South Carolina § 9-8-130 - Members' contributions; deduction from compensation; employer to pay required member contributions on earnings after July 1, 1982; tax treatment; funding; retirement treatment.

§ 9-8-130. Members' contributions; deduction from compensation; employer to pay required member contributions on earnings after July 1, 1982; tax treatment; funding; retirement treatment.

(1)(a) Each member of the system shall contribute a percentage of each installment of compensation, as provided in item (b) of this subsection. These contributions must be made through payroll deductions and remitted within thirty days after the close of each month to the system.

(b) Percentage of Compensation	Beginning
8 percent	July 1, 2004
9 percent	July 1, 2005
10 percent	July 1, 2006.

(2) Every member of the System shall be deemed to have consented and agreed to the deductions made and provided for herein and shall receipt for his full salary or compensation and payment of salary or compensation less such deduction shall be a full and complete discharge of all claims and demands whatsoever for the services rendered by such person during the period covered by such payments, except as to the benefits provided under the System.

(3) Each of the amounts deducted shall be credited to the individual account of the member from whose compensation the deduction was made.

(4) Each department and political subdivision shall pick up the employee contributions required by this section for all compensation paid on or after July 1, 1982, and the contributions so picked up shall be treated as employer contributions in determining federal tax treatment under the United States Internal Revenue Code. For this purpose, each department and political subdivision is deemed to have taken formal action on or before January 1, 2009, to provide that the contributions on behalf of its employees, although designated as employer contributions, shall be paid by the employer in lieu of employee contributions. The department and political subdivision shall pay these employee contributions from the same source of funds which is used in paying earnings to the employee. The department and political subdivision may pick up these contributions by a reduction in the cash salary of the employee. The employee, however, must not be given the option of choosing to receive the contributed amount of the pickups directly instead of having them paid by the employer to the retirement system. Employee contributions picked up shall be treated for all purposes of this section in the same manner and to the extent as employee contributions made prior to the date picked up.

HISTORY: 1979 Act No. 150 SECTION 13; 1982 Act No. 315, SECTION 5; 1982 Act No. 349, SECTION 5; 2004 Act No. 249, SECTION 4, eff July 1, 2004; 2008 Act No. 311, SECTION 12, eff June 4, 2008.