(a) Pursuant to §§843.101 - 843.104 of the
Texas Government Code, a subdivision must certify to the system the
service performed by employees of the subdivision before the subdivision's
participation in the retirement system became effective and must also
certify the average prior service compensation of those members.
(b) The subdivision must certify each member's prior
service by calculating one month of credited service for each calendar
month during which the member performed at least one day of service
for the subdivision, other than as a temporary employee, prior to
the month that includes the subdivision's effective participation
date.
(c) The subdivision must certify each member's average
prior service compensation by multiplying the member's most recent
annual rate of compensation as determined in subsection (d) of this
section by .97, and dividing this product by twelve.
(d) The most recent annual rate of compensation is
determined based on the definition prescribed in §844.503 of
the Texas Government Code concerning computation of current annual
compensation for purposes of group term life insurance. The subdivision
shall compute the most recent annual rate of compensation for a member
by converting to an annual basis the regular rate of pay of the member
for the most recent regular hour worked and proportionally reducing
that annual basis figure if the member is not employed in a full time
position. The most recent annual rate of compensation of a member
who is exempt from the minimum wage and maximum hour requirements
of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. Section 201 et
seq.) and who is paid on a salary basis is computed by converting
to an annual basis the regular salary paid to the member for the most
recent pay period of active employment.
(e) The system shall provide the subdivision a worksheet
for the subdivision to enter the data concerning the months of prior
service worked as defined in subsection (b) of this section, to enter
the data concerning the most recent rate of annual compensation as
defined in subsection (d) of this section, and to calculate the average
prior service compensation as described in subsection (c) of this
section. The subdivision shall be responsible for entering the data,
making the calculations, and then certifying the results to the system.
(f) Upon receipt of the prior service certification
and the average prior service compensation certification, the system
will review the data, validate the calculations, and make any necessary
corrections in the event of a discrepancy between the subdivision's
certifications and the system's validation. If the calculation of
average prior service compensation as mandated by this section is
infeasible for any reason, the system may approve an alternate method
to determine average prior service compensation as long as the calculation
is reasonable and consistently applied.
(g) A subdivision must certify the prior service and
average prior service compensation of all eligible members no later
than 30 days after the subdivision's effective date of participation.
In the case of a member eligible for prior service credit under §843.102(a)(2)
of the Texas Government Code, the subdivision must make the certification
no later than 30 days after the six month period of re-employment.
Calculations of prior service credit are governed by the law in effect
at the time of the calculation. The system may extend the time periods
set forth in this subsection.
(h) If, under §843.201 of the Texas Government
Code, a subdivision has acquired a public facility or assumed a governmental
function, the date of acquisition or assumption shall be the effective
date of participation for purposes of calculating the prior service
and average prior service compensation of those members eligible under
that section.
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