Below are some important excerpts from a June 2020 notice regarding PERA and classified staff from the State Personnel Director.
PERA Contributions
Senate Bill 18-200, passed in 2018, aimed to restore PERA to full funding within 30 years. Most PERA members are required to increase their contributions to the fund. The first increase (0.75%) took place in July 2019. Additional increases are scheduled for July 1 of 2020 (0.75%) and July 1 of 2021 (0.5%).
SB 18-200 also provides PERA with a statutory requirement to increase employee contributions if funding levels didn’t meet specific targets. To implement an additional increase in employee contributions, PERA is required to provide notice of an increase by June of any given year for implementation in July of the next year.
PERA provided such a notice in June of 2019 that it would increase employee contributions to PERA by an additional 0.5% in July of 2020. That increase, combined with the 0.75% statutory increases outlined above, means employee contributions to PERA will increase by 1.25%, effective July 1, 2020.
Total employee contribution amounts will be 10% in July 2020 and 10.5% in 2021. Employee and member contribution rates will continue to be subject to the automatic adjustment provision (AAP) in future years pursuant to Colorado Revised Statutes.
For more information on PERA and the changes made by SB 18-200, visit copera.org.
Classified Employees: No Salary Increase
There will be no across-the-board pay increase for employees, nor will job class ranges move in FY 2020-21. The State’s compensation philosophy is to align employee pay with prevailing rates in the market, and we are working to balance our employee compensation with the current economic climate.