuity of service or by any district retirement plan adopted pursuant to the provisions hereof, but the period of leave shall not be counted as time served toward retirement unless the period is so counted under the State Teachers Retirement Act.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

article: 2. Administration of the Plan


text: Time of service may be counted in the aggregate and fractions of years amounting to whole years may be counted as whole years when payments by the teacher or other employee have been made for all of the time counted.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

article: 2. Administration of the Plan


text: The governing boards of the districts shall in all cases determine the teachers and other employees who are entitled to retirement salaries, and make and keep a list of the teachers and other employees, known as the retired list. For the purpose of making the retired list the boards may take testimony and examine witnesses under oath, which may be administered by any member of the board.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

article: 2. Administration of the Plan


text: The governing boards of the districts may make all necessary and proper rules and regulations in aid or furtherance of the provisions of this chapter and in order to carry out and administer the provisions.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

article: 2. Administration of the Plan


text: When a joint district retirement plan is established there shall be created in the treasury of the county in which the districts are located, or, if the districts are located in more than one county, in the treasury of the county selected by the governing boards of the districts meeting in joint session, and open upon the books of the auditor and treasurer of the county, a trust fund account designated as the “joint district retirement fund.” All moneys, whether from contributions by teachers or other employees, or by the districts, or from any source, properly belonging to the joint district retirement fund shall be placed in the fund. Upon approval of the joint district retirement board all incidental expenses, including actual and necessary clerical or other help, incurred in carrying out the provisions of this chapter shall be paid out of the fund and in the same manner as other expenditures are paid from district funds.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

article: 2. Administration of the Plan


text: Members of governing boards shall discharge the powers, duties, purposes, responsibilities, and jurisdiction conferred or imposed upon the governing boards under this chapter without extra or additional compensation.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

article: 2. Administration of the Plan


text: The governing boards of the districts establishing the retirement plan shall provide for the administration of the funds and the payment of retirement salaries by a joint district retirement board composed of three persons not officers or employees of any of the districts, one representative of each district, one representative of the teachers of each district and one representative of the other employees of each district, who shall serve without compensation. The representatives chosen by the teachers and other employees shall be chosen by secret ballot. The county treasurer of the county in the county treasury of which the joint district retirement fund is created shall be ex officio a member of the joint district retirement board. All members of the retirement board shall serve for such terms as may be specified by the governing boards in establishing a plan. The joint district retirement board shall have such further powers and duties as may be prescribed by the governing boards of the districts.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

article: 2. Administration of the Plan


text:
(a) The joint district retirement board shall have charge and control of the district retirement fund of the district and of the payment of all retirement salaries and annuities payable from the fund. The joint district retirement board shall invest the funds in securities that are legal for the investment of funds of savings banks in this state and shall sell the securities and reinvest the proceeds in securities legal for investment of funds of savings banks when in the judgment of the joint district retirement board the sale and reinvestment is advisable. No investment in or sale of securities shall be made except upon authorization of the joint district retirement board at a meeting of the board.

(b) The board also shall collect the income from the securities and pay it into the joint district retirement fund.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

article: 2. Administration of the Plan


text: The joint district retirement board may sue in its own name when necessary to carry out the powers and duties conferred upon it. The district attorney, or, if there is a county counsel, the county counsel of the county in which are employed the largest number of employees entitled to the benefits and subject to the burdens of the joint district retirement plan shall act as attorney for the joint district retirement board without additional compensation.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

article: 2. Administration of the Plan


text: All securities purchased by the joint district retirement board shall be deposited with the county treasurer for safekeeping.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

article: 2. Administration of the Plan


text:
(a) All payments from the joint district retirement fund shall be made in the same manner as payments from school district funds but shall be subject to approval of the joint district retirement board. Warrants drawn on the fund shall be signed by at least one member of the joint district retirement board who shall be designated by the board.

(b) The duties imposed upon the county treasurer shall be a part of his or her official duties, for the faithful performance of which he or she shall be liable upon his or her official bond.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

article: 2. Administration of the Plan


text: The county auditor of the county in the county treasury of which the “joint district retirement fund” is created shall audit the accounts of the joint district retirement board at least once every 12 months and report upon the financial condition thereof to the governing boards of the districts.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

article: 2. Administration of the Plan


text: The retirement salaries provided for in this chapter shall be in addition to any other retirement salaries received by any person under Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 22000) to Chapter 31 (commencing with Section 24600), inclusive, or as may be otherwise provided by law.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

article: 2. Administration of the Plan


text: The retirement salaries provided for in this chapter for all other employees, shall be in addition to any other retirement salaries that may be provided by law.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

article: 2. Administration of the Plan


text: Whenever by the provisions of this chapter, the governing boards of two or more school districts are required, or authorized, to perform any act, the act may be done only at joint meetings of the boards, and no action shall be taken by the boards except upon the affirmative vote of a majority of the members of a majority of the boards.

