BYLAWS AND REGULATIONS
OF THE MARIN
COUNTY
EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT
ASSOCIATION
___________________________________
PART I.
ADMINISTRATION
Section 101: Name
The name of this
Association, organized in accordance with Government Code Section 31550,
is:
Marin County Employees' Retirement
Association
Section 102: Board Members and
Officers
Retirement Board members
are elected and appointed pursuant to Section 31520.1 of the Government
Code. At the first regular meeting
in November of each year, the Retirement Board shall elect from its members a
Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson and a Secretary for a term of one (1) year or
until a successor is duly elected and qualified. At the first regular meeting in December
of each year, the Chairperson will appoint all committee chairpersons and
members.
(Amended December 16,
1987 by Resolution #87/88-1;
Approved by Board of Supervisors January
5, 1988)
Each member of the Board
of Retirement not appointed to a particular committee, shall be an ex-officio
member of that committee and shall be a voting member of that committee in an
ex-officio capacity when said vote is needed to establish a quorum of said
committee.
(Amended April 8, 1992
by Resolution #91/92-2;
Approved by Board of Supervisors April
14, 1992)
PART II.
MEETINGS
Section 201: Regular
Meetings
Regular meetings of the
Retirement Board shall be held on the second Wednesday of each month commencing
at 9:00 a.m. at the office of the Marin County Retirement Administrator,
Civic Center, San
Rafael, California, or
such other place as the Retirement Administrator may
designate.
In the event that the
regular meeting cannot be held on the stated date, the Chairperson shall
designate the date and time of the meeting and properly notify as to a special
meeting.
Whenever scheduled
meetings of the Retirement Board or committees thereof are scheduled to have
such meetings in the morning and afternoon of the same day, the members of the
Retirement Board or of the committee shall, at their discretion, be entitled to
lunch at the expense of the Association.
(Amended April 19, 1983
by Resolution #83-1)
(Amended July 13, 1994
by Resolution #93/94-2;
Approved by Board of Supervisors July 19,
1994)
(Amended September 12,
2001 by Resolution #2001/02-1;
Approved by Board of Supervisors
September 25, 2001)
Section 202: Special
Meetings
Special meetings of the
Retirement Board may be called at any time by the Chairperson or a majority of
the members of the Retirement Board.
A notice of not less than twenty-four (24) hours shall be given to each
member and all other parties in satisfaction of the Brown
Act.
(Amended December 16,
1987 by Resolution #87/88-1;
Approved by Board of Supervisors January
5, 1988)
(Amended November 13,
1991 by Resolution #91/92-1;
Approved by Board of Supervisors January
14, 1992)
Section 203: Rules of
Order
Robert’s "Rules of
Order", newly revised addition, except as otherwise provided herein, shall guide
the Retirement Board in its proceedings.
Further, the provisions of Chapter 9, Division 2, Title V of the
California Government Code (the Ralph M. Brown Act) shall also govern the
Retirement Board in its proceedings.
(Amended July 13, 1994
by Resolution #93/94-2;
Approved by Board of Supervisors July 19,
1994)
Section 204:
Quorum
Five (5) permanent
members of the Retirement Board constitute a quorum. With respect to committees, a majority
of membership of any committee shall constitute a quorum. In the event a majority of the members
of the Retirement Board or a committee thereof find themselves attending a
purely social or ceremonial occasion, such members shall not discuss among
themselves business of a specific nature that is within the subject matter
jurisdiction of the Retirement Board.
(Amended July 13, 1994
by Resolution #93/94-2;
Approved by Board of Supervisors July 19,
1994)
Section 205: Agenda
In order to ensure that
items for the agenda are presented at the regular monthly Retirement Board
meeting, proposed agenda items must be in writing and received by the Retirement
Administrator not later than 4:30 on the last Thursday of the month preceding
the scheduled Board meeting. All
Board members and all other parties appearing on the agenda shall receive a
preliminary agenda prior to the monthly meeting. There shall also be a copy of the agenda
posted outside the meeting place.
(Amended December 16,
1987 by Resolution #87/88-1;
Approved By Board of Supervisors January
5, 1988)
(Amended September 9,
1998 by Resolution #98/99-2;
Approved by Board of Supervisors Res.
#98-133 September 22, 1998)
Section 206: Minutes
The Secretary shall
cause to be recorded in the minutes the time and place of each meeting of the
Retirement Board, the names of members present and absent, all official acts of
the Retirement Board, the votes by members of the Board, except where the action
is unanimous, and when requested, a member's dissent or approval with his
reasons, and shall cause the minutes to be written up forthwith and presented
for approval at the next regular meeting.
