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Any person who shall knowingly make any false statement or shall falsify or permit to be falsified any record or records of this retirement system in any attempt to defraud such system as a result of such act, shall be charged with a misdemeanor, and may be punishable under the laws of the county and the state. Should any change or error in the records result in any member or beneficiary receiving from the retirement system more or less than entitled to receive had the records been correct, the error shall be corrected and as far as practicable the payment shall be adjusted in such manner that the actuarial equivalent of the benefit to which such member or beneficiary was correctly entitled will be paid. Any member or beneficiary who has received payment from the retirement system of any monies to which not entitled under the provisions of this act, shall be required to refund such monies to the system. (Ord. No. 5-152; Ord. No. 6-195, § 1; 1978 L.M.C., ch. 44, § 1.)
Editor’s note—See County Attorney Opinion dated 11/14/11 regarding the County’s liability for errors in the administration of the pension and retirement funds of employees.
The right of a person to pension, the return of member contributions with credited interest, any pension payment option, death benefit, or any other right accrued or accruing to any person under this Article, and the money used to fund the retirement system created by this Article are not subject to execution, garnishment, attachment or any other process, and are not assignable, except as provided in this Article, or when an employee is indebted to the County or the Montgomery County Employees' Federal Credit Union.
Despite any other provision in this Section, a benefit is payable to an alternate payee under a domestic relations order, as defined in Section 414(p)(1)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code, if the order is considered a qualified domestic relations order under Section 414(p)(11) of the Internal Revenue Code. The Chief Administrative Officer must authorize forms and procedures to determine whether a domestic relations order is qualified, and must determine the form and timing of distributions under a qualified order. (Ord. No. 5-152; Ord. No. 6-195, § 1; 1978 L.M.C., ch. 44, § 1; 1998 L.M.C., ch. 31, § 1.)
(a) Filing of plan. The plan of the employees' retirement system of the county shall be filed with the Insurance Department of the State of Maryland and the Internal Revenue Service, United States Treasury Department.
(b) Filing of contract. The contract entered into between the county and the funding agent shall be filed with the Insurance Department of the State of Maryland and the Internal Revenue Service, United States Treasury Department. (Ord. No. 5-152; Ord. No. 6-195, § 1; 1978 L.M.C., ch. 44, § 1.)
(a) In the event it is determined that the elected officials' plan is not a qualified plan within the meaning of section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code, then the provisions of this chapter regarding the elected officials' plan are repealed as of the date of the determination. The repeal dates back to the original effective date of this act.
(b) Any account balance with respect to county elected officials' contributions must be returned to the county as soon as administratively possible after the repeal.
(c) Any account balance with respect to required elected officials' participant contributions or account balance with respect to voluntary elected officials' participant contributions, including any amount picked up by the county pursuant to section 33-39(a)(3), must, as soon as administratively possible following a repeal under this section 33-55A, be returned to the elected officials' participant who made them.
(d) (1) Following a repeal under this section 33-55A, an elected officials' participant who does not make the election provided for in subsection 33-55A(e) may choose to become a participant in a retirement plan of the retirement system in which that individual would have been eligible to participate if the elected officials' plan had never existed.
(2) Benefits and vesting under a plan in which the individual becomes a participant under paragraph (d)(1) must be determined based only on credited service earned or purchased after the individual becomes a participant in the plans, plus any credited service earned or purchased prior to the individual's becoming an elected officials' participant, except as otherwise provided in paragraph (d)(3).
(3) Credited service earned while an elected officials' participant must be counted in determining benefits and vesting under a plan in which the individual becomes a participant under paragraph (d)(1) if the individual so chooses. An individual making that choice must contribute to the plan, in a single lump-sum cash payment, the total nonvoluntary employee contributions that the employee would have been required to make under the plan for the period during which that individual was an elected officials' participant if the individual had participated in the plan instead of the elected officials' plan. The county must also make, on behalf of any individual making the choice and contribution, contributions to the plan in the amount the county would have made on behalf of that individual for the period during which that individual was an elected officials' participant if the individual had participated in the plan instead of the elected officials' plan.
(e) Following a repeal under this section 33-55A, an individual who was an elected officials' participant may choose to have the county establish on that individual's behalf a nonqualified deferred compensation arrangement within the meaning of section 457 of the Internal Revenue Code. The arrangement must provide for deferral of compensation, beginning as of the first day of the month following the month in which the arrangement is entered into, until the individual's normal retirement date, in amounts that are sufficient to provide for a benefit comparable to the benefit the individual would have received under the elected officials' plan from the county elected officials' contributions account of the individual, assuming for purposes of the arrangement that the elected officials' plan would have continued to the individual's date of distribution and that all county elected officials' contributions would have been made to the elected officials' plan on the individual's behalf up to that date and that the account balance in the county elected officials' contributions account as of the date of repeal under this section 33-55A, and all subsequent contributions, would have earned interest, from and after the date of repeal under this section 33-55A, at the rate of six (6) percent per year. The regular earnings of such elected official must be increased as of the first day of the month following the month in which such arrangement is entered into by an amount equal to the amount to be deferred each month under such arrangement. (1987 L.M.C., ch. 27, § 11.)
