35-9-615, including those contributing members who are no longer

35-9-615, including those contributing members who are no longer active but who have not withdrawn their funds as provided by W.S. 35-9-608(f) on or before June 30, 2015, shall become members or retirees of the pension account created pursuant to this section.

(f) The director of the retirement system shall determine by rule and regulation a benefit level for all members joining the pension account under subsections (d) and (e) of this section equal to or greater than the benefits the member would have received under the volunteer firemen's or volunteer emergency medical technician pension accounts, respectively.

35-9-618. Annual audit; state's liability.

(a) The director of the Wyoming retirement system shall hire an independent audit firm to perform an annual audit of the account established under W.S. 35-9-617 and shall report audit findings to the board and the governor.  (b) Nothing in this article shall be construed to:

(i) Except for obligations transferred pursuant to W.S. 35-9-617(c), acknowledge any past, present or future liability of or obligate the state of Wyoming for contribution except the employer's contributions provided for in this article, to either the volunteer firefighter, EMT and search and rescue pension system provided by this article or any other retirement system previously existing in the state of Wyoming; or

(ii) Constitute a contract or binding obligation of any kind whatsoever or, except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, to create or grant any vested right or interest in any individual, corporation or body politic.

(c) If the account is terminated, all affected members have a nonforfeitable interest in their benefits that were accrued and funded to date. The value of the accrued benefits to be credited to the account of each affected member shall be calculated as of the date of termination.

35-9-619. Authority to receive donations; investment of monies; employment of actuary; actuarial reports.

(a) In addition to contributions from the state, counties, volunteer fire departments and licensed ambulance services, the board may receive and credit to the account any gifts, donations and other contributions made by individuals, organizations and cities, towns, counties and other political subdivisions for the benefit of the account. The board may invest monies within the account not immediately necessary to pay benefits, awards or pensions under this article, in investments authorized under W.S. 9-3-408(b).

(b) The board shall employ a consulting actuary to review the account annually to determine its solvency and to make recommendations as to revisions and modifications to the pension account. The board may employ legal and other consultants as necessary. Actuarial reports are public records and available for inspection by all participating members of the account.

35-9-620. Contributions on behalf of volunteer firefighters, EMTs and search and rescue persons; collection; dual participation prohibited.  (a) The county, city, town, fire district, volunteer fire department or licensed ambulance service for whom a participating volunteer firefighter or EMT performs firefighting or EMT services shall pay to the pension account the amount required under W.S. 35-9-621(e) for those members. The county for whom a volunteer search and rescue person performs search and rescue services shall pay to the pension account the amount required under W.S. 35-9-621(e) for those members. Payments shall be collected upon terms and conditions established by the board under W.S. 35-9-621(e) and shall be forwarded by each collecting officer to the state retirement director for deposit in the account. Any entity listed in this subsection may elect to provide for a member's contribution or any portion thereof provided that any payment of a contribution is made on behalf of a member. Whether an entity makes a contribution for a member shall be at the discretion of the entity as an incentive to improve their local volunteer fire department, emergency medical services or search and rescue services.

(b) No volunteer firefighter member of the pension account shall participate as a member of the firemen's pension accounts under W.S. 15-5-201 through 15-5-209 or 15-5-401 through