The minutes or a true copy thereof, submitted by the Secretary and signed
by the Chairperson or Vice Chairperson, shall form part of the permanent records
of the Retirement Board.
Section 207: Vacancies
If a vacancy on the
Board occurs for any cause other than on the expiration of a term of office of
such member, a successor shall be chosen in the same manner as his predecessor
to complete the term of office, except that if the vacancy is in the office of
an elected member, a special election shall be called within eighty (80) days of
said vacancy by the County Clerk/Registrar of Voters to be held within 150 days
of said vacancy in accordance with these Bylaws; it being the intent that the
election be held as soon as practical with the seating of the new member
following the certification of the election.
(Added April 14, 1980,
by Resolution #80-1)
PART III.
MEMBERSHIP
Section
301
The following persons
shall be eligible for membership in the Marin County Employees' Retirement
Association:
1. Any employee in an allocated
budgeted position devoting not less than seventy-five percent (75%) of that
full- time allocated budgeted position; provided, however, that any employee
electing membership under this subsection shall accrue service credit towards
retirement in accordance with the provisions of Section 750 of these
Bylaws.
2. A full-time contractual employee;
excepting, however, contractual employees hired solely for a specific
project.
3. An elected
official.
4. An employee of a geographical
area, or for a specific function such as, but not limited to, "on-call"
physicians in the County Physician's Office, if the Personnel Director certifies
that such employee's compensation is greater than seventy-five percent (75%) of
full-time compensation for comparable duties.
5. An employee who was a member of the
Association prior to August 5, 1968, even though presently or subsequently
employed for less than seventy-five (75%) of full-time compensation, at the
option of the employee, shall remain eligible for membership so long as said
employee has had continuous service from said date.
6. All Marin County employees eligible
for membership in the Marin County Employees' Retirement Association shall
become members of the Association as of their date of employment with the
County. City of San Rafael employees
eligible for membership in the Marin County Employees' Retirement Association
shall become members of the Association as of the first day of any pay
period.
7. Membership in the Marin County
Employees’ Retirement Association shall cease on the day following the last date
of employment unless the member is eligible for deferred
retirement.
Persons hired, otherwise
eligible for membership on or after December 8, 1980, who have attained the age
of sixty (60) years at the time of their employment, may waive membership in the
Marin County Employees’ Retirement System on a form and in a manner acceptable
to the Retirement Administrator.
(Amended December 16,
1987 by Resolution #87/88-1;
Approved by Board of Supervisors January
5, 1988)
(Amended September 9,
1998 by Resolution #98/99-2;
Approved by Board of Supervisors
Resolution 98-133)
Section
302:
Persons in all other
categories of employment shall be excluded from membership in the Marin County
Employees' Retirement Association.
Persons otherwise qualified for membership pursuant, to Section 301 of
these Bylaws, employed after June 30, 1979, under the provisions of the
Public Service Employment Program of the Comprehensive Employment and Training
Act Amendments of 1978 (29 U.S.C. 801), shall be excluded from membership unless
the Government of the United States makes the employer contributions required by
law.
(Amended June 11, 1979
by Resolution #79-03)
PART IV. MEMBERS'
CONTRIBUTIONS
Section 401: Withdrawal Upon
Termination
Upon termination of
service other than by retirement or death, a member shall submit an application
to the Retirement Board for the withdrawal of accumulated contributions. In addition to the amount of accumulated
contributions, the Retirement Board shall allow the payment of interest credited
to the member's account at the rate set yearly by the Retirement
Board.
Payment in the amount as
determined by the Retirement Board shall be made to the members as
follows:
Upon receipt of an
approved application, payment in the amount as determined by the Retirement
Board, shall be made to the members within ninety (90) days of receipt of said
application. The Retirement
Administrator is authorized to refund these contributions prior to Retirement
Board approval. On a monthly basis
the Retirement Administrator shall report to the Retirement Board those
individuals who have received a refund of contributions, indicating their
employer as well as the amount refunded.
(Amended December 16,
1987 by Resolution #87/88-1;
Approved by Board of Supervisors January
5, 1988)
(Amended December 16,
1998 by Resolution 98/99-2;
Approved by Board of Supervisors Res.
