1. Why is TRS not allowing the acceleration of contributions to be withheld and remitted to TRS?
    One of the goals of this new reporting method is to be able to validate data at the time it is reported. By not allowing acceleration of TRS contributions, TRS is able to validate the 9% contribution on an individual basis and will enable employers to reconcile more frequently. This will allow for consistency in reporting for all members.
     
  2. How will the TRS mandate regarding the acceleration of contributions affect employers for whom the acceleration of contribution withholding is collectively bargained?
    TRS has updated Section 1650 of the Administrative Code to not allow for the acceleration of TRS contributions. This rule takes precedence over any collective bargaining agreement.
     
  3. If districts are not able to accelerate the contributions, but all contributions are still required to be submitted by July 10th, is the district required to pay the upcoming deductions or benefits for July and August before they are collected through payroll? 
    As always, all the contributions for each fiscal year are due to TRS by July 10th. To allow employers to remit the appropriate contributions to TRS by this deadline, they should report all their payrolls that will cover the work performed during the fiscal year at the end of June/beginning of July using the deferred flag, even if they will not be paying their members until July or August. This can be achieved several different ways. 

    A. Run all checks at the end of June/beginning of July to ensure the contributions are remitted by the deadline and the earnings are reported as deferred on the pay-period report. The checks can be held and paid in July and August or paid to the teachers in June. 

    B. Do not pay the teachers the earnings until July and August as you always have, but report as deferred earnings the pays that will be paid in the summer months on the payroll report that is due July 10th. However, in this case the district would need to pay the contributions from district funds to ensure all contributions are received by the due date and not remit to TRS the contributions when they are withheld from the teachers’ remaining checks. 

    C. Pay all teachers over 10 months so that all salary is paid out by the end of June instead of over 12 months.

    Member contributions will be balanced with each report to make sure that TRS has received no more or less than the applicable member contribution rate of the reported creditable earnings. 
     

  4. How do we report earnings if our district pays the employee 9% contribution on the employee’s behalf?
    When a district pays a member’s TRS contributions, the board-paid contributions are reportable as creditable earnings and should be included in the earnings reported on the payroll file. On the payroll file, the earnings are broken out by payment reason. 

    For example: A teacher has a base annual salary rate of $50,000 and is paid over 24 pays. In addition, the teacher earns $100 for internal substitution. The board paid the full 9 percent member contributions on behalf of teachers.  The teacher’s earnings and contributions will be reported as follows:

    Employment Type  F
    FTE Percentage 100
    Full Annual Rate 54,945.05 (50,000 x 1.098901)
    Payment Reason BS
    Earnings  2,289.38
    Contributions   206.04 (2,289.38 x 9%)
    THIS Contributions   20.60 (2,289.38 x .90%)
     
    Employment Type  F
    FTE Percentage   100
    Full Annual Rate   54,945.05 (50,000 x 1.098901)
    Payment Reason    ED
    Earnings  109.89
    Contributions  9.89  (109.89 x 9%)
    THIS Contributions  0.99 (109.89 x .90%)

     
  5. Are employer match contributions to the new DC (Deferred Compensation) plan reportable as creditable earnings?
    Employer contributions on behalf of a member to the DC plan are reportable as creditable earnings following TRS’s lump-sum rules.
     

  6. If there is a rounding difference, would we pay what TRS calculates or would we pay what we calculated/deducted from payroll?
    The Gemini system will allow up to a 3-cent rounding difference per member for each payment reason (BS - base salary, ED - extra duty, SS - summer school, etc.). If the difference is greater than 3 cents, you will have to report and remit the amount of contributions calculated in Gemini. TRS is presently researching the ability to allow districts to report the amount that is calculated/deducted by the district.
     

  7. Will employers also pay THIS Fund contributions through the Gemini Employer Portal?
    The total payment due for all contributions (9 percent, .58 percent, federal fund contributions, member, and employer THIS Fund) and invoiced items will be deducted from the bank account(s) selected. Once you have specified the account(s) you want to make a payment from, you will be asked to confirm your payment.
     

  8. How do we pay TRS for the retiree health insurance?  Will the bank account information we set up allow us to use it for these payments?
    Retiree health insurance will be paid through Gemini and reflected on the invoice section of the Totals Screen. The employer paid health insurance will be paid from the bank account(s) designated to make payments for Defined Benefit or All.
     

  9. What information is entered in the Grant Type Field on the Report Totals Screen?
    This is a drop-down box of all federal grants. For each grant type, report the total amount of salaries paid during the pay period. 

    For example: several teachers’ full salaries and several substitute teachers are paid from Title I for a total of $100,000 and one full time administrator and several substitute teachers are paid from Title II for a total of $7,500.  Report $100,000 as Title I and $7,500 as Title II.
     

  10. Will employers be able to make contribution payments outside of the Gemini portal?
    All payments will be made through the Gemini portal. When submitting the pay period report, you will be required to submit the 9 percent member retirement contributions, employer .58 percent contributions, contributions due on salaries paid from federal funds and the member and employer THIS Fund contributions. In addition, the invoice section will include amounts due for Employer's Report of Adjustment to Earnings processed for years prior to GEMINI, adjustments processed in GEMINI, employer costs for salary increases in excess of 6 percent, granted sick leave days and salaries in excess of the governor's salary, and penalties for late submission of reports.