15-1225. Postemployment benefits; trust accounts; actuarial report

A. If the governing board offers postemployment benefits to school district employees or to spouses and dependents of school district employees, or both, monies to fund these benefits may be deposited in an other postemployment benefits fund or an other postemployment benefits trust account, or both. Additional monies shall not be legislatively appropriated specifically to provide any postemployment benefits offered by a governing board.

B. An other postemployment benefits fund is a cash controlled fund as provided in section 15-905, subsection N. The monies in the other postemployment benefits fund are not subject to reversion, except that at the end of five years of no activity in the fund, any remaining monies shall revert to the maintenance and operations fund.

C. An other postemployment benefits trust account established pursuant to subsection A of this section shall meet all of the following conditions:

1. Contributions made by the school district into the trust account are irrevocable.

2. The assets of the trust account shall be dedicated to providing benefits to school district retirees and their beneficiaries in accordance with the terms of the postemployment benefits plan.

3. Trust assets shall be legally protected from creditors of the school district or the investment manager pursuant to subsection F of this section.

D. Current or prior year postemployment benefits liabilities may be paid from any school district fund from which a school district may pay employee benefits into the other postemployment benefits fund or trust account. Payments for current or prior year liabilities paid into the other postemployment benefits fund or trust account shall be treated as an expenditure from the originating school district fund.

E. The following expenditures may be made from an other postemployment benefits fund or an other postemployment benefits trust account:

1. Administrative and management costs.

2. Payment of benefits.

F. An investment manager for an other postemployment benefits trust account established pursuant to subsection A of this section shall be either:

1. A qualified investment manager appointed by the district governing board.

2. The manager of a public agency pool established pursuant to section 11-952.01.

G. The investment manager for an other postemployment benefits trust account may invest and reinvest the monies in the account and may hold, purchase, sell, assign, transfer and dispose of any of the securities and investments in which any of the trust account monies are invested. The investment manager shall invest the monies in the trust account in the same manner as the monies in the permanent state land fund pursuant to section 35-314.01, except that not more than thirty per cent of the monies in the trust account may be invested in equity securities at any time. The percentage of investment shall be calculated at cost.

H. If applicable, each school district shall submit on or before September 1, 2009 to the joint legislative budget committee the most recent actuarial study of the school district's existing other postemployment benefits offered by the school district and any prospective other postemployment benefits contemplated to be offered by the school district, including an analysis of defined contribution plans and defined benefits plans if appropriate and if the defined contribution or defined benefit plans are used to administer any other postemployment benefit. Each time a school district conducts a new actuarial study of the school district's existing or prospective other postemployment benefits, the school district shall submit the new study to the joint legislative budget committee within thirty days of the completion of the study.

I. For the purposes of this section, postemployment benefits do not include benefits provided by the Arizona state retirement system.