A. 
All police officers and firefighters of the municipality who were members of the prior plan are required to participate in the system at all times during their employment as regular full-time employees of the Anchorage Police and Fire Departments. No other person is eligible to participate in the system.
B. 
Except as otherwise provided in subsection C of this section:
1. 
A member employed on or before June 30, 1977, shall be a member of Plan I.
2. 
A member employed on or after July 1, 1977, and before April 17, 1984, shall be a member of Plan II.
3. 
A member employed on or after April 17, 1984 and prior to May 25, 1994, shall be a member of Plan iii. Members of Plan I or II who expressly elected to participate in Plan III prior to June 15, 1984, in the manner prescribed by the board, shall also be members of Plan III.
4. 
A member of Plan I or Plan II may expressly elect to participate in Plan III only at such times, and under such conditions as prescribed by the board. The board shall have complete discretion to offer or decline an opportunity for this election.
C. 
Re-employed or rehired members shall, at the time of employment, be required to participate in the State of Alaska Pension Plan (PERS) and are not eligible to again participate in the retirement system, provided that members who separate due to layoff or involuntary separation while participating in this system, upon rehire into a covered position, participate in their former plan.
(AO No. 2000-65, § 3, 4-18-2000)
A. 
A member of the system who is released from duty as an employee for the purpose of active training, or other military service for the United States, as provided in 38 U.S.C. 2021 et seq., shall be eligible to receive service credit in the system as follows:
1. 
Service credit shall be equal to the length of time during which the member was released from duty as an employee in order to perform eligible military service;
2. 
The service credit earned shall not be used to calculate the number of years of membership in the plan unless the member makes contributions for such service as required in this section;
3. 
The service credit shall be used to calculate both length of service and the amount of a benefit if the member makes a contribution to the system, if required, equal to that which would have been made had the member not been on leave, together with interest which would have accrued on the contributions had they been made in the normal course. The interest paid by the member shall be based upon the actuarial interest assumption rate adopted by the board in effect on the date of the member's return to employment with the municipality. This contribution must be made within two years after the member has resumed duties as a police officer or firefighter with the municipality. The calculation shall presume a normal work week comprised of regularly assigned hours compensated at a total dollar rate equal to the base pay, longevity pay and educational differential pay that the member would have received had the leave not been taken.
4. 
For each member who makes the contribution referred to in subsection A.3, the municipality shall contribute the employer contribution, as determined by the system actuary, which would have been made if the employee had made contributions in the normal course of employment as if the leave had never been taken.
B. 
The maximum amount of military service credit available under the system shall be five years unless a greater period is required by law. Only a claim for military service which is rendered after the effective date of September 27, 1988 (AO 88-145), shall be subject to the terms of this section.
C. 
In order to be eligible for benefits under this section the member must begin the period of active military duty within 90 days after leaving municipal employment and must make application for reemployment or reinstatement within 90 days of honorable discharge or release from duty.
D. 
The burden of proof will be on the member for providing documentation necessary to determine eligibility for service credit. The member shall provide a legible copy of military discharge papers; a legible copy of the appropriate military orders; and shall sign an agreement to purchase military time in a form prescribed by the board.
(AO No. 2000-65, § 3, 4-18-2000)
A. 
All compensation sums which are allocated pursuant to Section 414(h)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code or deferred pursuant to Sections 120, 125, 129, 401(k) or 457 of the Internal Revenue Code shall also be considered as compensation, provided they are subject to a required contribution to the retirement system. Temporary disability benefits received pursuant to the Alaska Workers' Compensation Act shall also be considered compensation in this plan, provided they are subject to a required contribution to the plan. Monies received from the municipality for clothing allowances, meal allowances, or cash-in of accumulated leave time shall not be considered as compensation for purposes of the receipt or calculation of benefits under the retirement system. Out-of-cycle pay or pay period adjustments shall be considered as compensation in the pay period in which received, regardless of the pay period to which the out-of-cycle pay is actually attributable.
B. 
Retroactive compensation, that meets the definition of compensation of this chapter, shall be considered by the board in the calculation of benefits if paid as a result of a grievance, arbitration award, collective bargaining agreement or court ordered judgment or settlement. However, any amounts awarded or paid as court costs, interest, attorney's fees, statutory penalties, punitive damages and any other type of retroactive compensation that does not meet the definition of compensation in this chapter shall be specifically excluded.
C. 
Active members may elect to have retroactive pay treated as compensation in the year in which paid or to have retroactive pay allocated to the pay periods where it would have been actually paid. The method chosen by the active member shall apply to all instances of eligible retroactive pay. For retired members, retroactive pay shall be allocated to the pay periods where it would have been actually paid.
(AO No. 2000-65, § 3, 4-18-2000; AO No. 2002-54, § 5, 3-19-2002)
A. 
During the member's participation in the plan, a member employed on or before June 30, 1977, shall contribute bi-weekly to the plan an amount not to exceed six percent of the member's bi-weekly compensation. During the member's participation in the plan, a member initially employed on or after July 1, 1977, shall contribute bi-weekly to the plan an amount not to exceed six percent of the member's bi-weekly compensation. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection E below, the municipality shall make contributions on an actuarially determined basis generally on a municipality/member contribution ratio of 2.5 to 1. Such contributions shall not be subject to federal taxation until they are recovered from the plan in the form of benefits or refunds as permitted by Section 414(h) of the Internal Revenue Code. Member contributions shall be made through payroll deduction and shall earn interest at the rate of not less than four percent for the first year through December 31, 1993 and thereafter, interest shall be compounded on a bi-weekly basis using the decimal fraction found by dividing the interest rate by 26. Actuarially determined municipal contributions shall be made on a pay period basis by taking the total annually required municipal contribution and dividing the total by 26.
