9-3-431 and 9-3-432, every member covered under this article

9-3-431 and 9-3-432, every member covered under this article shall pay into the account nine and one-quarter percent (9.25%) of his salary for the period from July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2026 and thereafter a percentage of the member's salary determined in accordance with W.S. 9-3-413.1. Every firefighter member covered under this article shall pay into the account seven percent (7%) of his salary. Payments shall be deducted each pay period from each member's salary by the chief fiscal officer of each participating employer. Employee contributions shall be transferred to the account in accordance with subsection (c) of this section.

(b) Except as provided by W.S. 9-2-3207(a)(xi)(F)(III) or (IV), in order to be treated as employer contributions for the sole purpose of determining tax treatment under the United States Internal Revenue Code, section 414(h) the contributions required by subsection (a) of this section shall be paid by the employer for state employee members and may be paid by the employer for member employees of political subdivisions of this state. Any contract employee authorized to participate in the state retirement system under W.S. 9-2-3207(a)(xi)(F)(III) shall pay the entire member contribution and the entire employer contribution under W.S. 9-3-413 and 9-3-413.1. For the contributions as provided by W.S. 9-2-3207(a)(xi)(F)(IV), the contributions required by subsection (a) of this section may be paid by the Wyoming livestock board for state employee members in order to be treated as employer contributions for the sole purpose of determining tax treatment under the United States Internal Revenue Code, section 414(h). The amounts shall be stated in the employment contract.  (c) The contributions under subsection (b) of this section and W.S. 9-3-413.1 shall be paid from the source of funds which is used in paying salary to the member. The employer may pay these contributions by a reduction in cash salary of the member or by an offset against a future salary increase, or by a combination of a reduction in salary and an offset against a future salary increase, provided:

(i) No salary reduction, offset or combination thereof shall exceed the percentage amount actually deducted from a member's salary for contributions to the Wyoming retirement system;

(ii) Except as provided in paragraphs (iii) and (iv) of this subsection and W.S. 9-3-413.1(b), any employer may pay any amount of a member's share of retirement contributions without a salary reduction, offset or combination thereof;

(iii) For state employee members five and fifty-seven hundredths percent (5.57%) of the member's salary shall be paid by the employer without any salary reduction or offset. The remaining portion of the state employee's contribution shall be paid through a reduction in cash salary of the state employee unless specified otherwise by legislative act;

Note: this paragraph is repealed by Laws 2024, ch. 60, § 3. effective 7/1/2026.

(iv) For full-time brand inspection contract employees authorized to participate in the state retirement system under W.S. 9-2-3207(a)(xi)(F)(IV), not more than the amount specified in W.S. 9-3-413.1(b)(iii) of the contract employee's salary shall be paid by the livestock board unless specified otherwise by legislative act.

(d) Repealed by Laws 2002, Ch. 82, § 3.

9-3-413. Employer's contributions; payable monthly; transfer to account; interest imposed upon delinquent contributions; recovery.

Except as provided by W.S. 9-2-3207(a)(xi)(F)(III) or (IV), 9-3- 431 and 9-3-432, each employer, excluding employers of firefighter members, shall, on a monthly basis, pay into the account a contribution equal to nine and thirty-seven hundredths percent (9.37%) of the salary paid to each of its members covered under this article for the period from July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2026 and thereafter a percentage of the salary paid as determined in accordance with W.S. 9-3-413.1. Employers of firefighter members shall pay into the account a contribution equal to seven and twelve hundredths percent (7.12%) of the salary paid. Employer contributions for any month, together with the members' contributions for that month, if any, shall be transferred to the board not later than the twelfth day of the following month. These contributions shall be credited to the account in a manner as directed by the board. Any employer failing to transfer contributions under this section in sufficient time for the board to receive the contributions by the twenty-fifth day of the month due shall be assessed interest at the assumed rate of return as determined by the board, compounded annually. Interest imposed under this section shall be payable not later than the twelfth day of the next succeeding month. If the contributions and any interest imposed under this section are not transferred to the board when due, they may be recovered, together with court costs, in an action brought for that purpose in the first judicial district court in Laramie County, Wyoming.