(a) The Chief Administrative Officer is responsible for deciding questions arising under this Article. Any member of the County's retirement system and any retiree or designated beneficiary eligible to receive benefits from the retirement system, may request, in writing, a decision on questions arising under this Article from the Chief Administrative Officer, who must respond in writing to such request within 60 days. The response must include a statement of appeal rights.
(b) The Chief Administrative Officer's decision on a disability application under Section 33- 43 may be appealed under subsection 33-43.
(c) Any other decision by the Chief Administrative Officer may be appealed within 15 days to the Merit System Protection Board under procedures established by the Board. The decision of the Board is final. (Ord. No. 5-152; Ord. No. 6-195, § 1; 1974 L.M.C., ch. 31, § 16; 1978 L.M.C., ch. 44, § 1; 1982 L.M.C., ch. 40, § 5; 1995 L.M.C., ch. 3, § 1; 2003 L.M.C., ch. 31, § 1.)
Editor’s note-The above section is cited in Fultz v. Shaffer, 111 Md.App. 278, 681 A.2d 568 (1996).
(a) Records generally. The chief administrative officer must prescribe the form, the scope, and the maintenance of records. The records of the retirement system must be maintained on the basis of the plan year.
(b) Decision of chief administrative officer on records. The decision of the chief administrative officer relating to the confidentiality, use, maintenance and disposition of all records and materials relating to the employees' retirement system of the county, and as to whether any information contained therein may be disclosed, shall be final.
(c) Time limit records are to be kept. The chief administrative officer, when not in conflict with state or county law, shall determine the time limit that retirement system records shall be kept on file and the final disposition of such records. (Ord. No. 5-152; Ord. No. 6-195, § 1; 1978 L.M.C., ch. 44, § 1; 1987 L.M.C., ch. 29, § 10.; 1993 L.M.C., ch. 3, § 1.)
(a) The county establishes a trust, which is part of the retirement system, for the benefit of the members of the retirement system. The trust consists of the money and property of the retirement system on the day before the day all the trustees have accepted the trust in writing, and any earnings, profits, increments, appreciation, and other additions that accrue.
(b) All of the money and property, all investments made with that money and property, and all earnings, profits, increments, and other additions, less the payments previously made by the board, are to be referred to as the trust fund.
(c) The board has legal title to all cash and other property of the retirement system, but may delegate some or all incidents of ownership as provided in this article. (1987 L.M.C., ch. 29, § 11.)
Editor’s note—See County Attorney opinion dated 11/14/11 regarding the County’s liability for errors in the administration of the pension and retirement funds of employees.
(a) Established.
(1) The Board of Investment Trustees is established to manage the trust under this Article.
(2) The Board continues until abolished by law.
(b) Membership.
(1) The Board has 13 trustees.
(2) The County Executive must appoint 4 voting, ex officio members of the Board, subject to County Council confirmation as members, who serve indefinitely while each holds the respective office. These ex officio trustees should be:
(A) the Director of Management and Budget;
(B) the Director of Finance;
(C) the Chief Labor Relations Officer; and
(D) the Executive Director of the Office of the County Council.
(3) The County Executive must appoint 3 voting certified employee organization representatives, subject to County Council confirmation, as members of the Board, who serve indefinitely while each remains the designee of the certified employee representative. These trustees must not vote on any matter involving the County deferred compensation plan. These trustees should be:
(A) one representative nominated by the employee organizations certified as the representative of the Office, Professional, and Technical (OPT) and Service, Labor and Trades (SLT) bargaining units; and
(B) one representative nominated by the employee organization certified as the representative for the fire and rescue employee unit; and
(C) one representative nominated by the employee organization certified as the representative for the police employee bargaining unit under Article V.
(4) The following 6 trustees must be appointed by the Executive and confirmed by the Council:
(A) An active County employee who is a vested member of the retirement system and the Merit System, and not a member of a collective bargaining unit. A 3-year term for this trustee ends on March 1 of every third year after the trustee is confirmed by the Council.
(B) A retired County employee who is a member of the retirement system. Before appointing this trustee, the Executive must consider, and should select from, a list of 3 to 5 individuals recommended by the Montgomery County Retired Employees’ Association. The Executive must notify the Council when nominating an individual not recommended by the Association. A 3-year term for this trustee ends on March 1 of every third year after the trustee is confirmed by the Council.
