Executive Director Update: Who Runs ATRS + Updates on Tax Forms and Cybersecurity

Did you know that you control the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System?

I’ve discovered that many of our members don’t realize that they have the ultimate say in how ATRS is run. Although the staff and I manage the day-to-day affairs, we answer to the ATRS Board of Trustees. Of the 15 members of the Board, 11 of them are directly elected by you the members. You can find the list of all the current Board members here. 

The Board has positions dedicated to each type of ATRS member. There are four positions reserved for teachers actively employed in Arkansas public schools, and two positions for active school administrators. Three positions are reserved for retired members. One position is reserved for active non-certified school employees, and one position represents our minority members.

The Board members are accountable to you because you elect them, but they are also legally accountable as fiduciaries. This is a fancy legal term that means they must be loyal to the members of ATRS and make decisions in our members’ best interests. 

I’m explaining all this because we have an election coming up soon. In March, our retired members will be receiving ballots to vote on Position #11, which is a Retired Trustee position.

It is very important that our retired members complete and return their ballots, so that they have their say in the future of ATRS. But it is also important to demonstrate to legislators and elected officials how committed our members are to the future of ATRS. 

Retired members can expect to receive their ballot in the mail sometime after March 15. Those ballots will be due back to ATRS by April 15, and the results should be announced shortly thereafter. If your address has changed recently, please contact us to update your personal information, so that we can send your ballot to the correct address.

UPDATES FOR RETIREES

We recently mailed check stubs to our members who received payments from ATRS last year. If you itemize your tax deductions, you will want to keep that check stub. It documents how much was withheld from your ATRS benefits for medical insurance premiums last year.

And in the next few weeks, if you received payments from ATRS last year, you should receive a copy of your IRS Form 1099 in the mail. That's the form we report to the IRS showing how much ATRS distributed to you last year. You can also view your 1099 Form through the Member Portal on our website.

If you don’t receive a 1099 Form by February 19 and need it for your taxes, please let us know. You can always email us at info@artrs.gov or call us at (501) 682-1517 for assistance. 

PROTECTING THE SECURITY OF OUR MEMBERS

If you ever receive a message from someone seeking your personal information or claiming to represent ATRS, you can always email or call us directly to verify that the inquiry is legitimate.

Phishing scams are everywhere these days, unfortunately. I know I get calls, texts, or emails at least once a week from scammers trying to get my information. If someone claims to be from ATRS, don’t be afraid to tell them you’ll get back with them later, and then call or email us to verify that they are legitimate.

The good news is that we have not heard of any recent attempts to impersonate ATRS to our members. But we want you to always be on your guard. You can find additional tips and advice on how to avoid phishing scams at this link:

https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-recognize-and-avoid-phishing-scams

If you have an account on our Member Portal, we’ve added a new option to give you even better security for your information. You can now add Multi-Factor Authentication (or MFA) to secure your ATRS Portal account.

MFA means that when you log in to the ATRS Member Portal, you must confirm your identity with a code that is sent to your registered email address or generated by an authenticator app. It helps prevent scammers from logging in to your account even if they somehow obtain your ATRS username and password.

I recently added MFA to my own ATRS Portal account using Google Authenticator, and I found it to be quite easy. You can find detailed instructions for setting up MFA for your own Portal account here:

https://www.artrs.gov/mfa

And if you don’t have an ATRS Portal account yet, I encourage you to set one up. With the Portal you can access or update your personal information, get forms, or calculate benefit estimates at your convenience. You can register and set up an account here:

https://www.artrs.gov/registration

 

Thank you for everything you have done for Arkansas public schools. I wish you all the best for this coming year.

 

Mark White
Executive Director, ATRS
MarkW@artrs.gov
Office: (501) 621-8853
Cell: (501) 541-2057

Public Notice: Notice of Intended ATRS Board Action

At a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System (Board) to be held at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, February 5, 2024, at 1400 West Third Street, Room 300, Little Rock, Arkansas 72201, the Board, pursuant to its authority under A.C.A. §§ 24-7-201– 24-7-1409, will consider the repeal and adoption of amendments to certain rules of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System (ATRS).

Rules to be repealed:

• Rule 5-1: Investment Introduction
• Rule 5-2: Stanard of Care
• Rule 5-3: Asset Allocation
• Rule 5-4: Investment Goals
• Rule 5-6: Investment Consultants
• Rule 5-7: Investment Managers
• Rule 5-8: Soft Dollars
• Rule 17-1: Manifest Injustice

Rules to be amended:

• Rule 0-1: ATRS Rules of Organization and Operation
• Rule 4: Election of Board of Trustees
• Rule 6: Membership and Employer Participation
• Rule 7: Service Credit, Contributions, Reporting, and Final Average Salary
• Rule 8: Free Service Credit, Purchasable Service Credit, and Purchase Amounts
• Rule 9: Retirement and Benefits
• Rule 10: Return to Service and Teacher Deferred Retirement Option Plan
• Rule 11: Survivors and Domestic Relations Orders
• Rule 12-1: Protection of "Qualified Trust" Status of ATRS Under IRS Code § 401(a)
• Rule 13-1: Administration Adjudications: Staff Determinations and Appeals
• Rule 14-1: Retirement Fund Asset Accounts
• Rule 15-1: Benefit Restoration Plan and Trust
• Rule 16: Cash and Savings Help (CASH) Program

Interested persons may submit their comments, orally or in writing, to the Executive Director of ATRS at the above address. Comments should be received no later than Monday, January 22, 2024 at 4:30 p.m. Requests for an oral hearing in accordance with A.C.A. § 25-15-204(a)(2)(B) should be submitted by Wednesday, January 24, 2024, in order for the oral hearing to be placed on the agenda.

The proposed amendments, along with the questionnaire, financial impact statement, and summaries of the changes, may be accessed on the ATRS website at https://www.artrs.gov/board-rules , or copies may be obtained by contacting the Executive Director’s office at (501) 588-4367. The current rules may also be viewed at https://www.artrs.gov/board-rules or at the ATRS office Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.