(1) The statewide retirement plan is hereby established to provide defined benefit and money purchase retirement benefits to members of employers affiliated with the plan. Initial employers affiliated with the plan include those departments that participated in the statewide defined benefit plan established pursuant to part 4 of article 31 of this title 31, the statewide hybrid plan established pursuant to part 11 of article 31 of this title 31, and the social security supplemental plan established pursuant to part 7 of article 31 of this title 31 as such plans existed before their merger into the statewide retirement plan pursuant to House Bill 22-1034, enacted in 2022. (2) The board is the trustee of the statewide retirement plan, and has those fiduciary duties to the plan and the members of the plan as expressly provided by law. (3) The board, as a fiduciary, may delegate one or more of its responsibilities under this article 31.5 but shall maintain its responsibility for oversight of the delegation. (4) (a) The statewide retirement plan is intended to comply with the qualification requirements specified in section 401 (a) of the "Internal Revenue Code of 1986", as amended and applicable to governmental plans, as defined in section 414 (d) of said code. (b) The board may adopt any provision for the plan that is necessary or in the board's judgment prudent to comply with state or federal law. (5) As used in this article 31.5, unless the context otherwise requires: (a) "Actuarially sound" means a police officers' or firefighters' pension fund determined by the board to be receiving or scheduled to receive employer and member contributions in each fiscal year equal to the annual contributions actuarially determined to be necessary to pay the annual current service cost of pension benefits attributable to active employees and to pay the annual contribution necessary to amortize any unfunded accrued liability over a period not to exceed forty years. The actuarial cost method to be utilized shall be the entry age-normal cost method. The date from which unfunded liabilities shall be amortized shall be determined pursuant to part 3 of article 30.5 of this title 31. (b) "Association" means the fire and police pension association created in section 31-31- 201 (1). (c) "Board" means the board of directors established as the governing body of the fire and police pension association as provided in section 31-31-201 (2). (d) "Employer" means any municipality in this state offering police or fire protection service employing one or more members and any special district, fire authority, or county improvement district in this state offering fire protection service employing one or more members. (e) "Lifetime benefit components" means the defined benefit component, the social security component, and the hybrid component, as described in this article 31.5, collectively. (f) "Member" means an active employee who is a full-time salaried employee of a municipality, fire protection district, fire authority, or county improvement district normally serving at least one thousand six hundred hours in any calendar year and whose duties are directly involved with the provision of police or fire protection, as certified by the member's employer. The term does not include clerical or other personnel whose services are auxiliary to police protection, or any volunteer firefighter, as such term is defined in section 31-30-1102 (9). For the purpose of participation in the defined benefit component of the statewide retirement plan pursuant to this article 31.5, or the statewide money purchase plan pursuant to part 5 of article 31 of this title 31, but not for the purpose of participation in the statewide death and disability plan pursuant to part 8 of article 31 of this title 31, the term may include clerical or other personnel employed by a fire protection district, fire authority, or county improvement district, whose services are auxiliary to fire protection. For the purpose of eligibility for disability or survivor benefits, "member" includes any employee on an authorized leave of absence. (g) "Money purchase plan" or "money purchase pension plan" means a retirement plan under which: (I) The employer has a fixed obligation to make an annual contribution to the plan; (II) An individual account for each member is provided; and (III) The member's benefits are based solely on the amount contributed to the member's account and any income, expenses, gains, and losses allocated to the member's account. (h) "Predecessor plans" means the statewide defined benefit plan formerly governed by part 4 of article 31 of this title 31, the statewide hybrid plan formerly governed by part 11 of article 31 of this title 31, and the social security supplemental plan formerly governed by part 7 of article 31 of this title 31. (i) "Retired member" means any member who is retired, disabled, or eligible for a benefit as provided in section 31-31.5-401.
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