1997 Minnesota Statutes

     356.451 Provisional membership for certain persons in 
  various retirement funds or plans. 

    Subdivision 1.    Reserve account for provisional members; 
 authorization.  Notwithstanding any provisions to the contrary 
 of the laws governing the funds enumerated in subdivision 2, any 
 person who is employed in subsidized on-the-job training, work 
 experience or public service employment as an enrollee under the 
 federal Comprehensive Employment and Training Act, who does not 
 have as of the later of March 30, 1978, or the date of 
 employment sufficient service credit in the retirement fund to 
 meet the minimum vesting requirements for a deferred annuity, 
 who otherwise meets all of the applicable eligibility 
 requirements of the fund and who is designated as such by the 
 city council of the city of Minneapolis or the board of 
 education of special school district No. 1, whichever is 
 applicable, shall be considered a provisional member of the 
 fund.  There shall be established a subsidiary reserve account 
 for provisional members which shall be managed by the board of 
 trustees of the fund as a separate account and which shall not 
 be considered as an asset or a liability of the fund.  To this 
 account shall be credited all employee and required employer 
 contributions made by or on account of provisional members.  A 
 separate record for each provisional member shall be maintained 
 showing the length of service completed, the accrued employee 
 and required employer contributions made by or on account of 
 each provisional member, and the actual rate of interest earned 
 on the assets of the account.  The assets of the separate 
 account shall be invested in the same manner as and subject to 
 the same limitations as are applicable to the general assets of 
 the retirement fund.  The board of trustees shall remit back to 
 the prime sponsor of the federal Comprehensive Employment and 
 Training Act program periodically as required by the applicable 
 federal regulation an amount equal to the total required 
 employer contributions made on account of provisional members 
 who terminate or who are terminated from subsidized on-the-job 
 training, work experience or public service employment without 
 obtaining unsubsidized employment with an employer who employs 
 members who regularly have retirement coverage provided by that 
 retirement fund or by a retirement fund enumerated in section 
 356.30, subdivision 3, or without obtaining sufficient service 
 credit to become entitled to a deferred retirement annuity had 
 they been regular members of that retirement fund during the 
 period of their provisional membership, plus interest at the 
 rate or rates actually earned and in addition any amounts which 
 exceed the funds required to cover current provisional members 
 as projected by the board of trustees.  Any provisional member 
 who terminates or is terminated from subsidized on-the-job 
 training, work experience, or public service employment without 
 obtaining unsubsidized employment with an employer who employs 
 members who regularly have retirement coverage provided by that 
 retirement fund or by a retirement fund enumerated in section 
 356.30, subdivision 3, or without obtaining sufficient service 
 to become entitled to a deferred retirement annuity had the 
 provisional member been a regular member of the retirement fund 
 during the period of provisional membership shall be entitled 
 upon making valid written application to a refund of all 
 employee contributions credited to the member in the subsidiary 
 reserve account for provisional members, plus interest at the 
 average actual rate of interest earned on the assets of the 
 account, but not to exceed the rate of 3-1/2 percent per annum 
 compounded annually from the date of commencement of provisional 
 membership, computed to the first day of the month in which the 
 refund is processed, and based on fiscal year balances.  If the 
 provisional member obtains unsubsidized employment with an 
 employer who employs members who regularly have retirement 
 coverage provided by that retirement fund or by a retirement 
 fund enumerated in section 356.30, subdivision 3, or obtains 
 sufficient service to become entitled to a deferred retirement 
 annuity had the period of provisional membership been as a 
 regular member, the board of trustees shall transfer the total 
 employee and required employer contributions and any interest 
 attributable to those contributions to the regular retirement 
 fund and shall credit the period of service as a provisional 
 member as allowable or formula service.  Unless the provisional 
 member becomes a regular member of that retirement fund or a 
 retirement fund enumerated in section 356.30, subdivision 3, 
 within the time period allowed under the applicable federal 
 regulations following the person's termination of provisional 
 status, no period of provisional membership shall be considered 
 allowable service for purposes of the combined service annuity 
 pursuant to section 356.30 or any service in more than one 
 retirement fund provision.  For any former provisional member 
 who becomes a regular member of a retirement fund enumerated in 
 section 356.30, subdivision 3, the board of trustees shall 
 require written certification of the fact of unsubsidized 
 employment from the subsequent employer and of the fact of 
 regular fund membership from the subsequent retirement fund.  If 
 any provisional member obtains service in an amount sufficient 
 to entitle the provisional member to a disability benefit or the 
 provisional member's survivor to a survivor's benefit had the 
 provisional member been a regular member for that period of 
 service, then the provisional member or the provisional member's 
 survivor shall be entitled to a benefit when otherwise qualified 
 notwithstanding the fact that the person was a provisional 
 member.  Upon the commencement of the benefit, an amount equal 
 to the contributions and interest credited to the provisional 
 member shall be transferred from the reserve account for 
 provisional members to the regular fund.  

    Subd. 2.    Covered funds.  Subdivision 1 applies to 
 the following funds: 

    (1) Minneapolis employees retirement fund established 
 pursuant to chapter 422A; 

    (2) Minneapolis firefighters relief association established 
 pursuant to chapter 69; 

    (3) Minneapolis police relief association established 
 pursuant to Laws 1949, chapter 406, as amended; 

    (4) Any plan covering employees of the housing and 
 redevelopment agency of the city of Minneapolis as established 
 by law, ordinance, or otherwise; 

    (5) Minneapolis teachers retirement fund association 
 established pursuant to chapter 354A. 

    HIST: 1978 c 720 s 11; 1981 c 298 s 11; 1Sp1985 c 7 s 35; 1986 
 c 444; 1987 c 259 s 60