10-13-154

WSR 10-13-154

PROPOSED RULES

DEPARTMENT OF

RETIREMENT SYSTEMS

[ Filed June 23, 2010, 8:32 a.m. ]

     Original Notice.

     Preproposal statement of inquiry was filed as WSR 10-07-152.

     Title of Rule and Other Identifying Information: WAC 415-02-340 Monthly benefit per $1.00 of accumulation for defined benefit plans and 415-02-350 What are cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) and how are they calculated?

     Hearing Location(s): Department of Retirement Systems

6835 Capitol Boulevard, Conference Room 115, Tumwater, WA, on July 29, 2010, at 1:30 p.m.

     Date of Intended Adoption: July 29, 2010.

     Submit Written Comments to: Ken Goolsby, Rules Coordinator, Department of Retirement Systems, P.O. Box 48380, Olympia, WA 98504-8380, e-mail [e-mail], fax [phone], by 5:00 p.m. on July 29, 2010.

     Assistance for Persons with Disabilities: Contact Ken Goolsby, rules coordinator, by May 20, 2010, TDD [phone], TTY [phone], phone [phone].

     Purpose of the Proposal and Its Anticipated Effects, Including Any Changes in Existing Rules: The purpose of this proposal is to update the department's administrative rules with new administrative factors provided by the state actuary.

     Reasons Supporting Proposal: The office of the state actuary (OSA) has provided the department with new actuarial projections. The department must amend its rules to update administrative factors for the law enforcement officers' and firefighters' retirement system (LEOFF), public employees' retirement system (PERS), public safety employees' retirement system (PSERS), school employees' retirement system (SERS), teachers' retirement system (TRS), Washington state patrol retirement system (WSPRS), and judicial retirement system (JRS).

     Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 41.50.050(5).

     Statute Being Implemented: WAC 415-02-340 is chapter 41.45 RCW; and 415-02-350 is RCW 2.10.170, 41.26.240, 41.26.440, 41.32.489, 41.32.530 (1)(d), 41.32.770, 41.32.845, 41.35.210, 41.37.160, 41.40.188 (1)(c), 41.40.197, 41.40.640, 41.40.840, 43.43.260.

     Rule is not necessitated by federal law, federal or state court decision.

     Name of Proponent: Department of retirement systems, governmental.

     Name of Agency Personnel Responsible for Drafting: Ken Goolsby, P.O. Box 48380, Olympia, WA 98504-8380, [phone]; Implementation and Enforcement: Cathy Cale, P.O. Box 48380, Olympia, WA 98504-8380, [phone].

     No small business economic impact statement has been prepared under chapter 19.85 RCW. These rules have no affect on businesses.

     A cost-benefit analysis is not required under RCW 34.05.328. The department of retirement systems is not one of the named departments in RCW 34.05.328.

June 23, 2010

Ken Goolsby

Rules Coordinator

AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending WSR 06-18-009, filed 8/24/06, effective 9/24/06)

WAC 415-02-340   Monthly benefit per $1.00 of accumulation for defined benefit plans.   (1) How does the department use the information in the table called "monthly benefit per $1.00 of accumulation for defined benefit plans"? The department uses this information to:

     (a) Determine what a future lifetime monthly benefit is worth in present-day dollars;

     (b) Determine the equivalent value of a lump sum when compared with monthly payments; ((and))

     (c) Determine the cost of purchasing additional service credit as described in WAC 415-02-177(7); and

     (d) For TRS Plan 1 only: ((Reduce)) Determine the reduction in the monthly retirement ((allowance)) benefit if some or all of the ((funds)) accumulated contributions in a member's individual account are ((taken in a lump sum payment)) withdrawn at retirement pursuant to RCW 41.32.498.

     (2) What type of information is in this table? The information in this table ((reflects)) is based on the expected duration of lifetime payments for recipients over a range of ages. These values differ by system and plan, and all reflect an assumed rate of return of 8.0%.((³)) The younger a person is at retirement, the longer the anticipated lifetime of payments would be, and the greater the sum required to provide for these payments. The amount of monthly lifetime benefit that a present-day dollar buys increases as the remaining life expectancy of the recipient decreases.

((3	The younger a person is, the longer the anticipated lifetime of payments would be, and the greater the sum required to provide for these payments. The amount of monthly lifetime benefit that a present-day dollar buys increases as the remaining life expectancy of the recipient decreases.))

