As used in this chapter, the term:

(1) "Benefit system" or "system" means the Georgia Municipal Employees Benefit System created by this chapter.

(2) "Board of trustees" or "board" means the Board of Trustees of the Georgia Municipal Employees Benefit System.

(3) "Contract" means a contract executed pursuant to this chapter between the board of trustees and a member employer.

(4) "Defined benefit" means a plan whereby retirement benefits are determined in advance by a formula and the contributions are treated as the variable factor.

(5) "Defined contribution" means a plan whereby the contributions to the plan are fixed in advance and the retirement benefit is the variable factor.

(6) "Employee" means any full-time salaried or hourly rated person in the active service of an employer and any employees of the board of trustees. Notwithstanding any laws to the contrary, the term also includes any appointed or elected member of the governing authority of a municipal corporation of this state, the chief legal officer or any associate legal officer of a municipal corporation, and any municipal officer elected or appointed to preside over the court of a municipal corporation. Said term shall also include part-time employees of an employer for the purposes of participating in employee benefit plans.

(7) "Employee benefits" means group health benefits, group short-term disability benefits, group death benefits, group accidental death and dismemberment benefits, and such other benefits as from time to time the board may deem advisable.

(8) "Employee benefit fund" means any other pooled fund, other than the retirement fund and workers' compensation fund, created by the board for the purpose of providing employee benefits on behalf of member employers.

(9) "Employer" means:

(A) A municipal corporation of this state;

(B) The Emergency Management Division of the State Department of Defense;

(C) Local emergency management organizations;

(D) Regional development centers created pursuant to Article 2 of Chapter 8 of Title 50 and planning and development commissions, including, but not limited to, a planning commission, planning and development commission, or area planning and development commission which is created by one or more municipalities or counties or combinations thereof to serve cities or counties or any combination thereof and which employs a staff and is governed by a separate board or other governing body and whose operations are financed through an independent budget;

(E) Authorities, including, but not limited to, a public authority, commission, board, or similar agency which is created by general, local, or special Act of the General Assembly and which carries out its functions wholly or partly within the corporate boundaries of a municipal corporation of this state. The term also includes such bodies which are created or activated by an appropriate ordinance or resolution of the governing body of a municipal corporation individually or jointly with other political subdivisions of this state;

(F) The Georgia Municipal Association;

(G) The Jointly Owned Natural Gas Transmission Line which was established by contract by the Cities of Perry, Warner Robins, Hawkinsville, and Cochran;

(H) Consolidated city-county governments of this state;

(I) The Municipal Gas Authority of Georgia, and any successor thereto, created pursuant to Article 4 of Chapter 4 of Title 46; or

(J) A state or federally chartered credit union whose membership is comprised of municipal, county, or hospital authority employees.

(10) "Local emergency management organization" means all local organizations for emergency management established pursuant to Chapter 3 of Title 38, the "Georgia Emergency Management Act of 1981," by a municipal corporation, a county, a combination of one or more municipal corporations or counties, the Governor, or the director of emergency management at the request of the Governor.

(11) "Member employer" means an employer which has contracted to become a member of the benefit system as provided for in this chapter or an employer which is a member of a group self-insured workers' compensation fund for which the board serves as trustees.

(12) "Participating employee" means an employee of a member employer for whom contributions to the retirement fund are being made under a contract.

(13) "Retirement benefits" means defined benefits, defined contribution benefits, and death or disability retirement benefits provided by a member employer to an employee as part of the employee's compensation. The term shall also include optional settlement benefits which are determined by the board of trustees to be actuarially equivalent to the primary retirement benefits provided in a contract; deferred compensation; qualified voluntary employee contributions; and other salary deferral plans authorized by the Internal Revenue Code of the United States.

(14) "Retirement fund" means the pooled investment fund for retirement purposes created by this chapter, in which the contributions of participating employees and of member employers are commingled for investment purposes.

(15) "Workers' compensation benefits" means benefits payable out of the workers' compensation fund pursuant to Chapter 9 of Title 34.

(16) "Workers' compensation fund" means a group self-insurance fund comprised of employers as defined in paragraph (9) of this Code section.

(17) "Vesting," "vested right," or "vested benefit" means any right of an employee to the retirement benefits attributable to a municipality's contributions under a contract in the event of termination of employment prior to retirement.