Except as provided in Section 20815, “employer” for purposes of this chapter means any contracting agency, except a contracting agency on and after the effective date of the contracting agency’s election to be subject to any amendment of this part that provides that it is inapplicable to a contracting agency until the agency elects to be subject thereto.

section shall not apply to compensation paid to an employee for service performed while covered by a memorandum of understanding or to compensation paid for service performed while a member of a recognized employee organization as that term is defined in Section 3501.

The board shall credit all contributions of the state, school employer, and contracting agencies in the retirement fund with interest at the current net earnings rate compounded at each June 30.

As used in determining the state’s contribution, “compensation paid” includes the compensation a member absent on military service would have received were it not for his or her absence in that service, if the normal contributions for the period of absence are made. The rate of his or her compensation shall be his or her compensation at the commencement of his or her absence. The percentages of state contribution specified in this chapter apply to all compensation upon the basis of which members’ contributions are deducted after those percentages became or become effective, without regard to the time when the service was rendered for which the compensation is paid.

Each contracting agency and school employer that is an employer for purposes of this chapter shall make contributions in addition to those otherwise specified in this chapter in amounts to be fixed and determined by the board on account of unpaid liability for prior service and on account of liability for benefits under Sections 21624 through 21628, inclusive, and 21571 and benefits provided local safety members. Payments shall be under any arrangement as may be agreed to by the board.

The state shall make the increased contributions required on account of liability for benefits provided by Section 20414 from social security contributions which would have been payable by the employer had Section 20414 not been enacted up to an amount necessary to fully fund the cost of those benefits.

The state shall make the increased contributions required on account of liability for benefits provided by Section 20415 from social security contributions which would have been payable by the employer had Section 20415 not been enacted up to an amount necessary to fully fund the cost of those benefits.

The state shall make the increased contribution required on the account of liability for benefits provided by Sections 20409, 20410, and 21151 from social security contributions that would have been payable by the employer had Sections 20409 and 20410 not been enacted, up to an amount necessary to fully fund the cost of those benefits.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this part, the board may adopt a funding period of 30 years to amortize unfunded accrued actuarial obligations for current and prior service for the purpose of determining employer contribution rates for contracting agencies and school employers. The board shall approve new amortization periods based upon requests from contracting agencies or school employers that can demonstrate a financial necessity. The board may deny a request when the request would subject the fund to an unsound financial risk. This section shall not affect the current procedure for setting the school employer rate. The board shall continue to treat the school category as a total experience pool with no requirement to establish separate rates for a school

district subject to this section.

The board may adopt an amortization period of 40 years for any unfunded actuarial liability for the benefits applicable to all state miscellaneous members and all state peace officer/firefighter members.

adopting its most recent annual employer contribution rates and that memorandum of understanding contains a change in employee retirement contributions, benefits, or pension plan design, including a change that alters a state employee’s retirement contributions, or there is a change in unrepresented employees’ retirement contributions, benefits, or pension plan design to be consistent with those of related classifications and groups of represented employees, the board may, in its discretion, adopt new quarterly employer contribution rates for future contributions for the state plans to reflect these changes. If the board adopts new rates for the state plans to reflect a change in employee retirement contributions, benefits, or pension plan design, the Director of Finance shall reduce or increase the percentage levels of the state’s retirement contribution to reflect the new rates. Nothing in this section shall require the board to take action as described herein unless the board determines, in good faith,

that the action described herein is consistent with the fiduciary responsibilities of the board described in Section 17 of Article XVI of the California Constitution.

separate the joint contract:

agreed upon by the respective county and trial court and validated by the system before those additional discretionary payments are used in the computation to separate the joint contract.

days to amend the computation and to separate the joint contract into individual contracts for the county and trial court. If either the county or the trial court revokes its election to separate the joint contract, the joint contract shall remain in effect.

Notwithstanding Section 20816, surplus funds credited to the patrol member category shall be used to reduce the state employer contribution to this system. Surplus funds in the patrol member category may also be used to reduce the member contributions required by Section 20677.8, under the terms of a memorandum of understanding reached pursuant to Section 3517.5.