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

article: 2. Administration of the Plan


text:
(a) An annuity contract and custodial account as described in Section 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 shall be offered to :

(1) All employees of any state agency who are members of the plan under this part.

(2) Any employee of a local public agency or political subdivision of this state that employs persons to perform creditable service subject to coverage by the plan under this part.

(3) Any state employee of a state employer under the uniform state payroll system, excluding the California State University System, eligible to participate in an annuity contract and custodial account as described in Section 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

(b) The following criteria shall apply to that annuity contract and custodial account:

(1) The annuity contract and custodial account shall be offered for at least five years.

(2) The annuity contract and custodial account may be administered by a qualified third-party administrator that shall, under agreement with the system, provide custodial, investment, recordkeeping, or administrative services, or any combination thereof. The third-party administrator may not provide investment options other than pursuant to a shareholders’ services agreement between the third-party administrator and the investment manager.

(3) The investment options offered shall be determined by the board consistent with those annuity contract and custodial accounts described in Section 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

(4) The system’s investment staff shall make recommendations to the board as to the appropriate investment options. At a minimum, the board shall offer at least three investment options. The board shall have sole responsibility for the selection of service providers.

(5) All contributions made in accordance with the provisions of Section 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and this section shall be remitted directly to the administrator and held by the administrator in a custodial account on behalf of the employee. Any investment gains or losses shall be credited to those accounts. The forms of payment and disbursement procedure shall be consistent with those generally offered by similar annuity contracts and custodial accounts and applicable federal and state statutes governing those contracts and accounts.

(6) Any employer, other than the state, may elect to make contributions to the employee’s annuity contract and custodial account on behalf of the employee. The employer shall take whatever action is necessary to implement this section, including the adoption of an annuity contract and custodial account, or provide the appropriate authorization in accordance with the provision of Section 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. Employer contributions made under this section are excluded from the definition of creditable compensation as provided in Section 22119.2.

(7) The design and administration of the annuity contract and custodial account shall comply with the applicable provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and the Revenue and Taxation Code. Section 770.3 of the Insurance Code shall not be applicable.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2008, Ch. 230, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2009.)

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

path: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS > 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS > 13. STATE TEACHERS' RETIREMENT SYSTEM > 36. Annuity Contract and Custodial Accounts


text:
(a) The system may administer an individual retirement plan as described in Section 408A of Title 26 of the United States Code for the purpose of accepting a rollover from an annuity contract or custodial account offered by the system pursuant to this chapter to the extent the rollover complies with Title 26 of the United States Code.

(b) The system may provide for the administration of the individual retirement plan described in subdivision (a) by a qualified third-party administrator who shall, by agreement with the system, provide custodial, investment, recordkeeping, or administrative services, or any combination thereof.

history: (History: Added by Stats. 2008, Ch. 432, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2009.)

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS

chapter: 36. Annuity Contract and Custodial Accounts


text: If the rate of participation in the annuity contract and custodial account is less than 2 percent of active members in the Defined Benefit Program upon the completion of the initial five years of administration, the board may elect to terminate the offering of the annuity contract and custodial account as described in Section 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. The board shall provide two years’ notice to the annuity contract and custodial account participants of its intention to terminate.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 1998, Ch. 965, Sec. 227. Effective January 1, 1999.)

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS


text:
(a) Any annuity contract and custodial account advertised, promoted, or offered through one or more third-party service providers, shall provide for recovery, from the employees who participate, of all costs and expenses of its own administration, including, but not limited to, advertising, promotion, legal, accounting, compliance, recordkeeping, and investment costs and expenses.

(b) Any annuity contract and custodial account administered by the system shall provide for the recovery of all costs and expenses of its administration.

(c) The system may promote and advertise an annuity contract and custodial account administered directly by the system or by a third-party administrator.

history: (History: Amended by Stats. 2006, Ch. 780, Sec. 3. Effective January 1, 2007.)

title: 1. GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS