Section 4708 - Compulsory membership; payments into fund; exceptions; vested interest(a) Each county employe shall be required to become a member of the county employes' retirement system within six months from the date of his or her employment. The said county employe may elect to become a member of the retirement system at any time during the aforesaid six months period of time by notifying the head of the department, office or agency in which department, office or agency he or she is employed of the said election. A copy thereof shall be filed immediately with the board. He or she shall, each month, pay into the retirement fund a monthly contribution, being a certain percentage of the amount received by him or her as compensation during the preceding calendar month. Except as provided in subsection (d), the monthly contribution shall be the percentage of his or her compensation as heretofore stated, on a graduated scale as follows: For the year 1988 and thereafter, six and one-quarter per centum up to seven hundred fifty dollars ($750) per month.
Nine and three-eighths per centum from seven hundred fifty dollars ($750) to fifteen hundred dollars ($1500) per month.
Twelve and one-half per centum from fifteen hundred dollars ($1500) per month and above.
Except as hereinafter provided, the aforesaid increase rate of monthly contributions to be paid into the retirement fund to enhance the actuarial soundness of said fund, shall be applicable to all county employes who are members of the retirement system. Such monthly contributions shall be collected by the county treasurer and by him paid into the retirement fund. The payment of the increased rate of the aforesaid monthly contributions shall not apply to such former county employes whose monthly contributions are now paid into said fund in accordance with the provisions of subsection (d) of section 1713. Any county employe receiving compensation for accidental injuries in accordance with the provisions of The Pennsylvania Workmen's Compensation Act shall during the period of time in which such county employe is receiving disability benefits, as provided in the aforesaid act, pay each month for retirement benefits a sum equal to the last monthly contribution as paid into the retirement fund when said county employe was in employment. The monthly contribution shall not be paid by any person who was receiving a retirement allowance and is subsequent to the thirty-first day of May, one thousand nine hundred fifty-three, reemployed as a county employe or any other person who is ineligible to become a member of the retirement system.
(a.1) The county may elect to contribute on behalf of each active member for current service the amount required by subsection (a) beginning the first Monday of January of the year in which the resolution to do so was adopted by the commissioners. Contributions made in accordance with this subsection shall be deemed pickup contributions and shall be treated as the county's contribution in determining tax treatment under the act of August 16, 1954, 68A Stat. 5, known as the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, for Federal tax purposes. For all other purposes pickup contributions shall be made and treated as contributions made by a member in the same manner and to the same extent as contributions made prior to the implementation of this subsection. The county on or before January 31 of each year shall, at the time when the income and withholding information required by law is furnished to each county employe, also furnish the amount of the pickup contribution made on the employe's behalf. Upon the effective date of the implementation of this subsection, the county shall pick up the required contributions by an equal reduction in the compensation of the member.(b) All present and future county employes except such persons who are reemployed as such subsequent to the thirty-first day of May, one thousand nine hundred fifty-three, in accordance with the provisions of subsection (c) of section 1712, shall upon retirement be entitled to receive the benefits of such change in the service period increased maximum retirement allowance and service increment if any as well as such other benefits as may apply to his or her status upon retirement in accordance with the provisions of this article.(c) No future county employe including persons who are reemployed as such, except as hereinafter provided, whose contributions as paid into the retirement fund have been retained therein or have been refunded by the board, shall have a contractual or vested interest in the retirement system prior to the time he or she shall have fulfilled all conditions required to qualify such county employe for a retirement allowance plus a service increment if any. It shall not include persons who are reemployed as county employes in accordance with the provisions of subsection (c) of section 1712.(d) To aid and assist the board in maintaining the actuarial soundness of the retirement fund, the board shall cause to be performed an annual actuarial valuation of the retirement system. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), the board, guided by the annual actuarial valuation of the retirement system, shall have the authority, each year, to increase or decrease the said monthly contribution required to be made by each county employe into the retirement fund.(e)(1) The board, based solely upon the annual actuarial valuation of the retirement system and the actuarial indicator described in clause (2), shall each year increase the monthly retirement allowance which is required to be paid to all employes who have been, for at least one year, prior to the preceding annual actuarial study, eligible to receive a retirement allowance.(2) The actuarial indicator to be used for purposes of clause (1) shall be known as the Total Funded Status Ratio (TFSR) and shall be determined by the system's actuary. TFSR equals the sum of the fair market value of assets available for plan benefits as of the valuation date plus the actuarial present value of total projected future contributions computed as a percentage of the sum of the actuarial present value of future benefits and the actuarial present value of future expenses. The actuary shall determine the TFSR using an interest rate equal to the arithmetic average of the rate used in the current actuarial valuation and the rates used for the preceding four annual actuarial valuations. The level of the TFSR shall determine the range in which the retirement allowance increase may fall. The board shall implement retirement allowance increases within the permitted range determined from the following table: | TFSR | Percentage increase |
| Under one hundred ten per centum | Zero per centum minimum, or more at the discretion of the board |
| One hundred ten per centum and above | Two per centum minimum, or more at the discretion of the board, provided, however, that the two per centum minimum increase does not result in a TFSR less than one hundred ten per centum in which case the percentage shall be reduced so as to maintain a one hundred ten per centum TFSR increase. |
The per centum increase determined shall be applied to the average monthly retirement allowance in pay status during the month of December immediately preceding the current actuarial valuation, producing a monthly dollar equivalent for the retirement allowance increase. The dollar amount so determined shall be rounded down to the next lower dollar, and such rounded amount shall be added to the retirement allowance of those eligible for the increase effective for the month of January next following.
1953, July 28, P.L. 723, art. XVII, § 1708. Amended 1955, May 31, P.L. 111, § 1; 1966, Jan. 26, P.L. (1965) 1597, § 1, effective 2/1/1966; 1970, Dec. 10, P.L. 919, No. 291, § 2; 1973, June 1, P.L. 37, No. 19, § 1, imd. effective; 1979, Dec. 11, P.L. 494, No. 105, § 1, imd. effective; 1980, Dec. 10, P.L. 1165, No. 213, § 1, effective in 60 days; 1984, July 6, P.L. 638, No. 131, § 2, imd. effective; 1989, Dec. 14, P.L. 631, No. 75, § 3, imd. effective; 2000, Oct. 30, P.L. 616, No. 85, § 2, imd. effective; 2001, Oct. 30, P.L. 818, No. 80, § 1, imd. effective.