98-133 September 22, 1998)
PART V. COMPENSATION
EARNABLE
Section
501:
(a) Compensation earnable for the
purpose of computing retirement benefits shall be defined as the average
compensation as determined by the Board for the period under consideration upon
the basis of the average number of days ordinarily worked by persons in the same
rate or class of positions during the period and at the same rate of pay, pursuant to
Government Code Section 31641, as interpreted by the courts of
record.
(b) Compensation for the purpose of
computing contributions by each member shall be defined as the base pay and all
other cash payments constituting compensation earnable for each period for such
member.
Notwithstanding
Subsection (b) above, any member who retires will contribute through the day
before the member's retirement. If
excess contributions have been deducted, the member shall be refunded such
excess.
(Amended May 10, 1976,
by Board of Supervisors Res. #76-208)
(Amended February, 1984
by Resolution #84-1)
Section 502: Leaves of Absence, Contributions and
Service Credit
In the event that any
member is required by his or her employer to take a leave of absence or take a
leave of absence voluntarily at the invitation of the employer without pay, such
person shall nevertheless be entitled to full credit for service upon payment of
the full pay period's retirement contribution by the employer sand member if he
works at least one half of such pay period. If, however, the member works less than
one half of such pay period, no contributions will be made and no service credit
will be given. Notwithstanding the
foregoing, the member shall have all such rights as are contained in Section
31642 as it may be from time to time amended.
(Amended March 10, 1993
by Resolution #92/93-2;
Approved by Board of Supervisors March
16, 1993)
PART VI. BIRTH
CERTIFICATES
Section
601:
Every member of the
Association shall be required to submit to the Retirement Administrator a
certified copy of their birth certificate to be retained in the files of said
office. If unable to secure a
certified copy of birth certificate, the member must submit documentation that
is acceptable to the Administrator.
Upon failure of a member
to provide the foregoing, the member's rate for purposes of contribution shall
be set at the highest current rate available. Upon later submission of proof of age,
an employee may receive, upon written request, a refund of excess contributions
for a period of no greater than three (3) years from date of submission of
acceptable proof of age.
The employer shall
satisfy the Retirement Board of the discontinuance of service of each employee
whether final, by leave of absence, sick leave or otherwise as soon as is
possible.
(Amended December 16,
1987 by Resolution #87/88-1;
Approved by Board of Supervisors January
5, 1988)
(Amended September 9,
1998 by Resolution #98/99-2;
Approved by Board of Supervisors Res.
#98-133 September 22, 1998)
Amended September 12, 2001 by Resolution
#2001-02-1;
Approved by Board of Supervisors
September 25, 2001)
PART VII.
CERTIFICATES
Section
701:
Prior to the time the
first warrant is issued to a member for retirement allowance, such member shall
be furnished with a statement indicating the amount of his retirement allowance
calculated in accordance with the unmodified and various optional modes of
settlement.
Such statement shall
provide a place for the signature of the member, indicating the choice as to the
type of retirement allowance selected and, when signed by the Retirement
Administrator or any other authorized retirement staff, shall constitute the
annuity certificate provided for in Section 31526 of the Government Code, as
amended.
(Amended September 9,
1998 by Resolution #98/99-2;
Approved by Board of Supervisors Res.
98-133 September 22, 1998)
Section
750:
For purposes of
Government Code Section 31640.5, all employees who qualify for membership in the
Marin County Employees' Retirement Association, pursuant to Sections 301 and 302
of these Bylaws and Regulations, shall be considered full-time employees and
entitled to one (1) year credit for each calendar year of employment, both for
the purpose of computing eligibility for retirement, pursuant to Government Code
Section 31672 and computing retirement benefits; provided, however, that
members working less than a full-time budgeted position shall be entitled to
only a proportional year's credit for each calendar year of employment for the
purpose of computing retirement benefits.
Said proportional credit shall be computed by comparing the hours worked
or compensation received to that of a full-time employee in the same category of
employment.
(Amended December 16,
1987 by Resolution #87/88-1;
Approved by Board of Supervisors January
5, 1988)
PART VIII.
ELECTIONS
Section
801:
Where not otherwise
provided, the County Clerk/Registrar of Voters will conduct all elections
according to procedures established in the California Election
Code.
The following rules and
regulations are adopted as the manner of nomination and election by the members
of the Retirement Association of the second, third, seventh and eighth members
of the Board of Retirement to serve for terms of three (3)
years.
Nominations
1. Nomination of the members to be elected
from and by members of the
Retirement Association shall be by petition signed by not less than ten (10) members of the
Association. No person shall sign more than one petition of
nomination for each member.
