Arizona § 38-746 - Compensation limitation; adjustments

§ 38-746. Compensation limitation; adjustments

A. Except as provided in subsection E, beginning on July 1, 2002, the annual compensation of each employee taken into account under ASRS for any fiscal year or for any other specified twelve consecutive month period shall not exceed two hundred thousand dollars.  In determining benefit accruals under ASRS for fiscal years beginning after December 31, 2001 and except as provided for in subsection E, the annual compensation limit under this subsection for fiscal years beginning before January 1, 2002 is two hundred thousand dollars.

B. If compensation under ASRS is determined on a period of time that contains fewer than twelve calendar months, the compensation limit for that period of time is equal to the dollar limit for the calendar year during which the period of time begins, multiplied by the fraction in which the numerator is the number of full months in that period of time and the denominator is twelve.

C. For fiscal years beginning before July 1, 1997, the annual compensation limit prescribed in this section also applies to the combined compensation of a member who is a member of the group of ten highly compensated employees, as defined in section 414(q) of the internal revenue code, and who is paid the highest compensation during the fiscal year and any family member of the member who is either the member's spouse or the member's lineal descendant and who has not attained the age of nineteen before the close of the fiscal year.  If the maximum compensation is adjusted pursuant to subsection D, the adjusted limitation shall be prorated among the affected members' compensation determined pursuant to this section before application of the adjusted limitation to the other provisions of this article.

D. The board shall adjust the maximum compensation under subsection A at the same time and in the same manner as adjusted by the United States secretary of the treasury under section 401(a)(17)(B) of the internal revenue code.  The adjustment under this subsection for a calendar year applies to annual compensation for the fiscal year of ASRS that begins with or within the calendar year.

E. The dollar limitation prescribed in subsection A does not apply to an eligible member to the extent that the annual compensation of an eligible member taken into account by ASRS for any fiscal year or for any other specified twelve consecutive month period would be reduced below two hundred thirty-five thousand eight hundred forty dollars. This was the amount of compensation taken into account by ASRS as of July 1, 1993. The board shall adjust this amount as of the effective date of the increase prescribed by the United States secretary of the treasury. For the purposes of this subsection, "eligible member" means a person who first became a member of ASRS before July 1, 1996.