9-3-413.1. Members' and employers' contributions based on actuarially determined contribution rates; calculation of rates; reports.

(a) Beginning with the 2027-2028 fiscal biennium, the retirement system shall calculate the percentage of salary for members' contributions required under W.S. 9-3-412(a) and for the employers' contribution required under W.S. 9-3-413 based on an actuarially determined contribution rate in accordance with the following:

(i) The retirement system, in consultation with any actuary that the system utilizes, shall calculate the actuarially determined contribution rate for each fiscal year;

(ii) The retirement system shall calculate the actuarially determined contribution rate by using the actuarial value of that portion of the retirement account designated for the public employee retirement plan as of January 1, 2025 and January 1 of each odd-numbered year thereafter, the value of benefits, estimated administrative expenses and officially adopted actuarial assumptions. The retirement system shall use this valuation to calculate the actuarially determined contribution rate for the immediately succeeding fiscal biennium;  (iii) Not later than April 15, 2025 and April 15 of each odd-numbered year thereafter, the retirement system shall report the actuarially determined contribution rate to each local government entity participating in the public employee retirement plan, the governor, the state auditor, the state budget department and the joint appropriations committee, subject to the requirements of this subsection;

(iv) Not later than April 15, 2026 and April 15 of each even-numbered year thereafter, the retirement system shall calculate a valuation of the account and an updated actuarially determined contribution rate, using the actuarial value of that portion of the account designated for the public employee retirement plan as of January 1 of that year, for informational purposes and shall report the valuation and rate to each entity specified in paragraph (iii) of this subsection. The actuarially determined contribution rate calculated under this paragraph shall not be used as the actuarially determined contribution rate for purposes of this section;

(v) After calculation of the actuarially determined contribution rate under paragraph (ii) of this subsection, the state budget department and the retirement system shall calculate necessary amounts to account for any changes in the appropriations necessary to fund the contributions for the public employee retirement plan and shall include those amounts in the budget prepared under W.S. 9-2-1010 through 9-2-1014.1, including changes in amounts for school districts necessary to account for the employer's share of the actuarially determined contribution rate in accordance with this section for benefits paid from the education resource block grant model defined in W.S. 21-13-101(a)(xiv) and as enumerated in Attachment A(b)(xxxviii), as defined in W.S. 21-13-101(a)(xvii);

Note: Effective 7/1/2026 this paragraph will read as:

(v) After calculation of the actuarially determined contribution rate under paragraph (ii) of this subsection, the state budget department and the retirement system shall calculate necessary amounts to account for any changes in the appropriations necessary to fund the contributions for the public employee retirement plan and shall include those amounts in the budget prepared under W.S. 9-2-1010 through 9-2-1014, including changes in amounts for school districts necessary to account for the employer's share of the actuarially determined contribution rate in accordance with this section for benefits paid from the education resource block grant model defined in W.S. 21-13-101(a)(xiv) and as enumerated in Attachment A(b)(xxxviii), as defined in W.S. 21-13-101(a)(xvii);

(vi) Any change in the actuarially determined contribution rate calculated under paragraph (ii) of this subsection shall take effect on July 1 of the subsequent even- numbered year;

(vii) Any change in the actuarially determined contribution rate calculated and reported under this subsection shall be in accordance with the following:

(A) The actuarially determined contribution rate shall not be increased more than one-half percent (0.5%) nor decreased more than one-half percent (0.5%) from:

(I) The rates specified in W.S. 9-3-412(a) and 9-3-413 for the fiscal biennium beginning July 1, 2026;

(II) The actuarially determined contribution rate for the preceding fiscal biennium for each fiscal biennium beginning July 1, 2028.

