Sec. 11.

(1) There is created the employees' savings fund, employer's accumulation fund, annuity reserve fund, pension reserve fund, income fund, expense fund, and health insurance reserve fund.

(2) The employees' savings fund is the fund in which shall be accumulated at regular interest the contributions to the retirement system deducted from the compensation of members. The retirement board shall provide for the maintenance of an individual account for each member that shows the amount of the member's contributions together with interest on those contributions. The accumulated contributions of a member returned to the member upon his or her withdrawal from service, or paid to the member's estate or designated beneficiary in the event of the member's death, as provided in this act, shall be paid from the employees' savings fund. Any accumulated contributions not claimed by a member or the member's legal representative as provided in this act within 5 years after the member's separation from state service shall be transferred from the employees' savings fund to the income fund. The accumulated contributions of a member, upon the member's retirement, shall be transferred from the employees' savings fund to the pension reserve fund.

(3) The employer's accumulation fund is the fund in which shall be accumulated the reserves derived from money provided by this state for the payment of all retirement allowances to be payable to retirants and beneficiaries as provided in this act. The amounts paid by this state shall be credited to the employer's accumulation fund. Upon the retirement of a member, or upon the member's death, if a beneficiary is entitled to a retirement allowance payable from funds of the retirement system, the difference between the reserve for the retirement allowance to be paid on account of the member's retirement or death and the member's accumulated contributions standing to his or her credit in the employees' savings fund at the time of his or her retirement or death shall be transferred from the employer's accumulation fund to the pension reserve fund. If, in any year, the pension reserve fund is insufficient to cover the reserves for retirement allowances and other benefits being paid from the fund, the amount or amounts of the insufficiency or insufficiencies shall be transferred from the employer's accumulation fund to the pension reserve fund.

(4) The annuity reserve fund is the fund from which shall be paid all annuities, or benefits in lieu of annuities, because of which reserves have been transferred from the employees' savings fund to the annuity reserve fund. Upon the adoption of this act, the balance in the annuity reserve fund shall be transferred to the pension reserve fund, and the annuities heretofore payable from the annuity reserve fund shall thereafter become payable from the pension reserve fund.

(5) The pension reserve fund is the fund from which shall be paid all retirement allowances and benefits in lieu of pensions, as provided in this act. For a disability retirant returned to active service with this state, his or her pension reserve, computed as of the date of return, shall be transferred from the pension reserve fund to the employees' savings fund and the employer's accumulation fund in the proportion that this reserve, as of the date of his or her retirement, was transferred to the pension reserve fund from the employees' savings fund and from the employer's accumulation fund. The amounts transferred to the employees' savings fund under this section shall be credited to the member's individual account in the fund.

(6) An income fund is created for the purpose of crediting regular interest on the amounts in the various other funds of the retirement system with the exception of the expense fund, and to provide a contingent fund out of which special requirements of any of the other funds may be covered. Transfers for special requirements shall be made only when the amount in the income fund exceeds the ordinary requirements of the fund as evidenced by a resolution of the retirement board recorded in its minutes. The retirement board shall annually allow regular interest for the preceding year to each of the funds enumerated in subsections (2), (3), (4), (5), and (8), and the amount allowed under this subsection shall be due and payable to each of these funds and shall be annually credited to the funds by the retirement board and paid from the income fund. However, interest on contributions from members within a calendar year shall begin on the first day of the next calendar year, and shall be credited at the end of the calendar year. Except as provided in this subsection, income, interest, and dividends derived from the deposits and investments authorized by this act shall be paid into the income fund. The retirement system shall determine the share of income, interest, and dividends attributable to the balance in the health advance funding subaccount created under subsection (9) and the share of income, interest, and dividends attributable to the health advance funding subaccount balance shall be paid into the health advance funding subaccount. The retirement board is authorized to accept gifts and bequests. Any funds that come into the possession of the retirement system as a gift or bequest, or any funds that may be transferred from the employees' savings fund by reason of lack of claimant, or because of a surplus in any fund created by this act, or any other money the disposition of which is not otherwise provided for in this act shall be credited to the income fund.

(7) The expense fund is the fund from which shall be paid the expenses of the administration of this act, exclusive of amounts payable as retirement allowances and other benefits provided for in this act. The legislature shall appropriate the funds necessary to defray and cover the expenses of administering this act.

(8) The health insurance reserve fund is the fund into which appropriations made by the legislature, subscriber co-payments, and payments by the retirement system under section 68 for health, dental, and vision insurance premiums are paid. Health, dental, and vision insurance premiums payable pursuant to sections 20d and 68 shall be paid from the health insurance reserve fund. The assets and any earnings on the assets contained in the health insurance reserve fund and the health advance funding subaccount described in subsection (9) are not to be treated as pension assets for any purpose.

(9) The health advance funding subaccount is the account to which amounts transferred pursuant to sections 20d, 38(6), and 52 are credited. Any amounts received in the health advance funding subaccount and accumulated earnings on those amounts shall not be expended until the actuarial accrued liability for health benefits under section 20d is at least 100% funded. The department may expend funds or transfer funds to another account to expend for health benefits under section 20d if the actuarial accrued liability for health benefits under section 20d is at least 100% funded. For each fiscal year after the fiscal year in which the actuarial accrued liability for health benefits under section 20d is at least 100% funded by the health advance funding subaccount, amounts received in the health advance funding subaccount and accumulated earnings on those amounts may be expended or credited to fund health benefits under section 20d as provided in section 38(3). For the fiscal year ending on September 30, 2003 only, the general fund portion of all amounts received in the health advance funding subaccount as of October 1, 2002 and accumulated earnings on those amounts shall be transferred to the general fund. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the department may transfer amounts from the health advance funding subaccount to the employer's accumulation fund created under this section if the department does both of the following:

(a) At least 45 days before the intended transfer, submits a request to the chairs of the senate and house appropriations committees and, at least 15 days before the intended transfer, obtains the approval of both the senate and house appropriations committees.

(b) Ensures that the request submitted to the senate and house appropriations committees contains an actuarial valuation prepared pursuant to section 38 that demonstrates that as of the beginning of a fiscal year, and after all credits and transfers required by this act for the previous fiscal year have been made, the sum of the actuarial value of assets and the actuarial present value of future normal cost contributions does not exceed the actuarial present value of benefits.

(10) The description of the various funds in this section shall be interpreted to refer to the accounting records of the retirement system and not to the segregation of assets credited to the various funds of the retirement system.

History: 1943, Act 240, Eff. July 30, 1943 ;-- Am. 1944, 1st Ex. Sess., Act 25, Imd. Eff. Feb. 29, 1944 ;-- CL 1948, 38.11 ;-- Am. 1953, Act 196, Eff. Oct. 2, 1953 ;-- Am. 1955, Act 237, Imd. Eff. June 21, 1955 ;-- Am. 1987, Act 57, Imd. Eff. June 23, 1987 ;-- Am. 1995, Act 176, Imd. Eff. Oct. 17, 1995 ;-- Am. 1996, Act 487, Eff. Mar. 31, 1997 ;-- Am. 2002, Act 93, Imd. Eff. Mar. 27, 2002 ;-- Am. 2002, Act 743, Imd. Eff. Dec. 30, 2002 Compiler's Notes: Section 2 of Act 487 of 1996 provides:“If any section or part of a section of this act is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional, the holding does not affect the validity of the remaining sections of this act or the act in its entirety.”