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DLA - Employee Benefits - Administration

403(b) RETIREMENT PLAN POLICY REGARDING FUNDING VEHICLE(S) / VENDOR(S) SELECTION DESELECTION

Kearsarge Regional School District – SAU #65 (the “District”) offers the Kearsarge Regional School District – SAU #65 403(b) Retirement Plan (the “Plan”) to give its employees the opportunity to save additional funds for retirement. The investment options made available under the Plan include annuity contract(s) and/or custodial account(s) (referred to as “Funding Vehicles”) and/or investment providers or any other entities authorized by investment providers that offer annuity contract(s) and/or custodial account(s) (referred to as “Vendors”), provided such Funding Vehicles and/or Vendors are specifically approved by the District for use under the Plan.

This Policy Regarding Funding Vehicle(s)/Vendor(s) Selection and Deselection (the “Policy”) sets forth the policy of the Board of Education of the Kearsarge Regional School District – SAU #65 (the “Board”) regarding the manner in which Funding Vehicles and/or Vendors will be selected and deselected by the District for use under the Plan.


Selection of Funding Vehicle(s) and/or Vendor(s)

Funding Vehicle(s) and/or Vendor(s) offered as an investment option under the Plan will be listed on one or more of four (4) appendices to the Plan document, subject to the terms of the Plan. These appendices to the Plan are as follows: Appendix A (Funding Vehicle(s)/Vendor(s) Authorized to Receive Plan Contributions), Appendix B (Funding Vehicle(s)/Vendor(s) Authorized to Received Only Contract Exchanges and Plan Transfers), Appendix C (Funding Vendor(s) Authorized to Receive Only Plan Contributions from Grandfathered Participants), and Appendix D (Funding Vehicle(s)/Vendor(s) Selected for Deposit of Automatic Enrollment Contributions). Appendices B, C, and D may be used only if such designations transactions are permitted under the terms of the Plan. Subject to the terms of the Plan, a Funding Vehicle and/or Vendor will be listed in Appendices B, C, and/or D may be used only if such designations and transactions are permitted under the terms of the Plan. Subject to the terms of the Plan, a Funding Vehicle and/or Vendor will be listed in Appendices A, B, C, and/or D (as applicable) and offered as an investment option under the plan only if all of the following conditions are satisfied:

  1. The District must designate the Funding Vehicle and/or Vendor as an investment selection for Plan contributions. The District will coordinate the selection of a Funding Vehicle and/or Vendor as an investment option Gatekeeper Administration & Consulting, L.L.C. (the compliance administrator for the Plan), 1338 West Forest Meadows Drive, Suite 220, Flagstaff, AZ 86001.
  2. The provider of the Funding Vehicle and/or Vendor must enter into and comply with the terms of a 403(b) Retirement Plan Group Investment Provider Agreement (“Investment Provider Agreement”) with Gatekeeper Administration & Consulting, L.L.C. (“Gatekeeper”).
  3. The representative(s) of the funding Vehicle and/or Vendor must follow the solicitation policy of the District in accordance with the provisions of the Investment Provider Agreement or any other written compliance agreement referenced in Section (2) above. Pursuant to this solicitation policy, the representative(s) of the Funding Vehicle and/or Vendor are only allowed to meet with and otherwise solicit employees on campus at such dates, times and in such locations as is determined at the discretion of the District and indicated by written approval of the Superintendent or the Superintendent’s designee.
  4. The Funding Vehicle and/or Vendor must agree to reimburse Plan recordkeeping fees as an operating expense paid by the provider of the Funding Vehicle or Vendor from its general assets (“Reimbursement Credits”) and/or to reimburse Plan recordkeeping fees as an individual account expense deducted directly from each Plan participant’s custodial account or annuity contract, subject to agreement by the Plan participant in the Salary Reduction Agreement and the terms of any applicable collective bargaining agreement (“Reimbursement Debits”).


In the event the District requests that a Funding Vehicle and/or Vendor be included as an investment option offered under the Plan and it is determined that one or more of the above conditions are not satisfied, Gatekeeper will issue a written notice that advises the District and the Funding Vehicle and/or Vendor of the conditions that are not satisfied. If such unsatisfied conditions may be subsequently satisfied by the Funding Vehicle and/or Vendor, a letter of request may be re-submitted to Gatekeeper with evidence of such subsequently satisfied conditions.

Deselection of funding Vehicle(s) and/or Vendor(s)

In the event a Funding Vehicle and/or Vendor that is offered as an investment option under the Plan and listed on one or more of the four (4) appendices to the Plan document fails to satisfy any one of the conditions listed above to be included as a selected Funding Vehicle and/or Vendor under the Plan or the District determines that a Funding Vehicle and/or Vendor should no longer be offered as an investment option under the Plan, such funding Vehicle and/or Vendor will be deselected as an investment option offered under the Plan and removed from the applicable listing(s) on the Plan appendices.

The District acknowledges that the terms of its collective bargaining agreement provide teachers with the right to choose Funding Vehicle(s) and/or Vendors for certain contributions and such Funding Vehicle(s) and/or Vendors may not have been selected by the District and listed on Apendices A, B, C, and/or D (as applicable). The District will remit contributions to a Funding Vehicle(s) and/or Vendor chosen by a Teacher in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement so long as the Vendor first enters into an information sharing agreement as described in Section 8.4(b)(4) of the Plan document and agrees to comply with all requirements of Code Section 403(b), the related Treasury regulations and Internal Revenue Service administrative guidance. In the event that the Vendor does not enter into an information sharing agreement as described in Section 8.4(b)(4) of the Plan document and/or does not agree to comply with all requirements of Code Section 403(b), the related Treasury regulations and Internal Revenue Service administrative guidance, the District will not remit contributions to the Vendor.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned hereby certifies that he/she is Secretary of the Board of Education of the Kearsarge Regional School District – SAU #65 and that this Policy was duly adopted by the Board and that the same has not been amended or rescinded and is in full force and effect.


Kearsarge Regional School District School Board


________________________________________
Signature of Secretary


________________________________________
Print Name of Secretary

 

See Also:

Code Section 403(b)

Legal References:

First Reading:  Unknown
Second Reading:  Unknown
Adopted: 12/04/08
Last Review:  N/A