(a) Established. There is hereby established a trust fund for the Anne Arundel County Employee Retirement Savings Plan. Any fees and expenses with respect to the administration of the plan shall be paid from the trust, unless otherwise noted in this title, except to the extent that the County decides to pay such administrative fees and expenses from any other source permitted by applicable law.
(b) Employee contributions; compensation. Each participant shall make an election to reduce the participant's compensation per payroll period in an amount equal to 4% of the participant's compensation, subject to the employer's right to amend or revoke the participant's election as provided in this title.
(c) Employer "pick-up" contributions. The employer shall "pick-up" the contributions described in subsection (b) in accordance with the Internal Revenue Code § 414(h)(2), and a participant shall have no option of receiving the "picked-up" contributions directly, so that, for tax purposes, these contributions shall be treated as employer pre-tax contributions.
(d) Employer mandatory contributions. The employer shall make contributions to the employer contribution for each participant in the plan in an amount equal to 8% of the participant's compensation. The employer shall have the right to amend or revoke a participant's contribution election if such election causes the participant's contributions to exceed the limits on annual additions imposed by § 6-6-204 or other applicable law.
(e) Employee rollover contributions.
(1) Any eligible employee may transfer any rollover contributions to the trust. An employee's rollover contribution shall be credited to and held as the participant's rollover contribution. A participant shall be 100% vested in the participant's rollover contribution at all times. A rollover contribution may not be taken into account in determining the annual additions to a participant's plan account under § 6-6-204.
(2) The Administrator may reject any rollover contribution which is not qualified to be a rollover contribution to the plan under this title or under the Internal Revenue Code. The Administrator may make all investigations necessary to determine whether any amount submitted as a rollover contribution should be accepted.
(3) A participant may at any time withdraw all or any portion of the participant's rollover contribution, subject, however, to such uniform rules that the Administrator may establish, including any required notice, frequency of withdrawals, and minimum withdrawal amounts at any one time.
(f) Transfer of contributions from Employees' Retirement Plan.
(1) Any employee who elects irrevocably to cease participation in the Employees' Retirement Plan and participate in the plan pursuant to § 6-6-103(a)(2) shall receive a transfer from the Employees' Retirement Plan into the participant's plan account as follows:
(i) 1. The amount transferred shall include the greater of the estimated value of the employee's accrued benefit under the Employees' Retirement Plan as of June 30, 2018, and the employee's accumulated contributions to the Employees' Retirement Plan plus credited interest as described in § 5-1-108 of this Code as of June 30, 2018.
2. The estimated value of the accrued benefit shall be calculated based on the employee's credited service in the Employees' Retirement Plan and actual earnings as of June 30, 2018. The estimated value of the accrued benefit shall be based on actuarial equivalence, as defined in the Employees' Retirement Plan, at normal retirement age, as defined in the Employees' Retirement Plan, but not earlier than age 60, and discounted to the employee's age as of June 30, 2018, at a rate of 6% per annum.
3. Of the amount transferred, the employee's contribution shall be the employee's accumulated contributions to the Employees' Retirement Plan plus credited interest described in § 5-1-108 of the Code as of June 30, 2018, and the employer's contribution shall be the remainder, if any.
(ii) The amount transferred shall include, as employee contribution, the employee's contributions to the Employees' Retirement Plan from July 1, 2018, until the date of entry into the plan plus credited interest as described in § 5-1-108 of this Code.
(2) An exempt employee or elected official who elects irrevocably to cease participation in the Employees' Retirement Plan and participate in the plan pursuant to § 6-6-103(a)(3) shall receive a transfer from the Employees' Retirement Plan into the participant's plan account as follows:
(i) 1. The amount transferred shall include the greater of the estimated value of the employee's accrued benefit under the Employees' Retirement Plan as of December 2, 2018, and the employee's accumulated contributions to the Employees' Retirement Plan plus credited interest as described in § 5-1-108 of this Code as of December 2, 2018.
2. The estimated value of the accrued benefit shall be calculated based on the employee's credited service in the Employees' Retirement Plan and actual earnings as of December 2, 2018. The estimated value of the accrued benefit shall be based on actuarial equivalence, as defined in the Employees' Retirement Plan, at normal retirement age, as defined in the Employees' Retirement Plan, but not earlier than age 60, and discounted to the employee's age as of December 2, 2018, at a rate of 6% per annum.
3. Of the amount transferred, the employee's contribution shall be the employee's accumulated contributions to the Employees' Retirement Plan plus credited interest described in § 5-1-108 of this Code as of December 2, 2018, and the employer's contribution shall be the remainder, if any.
(ii) The amount transferred shall include, as employee contribution, the employee's contributions to the Employees' Retirement Plan from December 3, 2018, until the date of entry into the plan plus credited interest as described in § 5-1-108 of this Code.
(3) (i) If an employee elects irrevocably to cease participation in the Employees' Retirement Plan and participate in the plan pursuant to § 6-6-103(a)(2), the County shall pay into the plan as employer contribution 8% of the employee's compensation for the period of July 1, 2018, until the date of entry into the plan.
(ii) If an exempt employee or elected official elects irrevocably to cease participation in the Employees' Retirement Plan and participate in the plan pursuant to § 6-6-103(a)(3), the County shall pay into the plan as employer contribution 8% of the employee's compensation for the period of December 3, 2018, until the date of entry into the plan.
(4) Upon transfer of the amounts described in subsection (f)(1) or (f)(2) into the plan, the participant shall be credited with service under the plan for the period of the participant's participation credited service in the Employees' Retirement Plan.
(Bill No. 95-17)