84-1503 Board; duties.
84-1503. Board; duties.(1) It shall be the duty of the Public Employees Retirement Board:(a) To administer the retirement systems provided for in the County Employees Retirement Act, the Judges Retirement Act, the Nebraska State Patrol Retirement Act, the School Employees Retirement Act, and the State Employees Retirement Act. The agency for the administration of the retirement systems and under the direction of the board shall be known and may be cited as the Nebraska Public Employees Retirement Systems;(b) To appoint a director to administer the systems under the direction of the board. The appointment shall be subject to the approval of the Governor and a majority of the Legislature. The director shall be qualified by training and have at least five years of experience in the administration of a qualified public or private employee retirement plan. The director shall not be a member of the board. The salary of the director shall be set by the board. The director shall serve without term and may be removed by the board;(c) To provide for an equitable allocation of expenses among the retirement systems administered by the board, and all expenses shall be provided from the investment income earned by the various retirement funds unless alternative sources of funds to pay expenses are specified by law;(d) To administer the deferred compensation program authorized in section 84-1504;(e) To hire an attorney, admitted to the Nebraska State Bar Association, to advise the board in the administration of the retirement systems listed in subdivision (a) of this subsection;(f) To hire an internal auditor to perform the duties described in section 84-1503.04 who meets the minimum standards as described in section 84-304.03;(g) To adopt and implement procedures for reporting information by employers, as well as testing and monitoring procedures in order to verify the accuracy of such information. The information necessary to determine membership shall be provided by the employer. The board shall adopt and promulgate rules and regulations and prescribe such forms necessary to carry out this subdivision. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to require the board to conduct onsite audits of political subdivisions for compliance with statutes, rules, and regulations governing the retirement systems listed in subdivision (1)(a) of this section regarding membership and contributions; and(h) To prescribe and furnish forms for the public retirement system plan reports required to be filed pursuant to sections 2-3228, 12-101, 14-567, 14-1805.01, 14-2111, 15-1017, 16-1017, 16-1037, 19-3501, 23-1118, 23-3526, 71-1631.02, and 79-987 and to notify the Nebraska Retirement Systems Committee of the Legislature of the failure of any governmental entity to file such reports.(2) In administering the retirement systems listed in subdivision (1)(a) of this section, it shall be the duty of the board:(a) To determine, based on information provided by the employer, the prior service annuity, if any, for each person who is an employee of the county on the date of adoption of the retirement system;(b) To determine the eligibility of an individual to be a member of the retirement system and other questions of fact in the event of a dispute between an individual and the individual's employer;(c) To adopt and promulgate rules and regulations for the management of the board;(d) To keep a complete record of all proceedings taken at any meeting of the board;(e) To obtain, by a competitive, formal, and sealed bidding process through the materiel division of the Department of Administrative Services, actuarial services on behalf of the State of Nebraska as may be necessary in the administration and development of the retirement systems. Any contract for actuarial services shall contain a provision allowing the actuary, without prior approval of the board, to perform actuarial studies of the systems as requested by entities other than the board, if notice, which does not identify the entity or substance of the request, is given to the board, all costs are paid by the requesting entity, results are provided to the board upon being made public, and such actuarial studies do not interfere with the actuary's ongoing responsibility to the board. The term of the contract shall be for up to three years. A competitive, formal, and sealed bidding process shall be completed at least once in every three years, unless the board determines that such a process would not be cost effective under the circumstances and that the actuarial services performed have been satisfactory, in which case the contract may also contain an option for renewal without a competitive, formal, and sealed bidding process for up to three additional years. An actuary under contract for the State of Nebraska shall be a member of the American Academy of Actuaries;(f) To direct the State Treasurer to transfer funds, as an expense of the retirement systems, to the Legislative Council Retirement Study Fund. Such transfer shall occur beginning on or after July 1, 2005, and at intervals of not less than five years and not more than fifteen years and shall be in such amounts as the Legislature shall direct;(g) To adopt and promulgate rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of each retirement system described in subdivision (1)(a) of this section, which shall include, but not be limited to, the crediting of military service, direct rollover distributions, and the acceptance of rollovers;(h) To obtain, by a competitive, formal, and sealed bidding process through the materiel division of the Department of Administrative Services, auditing services for a separate compliance audit of the retirement systems to be completed by December 31, 2007, and from time to time thereafter at the request of the Nebraska Retirement Systems Committee, to be completed not more than every four years but not less than every ten years. The compliance audit shall be in addition to the annual audit conducted by the Auditor of Public Accounts. The compliance audit shall include, but not be limited to, an examination of records, files, and other documents and an evaluation of all policies and procedures to determine compliance with all state and federal laws. A copy of the compliance audit shall be given to the Governor, the board, and the Nebraska Retirement Systems Committee and shall be presented to the committee at a public hearing;(i) To adopt and promulgate rules and regulations for the adjustment of contributions or benefits, which shall include, but not be limited to: (i) The procedures for refunding contributions, adjusting future contributions or benefit payments, and requiring additional contributions or repayment of benefits; (ii) the process for a member, member's beneficiary, employee, or employer to dispute an adjustment to contributions or benefits; and (iii) notice provided to all affected persons. All notices shall be sent prior to an adjustment and shall describe the process for disputing an adjustment to contributions or benefits; and(j) To administer all retirement system plans in a manner which will maintain each plan's status as a qualified plan pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code. The board shall adopt and promulgate rules and regulations necessary or appropriate to maintain such status including, but not limited to, rules or regulations which restrict discretionary or optional contributions to a plan or which limit distributions from a plan.(3) By March 15 of each year, the board shall prepare a written plan of action and shall present such plan to the Nebraska Retirement Systems Committee at a public hearing. The plan shall include, but not be limited to, the board's funding policy, the administrative costs and other fees associated with each fund and plan overseen by the board, member education and informational programs, the director's duties and limitations, an organizational structure of the office of the Nebraska Public Employees Retirement Systems, and the internal control structure of such office to ensure compliance with state and federal laws. SourceLaws 1971, LB 987, § 3; Laws 1973, LB 216, § 3; Laws 1973, LB 498, § 10; Laws 1979, LB 416, § 3; Laws 1983, LB 70, § 1; Laws 1984, LB 751, § 13; Laws 1986, LB 311, § 40; Laws 1987, LB 549, § 14; Laws 1988, LB 1170, § 22; Laws 1991, LB 549, § 74; Laws 1992, LB 672, § 33; Laws 1994, LB 833, § 54; Laws 1994, LB 1306, § 11; Laws 1995, LB 502, § 3; Laws 1996, LB 847, § 52; Laws 1996, LB 1076, § 44; Laws 1998, LB 1191, § 78; Laws 1999, LB 849, § 33; Laws 2000, LB 1192, § 25; Laws 2001, LB 808, § 21; Laws 2002, LB 407, § 63; Laws 2003, LB 451, § 35; Laws 2005, LB 503, § 19. Cross ReferencesCounty Employees Retirement Act, see section 23-2331.Judges Retirement Act, see section 24-701.01.Nebraska State Patrol Retirement Act, see section 81-2014.01.School Employees Retirement Act, see section 79-901.State Employees Retirement Act, see section 84-1331.