Retirees who have been retired for at least one full year, as of July 1, 2012, will receive a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in July. This year’s adjustment has been set at 3.157%, which is based by state law upon the Consumer Price Index (all urban consumers – United States city average – all items) for the previous calendar year. This COLA rate exceeds the system 3% cap for the majority of retirees of the state pension system.

Retirees and beneficiaries of the following plans will have their COLA capped at 3% this year.

• Employees’ and Teachers’ Alternate Contributory, Contributory, and Non-Contributory Pension System
• Law Enforcement Officers’ Pension System (LEOPS) – cap does not apply to those retirees who transferred from Plan A or Plan B of the Employee’s Retirement System and did not elect the contributory Law Enforcement Officers’ Modified Pension Benefit
• Employees’ and Teachers’ Retirement System – Plan C retirees only – 3% cap applied on benefit portion paid under the pension system formula
• Local Fire and Police System – cap does not apply to those retirees who transferred into this plan from the Employees’ Retirement System

However, those retirees whose COLA is not capped will receive the full cost of living adjustment of 3.157% this year.

The COLA does not apply to most legislative and judicial retirees. Retirees from the legislative and judicial systems receive adjustments based on the increases received by active legislators and judges.