A subdivision may start payroll deductions for retirement contributions before participation is approved, if the director consents, but only for a limited period and subject to later transfer or refund rules.
Sec. 845.4031. CONTRIBUTIONS IN ANTICIPATION OF PARTICIPATION. (a) After a subdivision has officially elected to join the retirement system and has specified the date for its participation to begin, and before the board of trustees has approved its participation, the subdivision may, with the consent of the director, begin deducting from an employee's compensation for each payroll period beginning on or after the specified participation date the contribution that would be deducted if the subdivision were then participating. (b) The subdivision shall collect and segregate the amounts deducted from its employees' compensation and the contributions that the subdivision would be required to make under this subtitle if it were then participating. (c) The period during which contributions may be deducted from an employee's compensation in anticipation of board approval of participation may not exceed six months and may not extend into a subsequent calendar year without consent of the board of trustees. During the period that board approval is pending, the subdivision may not participate in, and the subdivision's employees may not be covered by, the optional group term life program. (d) On approval of participation, the subdivision shall immediately transfer to the retirement system, for credit to the appropriate funds within the system, the amounts collected and segregated under Subsection (b). If the subdivision previously elected to participate in the optional group term life program, participation in that program begins on the first day of the month following the month in which the board of trustees approves participation in the system. (e) If the board of trustees disapproves the subdivision's participation in the retirement system, the subdivision shall pay all employee contributions collected and segregated in anticipation of board approval to the employees from whom the contributions were withheld. Added by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 873 (H.B. 1587), Sec. 86, eff. September 1, 2007.