School districts’ individual pension rates for 2023-25 available

It’s that time of the biennium when school districts learn their pension pain. 

The Public Employees Retirement System Board has published individual 2023-25 rates for school districts. Most districts will find their rates only slightly changed. Some will even see reductions, but the state average remains uncomfortably high. The statewide average is roughly double what it was for 2009-11, and PERS’ drain on school budgets remains a concern.  

The PERS Board will meet Friday, Sept. 30, to consider adopting the recommended rates from Milliman, the state’s actuary. The rates are based on the value of PERS’ investments at the end of 2021.

Thanks to booming market returns, PERS’ overall funding status rose from 79% to 86% and its total debt dropped nearly $6 billion to $13.4 billion, including side accounts. 

The good returns helped balance out rate-increasing formula changes so that average school district rates will increase only a little more than 1 percentage point, according to Milliman. 

The average school district collared base employer rate will be 25.9%, according to Milliman, which translates into $1.3 billion of schools’ budgets. The individual rates for school districts vary wildly, though, from less than 5% of payroll to more than 27%, depending on employees’ PERS status and the presence of side accounts to pay down debt. 

- Jake Arnold, OSBA
jarnold@osba.org