Amendments to VCERA Bylaws and Tax Regulations

At its December 16, 2025 meeting, the Board of Supervisors approved revisions to the Bylaws and Regulations (Bylaws) that had previously been approved by VCERA’s Board of Retirement at its July 28, 2025 meeting, as well as revisions to the Tax Compliance Regulations (Tax Regulations) that had previously been approved by VCERA’s Board of Retirement at its October 27, 2025 meeting.

The Bylaws of the Board of Retirement address a variety of administrative and operational matters. They were last revised in September 2019.

The approved changes to the Bylaws include:

  • Updated Annual Calendar of Meetings – clarified meeting schedule to better align with current practice, provide flexibility, and include committees
  • Clarified Employees Included in Membership – restructured paragraph to clarify that all employees (both safety and non-safety) who are scheduled to work 64 hours or more biweekly become members upon appointment
  • Removed Disability Hearing Procedures (DHPs) Attachment – kept sentence that states the Board of Retirement “shall promulgate disability hearing procedures to ensure fair and efficient proceedings regarding applications for disability retirement”; removed the attachment of the DHPs from the Bylaws

The Board adopted several recommended updates to VCERA’s Tax Regulations to conform with recent changes in federal tax law, as well as conform to current administrative practices. The updates include changes required by the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act of 2019 and the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (the SECURE Acts), and published relevant IRS guidance, as well as a few formatting enhancements. They were last revised in January 2016.

The affected Tax Regulations include these Internal Revenue Code (IRC) sections and changes:

  • IRC Section 401(a) Distribution Restrictions for Return to Work and Separation from Service – updated with minor formatting enhancements and rewording of titles for clarity (similar changes were made to all of the regulations in this list)
  • IRC Section 401(a) Normal Retirement Age – updated to align VCERA’s normal retirement age definition with the applicable provisions in the CERL, in compliance with the new safe harbor provisions and guidance issued by the IRS. (Note: This does not result in any changes to member retirement eligibility.)
  • IRC Section 401(a)(9) Required Minimum Distributions – updated to reflect changes under the SECURE Acts* and updated Treasury Regulations, including those related to the required beginning date for commencing payments depending on the participant’s birthdate
  • IRC Section 401(a)(17) Compensation Limit – updated to reflect the limit in effect at the time of approval
  • IRC Sections 401(a)(31) and 402(c) Rollovers – updated to simplify and streamline the definition of “spouse” to conform to applicable laws regarding recognition of same sex marriages
  • IRC Section 415 Annual Benefit and Additions Limits – updated to reflect the limit in effect at the time of approval, and to simplify and streamline the definition of “spouse” to conform to applicable laws regarding recognition of same sex marriages

View the final updated documents and all information related to Board policies and procedures on our Board Governance webpage.

See redline versions below for all changes made:

*The SECURE 2.0 Act passed in December 2022. Among other changes, it increased the Required Minimum Distribution Age (RMD) to age 73 effective in 2023, and to age 75 in 2034. This change in RMD age thresholds will allow members to further delay their retirement date until they reach a later age.