(a)

1. (1) The Board of Trustees of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System shall annually set member and employer contribution rates for the following fiscal year.
2. (2) The Arkansas Teacher Retirement System shall notify annually each covered employer of the contribution rates set by the board.

3. (3)

   1. (A) The board shall not set the member contribution rate at less than six percent (6%).
   2. (B) The board may increase the member contribution rate to maintain actuarial soundness.

4. (4)

   1. (A) A member’s and covered employer’s contributions are due monthly, regardless of the member’s concurrent membership status.
   2. (B) A contributory member shall contribute the percentage of his or her salary that is set by the board.

(b)

1. (1) A covered employer shall remit member contributions by pick-up from the salary earned by each member.
2. (2) Member contributions shall be treated as employer contributions under the applicable provisions of the Income Tax Act of 1929, Arkansas Code § 26-51-101 et seq., and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. § 1 et seq.

3. (3) A covered employer may remit a member’s contributions by implementing a:

   1. (A) Reduction in the cash salary of the member;
   2. (B) Setoff against the member’s future salary increases; or
   3. (C) Both a reduction in the cash salary of the member and a setoff against the member’s future salary increases.

(c)

1. (1) A covered employer’s employer contributions shall be the sum of the current employer contribution rate set by the board for the fiscal year multiplied by the total gross salaries of all the covered employer’s employees.
2. (2) A public school employer shall pay up to fourteen percent (14%) of the employer contribution rate.
3. (3) Up to fifteen percent (15%) of any additional employer contributions required from a public school employer shall be paid from additional funds appropriated by the state for the purpose of paying employer contributions to the system.

(d)

1. (1) A covered employer shall pay employer contributions monthly for all employees of the covered employer for whom the Department of Education does not pay employer contributions.
2. (2) The employer contribution rate shall be the current state contribution percent multiplied by the total covered salaries of the covered employer’s employees in the fiscal year.

3. (3)

   1. (A) In accordance with rules established by the board and the department’s appropriations act, the department shall pay employer contributions due for eligible employees of covered employers, including without limitation the following:

(i) State agencies as allowed under the Transformation and Efficiencies Act of 2019, Acts 2019, No. 910;

1. (ii) Cooperative education service areas;

   1. (iii) Vocational centers;

      1. (iv) Arkansas Easter Seals; and
      2. (v) A school operated by the Arkansas Correctional School District.
   2. (B) The department shall pay the employer contributions for eligible employees of covered employers from the Public School Fund.
   3. (C) At the close of each quarterly report, the system shall report the amount of employer contributions due from the department.
   4. (D) The employer contributions due from the department shall be based on the salaries of the eligible employees reported to the system by each covered employer.