B. 
Retired police officers and firefighters under the former City of Anchorage Retirement Plan for police officers and fire fighters as of June 30, 1977, who became retired members of the system on July 1, 1977, and their beneficiaries, shall continue to receive benefits under the system.
C. 
Retired employees or beneficiaries of retired employees of the municipality or of any former government, the rights and liabilities of which have been assumed by the municipality, who are receiving benefits under any plan other than the former City of Anchorage Retirement Plan for Policemen and Firemen as of June 30, 1977, shall not receive benefits under this system.
D. 
An independent actuarial valuation of Plans I and II shall be made every year. The actuary shall determine the percentage of biweekly compensation required to maintain Plans I and II on an actuarially sound basis and shall report to the board the percentage attributable to the members and the percentage attributable to the municipality.
E. 
The municipality, in addition to the payroll deductions of members, shall contribute additional monies to the system in an amount to ensure that the system is at all times financially sound.
F. 
No person may maintain a claim for any benefits or receive any benefits under this system unless all contributions received by the system on behalf of that person and any interest previously withdrawn are in the possession of the system at the time of the application for benefits.
G. 
If a member is subject to a layoff prior to becoming eligible for a retirement benefit or is involuntarily terminated and in either circumstance, the member leaves his or her accumulated contributions in the system, the member shall upon reemployment or reinstatement with continuous service again be deemed a member of the plan in which the member was a participant at the time of the layoff or termination. If a member who is subject to a layoff or involuntary termination withdraws contributions from the system, the member's rights in the system, including all credited service are forfeited.
H. 
No member shall be required to buy back prior service credit. If the member chooses to do so, however, all required payments must be made before benefits based on that prior service credit can be received. A member electing to buy back prior service has 180 days to notify the retirement board of the member's intent to repurchase the credited service which has been forfeited. Failure to notify the retirement board within the time provided for in this section shall constitute a forfeiture of the right to buy back prior service. The retirement board will provide the member with optional repurchase schedules. Simple interest at nine percent, compounded annually shall be calculated on the outstanding balance. Failure to make the required payments in full prior to the member's date of retirement will result in only a percentage of the service being repurchased credited to the member. The percentage shall be determined by dividing the total amount paid to the retirement board, by the total required payment as previously calculated on the entire outstanding balance at the time of the member's notice of intent to restate previous credited service that was forfeited.
I. 
In the case of a member who is retired on disability prior to becoming vested in the system, the member shall, upon recovery and reinstatement by the municipality in a covered position, be reinstated in the plan in which the member participated prior to disability. If the member recovers and the disability benefit is terminated without the member returning to the service of the municipality in a covered position, the member shall have no further rights in the system, except in the event that the member's disability payments did not equal or exceed the amount of member contributions. In such cases, the member shall receive the unused balance of the contribution account in a lump sum, with interest on the unused balance from the date the disability benefits terminated to the date of distribution of the account balance.
J. 
As of the effective date of this chapter, Plans I and II are in a surplus funded status. Resumption of contributions to Plans I and II shall not be required unless, as determined and required by the actuary for the system, the funded status of the plans falls below 100 percent funding; nor, shall contributions be continued after 100 percent funding is again achieved.
(AO No. 2000-65, § 3, 4-18-2000; AO No. 2003-137, § 1, 10-7-2003)
A. 
A member of Plan III shall contribute a portion of his or her compensation in accordance with this section. Member contributions shall not be subject to federal taxation until they are recovered from the plan in the form of benefits or refunds as permitted by Section 414(h) of the Internal Revenue Code. The member's maximum contribution rate shall be not more than six percent. The contribution of the municipality shall be actuarially determined and shall generally be maintained at a ratio of not less than 2.5 to 1. If additional monies are necessary to ensure that Plan III is financially sound at all times, then the municipality shall be solely responsible for contribution of such additional monies. Member contributions shall be made through payroll deduction and shall earn interest at the rate of not less than four percent for the first year through December 31, 1993 and thereafter, interest shall be compounded on a bi-weekly basis using the decimal fraction found by dividing the interest rate by 26. Actuarially determined municipal contributions shall be made on a pay period basis by taking the total annually required municipal contribution and dividing the total by 26.
B. 
There shall be an independent actuarial valuation of Plan III each year to determine the contribution rate required to maintain the actuarial integrity and to determine the rate of contribution, if any, for this plan.
C. 
If a member is subject to a layoff prior to becoming eligible for a retirement benefit or is involuntarily terminated and in either circumstance, the member leaves his or her accumulated contributions in the system, the member shall upon reemployment or reinstatement with continuous service again be deemed a member of the plan in which the member was a participant at the time of the layoff or termination. If a member who is subject to a layoff or involuntary termination withdraws contributions from the system, the member's rights in the system, including all credited service are forfeited.
D. 
No person may maintain a claim for any benefits or receive any benefits under this system unless all contributions received by the system on behalf of that person and any interest previously withdrawn are in the possession of the system at the time of the application for benefits.
E. 
No member shall be required to buy back prior service credit. If the member chooses to do so, however, all required payments must be made before benefits based on that prior service credit can be received. The buy back procedure shall be the same as provided for Plans I and II in this chapter.
F. 
Non-vested members in receipt of disability benefits who recover from disability and whose benefits under this system are terminated shall be treated in the manner as members of Plans I and II.
G. 
As of the effective date of this chapter, Plan III is in a surplus funded status. Resumption of contributions to Plan III shall not be required unless, as determined and required by the actuary for the system, the funding status of the plan falls below 100 percent funding; nor, shall contributions be continued after 100 percent funding is again achieved.
(AO No. 2000-65, § 3, 4-18-2000; AO No. 2003-137, § 2, 10-7-2003)