(B) The actuarially determined contribution rate for a fiscal biennium shall not be decreased if the public employee retirement plan has a funded ratio of less than ninety- nine percent (99%), on both a market and actuarial basis, as calculated on the date specified in paragraph (ii) of this subsection;

(C) For purposes of this paragraph, the actuarially determined contribution rate shall use a closed amortization period of thirty (30) years calculated from January 1, 2018, with each subsequent amortization base created as a result of year-to-year experience changes over individual twenty (20) year closed periods;

(D) In no event shall the actuarially determined contribution rate be less than the normal cost contribution, plus the rate necessary to meet administrative expenses. As used in this subparagraph, "normal cost contribution" means the contribution calculated using the entry age normal actuarial cost method to determine the average uniform and constant percentage rate of employer contributions that, if applied to the compensation of each new member during the entire period of the member's anticipated covered service, would be required to meet the costs of all benefits payable on the member's behalf based on the benefits provisions applicable for the individual member.

(b) The actuarially determined contribution rate shall be paid through monthly contributions into the account as follows:

(i) Subject to paragraph (iii) of this subsection and except as otherwise provided in W.S. 9-3-412, 9-3-431 and 9-3- 432, every member covered under this article shall pay into the account a percentage of his salary in an amount equal to forty- nine and sixty-eight hundredths percent (49.68%) of the actuarially determined contribution rate calculated under this section;

(ii) Every employer excluding employers of firefighter members shall pay into the account a contribution of members' salary in an amount equal to fifty and thirty-two hundredths percent (50.32%) of the actuarially determined contribution rate calculated under this section;

(iii) For state employee members, five and fifty- seven hundredths percent (5.57%) of the member's salary that would otherwise be withheld in accordance with paragraph (i) of this subsection shall be paid by the employer without any salary reduction or offset. The remaining portion of the state employee's contribution required under paragraph (i) of this subsection shall be paid through a reduction in cash salary of the state employee unless specified otherwise by legislative act.

9-3-414. Provision for employers' contributions to be made in budgets; notice to department heads.

Subject to W.S. 9-3-413.1, provision for the payment by employers of the employers' contributions under this article shall be made in the budgets of the several departments, divisions and subdivisions of the state government and of other employer units. At least thirty (30) days prior to the date for submission of departmental budgets to the state budget department, the Wyoming retirement board shall notify all department heads that it will be necessary to include funds in the departmental budget for the payment of employers' contributions under this article for the ensuing appropriation period.

9-3-415. When retirement permitted; service credit.  (a) Except as provided under W.S. 9-3-431 and 9-3-432, normal retirement benefits under the system are payable to a member who:

(i) Has at least four (4) years of service credit and is at least sixty (60) years of age and is not subject to paragraph (ii) of this subsection; or

(ii) If a general member initially employed after August 31, 2012, has at least four (4) years of service credit and is at least sixty-five (65) years of age; or

(iii) Has a combined total of years of service credit and years of age which equals at least eighty-five (85).

(b) Except as provided under W.S. 9-3-432 or subsection (k) of this section, early retirement benefits are payable to a member who has at least four (4) years of service and is at least fifty (50) but not yet sixty (60) years of age or has at least twenty-five (25) years of service and is not yet fifty (50) years of age. The early retirement benefit amount is equal to the normal retirement benefit amount otherwise payable reduced on an actuarial equivalent basis under rules established by the board.

(c) Repealed By Laws 2001, Ch. 38, § 2.

(d) Any vested member may elect to make a one-time purchase of up to five (5) years of service credit as authorized and limited by section 415(c) and 415(n) of the Internal Revenue Code and established in rules promulgated by the board. Any member electing to purchase service credit shall pay into the account a single lump-sum amount equal to the actuarial equivalent of the benefits to be derived from the service credit, the individual's attained age and the benefit structure of the appropriate plan. A member may purchase service credit with personal funds or, subject to rules and regulations established by the board, through rollover contributions. Unless received by the system in the form of a direct rollover, the rollover contribution shall be paid to the system on or before sixty (60) days after the date it was received by the member. Service credit purchased under this subsection shall qualify as service credit defined in W.S. 9-3-402(a)(xxi),