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Employers Manual
Employer Contributions
Retirement Deductions From State Foundation
Payments
Employer contributions to STRS Ohio for city, local (except county
offices) and exempted village school districts and community schools
are generally deducted from allocated state foundation funds. The contributions
are deducted on a calendar-year basis, and STRS Ohio must certify to
the Ohio Department of Education in November of each year the amount
to be deducted for each participating school district.
In order to calculate the upcoming calendar year contributions, it
is necessary for each qualifying district to complete an 
Estimated Annual Payroll for
Members of State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio form. The
form is mailed to each district in late September to be completed and
returned. Districts are required to estimate their total STRS Ohio payroll
for the school year, the percentage change and explain any extraordinary
changes, such as an increase greater than 10% or a decrease in the total
payroll.
A detailed calculation of the amount due is performed for each school district and a copy of the computation is mailed to each employer. The following is a line-by-line explanation of the calculation format.
Line 1: This amount is carried forward from line 5 of the previous year’s calculation.
Line 2: The computation of this line begins with the total employee contributions remitted during the previous fiscal year. Total employee contributions are divided by the current employee contribution rate and then multiplied by the employer contribution rate.
Line 3: Adjustments may be made periodically to employee contributions for previous fiscal years. Examples include contributions paid for prior years’ leaves of absence, refunds of unauthorized contributions, unpaid employer contributions from previous years, etc. Any amount on this line represents unpaid employer contributions corresponding to such adjustments made during the preceding fiscal year.
Line 4: Payments received during the 12 months preceding Sept. 1 of the current year are shown on this line. The payments for September through December equal line 9 of the previous year’s report. January-through-June payments equal 1/2 of the prior year’s line 11. Note that these payments are the amounts due to be paid regardless of the amount actually received from the Department of Education. Any unpaid differences are added to the adjustments shown on line 3.
Line 5: This amount is the net of lines 1 through 4.
Line 6: In October of each year, employers are asked to provide an estimate of total teacher payroll for the current fiscal year (see sample). Because this amount is a key figure in the calculation of foundation program deductions, the estimate should be as accurate as possible. Any differences between the estimated and actual payrolls will be carried over to the following year’s foundation certification. Line 6 of the calculation shows both the estimated payroll and the amount of the related employer contribution.
Line 7: This amount equals 47% of line 6.
Line 8: This is the total of lines 5, 6 and 7.
Line 9: This amount equals 1/2 of line 11 of the previous year’s report and represents payments to be received during the final six months of the current calendar year.
Line 10: The net of lines 8 and 9 is recorded here.
Line 11: The total amount due is rounded to the nearest whole dollar divisible by 24.
The amount due for each payment (1/24 of the total) is deducted from each participating school’s state funds by the Department of Education and submitted to STRS Ohio. If there are insufficient allocated funds to pay the entire employer contribution, the school treasurer will be notified by both the Department of Education and STRS Ohio. The employer is responsible for paying the shortage directly to STRS Ohio.
