Accounts; audits

The board shall annually prepare or cause to be prepared an accounting of the trust and shall transmit a copy of the accounting to the Governor and the General Assembly. The board shall also make available the accounting of the trust to the purchasers of the trust. The accounts of the board shall be subject to annual audits by the state auditor or a certified public accountant appointed by the state auditor. (Code 1981, § 20-3-611, enacted by Ga. L. 1990, p. 1448, § 1.) 20-3-612. Requirements for administration of trust; evaluation of actuarial soundness; applicability of federal securities laws. (a) The trust shall be administered in a manner reasonably designed to be actuarially sound such that the assets of the trust will be sufficient to defray the obligations of the trust. (b) In the accounting of the trust made pursuant to Code Section 20-3-611, the board shall annually evaluate or cause to be evaluated the actuarial soundness of the trust by a nationally recognized actuarial firm and determine the additional assets needed, if any, to defray the obligations of the trust. If there are not funds sufficient to ensure the actuarial soundness of the trust, the trust shall adjust payments of subsequent purchases to ensure its actuarial soundness. If there are insufficient numbers of new purchasers to ensure the actuarial soundness of a plan of the trust, the available assets of the trust attributable to the plan shall be immediately prorated among the then existing contracts, and these shares shall be applied, at the option of the person to whom the refund is payable or would be payable under the contract upon termination of the contract, either towards the purposes of the contract for a qualified beneficiary or disbursed to the person to whom the refund is payable or would be payable under the contract upon termination of the contract. 337 20-3-615 (c) Before entering into advance tuition payment contracts with purchasers, the trust shall solicit answers to appropriate ruling requests from the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding the application of federal security laws to the trust. No contracts shall be entered without the trust making known the status of the request. (Code 1981, § 20-3-612, enacted by Ga. L. 1990, p. 1448, § 1.) 20-3-613. Contracts for provision of services; programs to ensure full tuition payment; exclusive plans for community and junior colleges; report to legislature. The trust, in its discretion, may contract with others, public or private, for the provision of all or a portion of the services necessary for the management and operation of the trust. The trust shall also endeavor to work with private sector investment managers, state institutions of higher education, and independent degree-granting colleges and universities in this state to study the feasibility of instituting programs among these parties that ensure full tuition payment upon purchase of a prepayment plan. The trust shall evaluate the feasibility and actuarial soundness of a prepayment plan exclusively for community and junior colleges. The board shall submit a report to the legislature before December 31, 1991, regarding its success at instituting programs among private sector investment managers, state institutions of higher education, and independent degree-granting colleges and universities of the state that ensure full tuition prepayment plans. (Code 1981, § 20-3-613, enacted by Ga. L. 1990, p. 1448, § 1; Ga. L. 1992, p. 6, § 20.) 20-3-614. Preservation of assets of trust fund; investment in obligations of state. The assets of the trust fund shall be preserved, invested, and expended solely pursuant to and for the purposes set forth in this article and shall not be loaned or otherwise transferred or used by the state for any purpose other than the purposes of this article. This Code section shall not be construed to prohibit the trust from investing in, by purchase or otherwise, bonds, notes, or other obligations of the state, an agency of the state, or an instrumentality of the state. (Code 1981, § 20-3-614, enacted by Ga. L. 1990, p. 1448, § 1.) 20-3-615. Admission to or graduation from institutions not guaranteed. Nothing in this article or in an advance tuition payment contract entered into pursuant to this article shall be construed as a promise or guarantee by the trust or the state that a person will be admitted to a 338 20-3-631 state institution of higher education or to a particular state institution of higher education, will be allowed to continue to attend a state institution of higher education after having been admitted, or will be graduated from a state institution of higher education. (Code 1981, § 20-3-615, enacted by Ga. L. 1990, p. 1448, § 1.) 20-3-616. Exemption from securities law; approval required for transfer of advance tuition payment contracts. An advance tuition payment contract shall be exempt from Chapter 5 of Title 10, the ‘‘Georgia Uniform Securities Act of 2008.’’ An advance tuition payment contract may not be sold or otherwise transferred by the purchaser or qualified beneficiary without the prior approval of the trust. (Code 1981, § 20-3-616, enacted by Ga. L. 1990, p. 1448, § 1; Ga. L. 2008, p. 381, § 10/SB 358.) 20-3-617. Costs of trust operations.