(Amended June 8, 2005 by
Resolution #2004/2005-2;
Approved by Board of Supervisors July 28,
2005)
2. The nomination petition
shall specify the name of the nominee and agency which will also appear on the
official ballot and whether the member is nominated as the second,
third,
seventh or eighth member
of the Board of Retirement.
3. Nomination petitions shall be
in substantially the following form:
"We, the undersigned
(regular) (safety) (retired) members of the Marin County Employees' Retirement
Association do hereby nominate as the member of the Retirement Board of the
Marin County Employees' Retirement Association to serve for a term of three (3)
years to be elected from and by the members of said
Association."
4. Nomination petitions shall be
available from the County Clerk/Registrar of Voters not earlier than 8:00 a.m.
on the first Wednesday of June and must be filed not later than 4:30 p.m.
on the third Wednesday of June of each year in which the term of office of one
of the elected members of said Board shall terminate.
5. If the incumbent member
of the Retirement Board fails to file by 4:30 p.m. on the third Wednesday of
June, the filing period shall be extended to 4:30 p.m. on the fourth Wednesday
of June for the nomination of candidates other than the
incumbent.
6. The Retirement Board Administrator
shall, within three (3) working days, verify these signatures and send a
certified list of eligible candidates and their agency/department to the County
Clerk/Registrar of Voters for preparation of the ballots.
Candidate's Statement of
Qualifications
1. Each candidate for the Retirement Board
may prepare a Candidate's Statement of Qualifications on a form to be provided
by the County Clerk/Registrar of Voters.
2. The Statement may
include the name, age and occupation of the candidate and a brief description,
no more than 200 words in length, of the candidate's education and
qualifications.
(Amended June 8, 2005 by
Resolution #2004/2005-2;
Approved by Board of Supervisors July 28,
2005)
3. The Statement shall be
filed in the office of the County Clerk/Registrar of Voters at the time of
filing nomination papers.
4. The County
Clerk/Registrar of Voters shall send to each voter, together with the ballot, a
copy of all written statements filed.
Elections
1. Election shall be by
secret ballot. Only the names of
those duly nominated for each position as provided herein shall be printed on
the ballot.
2. The election shall be held on
the last Friday of July of each year in which the term of office of the elective
members of said Board shall terminate.
3. Ballots shall be
prepared by the County Clerk/Registrar of Voters and mailed to each eligible
voter no later than one (1) week before the third Friday in July of each
election year.
(Amended March 10, 1999
by Resolution #98/99-3;
Approved by Board of
Supervisors March 23, 1999)
4. Each miscellaneous
member of the Association may vote for one candidate for the second board member
and/or one candidate for the third board member. No miscellaneous member shall vote for
the seventh or eighth member. Each
safety member may vote for one candidate for the seventh member. No safety member shall vote for the
second or third or eighth member. Each retired member may vote for one candidate
for the eighth member. No retired
member shall vote for the second or third or seventh
member.
5. Each member shall place the
voted ballot in the ballot envelope provided for that purpose and shall seal and
enclose said envelope in an identification envelope which the member shall
personally seal and sign. The
member shall then deposit said envelope in the ballot box provided at one of
several designated locations or shall mail said ballot to the County
Clerk/Registrar of Voters to be received not later than 4:30 p.m. on the day on
which said election is held.
6. The County
Clerk/Registrar of voters shall submit said identification envelopes containing
the ballots, with a statement of the number so delivered, to the Administrator
of the Retirement Association who will check against a list of existing members
of said Association. Each member
shall be allowed one identification envelope only with one ballot envelope
enclosed. These shall be returned
to the County Clerk/Registrar of Voters by the Administrator with a report of
the number of identification envelopes so received. Safety, retired and/or
miscellaneous envelopes should be separated.
7. The County
Clerk/Registrar of Voters shall count the votes in accordance with rules
established in the California Elections Code and shall submit the results of the
election to the Marin County Board of Supervisors, and said Board shall declare
the nominee receiving the most votes for the respective memberships duly
elected. Said members shall assume office on the next November 1st, or if the
seat is vacant, upon certification of the election.
8. Write-in votes shall not be
counted.
9. All costs for the
conduct of the election, including the printing of the ballots and related
supplies, shall be billed to the Retirement Board by the County Clerk/Registrar
of Voters at actual cost.
(Amended December 14,
1981, by Resolution #81-1;
Approved by Board of Supervisors January
26, 1982)
PART IX.
