|
 A two-tailed swallowtail butterfly on a ponderosa pine branch
|
|
For finance officers and agency heads
Employer Incentive Fund kicks off April 1
The first phase of the Employer Incentive Fund (EIF) program begins on April 1. The first phase is exclusively for employers whose unfunded actuarial liability (UAL) is more than 200% of payroll according to their December 31, 2023, actuarial valuation report.
There are 57 employers who qualify to apply in phase one. To see if your organization qualifies, do one of the following:
1 — Check the list of 2023 pension UAL greater than 200% employers (PDF).
2 — Look up your organization’s net pension UAL as a percentage of payroll in your latest actuarial valuation. It is listed in the Executive Summary, Principal Valuation Results section. Read the EIF Application Instructions (PDF) on page 5 for more information.
|
|
|
Application prep
These resources have complete information about the application process and materials:
Questions and help
Email PERS Actuarial Activities Section if you have any questions about participating in EIF, opening a side account, joining an employer pool, or other tools that can help you control your PERS contribution rate.
|
Don’t have the minimum deposit?
If your organization does not have the $25,000 minimum deposit, you cannot borrow it, but you are allowed to engage your community in fundraising it.
Fundraising activities employers have done include:
- A haunted house.
- A GoFundMe.
- A community yard sale.
- A multi-weekend car wash.
|
|
For leadership and agency heads
Overview of 2025 Oregon legislative session
The 2025 legislative session began on January 21, 2025. If there is no extension, the session will end by June 29. Because this is an odd year, the session is what is known as a “long session.” The Oregon Legislature is expecting around 2,400 bills to be introduced, which include bills introduced by state agencies like PERS.
|
PERS bills
PERS has introduced four bills through the Governor’s Office for the Legislature to consider.
Bill number
|
Bill name
|
Bill description
|
|
Senate Bill (SB) 847
|
Amendments to PERS Health Insurance Subsidies
|
Makes changes to health insurance subsidies and membership eligibility for PERS’ Retiree Health Insurance Program (PHIP).
|
|
SB 849
|
Repurpose School District Unfunded Liability Fund (SDULF)
|
Removes requirement that the SDULF be amortized into a side account, which allows the fund to be used to directly help school district employers.
|
|
SB 851
|
Employer Reporting and Member Data Clarifications
|
Clarifies and aligns statutes related to employer reporting and member data.
|
|
SB 852
|
Post-Retirement Death Benefit Calculations
|
Clarifies and aligns statutes related to post-retirement death benefits.
|
Other bills relevant to PERS
Relevant bills include requests to:
- Change how employers calculate overtime caps for Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan (OPSRP) members when calculating final average salary.
- Lower the OPSRP Police and Fire service (aka normal) retirement age from 53 to 50 for members who have 25 years of service.
- Create a new member class of Police and Fire members who would receive higher PERS benefits.
- Create a task force, run by PERS, to study health insurance for Police and Fire retirees.
- Include a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis as an automatic duty-designated disability for the purpose of receiving PERS disability benefits; reduce the time allowed for PERS to hold contested-case hearings.
- Allow OPSRP union-designated representatives to earn PERS service credit for taking release time to do union activities.
- Redirect funds to PERS’ unfunded actuarial liability — one bill would redirect funds from the corporate activity tax, and one bill would redirect funds from the “kicker.”
Learn more
For more information about bills, go to the Oregon State Legislature How to Find a Bill or Vote Information webpage. Use the search bar to find bills that may involve your agency or organization.
Additionally, many employer membership groups have government affairs officials that keep their members updated on relevant legislation. Contacting these groups or signing up for their newsletters is a good way to keep up to date on legislation relevant to your group. These include: League of Oregon Cities, Association of Oregon Counties, and the Oregon School Boards Association.
|
|
For human resources and benefits departments
Social Security Fairness Act and PERS benefits
In late 2024 and early 2025, the U.S. Senate repealed the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and passed the Social Security Fairness Act. WEP/GPO reduced Social Security benefits for retirees who received a pension based on work that was not covered by Social Security (i.e., their employer did not withhold Social Security taxes). The Social Security Fairness Act ensures that Social Security benefits for these pension recipients will not be limited starting with January 2024 benefits.
