(a) If the agency is not one or more of the parties to the agreement but is a public entity, commission, or board constituted pursuant to the agreement, the debts, liabilities, and obligations of the agency shall be debts, liabilities, and obligations of the parties to the agreement, unless the agreement specifies otherwise. However, the parties to the agreement may not agree otherwise with respect to the retirement liabilities of the agency if the agency contracts with a public retirement system.
(b) For purposes of this section, “public retirement system” means any pension or retirement system of a public employer, including, but not limited to, an independent retirement plan offered by a public employer that the public employer participates in or offers to its employees for the purpose of providing retirement benefits, or a system of benefits for public employees that is governed by Section 401(a) of Title 26 of the United States Code.