MPERS Member Update

March 17, 2026

IMPORTANT UPDATE FOR NOPD OFFICERS:

Retention & Recruitment Payments and Your Retirement Benefits



MPERS is providing this update to keep NOPD officers informed regarding the retention and recruitment incentive payments made by the City of New Orleans earlier this year.

Key Point for Officers

If the court determines that these payments must be treated as earnable compensation for retirement purposes, retirement contributions will likely have to be withheld from a future paycheck and sent to MPERS.

Importantly, if that happens, the withholding would likely occur during a normal payroll period, when officers do not have a large one-time payment like the retention and recruitment incentive to offset the deduction.

Officers are encouraged to avoid spending those funds or set them aside in a separate account so they are not caught off guard if the City is required to withhold the retirement contributions again from a future paycheck.



MPERS is sharing this information so officers can plan ahead if the court ultimately requires retirement contributions to be withheld.

What Happened With the January Payments

When the City made the January retention and recruitment incentive payments, employee retirement contributions were initially withheld from some officers’ checks.

It is MPERS’ understanding that those withholdings were later returned to the employees by the City.



However, the City of New Orleans currently contends that these payments are not earnable compensation under Louisiana law, and that dispute is now before the court for resolution.

This Is Already Affecting Some Retirees

Because the January payments have not been reported and funded as earnable compensation, MPERS cannot include those payments in retirement benefit calculations at this time.

Since retirement benefits are based on an officer’s average final compensation, excluding these payments can reduce the monthly pension calculation. This also affects DROP participants because the monthly retirement benefit credited to the DROP account is based on the same average final compensation calculation.

As a result, retirement benefits for some officers who recently retired—and the amounts credited to some DROP accounts—are currently being calculated without those payments.

Recent calculations include examples such as the following:

• One retiree is expected to receive about $129 less per month for the joint lives of the retiree and their spouse.

• Another retiree is expected to receive about $277 less per month for the duration of the retiree's life.

For some officers participating in DROP, excluding these payments can reduce the amount credited to their DROP accounts by as much as $16,000 over the course of the DROP period.

If the payments are ultimately reported and funded properly, those retirement benefits including DROP deposits can be corrected.



Some retirees are already receiving retirement benefits that were calculated using retention and recruitment payments made before January which were reported and contributed on as earnable compensation. The City’s current position has created uncertainty for those retirees (whose benefits may have to be reduced) and for officers who are planning their retirements.

Upcoming Court Hearing

MPERS has filed a motion for partial summary judgment asking the court to rule on whether retention and recruitment payments must be treated as earnable compensation.

The hearing on that motion is currently scheduled for:

April 15, 2026

9:30 a.m.

19th Judicial District Court

Division 24 – Judge Eboni Johnson-Rose



A separate bench trial involving leave conversion and its impact on retirement calculations is currently scheduled for April 2, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. in the 19th Judicial District Court, Division 24, before Judge Eboni Johnson-Rose. Like the retention and recruitment payment issue, the leave conversion case also affects the calculation of an officer’s average final compensation used to determine retirement benefits.

Why MPERS Is Involved

MPERS is a fiduciary legally responsible for protecting the retirement system and the officers and retirees it serves. Under Louisiana law and the state constitution, MPERS must ensure that retirement contributions required by law are properly reported and paid into the system.

That responsibility requires MPERS to apply the law uniformly to all participating employers to protect the retirement benefits of both current officers and retirees.



MPERS will continue to keep officers and retirees informed as the court resolves this matter. The Board of Trustees’ responsibility is to protect the retirement system so that every officer and retiree receives the benefits earned under Louisiana law. MPERS understands that officers relied on how these payments were handled and regrets the uncertainty this situation has created for officers and retirees.