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 Dark brown alpaca (Vicugna pacos) on a farm in southern Oregon. Oregon is the birthplace of the United States’ alpaca industry. The first alpaca farm in the country opened in Hillsboro in 1984 with five alpacas from Chile. To learn where to visit alpacas, go to the Travel Oregon “Ask Oregon” webpage.
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What’s going on
in this issue
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New 2027-29 rates are ready to view
On September 25, 2026, the PERS Board approved new employer contribution rates for the next biennium. The rates, calculated by PERS consulting actuary Milliman, go into effect on July 1, 2027, and remain until June 30, 2029.
Actuarial valuations
PERS Actuarial Services will post the actuarial valuation reports from Milliman on the Actuarial Valuations webpage by mid-October. Actuarial valuation reports list the data Milliman actuaries used to calculate the new rates. All data were gathered at the end of 2025.
Milliman provides two types of actuarial valuation reports:
- The system-wide report presents the fiscal health of the system as a whole.
- Your individual valuation report presents the fiscal standing of your organization’s PERS account.
Actuarial valuation reports for schools fall into two categories:
- School District Pool employers who have a side account receive an individual valuation.
- School District Pool employers who do not have a side account refer to the valuation for employer #3000.
Rates
Go to the Contribution Rates webpage to open or download the list of new net contribution rates for all employers.
Factors affecting your new rate
Side accounts
Some employers with side accounts may need to reach out to Actuarial Services for a more precise 2027-29 rate. Namely, employers in these situations:
New side account — If you established a side account that opened in 2026, your 2027-29 rate will not include that offset. If you requested an actuarial calculation from Milliman, the offset rate provided will be applied to reduce your contribution rate on the effective date selected. Otherwise, the side account offset rate will be calculated in your 2026 advisory valuation report and go into effect on July 1, 2028.
Side account offset rates are updated in odd years when new rates go into effect (and in rare situations when a side account opens in an even year).
Expiring side account — If you have a side account that is expiring in 2027, your new 2027-29 rate will not include that offset.
Rate collar
Because the funded status of PERS is still less than 87%, the rate collar prevents any reduction to the unfunded actuarial liability (UAL) rate for both the State and Local Government Rate Pool (SLGRP) and the School District Pool. This means that the contribution rate charged for employers in these pools is higher than the rate calculated to fully amortize UAL within the specified period.
This aspect of the rate collar provides greater rate stability and helps the funded status reach 100% more quickly.
For more information
If you have questions about your rate or valuation, email Actuarial Services. For definitions of financial terms such as “rate collar” and “funded status,” refer to the glossary in the Guide to Understanding Your Rate.
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Time for year-end reports
Every fall, the Employer Service Center (ESC) team leads employer reporters through year-end account clean-up, aka account reconciliation, to ensure that you get all your records posted by year end.
The two reports overviewed below are a key part of this process. Both are explained in employer reporting guide 24, Running Reports.
Inactive Employment report
Inactive employees are those who are no longer working and being paid but are still active in your EDX account. (This does not apply to employees on leave of absence, who should not be terminated unless they are leaving your employment.)
To find inactive employees, run an Inactive Employment Report, as explained in employer reporting guide 24, Running Reports, “Inactive Employment Report” section.
Note about working retirees
The report does not include working PERS retirees among those who have not worked for 90 days. For a list that includes inactive retiree employees, contact your ESC representative to request an Active Employees Comprehensive by Employer report.
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Employee Eligibility Exception report
An Eligibility Exception report lists employees whose eligibility for PERS benefits may have changed because they worked more or fewer hours than expected this year. If you find an employee whose eligibility needs to change, submit a Demographic Correction Request (DCR) for a New Position Type change.
October 21 ESC webinar
The Employer Service Center is holding a webinar on this topic on October 21. Watch your email for a News Bite announcement with Teams join information. To watch the September 2025 webinar on this topic, open the presentation slides (PDF) or watch the video (hosted on YouTube) or both. DCR instructions are in employer guide 20, Creating a Demographic Correction Request (DCR).
