(a) Contributions.

(1) Tax-Deferred. All ORP contributions shall be made on a tax-deferred basis.

(2) IRS Limits on Defined Contributions. Contributions to a participant's ORP account shall not exceed the maximum amount allowed under §415(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. (A) 415(m) Plan. Institutions are authorized by the ORP statute to establish a plan authorized under §415(m) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, for a participant's ORP contributions that exceed the 415(c) limit. (B) Stopping ORP Contributions. In the absence of a 415(m) plan, an ORP employer shall discontinue ORP contributions for participants who reach the 415(c) limit for the remainder of the applicable tax year. (C) Interaction with TSA/TDA Program. An employee's contributions under the voluntary supplemental Tax-Sheltered Annuity/Tax-Deferred Account Program shall be included in the 415(c) limit.

(3) No Co-Mingling of ORP and non-ORP Funds. (A) No Non-Texas ORP Funds. No non-Texas ORP funds, including any withdrawn TRS member contributions, may be rolled over or transferred to an ORP account prior to the participant's termination of ORP participation. (B) No TSA/TDA Funds. Amounts that have been contributed by the participant through the Tax-Sheltered Annuity/Tax-Deferred Account Program may not be rolled over or transferred to an ORP account prior to the participant's termination of ORP participation. (C) Texas ORP Contract Required. ORP contributions may only be made to a contract that is authorized by the participant's current ORP employer for Texas ORP contributions, even if the participant already has a contract with a company from a prior period of employment with another employer, whether a Texas ORP employer or not.

(4) No Dual Contributions. A contribution to the applicable retirement system and to an ORP company within the same calendar month shall not be permitted, except when a person terminates employment in a position covered by the applicable retirement system and, prior to the end of the calendar month in which the termination occurs, becomes employed in an ORP-eligible position at a different ORP employer and elects to participate in ORP by signing and submitting the TRS 28 ORP election form (or its successor) or, for employees of the Board, the ORP election form provided by the Board, on a date that results in an ORP participation start date that is prior to the end of that same calendar month, as provided in §25.4(g) of this title (relating to Participation Start Date).

(5) Eligible Compensation. (A) Definition. For purposes of determining the amount of a participant's ORP contribution, institutions shall use the same definition of eligible compensation that is used for TRS members in §821.001 of the Texas Government Code. (B) IRS Limits. The maximum amount of salary that can be taken into account for ORP purposes shall not exceed the limits established by §401(a)(17) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. An individual who first participated in ORP prior to September 1, 1996, regardless of a subsequent break in service, shall qualify for the "grandfathered" rate established by IRC §401(a)(17). (C) Stopping ORP Contributions. An ORP employer shall discontinue ORP contributions for participants who reach the 401(a)(17) limit for the remainder of the applicable tax year.

(6) Contribution Rates. The amount of each participant's ORP contribution shall be a percentage of the participant's eligible compensation as established by the ORP statute and the General Appropriations Act for each biennium. Each contribution shall include an amount based on the employee rate and an amount based on the employer rate. (A) Employee Rate. The employee contribution rate shall neither exceed nor be less than the rate established in the ORP statute for employee contributions. (B) Employer Rate. The employer contribution rate shall consist of a state base rate (minimum), as established each biennium in the General Appropriations Act, and an optional supplemental rate, as provided in subparagraph (C) of this subsection. (C) Supplemental Employer Rate. Institutions may provide a supplement to the state base rate under the following conditions: (i) Amount of Supplemental Rate. The supplemental rate may be any amount that, when added to the state base rate, does not exceed the maximum employer rate established in the ORP statute. For example, if the state base rate is 6 percent and the maximum statutory rate is 8.5 percent, then the supplement may be any amount up to and including 2.5 percent. (ii) Component Institution Policies. Governing boards may establish a supplemental rate policy that covers all component institutions or may establish different policies for one or more individual components. (iii) Annual Determination. The governing board of each institution shall determine the amount of the supplement once per year, to be effective for the entire year. (iv) Method 1--All Participants. Institutions may provide the same supplemental rate to all ORP participants, regardless of the participant's first date to participate in ORP or a break in service. If this method is selected, each ORP participant shall receive the same supplemental rate as every other participant. (v) Method 2--Two Groups. Institutions may, instead of providing the same supplemental rate to all participants, provide two different supplemental rates based on a participant's first date to participate in ORP, as follows. (I) Grandfathered. Each participant whose first date to participate in ORP in lieu of the applicable retirement system at any ORP employer, is prior to September 1, 1995, shall receive the same supplemental rate as other participants in this group, regardless of any break in service. This group of participants shall be referred to as the grandfathered group. (II) Non-Grandfathered. Each participant whose first date to participate in ORP in lieu of the applicable retirement system at any ORP employer is on or after September 1, 1995, shall receive the same supplemental rate as other participants in this group, regardless of any break in service. This group of participants shall be referred to as the non-grandfathered group. (vi) All ORP employers shall maintain documentation of a participant's first date to participate in ORP in lieu of the applicable retirement system at any ORP employer and shall provide that information to any future ORP employers of the participant for purposes of determining the participant's grandfather status. This information shall be maintained for as long as the employer's plan exists regardless of whether the ORP employer provides a supplemental employer rate contribution and regardless of the amount of any supplemental employer rate contribution provided.

