19-2-303. (Temporary) Definitions. Unless the context requires otherwise, for each of the retirement systems subject to this chapter, the following definitions apply:
(1) "Accumulated contributions" means the sum of all the regular and any additional contributions made by a member in a system, together with the regular interest on the contributions.
(2) "Active member" means a member who is a paid employee of an employer, is making the required contributions, and is properly reported to the board for the most current reporting period.
(3) "Actuarial cost" means the amount determined by the board in a uniform and nondiscriminatory manner to represent the present value of the benefits to be derived from the additional service to be credited based on the most recent actuarial valuation for the system and the age, years until retirement, and current salary of the member.
(4) "Actuarial equivalent" means a benefit of equal value when computed upon the basis of the 1971 Group Annuity Mortality Table, with ages set back 4 years and an interest rate of 8% compounded annually.
(5) "Actuarial liabilities" means the excess of the present value of all benefits payable under a retirement system over the present value of future normal costs in that retirement system.
(6) "Actuary" means the actuary retained by the board in accordance with 19-2-405.
(7) "Additional contributions" means contributions made by a member to purchase various types of optional service credit as allowed by the applicable retirement system.
(8) "Annuity" means equal and fixed payments for life that are the actuarial equivalent of a lump-sum payment under a retirement system and as such are not benefits paid by a retirement system and are not subject to periodic or one-time increases.
(9) "Benefit" means the service or disability retirement or survivorship benefit payment provided by a retirement system.
(10) "Board" means the public employees' retirement board provided for in 2-15-1009.
(11) "Contingent annuitant" means a person designated to receive a continuing monthly benefit after the death of a retired member.
(12) "Credited service" or "service credit" means the periods of time for which the required contributions have been made to a retirement system and that are used to calculate service or disability retirement or survivorship benefits under a retirement system.
(13) "Department" means the department of administration.
(14) "Designated beneficiary" means the person designated by a member or payment recipient to receive any survivorship benefits or lump-sum payments upon the death of the member or payment recipient, including annuities derived from the benefits or payments.
(15) "Disability" means a total inability of the member to perform the member's duties by reason of physical or mental incapacity. The disability must be incurred while the member is an active member and must be one of permanent duration or of extended and uncertain duration, as determined by the board on the basis of competent medical opinion.
(16) "Employee" means a person who is employed by an employer in any capacity and whose salary is being paid by the employer.
(17) "Employer" means a governmental entity participating in a retirement system enumerated in 19-2-302 on behalf of its eligible employees.
(18) "Essential elements of the position" means fundamental job duties. An element may be considered essential because of but not limited to the following factors:
(a) the position exists to perform the element;
(b) there are a limited number of employees to perform the element; or
(c) the element is highly specialized.
(19) "Fiscal year" means a plan year, which is any year commencing with July 1 and ending the following June 30.
(20) "Inactive member" means a member who is not an active or retired member.
(21) "Internal Revenue Code" means the federal Internal Revenue Code of 1954 or 1986, as applicable to a retirement system, as that code provided on July 1, 1999.
(22) "Member" means any person with accumulated contributions and service credited with a retirement system or receiving a retirement benefit on account of the person's previous service credited in a retirement system.
(23) "Membership service" or "years of service" means the periods of service that are used to determine eligibility for retirement or other benefits.
(24) "Normal cost" or "future normal cost" means an amount calculated under an actuarial cost method required to fund accruing benefits for members of a retirement system during any year in the future. Normal cost does not include any portion of the supplemental costs of a retirement system.
(25) "Pension" means benefit payments for life derived from contributions to a system made from state- or employer-controlled funds.
(26) "Pension trust fund" means a fund established to hold the contributions, income, and assets of a retirement system in public trust.
(27) "Regular contributions" means contributions required from members under a retirement system.
(28) "Regular interest" means interest at the rate set from time to time by the board.
(29) "Retirement" or "retired" means the status of a member who has been terminated from service for at least 30 days and has received and accepted a retirement benefit from a retirement system.
(30) "Retirement benefit" means the periodic benefit payable as a result of service, early, or disability retirement under a retirement system. An annuity is not a retirement benefit.
(31) "Retirement system" or "system" means one of the public employee retirement systems enumerated in 19-2-302.
(32) "Service" means employment of an employee in a position covered by a retirement system.
(33) "Statutory beneficiary" means the surviving spouse or dependent child or children of a member of the highway patrol officers', municipal police officers', or firefighters' unified retirement system who are statutorily designated to receive benefits upon the death of the member.
(34) "Supplemental cost" means an element of the total actuarial cost of a retirement system arising from benefits payable for service performed prior to the inception of the retirement system or prior to the date of contribution rate increases, changes in actuarial assumptions, actuarial losses, or failure to fund or otherwise recognize normal cost accruals or interest on supplemental costs. These costs are included in the unfunded actuarial liabilities of the retirement system.
(35) "Survivorship benefit" means payments for life to the statutory or designated beneficiary of a deceased member who died while in service under a retirement system.
