§8327. Payments by employers.

(a) General rule.--Each employer, including the Commonwealth as employer of employees of the Department of Education, State-owned colleges and universities, Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology, Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, Scotland School for Veterans' Children, and the Pennsylvania State University, shall make payments to the fund each quarter in an amount equal to one-half the sum of the percentages, as determined under section 8328 (relating to actuarial cost method), applied to the total compensation during the pay periods in the preceding quarter of all its employees who were members of the system during such period, including members on activated military service leave. In the event a member on activated military service leave does not return to service for the necessary time or receives an undesirable, bad conduct or dishonorable discharge or does not elect to receive credit for activated military service under section 8302(b.1)(3) (relating to credited school service), the contributions made by the employer on behalf of such member shall be returned with valuation interest upon application by the employer.

(b) Deduction from appropriations.--

(1) To facilitate the payment of amounts due from any employer to the fund through the State Treasurer and to permit the exchange of credits between the State Treasurer and any employer, the Secretary of Education and the State Treasurer shall cause to be deducted and paid into the fund from the amount of any moneys due to any employer on account of any appropriation for schools or other purposes amounts equal to the employer and pickup contributions which an employer is required to pay to the fund, as certified by the board, and as remains unpaid on the date such appropriations would otherwise be paid to the employer. Such amount shall be credited to the appropriate accounts in the fund.

(2) To facilitate the payments of amounts due from any charter school, as defined in Article XVII-A of the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, to the fund through the State Treasurer and to permit the exchange of credits between the State Treasurer and any employer, the Secretary of Education and the State Treasurer shall cause to be deducted and paid into the fund from any funds appropriated to the Department of Education for basic education of the chartering school district of a charter school and public school employees' retirement contributions amounts equal to the employer and pickup contributions which a charter school is required to pay to the fund, as certified by the board, and as remains unpaid on the date such appropriations would otherwise be paid to the chartering school district or charter school. Such amounts shall be credited to the appropriate accounts in the fund. Any reduction in payments to a chartering school district made pursuant to this section shall be deducted from the amount due to the charter school district pursuant to the Public School Code of 1949.

(c) Payments by employers after June 30, 1995.--After June 30, 1995, each employer, including the Commonwealth as employer of employees of the Department of Education, State-owned colleges and universities, Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology, Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, Scotland School for Veterans' Children and The Pennsylvania State University, shall make payments to the fund each quarter in an amount computed in the following manner:

(1) For an employer that is a school entity, the amount shall be the sum of the percentages as determined under section 8328 applied to the total compensation during the pay periods in the preceding quarter of all employees who were active members of the system during such period, including members on activated military service leave. In the event a member on activated military service leave does not return to service for the necessary time or receives an undesirable, bad conduct or dishonorable discharge or does not elect to receive credit for activated military service under section 8302(b.1)(3), the contribution made by the employer on behalf of such member shall be returned with valuation interest upon application by the employer.

(2) For an employer that is not a school entity, the amount computed under subsection (a).

(3) For any employer, whether or not a school entity, in computing the amount of payment due each quarter, there shall be excluded from the total compensation referred to in this subsection and subsection (a) any amount of compensation of a noneligible member on the basis of which member contributions have not been made by reason of the limitation under IRC § 401(a)(17). Any amount of contribution to the fund paid by the employer on behalf of a noneligible member on the basis of compensation which was subject to exclusion from total compensation in accordance with the provisions of this paragraph shall, upon the board's determination or upon application by the employer, be returned to the employer with valuation interest.

(June 13, 1985, P.L.40, No.19, eff. imd.; Aug. 5, 1991, P.L.183, No.23, eff. imd.; Apr. 29, 1994, P.L.159, No.29, eff. July 1, 1995; Dec. 20, 1995, P.L.689, No.77, eff. July 1, 1996; May 17, 2001, P.L.26, No.9, eff. imd.; Nov. 23, 2010, P.L.1269, No.120, eff. July 1, 2011)

Notation

2010 Amendment.  Act 120 amended subsecs. (a) and (c).

2001 Amendment.  Act 9 amended subsec. (b).

1994 Amendment.  See section 18 of Act 29 in the appendix to this title for special provisions relating to applicability to 1995-1996 and succeeding school years.

2009 Partial Repeal.  Section 7 of Act 50 of 2009 provided that section 8327 is repealed insofar as it is inconsistent with Act 50.

References in Text.  Section 14 of Act 57 of 1997 provided that a statutory reference to the Thaddeus Stevens State School of Technology, referred to in subsecs. (a) and (c), shall be deemed to be a reference to the Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology.

Cross References.  Section 8327 is referred to in sections 8326, 8502, 8506, 8535 of this title.