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Dear Rep,
How do I fix a wage mistake? I reported a payment for an employee. Then after it posted, I realized I had transposed two numbers. I think I can fix it by submitting a new wage record with an “adjustment” wage code, but there are several different codes. Help?
Signed, Adjustment Advice Needed
Dear ADJUSTMENT ADVICE,
We all make mistakes — this is why EDX has special codes that allow us to fix them.
The way you correct a posted wage-reporting error depends on the amount you need to correct. If you need to make the original wage amount larger, you will submit a “positive adjustment” correction record. If you need to make the wage amount smaller, you will submit a “negative adjustment” correction record followed by a new wage record.
If the amount you reported is too small — do a positive adjustment.
Let’s say you reported $749 instead of $794. You can fix this error by telling EDX to add $45 to the original record.
To add wages, hours, or contributions to a posted Detail 2 Wage and Service record that you recently submitted in a Regular report, create a new Detail 2 Wage and Service record in a Demographics and Adjustment Report. Select a positive-adjustment wage code and the same pay date and work-period dates (if applicable) as the original record. The dates and code tell EDX you are correcting the wage record you submitted for this employee for this pay date. Enter the $45 wages. Hours Worked is a required field (for all wage codes except 08), so enter 0.01 to get the record to post.
Complete instructions are in employer guide 23, Submitting an Adjustment Record, section “Reporting a Positive Adjustment.”
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If the amount you reported is too large — do a negative adjustment.
Let’s say you reported $794 instead of $749. You can fix this error by taking two steps: (1) backing out the originally reported wages and then (2) reporting the correct wages.
First, create a new Detail 2 record in a Demographics and Adjustment Report. Select a negative-adjustment wage code and the same pay amount, pay date, and work-period dates (if applicable) as the original record. Next, after that report posts, create a new Detail 2 Wage and Service record in a Regular report or Demographic and Adjustment report. Enter the same pay date as the original record plus all the correct data that should have been reported originally.
Instructions are in employer guide 23, Submitting an Adjustment Record, section “Reporting a Negative Adjustment.”
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Do not use an adjustment record for a retroactive payment or unsubmitted record
1. Retroactive payment: The answer above only refers to a simple error made and corrected in the same year. If you need to report or correct payment for either of the following, contact ESC for assistance:
- A payment from a past year.
For an example of this situation, refer to the Changing Information for a Prior Year guide, section “Examples of Retroactive Change Requests,” “Example 2 — Missing Hours and Wages From 2022.”
- A payment pursuant to a judgment, administrative order, arbitration award, conciliation agreement, or settlement agreement that resolves a dispute or claim based on the employee’s rights under employment or wage law or under a collective bargaining agreement.
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Essential tips for success
Avoid errors in adjustment records by heeding the “Six Tips for Success” in the “Introduction” section of employer guide 23, Submitting an Adjustment Record.
For instance:
Tip #2: Do not submit a Detail 1 record and Detail 2 record for the same employee in the same report.
The “Introduction” section also overviews the wage-adjustment process and wage codes.
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2. An error in an unsubmitted record (i.e., a record in a report you have not yet released):
- Do not submit an adjustment record for an unposted record. If you realize you have just saved a record with a mistake, “edit” the record before releasing the report for the overnight batch run.
- For instructions on editing an unposted record, read employer reporting guide 5, Creating a Record, section “Editing a Record.”
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The Employer Service Center has three more monthly webinars in 2026.
Webinars are hour-long, live training sessions composed of a 15-to-20-minute presentation followed by a question-and-answer session with ESC representatives.
2026 webinar dates and topics
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October 21
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Running Eligibility Exception Reports
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November 18
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Preparing for Year End
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December 16
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Correcting Suspended Records
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Links to join the webinars are sent by News Bite emails. Learn more and get links to videos of past sessions on the Training webpage, “Training Webinars” section.
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Need help?
Contact the Employer Service Center to ask questions and get one-on-one reporting help.
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