 March | VOLUME #127
 The
Alaska Retirement Management Board (ARMB) has established Fiscal Year 2017
(FY17) employer
contribution rates for the PERS/TRS Defined Benefit (DB) and Defined
Contribution Retirement (DCR) Plans.
Please
refer to the FY17 Employer
Contribution Rates on our website for complete information. The link to
the PERS and TRS FY17 Employer Rates is under Resources on the Employer Services webpage.
The
Division will be sending rate letters to each employer electronically by the
end of April. The rates will be effective for pay period end dates between July
1, 2016, and June 30, 2017.
For
additional information regarding the actuarial determined rates, please refer
to the June 30, 2014 PERS and TRS actuarial valuations which determined the
fiscal year 2017 rates:
PERS Actuarial
Valuation
TRS Actuarial
Valuation
PERS and TRS DCR
ODD and RMP Actuarial Valuation
For questions about employer contribution rates,
please contact Christina Maiquis at christina.maiquis@alaska.gov or (907) 465-1845.
 On January 5, 2016, Governor Bill Walker ordered
restrictions on State employee travel as a cost containment measure towards
solving a $3.5 billion shortfall in the State budget. Alaskans all over
the state have commented most frequently that the State must reign in spending
and be good stewards of our resources.
In light of this requirement, the
Division of Retirement and Benefits will be implementing a cost-cutting measure
by temporarily reducing on-site visits to employers to provide in-person
benefit counseling and educational seminars for the remainder of this travel
season (January 1, 2016 through May 31, 2016). We will be contacting
employers in the next few weeks to discuss the use of video conferencing,
teleconferencing and the use of webinars to continue to provide service to our
employers and our members.
We welcome your ideas in helping us to
continue to provide a level of education and counseling without incurring the
cost to send a counselor to your community. We believe that with your
cooperation we can continue to make good things happen for our members. From the information we gather, we will be able to put
together a more targeted on-site visit plan augmented with the use of
technology. Our partners, Empower Retirement Services, will still be able
to provide financial education seminars during this time.
Please contact Benefit and Education Manager Roberto Aceveda at roberto.aceveda@alaska.gov or (907) 465-4817 with your
comments, observations and ideas.
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United States Congress is considering changes to the
existing Windfall
Elimination Provision (WEP)
by introducing new
legislation to replace the current WEP formula with
more equitable version, known as the Equal Treatment for Public Servants Act
(ETPSA).
Many view the WEP as unfair because the math it is
based on does not reflect public servants’ individual work history. If enacted
into law, the proposed bill will ensure that Social Security benefits would be based
on each worker’s Social Security contributions and work history rather than the
arbitrary WEP formula established in 1983.
How will the ETPSA affect your
benefit?
For
seniors turning 62 in 2017 and later, the ETPSA will eliminate the WEP and
replace it with the new Public Servant Fairness Formula. As a result, public
servants will receive, on average, a $212 higher benefit per month, $2,544 per
year, and more than $50,000 over retirement. A worker who contributes to Social
Security for 10 years would still receive all of the Social Security due to
them based on their earnings and contributions in those 10 years.
Please contact Nimeri Denis at nimeri.denis@alaska.gov or (907) 465-4469 with any questions.
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