AMENDMENTS
These Bylaws shall be
amended as follows:
1.
Amendments must be read at a regular meeting.
2. No
vote may be taken earlier than the next regular scheduled
meeting.
3. There must be a
two-thirds (2/3) affirmative majority vote of the Retirement Board members in
attendance.
4. Such
amendments shall not become effective until approved by the Board of
Supervisors.
If any section,
sub-section, sentence, clause or phrase of these Bylaws and Regulations is for
any reason held to unconstitutional, invalid, or unenforceable, such decisions
shall not affect the validity or enforceability of the remaining portions of
these Bylaws and Regulations.
The Retirement Board
hereby declares that it would have passed and adopted these Bylaws and
Regulations, and each section, subsection, sentence, clause and phrase hereof,
irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, sub-sections, sentences,
clauses and phrases may be declared unconstitutional, invalid or unenforceable.
(Amended December 16,
1987 by Resolution #87/88-1;
Approved by Board of Supervisors January
5, 1988)
PART X. PROCEDURES FOR APPLICATIONS FOR
DISABILITY RETIREMENT
Section
1001:
Applications for
disability retirement shall be on a form approved by the Retirement
Administrator. Each applicant for
disability retirement shall authorize the release to the Retirement Association
and/or its counsel all medical information relating to any physical or mental
illness or injury of applicant, and shall waive any
physician-psychotherapist/patient privilege connected therewith, and shall
authorize the Association and/or or its counsel to access all records relating
to the applicant’s current and prior employment. Said authorizations for release
of information shall be on forms approved by the Retirement Administrator or on
such other forms as a medical provider, employer or government entity may
require for its particular records. All information received by the Association
or its agents and counsel shall be treated as confidential and not released to
anyone except insofar as may be necessary for the administration of the
retirement system or upon an order of a court of competent jurisdiction, as
provided by Govt. Code Section 31532.
Upon the submission of
an application for retirement for any cause, or benefits payable or alleged to
be payable, under the provisions of Chapter 3, Division 4, Title III of the
California Government Code (Section 31540, et seq.), the Retirement
Administrator shall examine the application and supporting documents for
completeness. For purposes of this
section, an application shall be deemed complete if the information required by
the Administrator and these Bylaws is furnished upon the form provided by the
Administrator and approved by this Board.
An application for retirement due to alleged incapacity or
service-connected incapacity shall be accompanied by written proof relative to
each of the issues applicable pursuant to Section 31720 of the Government
Code, and an opinion relative to the application submitted by the applicant's
employer. The Retirement
Administrator may refer the applicant for further evaluations and written
reports.
If an application is
deemed incomplete by the Retirement Administrator for failure to execute a
required authorization for release of information, the Retirement Administrator
shall notify the applicant of the incompleteness of the application. If the applicant has not submitted the
required authorization within sixty (60) days of notification, the Retirement
Administrator may request that the Retirement Board issue an Order to Show Cause
requiring that the applicant or his or her counsel, appear before the Retirement
Board at a meeting more than thirty (30) days after the issuance of the Order,
and show cause why the applicant should not be required to execute the
authorization. If the applicant or
applicant’s counsel fails to appear before the Board or fails to show cause as
to why the authorization should not be required, then the Board may, in its
discretion, order that the application be summarily denied with prejudice unless
the required authorization is executed and delivered to the Retirement
Administrator within thirty (30) days.
After a period of six
(6) months from date of submission of an application for disability retirement,
should it be deemed by the Administrator that the applicant has not submitted
documentation to support said application, then the Administrator shall give
written notice to the applicant that the applicant has a ninety (90)-day period
in which to submit additional documentation. The applicant shall further be notified
that at the conclusion of the ninety (90)-day period, said application will be
presented to the Retirement Board for action and that the Board's decision will
be based on the application and any other documentation received from the
applicant on or before the expiration of the ninety (90)-day period. Said notice to the applicant shall be in
the form of a certified return receipt letter and shall advise the applicant
that a written appeal may be submitted to the Retirement Board for an extension
of the ninety (90)-day period, providing said appeal is received no later than
sixty (60) days after notification.
(Added April 8, 1992 by
Resolution #91/92-2;
Approved by Board of Supervisors April
14, 1992)
(Amended by Resolution
#98/99-2 September 9, 1998;
Approved by Board of Supervisors
Resolution September 22, 1998)
(Amended by Resolution
#2001/02-1 September 12, 2001;
Approved by Board of Supervisors
September 25, 2001)