(C) Two persons recommended by the Council who are knowledgeable in pensions, investments, or financial matters. A 3-year term for these trustees ends on March 1 of every third year after each trustee is confirmed by the Council.
(D) Two individuals knowledgeable in pensions, investments, or financial matters. Before nominating these trustees, the Executive must consider, and should select from, individuals recommended by citizens or countywide citizens’ groups. An individual recommended by a citizens’ group need not be a member of the group. The Executive must notify the Council when nominating an individual not recommended by a citizens’ group. A 3-year term for these trustees ends on March 1 of every third year after each trustee is confirmed by the Council.
(5) A trustee appointed under paragraph (4) continues to serve after the trustee’s term ends until the Council confirms a successor, but the term for each position is not affected by any holdover. A trustee who, after appointment and before the end of a term, is no longer qualified for the trustee’s position is removed from the Board by operation of law.
(6) The Executive must not appoint as a trustee any person who furnishes, or is employed by a firm that furnishes, to pension funds and other institutional investors the kind of investment services purchased by the Board.
(c) Vacancies.
(1) A trustee may be automatically removed for missing meetings as described in Section 2-148(b).
(2) A vacancy on the Board must be filled for the unexpired term in the same manner as the previous trustee was appointed.
(d) Compensation. The trustees must serve without compensation from any source for service rendered to the Board, except that an active employee trustee may receive administrative leave to serve on the Board. The Board must reimburse trustees for any expense approved by the Board. A trustee must not receive reimbursement for expenses from any other source.
(e) Acceptance of trust. Within 10 days after the Council confirms a trustee, the trustee must certify in writing to the Chief Administrative Officer that the trustee accepts the trust and will administer the affairs of the trust with care, skill, prudence, and diligence.
(f) Written policies.
(1) The Board must establish written policies to administer and invest the funds created by this Article and to transact the business of the trust and the retirement system.
(2) The Board must apply the policies to all members and beneficiaries of the retirement system and must not discriminate in favor of or against any member or beneficiary of the retirement system.
(g) Officers. The Board must select a chair, vice chair, and secretary from the Board’s members.
(1) The chair must preside at meetings of the Board and may take administrative action on behalf of the Board.
(2) The vice chair must perform the duties and exercise the powers of the chair when the chair is unavailable, or the Board determines is otherwise unable to perform the duties of the chair.
(3) The secretary must record the proceedings and actions of the Board and may certify a document or action of the Board. A person may rely in good faith on the secretary’s certification as proof of the document or action.
(h) Meetings and actions.
(1) The Board must meet at least once during each calendar quarter. The chair, or 7 members of the Board, may call a meeting of the Board, in the manner and at times and places provided under the policies of the Board. The Board is a public body under the State Open Meetings Act.
(2) A. Seven trustees constitute a quorum.
B. Each trustee has one vote.
C. Seven trustees must agree for the Board to act.
(3) The Board may act without a meeting. All of the trustees must concur in writing for the Board to approve any action the Board takes without a meeting.
(4) The Board may adopt procedures consistent with this Section.
(i) Records.
(1) The Board must keep investment accounts and records necessary to calculate the value of each retirement system fund and evaluate the experience and performance of the retirement system.
(2) The Board may designate a person to maintain the records.
(3) Accounts and records are subject to State law on public records.
(j) Removal of trustee. With the Council’s approval, the County Executive may remove a trustee for violating this Article or other good cause.
(k) Legal adviser. The County Attorney is the legal adviser to the Board.
(l) In this Section, “retirement system” means the Employees’ Retirement System, the Retirement Savings Plan, or the Deferred Compensation Plan under Article IX. (1987 L.M.C., ch. 29, § 11; 1987 L.M.C., ch. 40, § 2; 1994 L.M.C., ch. 16, § 1; 1998 L.M.C., ch. 27, § 1; 2004 L.M.C., ch. 30, § 1; 2005 L.M.C., ch. 24, § 1; 2009 L.M.C., ch. 16, § 1; 2010 L.M.C., ch. 31, § 1; 2012 L.M.C., ch. 21, § 1; 2014 L.M.C., ch. 3
, § 1; 2018 L.M.C., ch. 3, §1; 2023 L.M.C., ch. 3, §1.)
Editor’s note—1998 L.M.C., ch. 27, § 2, reads as follows: “Sec. 2. Transition. A trustee serving on the Board of Investment Trustees when this Act becomes law [December 2, 1998] continues to serve in the equivalent trustee position. The term of an incumbent trustee whose term would have ended before the applicable date specified in Code Section 33-59(b)(3) as amended by this Act, is extended to the specified date.”
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