Georgia § 47-14-40 - Application for membership in the fund; payments by members into the fund; penalties for late payment; creditable service impacted by late payments.

§ 47-14-40. Application for membership in the fund; payments by members into the fund; penalties for late payment; creditable service impacted by late payments.

Any clerk, in order to participate in the benefits provided for in this chapter, shall make application to the Superior Court Clerks' Retirement Fund of Georgia upon forms to be furnished for that purpose by the board, giving such information as may be required by the board. He or she shall pay $50.00 per month into the fund; provided, however, that members who first or again become members on or after September 1, 2009, shall pay $100.00 per month into the fund. All clerks who made application and are accepted for membership in the fund shall remit to the board, not later than the tenth day of each subsequent month, the amount due under this subsection. If any payment required to be made to the fund by a clerk remains unpaid 60 days from the date such payment is due, there shall also be due a late charge, which late charge shall be interest from the due date computed at 10 percent per annum or the sum of $5.00, whichever is the greater amount. In the event of such delinquency, in order to be eligible to receive any benefits provided by this chapter, a clerk shall remit the late charge with such delinquent payment. No creditable service shall be granted for any month for which dues are in arrears on December 31, 2008, but payment shall be deemed timely and creditable if such dues and late charges are received by the board on or before the tenth day of the succeeding month. Thereafter, no creditable service shall be granted for any month for which dues are in arrears on the last day of the calendar year during which the dues were due, but payment shall be deemed timely and creditable if such dues and late charges are received by the board on or before the tenth day of the succeeding month following the last day of the preceding calendar year. (Ga. L. 1952, p. 238, § 7; Ga. L. 1953, Nov.-Dec. Sess., p. 332, § 2; Ga. L. 1964, p. 202, § 1; Ga. L. 1966, p. 222, § 1; Ga. L. 1981, p. 857, § 1; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 47; Ga. L. 1982, p. 1273, §§ 1, 3; Ga. L. 1998, p. 158, § 3; Ga. L. 2008, p. 722, § 1/SB 460; Ga. L. 2009, p. 824, § 1/HB 487.) The 2008 amendment, effective July 1, 2008, in subsection (b), in the first sentence, substituted "payment required" for "payments required" near the beginning, and substituted "remains unpaid 60 days from the date such payment is due" for "shall remain unpaid 90 days from the date such payment shall be due" near the middle, and, in the second sentence, substituted "shall remit the late charge with such delinquent payment" for "must remit with such delinquent payments the late charges as provided for herein" at the end; and added subsection (c). The 2009 amendment, effective May 5, 2009, added the proviso at the end of the second sentence of subsection (a).