Government Code § 855.402

Sec. 855.402. COLLECTION OF MEMBER CONTRIBUTIONS. (a) Each payroll period each participating municipality shall cause the contribution for the period to be deducted from the compensation of each member that it employs. (b) In determining the amount of a member's compensation for a payroll period, the board of trustees may use the rate of annual compensation payable to a member on the first day of the payroll period as the rate for the entire period and may omit deductions from compensation for less than a full payroll period if the employee was not a member on the first day of the period. (c) The board of trustees may modify a member's required deduction by an amount that does not exceed one-tenth of one percent of the annual compensation on which the deduction is made. (d) A participating municipality shall certify to the board of trustees on each payroll, or in another manner prescribed by the board, the amount to be deducted from the compensation of each member that it employs. (e) The treasurer or disbursing officer of each participating municipality shall: (1) make deductions from each member's compensation for contributions to the retirement system; (2) transmit monthly, or at the time designated by the board of trustees, a certified copy of the payroll; and (3) pay the deductions in cash to the board of trustees at the board's home office before the 16th day of the month following that for which the deductions are required to be made. (f) To facilitate the collection of member contributions, the city clerk or city secretary of each participating municipality, before January 31 of each year, shall file with the director a certified list that states the name and monthly and annual salaries of each employee of the municipality who is a member of the retirement system. Any addition to or deletion from the list must be certified. (g) After the deductions for member contributions are paid, the board of trustees shall: (1) record all receipts; and (2) deposit the receipts in the benefit accumulation fund and credit the appropriate amounts to the members' individual accounts. (h) The treasurer or disbursing officer of a participating municipality shall make the deductions required by this section even if the member's compensation is reduced below the amount equal to the minimum compensation provided by law. (i) By becoming a member of the retirement system, a member consents to the deductions required by this section. The payment of compensation less those deductions is a complete release of all claims, except benefits provided by this subtitle, for services rendered by the member during the payroll period. Text of subsec. (j) added effective upon I.R.S. determination (j) Each participating municipality shall pick up the employee contributions required by Section 855.401 and this section for all compensation earned after December 31, 1983, and shall pay these picked-up employee contributions from the same source of funds used in paying earnings to the employee. The participating municipality may pick up these contributions by a reduction in the cash salary of the employee or by an offset against a future salary increase or by a combination of a reduction in salary and offset against a future salary increase; unless it is otherwise determined by the governing body of the participating municipality, the pick-up shall be accomplished by a corresponding reduction in the cash salary of the employee. (k) Contributions picked up as provided by Subsection (j) shall be treated as employer contributions in determining tax treatment of the amounts under the United States Internal Revenue Code; however, each participating municipality shall continue to withhold federal income taxes based upon these contributions until the Internal Revenue Service determines or the federal courts rule that pursuant to Section 414(h) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. Section 414), these picked-up contributions are not included as gross income of the employee until such time as they are distributed or made available. Employee contributions that are picked up as above provided shall be deposited to the individual account of the member and shall be treated for all other purposes of this subtitle in the same manner and with like effect as if the amount had been deducted from the compensation of the employee pursuant to Sections 855.401 and 855.402(a) through (h); and picked-up contributions may not be included in calculating the limitations on municipality contribution rates prescribed by Section 855.407 or other provisions of this subtitle. Acts 1981, 67th Leg., p. 1876, ch. 453, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1981. Amended by Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 2978, ch. 512, Sec. 2; Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 183, Sec. 16, eff. Aug. 31, 1987. Renumbered from Vernon's Ann.Civ.St. Title 110B, Sec. 65.402 and amended by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 179, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989. Amended by: Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1208 (S.B. 350), Sec. 32, eff. June 17, 2011.