Does this affect PERS benefits?
The new act does not affect PERS benefits whatsoever.
Who is affected by the Social Security Fairness Act?
The act may affect retirees of public employers who:
1. Do not participate in PERS or Social Security and, instead, have their own public retirement plan.
2. Only pay into PERS and not Social Security. There are 45 small employers in this category whose retirees could see a boost in their Social Security wage calculation depending on how many years each employee has of non-covered and covered Social Security earnings.
3. Do not participate under a Section 218 agreement, and the retiree has a Social Security benefit from another employment segment or as a surviving spouse.
Who is not affected?
• Most PERS retirees.
• Members who are not retired under Social Security yet (i.e., not receiving Social Security benefits).
|
PERS Section 218 Social Security coverage
Most PERS-participating employers participate under the Section 218 agreement, whereby the employers pay voluntary Social Security taxes for their employee payroll. Since WEP and GPO only applied to certain individuals receiving a government pension who did not pay into the Social Security program, PERS members under the Section 218 agreement were not impacted by WEP and GPO in the first place.
Learn more
Social Security Fairness Act: Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) update | SSA
PERS Section 218 Social Security Coverage webpage
|
|
For finance officers and agency heads
Preliminary earnings crediting rates
Below are the preliminary earnings crediting rates for the different PERS’ funds for 2024. Earnings crediting is the annual process of adding the amount of interest earned to the various reserves within the Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund. The rates are finalized and applied to accounts in April.
Preliminary earnings crediting rates
Fund
|
Rate
|
|
Tier One Member Regular Accounts and Judge Member Accounts
|
6.90%
|
|
Tier Two Member Regular Accounts
|
5.32%
|
|
Benefits in Force Reserve
|
5.32%
|
|
Employer Reserves
|
5.32%
|
|
OPSRP Pension
|
5.43%
|
|
IAP
|
6.32%
|
|
Employee Pension Stability Account (EPSA) — Tier One/Tier Two
|
5.32%
|
|
Employee Pension Stability Account (EPSA) — OPSRP
|
5.43%
|
|
Side accounts (established before 1/1/2023)
|
5.61%
|
|
Variable Annuity Account
|
14.51%
|
Final earnings crediting rates
Final earnings crediting rates capture “in-flight” changes that were still processing during preliminary earnings crediting. Final earnings crediting rates will be presented at the March 31 PERS Board meeting this year. The rates will be published in the May Employer News.
To attend a board meeting in person or virtually, or to access board materials after a meeting, go to the PERS Board Information webpage.
|
|
For employer reporters, software developers, software providers
Announcing new EDX File Format Guide
Announcing the new version of the EDX File Format and Development Guide — the first major update of this guide since 2020.
This guide is a vital resource for anyone who uses the file-upload method to report hours and wages for groups of employees in EDX:
• Employers who have more than 250 employees are required to use the file upload method.
• Smaller employers may choose to use this method as a faster way to report hours and wages that tend to be the same from one pay period to the next.
|
Why is format important?
When creating a data file (called a .dat file) for upload, you must follow the specifications exactly. Otherwise, the file will not load, and you or ESC will have to examine the file, find and correct the error or errors, and reload the file.
Learn more about file upload
The file upload process is explained in employer reporting guide 9, Reporting Wages for a Qualifying Employee, section “Reporting Wages for a Group of Employees.”
|
|
|
What newsletter topics are most helpful to you? Share your feedback! Just click below to go to the Employer Resource Feedback Form, choose your role, and select “Employer News monthly newsletter” from the first drop-down list. Fill in the “Enter your feedback ...” box and click Submit.
|
|
Need help?
Contact the Employer Service Center to ask questions and get one-on-one reporting help.
|
|
|
|
|
