This newsletter contains information regarding the administration of LAGERS retirement benefits.
Annual Valuations to be Available Online in July
Valuations Include Contribution Rates for Fiscal Years Starting in 2017

Your Annual Valuation is a report from LAGERS detailing a wealth of financial information about your employer's financial standing in the LAGERS system.  It also contains contribution rates for your fiscal year starting in 2017.

Employers do not receive a hard copy of their annual valuation, but rather, can download the document once it has become available on ECLIPSE, which should happen by July 1, 2016.  You will be notified when the valuation is available for download. 

For more information about your Annual Valuation, visit our website or click here.

What to Expect for 2017 Contribution Rates

At the March 25th meeting, LAGERS Board of Trustees approved new actuarial assumptions to be used in the calculation of employer contribution rates.  These new assumptions will likely result in an increase to your 2017 employer contribution rate(s).

The increases in 2017 are primarily a result of changes to the disability and mortality assumptions.  An actuarial experience study found that LAGERS retirees are living longer than they did a few years ago and are projected to continue living longer into the future.  This means that benefits will be paid to retirees for a longer period of time, and will require a contribution adjustment to ensure that there are enough funds set aside to pay for these longer retirements.  The study also concluded that the number of disability retirements have also increased and so upward adjustment to the disability component of your contribution rate will also be made depending on which departments your employer provides LAGERS coverage for (general, police, and/or fire) and the elected benefit program of your employer.

LAGERS Board of Trustees follows a funding policy that requires an experience study to be completed every five years by LAGERS’ actuaries reviewing each of the assumptions used in calculating employer contribution rates.  The purpose of this study is to determine if the assumptions used in the calculation remain appropriate given past and anticipated experience.  LAGERS takes this process very seriously in order to ensure that future benefits are being properly pre-funded so that members today and tomorrow can continue to enjoy the security of their hard earned retirement benefits.

While it is likely that for the first time in five years many employers will see an increase instead of a decrease in their contribution rates, LAGERS contribution rates are designed to remain stable over the long-term to allow local municipalities predictability in budgeting for these important benefits. Other experiences of your employer, such as turnover and pay raises, can also create upward or downward pressure on a contribution rate, as well as the investment performance of the LAGERS portfolio; therefore every employer will have a slightly different rate experience in 2017.

If your employer’s rate needs to increase next fiscal year, a 1% annual cap is placed on the rate, so that no employer in 2017 should expect more than a 1% increase to contributions rates (unless you are making an upgrade).  If, however, an employer’s rate needs to increase more than 1%, the rate will continue to rise 1% each year until it reaches its true rate. 

Employers can expect to see more information on their individual rates in July with their annual actuarial valuations.  This valuation will not only provide information regarding your upcoming 2017 rates, but also additional information if your rate was capped. 

LAGERS Bloggers
Which employees should be reported as LAGERS-eligible?

Making sure that you are correctly reporting employees to LAGERS is very important to ensure that your retirement benefits are being properly funded.  Employees must be working your elected LAGERS hours (1500, 1250, or 1000 per year) and also be working in a LAGERS covered department to be eligible for retirement benefits.  Check out this week's blog on some of the most common questions regarding these requirements.

Do you have an employee nearing retirement?
Send them to a LAGERS Pre-Retirement Seminar!

As a LAGERS employer, encouraging  any employee within 5 years of retirement to attend a Pre-Retirement Seminar is one great way to help maximize your investment in your retirement benefit package.  Seminar topics include explanation of the benefit calculation, impacts of timing on a benefit, the retirement process, payout options, taxes, working after retirement, and more!  

Help us make sure your employees know these FREE seminars will be in an area near you soon!  Full-day, afternoon, and evening sessions available: Check out our complete list of events and registration information here.
LAGERS is Now on LinkedIn!

LAGERS has recently launched our LinkedIn page and we want to connect with you!  Stay connected to receive system updates, job postings, industry news, and more!

Click here to visit our page and connect with us!