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81 City of Elk River Notes to Basic Financial Statements NOTE 12 – PENSION PLANS (CONTINUED) Public Employees' Retirement Association (Continued) B. Benefits Provided PERA provides retirement, disability, and death benefits. Benefit provisions are established by state statute and can only be modified by the state Legislature. Vested, terminated employees who are entitled to benefits, but are not receiving them yet, are bound by the provisions in effect at the time they last terminated their public service. When a member is vested, they have earned enough service credit to receive a lifetime monthly benefit after leaving public service and reaching an eligible retirement age. Members who retire at or over their Social Security full retirement age with at least one year of service qualify for a retirement benefit. General Employees Plan Benefits General Employees Plan requires three years of service to vest. Benefits are based on a member's highest average salary for any 5 successive years of allowable service, age, and years of credit at termination of service. Two methods are used to compute benefits for General Plan members. Members hired prior to July 1, 1989, receive the higher of Step or Level formulas. Only the Level formula is used for members hired after June 30, 1989. Under the Step formula, General Plan members receive 1.2% of the highest average salary for each of the first 10 years of service and 1.7% for each additional year. Under the Level formula, General Plan members receive 1.7% of the highest average salary for all years of service. For members hired prior to July 1, 1989, a full retirement benefit is available when age plus years of service equal 90 and normal retirement age is 65. Members can receive a reduced requirement benefit as early as age 55 if they have three or more years of service. Early retirement benefits are reduced by .25% for each month under age 65. Members with 30 or more years of service can retire at any age with a reduction of .25% for each month the member is younger than age 62. The Level formula allows General Plan members to receive a full retirement benefit at age 65 if they were first hired before July 1, 1989 or a t age 66 if they were hired on or after July 1, 1989. Early retirement begins at age 55 with an actuarial reduction applied to the benefit. Benefit increases are provided to benefit recipients each January. The postretirement increase is equal to 50% of the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) announced by the SSA, with a minimum increase of at least 1% and a maximum of 1.5%. The 2024 annual increase was 1.5%. Recipients that have been receiving the annuity or benefit for at least a full year as of the June 30 before the effective date of the increase will receive the full increase. Recipients receiving the annuity or benefit for at least one month but less than a full year as of the June 30 before the effective date of the increase will receive a reduced prorated increase. Police and Fire Plan Benefits Benefits for the Police and Fire Plan members hired before July 1, 2010, are vested after three years of service. Members hired on or after July 1, 2010, are 50% vested after five years of service and 100% vested after 10 years. After five years, vesting increase by 10% each full year of service until members are 100% vested after 10 years. Police and Fire Plan members receive 3% of highest average salary for all years of service. Police and Fire Plan members receive a full retirement benefit when they are 55 and vested, or when their age plus their years of service equals 90 or greater if they were first hired before July 1, 1989. Early retirement starts at age 50, and early retirement benefits are reduced by 0.417% each month members are younger than age 55. Page 271 of 637