November 2017
FY 2017 valuation report: Employer contributions remain stable
The recommended employer contribution rates for next fiscal year will remain stable, according to TRSL's latest valuation report. The TRSL Board of Trustees received the FY 2017 valuation report at its October meeting.
The recommendations in the report, including employer contributions, now await consideration by the Public Retirement Systems’ Actuarial Committee (PRSAC) before becoming official. “Employers can anticipate budgeting similar retirement costs for the 2018-19 school year,” said Ed Branagan, director of TRSL’s employer services department.
Other good news from the valuation:  
  • The system’s valuation assets increased by almost $1 billion over the previous fiscal year.
  • Actuarial value of assets now stands at an all-time high of $19.2 billion.
  • The system’s funded status increased to 64.5%.
  • The UAL (debt owed by the state to TRSL) decreased by $466 million.
  • TRSL’s actuarial rate of return for FY 2017 is 9.15%, exceeding its assumed rate of 7.70%.
  • Over the long-term, TRSL’s 30-year average actuarial rate of return is 8.08%.
DROP interest: Fiscal Year 2017 interest for DROP accounts belonging to members who were eligible to participate in the program prior to January 1, 2004, is 8.65%. DROP accounts for members who were eligible to participate on or after January 1, 2004, earn interest at the liquid asset money market rate of return, which averaged 0.2214% in FY 2017.
Employer training opportunities
We've got lots of training opportunities coming up this fall and spring. Check out the dates for webinars and comprehensive training below. If you need more information about any upcoming workshops, contact retire.edu@trsl.org.
Online training
These 30-minute webinars, which are held on Wednesdays at 10 a.m., are a great opportunity to train new staff or refresh your knowledge:
Click the links above to register. You’ll receive a reminder email, along with instructions on how to access the session.
Comprehensive training
Save the date for our next annual comprehensive training March 13-15, 2018. All sessions take place from 9 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. at TRSL in Baton Rouge. Training sessions are designed for each agency type:
  • Tues., March 13 - K-12 & charter schools*
  • Wed., March 14 - Higher education
  • Thurs., March 15 - State agencies 
Click here to save your seat!
*LSERS will also provide relevant training during
the K-12 & charter school session. 

Make sure your part-timers get the correct amount of service credit
We know you want to make sure your part-time employees receive the correct service credit for their work. That's why it's important to complete both of the following steps when submitting Questionable Year Certifications or Full-time Only Corrections for employees who work a full work week, but at less than 100% effort per day:
  1. Choose “Part-time Employee” as the reason from the drop-down menu.
  2. Enter the percent effort in the comment section.
By following the steps above, you are ensuring that a TRSL analyst reviews your correction and assigns the correct service credit for eligibility. If you do not follow the steps above, your correction may not be reviewed, and your employee may not receive the correct service credit for eligibility.
Please contact your Retirement Analyst Liaison if you need help with these certifications/corrections.
DID YOU KNOW? A refresher on refunds
When it comes to refunds and re-enrollments of refunded members, timing is key. Make sure you’re “in the know” by reviewing these commonly misunderstood topics:
Re-enrolling a member who has previously refunded contributions
When an individual refunds his or her member contributions, service credit is canceled. If the refunded member later becomes hired in a TRSL-covered position, you will need to determine the member’s eligibility.
  • A refunded member hired in a part-time position (working 20 hours or less) is not eligible to contribute to TRSL, unless it is secondary employment (full-time with another TRSL-covered employer).
  • When a member in refunded status is determined to be eligible for membership and is enrolled in TRSL again, EMIS looks at the refunded member's original enrollment date in TRSL to determine which plan the member will be re-enrolled under -- the Original Retirement Plan, the 2011 Retirement Plan, or the 2015 Retirement Plan.
Waiting periods for refunds
When a non-retired* member submits a refund application, state law requires the employer to wait 90 days from the date of resignation/termination before certifying the refund application. If during that time or prior to the member's refund being issued, the member becomes employed in another TRSL-covered position and begins contributing to TRSL again, their refund application will be null and void, and no in-service distribution can be made from the member's account.
  • It is extremely important that employers do not delay processing an enrollment if they see that a member has submitted a refund application.
*There is no waiting period for a RTW retiree to refund their RTW contributions, but they must wait until the employer reports their final month’s earnings before a refund can be issued. 
Simplifying exception reports for RTW retirees
As of July 1, we’ve changed how RTW retirees appear on Exception Reports. We hope this change makes reporting earnings and processing terminations even easier for you. 
To review this process, see "Processing Change: Exception Reports" in May’s newsletter. 
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