 July | VOLUME #119
 The Division of Retirement and Benefits launched a new and
improved Employer Access application on July 14. The application has a new look
and feel, as well as faster response time.
Employer Access will no longer be available through myRnB.
With the new application, your myAlaska username and
password are no longer valid.
- If you are a State of Alaska employee, you will use your SOA username and password (the same as you use to log in to your computer.)
- If you have an eReporting username and password, you will use those to login.
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If you do not have an eReporting username and password, one has been created for you. You can find out how to access it here.
More information and login instructions are available on the
Division website.
For questions or assistance, please contact Erika Burkhouse.
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 Please note there have been updates to the FY16
Employer Contribution Rates on our website. The link to the
PERS and TRS FY16 Employer Rates is under Resources on the Employer
Services webpage.
The FY16 rate split of
Pension and Other Post Employment Benefit (OPEB) Employer Contributions as well
as the FY16 PERS past service cost rate have been updated.
For questions
about employer contribution rates, please contact:
Christina Maiquis
(907)
465-1845
christina.maiquis@alaska.gov
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On-behalf funding for PERS and
TRS employers for Fiscal Year 2016 (FY16) is provided by House Bill (HB) 2001 (Section 10), passed during the
2015 legislative session and recently signed into law. The bill provides a set
amount of funding to reduce the PERS Employer Effective Rate to 22 percent and
the TRS Employer Effective Rate to 12.56 percent for FY16.
This funding is applied with the
processing of each employer payroll. Employer on-behalf funding statements will
be sent via email to payroll and finance contacts. For PERS on-behalf funding
questions or statement copies, please email Tamara Criddle at tamara.criddle@alaska.gov or call
(907) 465-2279. For TRS on-behalf funding questions or statement copies, please
email Walter Agne at walter.agne@alaska.gov or call (907) 465-5711.
For PERS and TRS employer on-behalf funding
provided in HB 2001, the Division of Retirement and Benefits will apply
payments for payrolls through pay period end date June 30, 2016. Fiscal year
2016 (July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016) payrolls must be received in our office by
July 15, 2016, to be processed with HB 2001 employer on-behalf funding.
For other questions, please contact:
Christina Maiquis
(907) 465-1845
christina.maiquis@alaska.gov
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 The final summations of the Employer Task Force results have
been submitted to Kathy Lea, Chief Pension Officer, and Kevin Worley, Chief
Financial Officer, for final review and approval. This final summation marks
the first time the employers of the Public Employee’s Retirement Plan and the
Division of Retirement and Benefits have partnered to identify problem areas
like record retention, information requests, and training.
Based on recommendations, record keeping requirements will
change from a static date of 1990 to a rolling date of 10 years prior to the
retirement effective date. This will address the issues with information that
has not been retained. It was also noted that there are special circumstances
where we will need to get older information. Some, but not limited to, examples
are workers compensation, probationary periods, and temporary service. Another
recommendation was to keep the 10th day requirement for information
requests and for the Division to provide reminders as the request approaches
the 10th day.
Recommendations to update our Forms (information requests)
were also submitted. These recommendations dealt primarily with making the
forms easier to understand and with better instructions, examples, and macros
that follow a logical path. It was also recommended that we split the LWOP/WKC
form into two separate forms.
Recommendations for training were for adding specific online
training for “New Employees” of the PERS IV and TRS III and the Supplemental Benefit
System. It was also recommended that we add training for employers on how to
complete information requests.
Another recommendation was to reorganize our website. It was
stated that we have a lot of information on our website, but it is hard to
find. A specific suggestion was to organize our website like our organizational
chart and include FAQs for employee and employers, Division acronyms/definitions,
contacts and available queues.
I would like to thank the employers who took the time and
participated in the Employer Task Force, and I would like to extend an
invitation to all employers to participate in future opportunities. It is our
hope that this will mark the beginning of a new partnership that will allow us
to work together on solving ongoing and future issues.
Roberto Aceveda
Counseling and Benefit Education Manager
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As you are aware,
Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) Statement No. 68 requires
participating employers to report their share of the net pension liability of
PERS and/or TRS on their financial statements. In order to ensure that
the information is as accurate as possible, and to comply with guidance from
GASB and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the
Division of Retirement and Benefits and the Alaska Retirement Systems have
engaged KPMG LLP to perform tests on employee census data of the PERS and TRS
membership.
The AICPA has prepared
a “State and Local Government Expert Panel (SLGEP) Pension Whitepaper”
addressing the issue of census data and the specific audit issues related to
GASB No. 68 and defined benefit plans. The impact is that KPMG will
have to audit the original source documents that employers have for hiring, and
trace that all the way through to the data that the Alaska Retirement Systems
report to our consulting actuary. Our consulting actuary uses that data
to determine the defined benefit system total pension liabilities, as well as
the net pension liability that is ultimately allocated to all participating
employers. The Alaska Retirement Systems works closely with KPMG to be directly
involved in making decisions as to what participating governments/school districts will have census data audits, when it will occur, and what data is needed so that there is sufficient and
appropriate audit evidence about PERS and TRS.
Based on membership size reported to the Alaska
Retirement Systems, employers are selected for audit of census data either
annually, every 5 years, or every 10 years. The Division and KPMG have
contacted this year’s audit selections for the census audits. If you have
received your census audit notification from the Division, but have not yet
been contacted by KPMG, please contact Christina Maiquis at (907) 465-1845 or
via email at christina.maiquis@alaska.gov to arrange dates and times for your census audit work. KPMG will work
with employers directly to set up the selection of test participants, and
obtaining the needed information. Some information that will be requested
is: birthdate, date of hire, date of termination (if applicable), member’s sex,
and some other member data. The Division is aware of confidentiality
issues and will work with you on how best to maintain that. You can
provide the information directly to the accounting supervisor, Christina Maiquis,
at the information above, or can provide directly to KPMG, if you so desire.
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 Kay Gouyton, Audit and Review Analyst for the Division and the State Social Security Administrator, is retiring on July 23 after 37 years of service with the State of Alaska. Kay has been a valuable team member in the Division for many years, and her wealth and depth of knowledge will be missed. We wish her all the best as she looks forward to a new chapter in her life.
Melanie Helmick, Audit and Review Analyst, will be taking on the role of State Social Security Administrator upon Kay’s retirement.
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 Accumulated Sick and Leave Pay for Retiring Employees - When is it Taxable?
Thursday, July 30, 10am (Alaska Time)
Learn about:
- Determining when accumulated sick and vacation pay are subject to federal employment taxes
- Determining when taxation can be deferred to a later year
- Defining an elective employee contribution
- Defining a non-elective employer contribution
The Taxability of Lawsuits and Settlements
Thursday, August 6, 10am (Alaska Time)
Learn about:
- When they are tax free or taxable
- How to make the determination if they are taxable or wages
- How to report taxable payments if they are wages
- How to report taxable payments if they aren't wages
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