(a) Each employer shall contribute to the system every payroll period an amount calculated by applying a rate of 12.56 percent to the total of all base salaries paid by the employer to active members of the system and to members who are retired from the plan and reemployed under AS 14.20.136, including any adjustments to contributions required by AS 14.25.173(a).

(b) The employer shall transmit the contributions calculated in (a) of this section to the administrator in accordance with AS 14.25.065. The administrator shall allocate contributions received for full payment of

(1) the actuarially determined employer normal cost for the plan; and

(2) all contributions required by AS 14.25.350 and AS 39.30.370 for the fiscal year.

(c) If, after allocation of contributions under (b) of this section, a portion of the employer contributions remains, the administrator shall apply that remaining portion toward payment of the past service liability of the plan.

(d) Notwithstanding (a) of this section, the annual employer contribution rate may not be less than the rate sufficient to allow payment of the employer normal cost and the employer contributions required under AS 14.25.350 and AS 39.30.370.

(e) [Repealed, §§ 83, 84, and 86, ch. 41, SLA 2009.]

(f) All or a portion of the employer's share of any accrued actuarial liability to the plan may be prepaid in a lump sum. The commissioner of administration may, by regulation, establish a minimum amount for the lump sum payment of a portion. The administrator shall charge to the employer appropriate and reasonable administrative costs to the plan attributable to a lump sum payment that are not greater than administrative costs applied to other employer contributions. If an employer is grouped with any other employer in accounting for contributions, the lump sum payment for the employer shall be accounted for separately in accordance with regulations adopted by the commissioner. The regulations must provide for crediting to each lump sum payment account all earnings and losses received from investment of that payment. The lump sum payment shall be used solely to offset contributions under this section required of the employer for which the payment was made, taking into account earnings and losses from its investment. A lump sum payment made by or on behalf of an employer under this subsection, together with all earnings and losses from investment of that payment, may not be considered in calculating that employer's share of any discretionary payment authorized by the state that benefits multiple employers.

(g) If all or a portion of an employer's share of any accrued actuarial liability to the plan is prepaid in a lump sum under (f) of this section, the administrator shall calculate a revised employer contribution rate for that employer in recognition of that prepayment not more than 30 days following the prepayment.

(h) In this section, “normal cost” means the cost of providing the benefits expected to be credited, with respect to service, to all active members of the plan during the year beginning after the last valuation date.