(36) "Termination of employment" or "termination of service" means that the member has severed the employment relationship with the employer and has been paid all compensation due upon termination of employment, including but not limited to payment of accrued annual leave credits, as provided in 2-18-617, and payment of accrued sick leave credits, as provided in 2-18-618. For purposes of this subsection, compensation as a result of legal action, court order, appeal, or settlement to which the board was not party is not a payment due upon termination.
(37) "Unfunded actuarial liabilities" or "unfunded liabilities" means the excess of a retirement system's actuarial liabilities at any given point in time over the value of its cash and investments on that same date.
(38) "Vested member" or "vested" means a member or the status of a member who has attained the minimum membership service requirements to be eligible for retirement benefits under a retirement system.
(39) "Written application" means a written instrument, specified by the board, properly executed, and filed with the board, that contains all the information required by the board, including documentation that the board considers necessary. (Effective on occurrence of contingency or July 1, 2002, whichever is earlier)
19-2-303. (Effective on occurrence of contingency or July 1, 2002, whichever is earlier) . Definitions. Unless the context requires otherwise, for each of the retirement systems subject to this chapter, the following definitions apply:
(1) "Account balance" means all contributions, income, and other assets in a retirement account that have, pursuant to 19-3-2116, vested to a member of the defined contribution plan.
(2) "Accumulated contributions" means the sum of all the regular and any additional contributions made by a member in a defined benefit plan, together with the regular interest on the contributions.
(3) "Active member" means a member who is a paid employee of an employer, is making the required contributions, and is properly reported to the board for the most current reporting period.
(4) "Actuarial cost" means the amount determined by the board in a uniform and nondiscriminatory manner to represent the present value of the benefits to be derived from the additional service to be credited based on the most recent actuarial valuation for the system and the age, years until retirement, and current salary of the member.
(5) "Actuarial equivalent" means a benefit of equal value when computed upon the basis of the 1971 Group Annuity Mortality Table, with ages set back 4 years and an interest rate of 8% compounded annually.
(6) "Actuarial liabilities" means the excess of the present value of all benefits payable under a defined benefit retirement plan over the present value of future normal costs in that retirement plan.
(7) "Actuary" means the actuary retained by the board in accordance with 19-2-405.
(8) "Additional contributions" means contributions made by a member of a defined benefit plan to purchase various types of optional service credit as allowed by the applicable retirement plan.
(9) "Annuity" means:
(a) in the case of a defined benefit plan, equal and fixed payments for life that are the actuarial equivalent of a lump-sum payment under a retirement plan and as such are not benefits paid by a retirement plan and are not subject to periodic or one-time increases; or
(b) in the case of the defined contribution plan, a payment of a fixed sum of money at regular intervals.
(10) "Benefit" means:
(a) the service or disability retirement or survivorship benefit payment provided by a defined benefit retirement plan; or
(b) a payment or distribution under the defined contribution retirement plan for the exclusive benefit of a plan member or the member's beneficiary or an annuity purchased under 19-3-2124.
(11) "Board" means the public employees' retirement board provided for in 2-15-1009.
(12) "Contingent annuitant" means a person designated to receive a continuing monthly benefit after the death of a retired member.
(13) "Covered employment" means employment in a covered position.
(14) "Covered position" means a position in which the employee must be a member of the retirement system except as otherwise provided by law.
(15) "Credited service" or "service credit" means the periods of time for which the required contributions have been made to a retirement plan and that are used to calculate service or disability retirement or survivorship benefits under a defined benefit retirement plan.
(16) "Defined benefit retirement plan" or "defined benefit plan" means a plan within the retirement systems provided for pursuant to 19-2-302 that is not the defined contribution retirement plan.
(17) "Defined contribution retirement plan" or "defined contribution plan" means the plan within the public employees' retirement system established in 19-3-103 that is provided for in chapter 3, part 21, of this title and that is not a defined benefit plan.
(18) "Department" means the department of administration.
(19) "Designated beneficiary" means the person designated by a member or payment recipient to receive any survivorship benefits, lump-sum payments, or benefit from a retirement account upon the death of the member or payment recipient, including annuities derived from the benefits or payments.
(20) "Disability" means a total inability of the member to perform the member's duties by reason of physical or mental incapacity. The disability must be incurred while the member is an active member and must be one of permanent duration or of extended and uncertain duration, as determined by the board on the basis of competent medical opinion.
(21) "Employee" means a person who is employed by an employer in any capacity and whose salary is being paid by the employer.
(22) "Employer" means a governmental entity participating in a retirement system enumerated in 19-2-302 on behalf of its eligible employees.
(23) "Essential elements of the position" means fundamental job duties. An element may be considered essential because of but not limited to the following factors:
(a) the position exists to perform the element;
(b) there are a limited number of employees to perform the element; or
(c) the element is highly specialized.
(24) "Fiscal year" means a plan year, which is any year commencing with July 1 and ending the following June 30.
(25) "Inactive member" means a member who is not an active or retired member.