(7) Proportionality. ORP employers shall pay ORP employer contributions from the appropriate funding source in accordance with applicable proportionality provisions, including provisions in the General Appropriations Act and §830.201 of the Texas Government Code.

(8) Three-Day Submission Deadline. ORP employers shall send ORP contributions to the ORP company within three business days of legal availability, except for contributions made on a supplemental payroll or contributions that are sent to a grandfathered company with less than 50 participants. (A) Legal Availability. Contributions shall generally be considered legally available on payday. For ORP employers that normally pay participants on a twice-monthly basis, the three-day minimum shall apply to each payday in the month. (B) Grandfathered Company. For purposes of this paragraph, a grandfathered company shall be a company that is no longer on a particular ORP employer's list of authorized ORP companies, but that continues to receive ORP contributions for certain participants as authorized by that ORP employer. (C) Exception Deadline. Contributions that are excepted from the three-day submission deadline shall be sent to the company as soon as practicable, but not later than 10 business days after they are legally available.

(9) Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). (A) Requirement. ORP employers shall send all ORP contributions, including contributions based on a supplemental payroll and contributions sent to a grandfathered company as defined in paragraph (8) of this subsection, to each ORP company by electronic funds transfer (EFT) if the ORP employer is currently able to send funds by EFT and the company is currently able to receive funds by EFT. (B) Inability to Receive. If a company is unable to receive funds by EFT, the ORP employer shall send contributions to the ORP company by check and provide the following notifications. (i) Certification. The ORP employer shall certify to the Board, on the ORP employer's annual ORP report as required by subsection (g) of this section, that the company is unable to receive funds by EFT. (ii) Participant Notification. At least once per fiscal year, the ORP employer shall provide notice to each participant indicating which ORP companies are unable to receive funds by EFT.

(10) Same-Day Credit. ORP companies shall deposit each participant's ORP contributions into the accounts and/or funds designated by the participant effective on the same business day that the contributions are received by the company if the funds are received before the close of business and on the next business day if the funds are received after the close of business. A company that does not comply with this provision shall not be eligible to be authorized as an ORP company by any ORP employer.

(11) Forfeited ORP Employer Contributions. If a participant forfeits ORP employer contributions under §25.5(a) of this title (relating to Vesting Requirement), the ORP employer shall return the forfeited contributions to the originating fund in accordance with the following procedures. (A) 93-Day Deadline for Request. Not later than 93 calendar days after the last day of the calendar month in which an unvested participant terminates all employment with all ORP employers, the ORP employer shall send a request to the ORP company or companies for a return of the ORP employer contributions that were sent to the company or companies for that participant during that period of employment. This request may be referred to as a vesting letter because it indicates that the participant has not met the vesting requirement. (i) 93 Days is Outside Limit. An ORP employer may send the request for forfeited ORP employer contributions immediately upon a participant's termination if the ORP employer has knowledge that the participant has not become employed and is not anticipating becoming employed in a position that is eligible for ORP in lieu of the same retirement system at the same or another ORP employer within the 93-day period. (ii) If Deadline is Missed. If the ORP employer fails to request the forfeited amounts within the 93-day deadline, then the ORP employer shall make the request immediately upon discovering the oversight, even if the participant later resumes participation after the 93-day deadline as described in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph. (B) If Participant Returns After 93 Days. If an unvested participant returns to employment that is eligible for ORP in lieu of the same retirement system at the same or another ORP employer and resumes active participation on a date that is more than 93 calendar days after the last day of the calendar month in which he or she previously terminated participation, the participant's unvested ORP employer contributions from the prior period of employment shall still be forfeited, even if the participant subsequently satisfies the vesting requirement. (C) Forfeited Amount. The forfeited amount shall be the actual amount of ORP employer contributions sent to the participant's ORP accounts during his or her current period of employment. (i) Excess Amounts not Included. The forfeited amount shall not include any amounts in the participant's ORP account in excess of the actual ORP employer contributions that are attributable to net earnings. (ii) If Account is Less than Actual Amount. The entire amount of actual ORP employer contributions shall be returned even if the account balance is less than the amount of the actual ORP employer contributions because of investment loss, transfer, or other occurrence or transaction. (I) Company's Responsibility. The ORP company shall be responsible for making arrangements to cover any loss of unvested ORP employer contributions, so that the entire amount of actual ORP employer contributions is returned to the ORP employer upon request. (II) Certification. Before an ORP employer may authorize a company to receive ORP contributions from unvested participants, as provided in subsection (c) of this section, the ORP employer shall require the company to certify that the entire amount of actual unvested ORP employer contributions will be returned upon request. The ORP employer may require the company to indicate what method will be used, for example, restriction of unvested funds to money market or similar accounts. (D) Company Response Deadline. Within 30 days of receiving the ORP employer's request for a return of unvested ORP employer contributions, the ORP company shall: (i) process a reimbursement to the ORP employer; and Cont'd...