(26) "Internal Revenue Code" means the federal Internal Revenue Code of 1954 or 1986, as applicable to a retirement system, as that code provided on July 1, 1999.
(27) "Member" means either:
(a) a person with accumulated contributions and service credited with a defined benefit retirement plan or receiving a retirement benefit on account of the person's previous service credited in a retirement system; or
(b) a person with a retirement account in the defined contribution plan.
(28) "Membership service" or "years of service" means the periods of service that are used to determine eligibility for retirement or other benefits.
(29) "Normal cost" or "future normal cost" means an amount calculated under an actuarial cost method required to fund accruing benefits for members of a defined benefit retirement plan during any year in the future. Normal cost does not include any portion of the supplemental costs of a retirement plan.
(30) "Pension" means benefit payments for life derived from contributions to a retirement plan made from state- or employer-controlled funds.
(31) "Pension trust fund" means a fund established to hold the contributions, income, and assets of a retirement system or plan in public trust.
(32) "Plan choice rate" means the amount of the employer contribution as a percentage of payroll covered by the defined contribution plan members that is allocated to the public employees' retirement system's defined benefit plan pursuant to 19-3-2117 and that is adjusted by the board pursuant to 19-3-2121 to actuarially fund the unfunded liabilities and the normal cost rate changes in a defined benefit plan resulting from member selection of the defined contribution plan.
(33) "Regular contributions" means contributions required from members under a retirement plan.
(34) "Regular interest" means interest at the rate set from time to time by the board.
(35) "Retirement" or "retired" means the status of a member who has been terminated from service for at least 30 days and has received and accepted a retirement benefit from a retirement plan.
(36) "Retirement account" means an individual account within the defined contribution retirement plan for the deposit of employer and employee contributions and other assets for the exclusive benefit of a member of the defined contribution plan or the member's beneficiary.
(37) "Retirement benefit" means:
(a) in the case of a defined benefit plan, the periodic benefit payable as a result of service, early, or disability retirement under a defined benefit plan of a retirement system. With respect to a defined benefit plan, the term does not mean an annuity.
(b) in the case of the defined contribution plan, a benefit as defined in subsection (10)(b).
(38) "Retirement system" or "system" means one of the public employee retirement systems enumerated in 19-2-302.
(39) "Service" means employment of an employee in a position covered by a retirement system.
(40) "Statutory beneficiary" means the surviving spouse or dependent child or children of a member of the highway patrol officers', municipal police officers', or firefighters' unified retirement system who are statutorily designated to receive benefits upon the death of the member.
(41) "Supplemental cost" means an element of the total actuarial cost of a defined benefit retirement plan arising from benefits payable for service performed prior to the inception of the retirement plan or prior to the date of contribution rate increases, changes in actuarial assumptions, actuarial losses, or failure to fund or otherwise recognize normal cost accruals or interest on supplemental costs. These costs are included in the unfunded actuarial liabilities of the retirement plan.
(42) "Survivorship benefit" means payments for life to the statutory or designated beneficiary of a deceased member who died while in service under a defined benefit retirement plan.
(43) "Termination of employment" or "termination of service" means that the member has severed the employment relationship with the employer and has been paid all compensation due upon termination of employment, including but not limited to payment of accrued annual leave credits, as provided in 2-18-617, and payment of accrued sick leave credits, as provided in 2-18-618. For purposes of this subsection, compensation as a result of legal action, court order, appeal, or settlement to which the board was not party is not a payment due upon termination.
(44) "Unfunded actuarial liabilities" or "unfunded liabilities" means the excess of a defined benefit retirement plan's actuarial liabilities at any given point in time over the value of its cash and investments on that same date.
(45) "Vested member" or "vested" means:
(a) with respect to a defined benefit plan, a member or the status of a member who has attained the minimum membership service requirements to be eligible for retirement benefits under the retirement plan; or
(b) with respect to the defined contribution plan, a member or the status of a member who, pursuant to 19-3-2116, is entitled to employer contributions and income on those contributions in the member's retirement account.
(46) "Written application" means a written instrument, specified by the board, properly executed, and filed with the board, that contains all the information required by the board, including documentation that the board considers necessary.
History: En. 68-1503 by Sec. 4, Ch. 323, L. 1973; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 190, L. 1974; amd. Sec. 4, Ch. 132, L. 1977; amd. Sec. 8, Ch. 332, L. 1977; R.C.M. 1947, 68-1503; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 114, L. 1979; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 496, L. 1981; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 282, L. 1983; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 45, L. 1987; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 71, L. 1989; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 265, L. 1993; Sec. , MCA 1991; redes. by Sec. 238, Ch. 265, L. 1993; amd. Sec. 5, Ch. 412, L. 1995; amd. Sec. 5, Ch. 370, L. 1997; amd. Secs. 4, 46(1), Ch. 58, L. 1999; amd. Sec. 5, Ch. 471, L. 1999; amd. Secs. 4, 99(1)(b), Ch. 562, L. 1999.