     (((3)))(a) Example:

     Celina is a 65-year-old PERS Plan 2 member who is eligible to receive $45.00 per month. She wants to know how much money she would receive if she accepted a lump sum payment instead. Celina looks at the row in the table for age 65 in the PERS Plan 2 column and learns that (($0.0072458)) $0.0069798 per month for life ((is equivalent to)) has a present day cash value of one dollar ((in cash)) ($1.00) for this system, plan, and age class. Celina divides $45.00 by ((0.0072458)) 0.0069798 and learns that her lump sum payment would be (($6,210.49.)) $6,447.18.

     (b) Example:

     Fred is a 58-year-old TRS Plan 1 member. The balance in Fred's account is $124,934.00. Upon retirement, Fred chooses to withdraw the $124,934.00 (as only members of TRS Plan 1 can do and still receive a monthly ((allowance)) benefit). From the row in the table for age 58 in the TRS Plan 1 column, Fred learns that (($0.0077573)) $0.0077298 per month for life ((is the equivalent to)) has a present day cash value of one dollar ((in cash)) ($1.00) for this system, plan, and age class. Fred multiplies $124,934.00 by ((0.0077573)) 0.0077298, and learns that his monthly retirement ((allowance)) benefit will be reduced by (($969.15)) $965.71 per month if he withdraws his account balance.

     (((4))) (3) Table((¹)) - Monthly benefit per $1.00 of accumulation for defined benefit plans. The rates contained in this table are effective:

     (a) January 1, 2010, for LEOFF Plan 2.

     (b) September 1, 2010, for LEOFF Plan 1, PSERS Plan 2, PERS Plans 1, 2, and 3, SERS Plans 2 and 3, TRS Plans 1, 2 and 3, and WSPRS Plans 1 and 2.

((Age	LEOFF 1	LEOFF 2	PERS 1	PERS 2/3	PSERS	SERS 2/3	TRS 1	TRS 2/3	WSPRS 2
20	0.0039835	0.0043310	0.0065444	0.0043102	0.0043248	0.0042786	0.0065267	0.0042774	0.0043319
21	0.0039997	0.0043459	0.0065518	0.0043243	0.0043395	0.0042911	0.0065329	0.0042897	0.0043469
22	0.0040168	0.0043615	0.0065598	0.0043390	0.0043549	0.0043042	0.0065396	0.0043027	0.0043626
23	0.0040347	0.0043780	0.0065684	0.0043546	0.0043711	0.0043181	0.0065468	0.0043165	0.0043791
24	0.0040535	0.0043955	0.0065778	0.0043710	0.0043882	0.0043327	0.0065546	0.0043309	0.0043966
25	0.0040734	0.0044139	0.0065878	0.0043884	0.0044063	0.0043481	0.0065630	0.0043462	0.0044150
26	0.0040943	0.0044333	0.0065987	0.0044067	0.0044255	0.0043644	0.0065720	0.0043622	0.0044346
27	0.0041163	0.0044539	0.0066105	0.0044261	0.0044457	0.0043816	0.0065818	0.0043792	0.0044552
28	0.0041396	0.0044757	0.0066232	0.0044466	0.0044671	0.0043997	0.0065924	0.0043971	0.0044771
29	0.0041641	0.0044988	0.0066370	0.0044682	0.0044897	0.0044189	0.0066038	0.0044161	0.0045002
30	0.0041899	0.0045231	0.0066517	0.0044911	0.0045136	0.0044391	0.0066162	0.0044361	0.0045246
31	0.0042171	0.0045488	0.0066676	0.0045152	0.0045388	0.0044605	0.0066295	0.0044572	0.0045503
32	0.0042456	0.0045758	0.0066845	0.0045405	0.0045653	0.0044830	0.0066438	0.0044795	0.0045774
33	0.0042755	0.0046042	0.0067025	0.0045672	0.0045932	0.0045067	0.0066592	0.0045031	0.0046059
34	0.0043069	0.0046340	0.0067217	0.0045952	0.0046225	0.0045316	0.0066756	0.0045278	0.0046358
35	0.0043398	0.0046654	0.0067421	0.0046247	0.0046533	0.0045578	0.0066930	0.0045539	0.0046672
36	0.0043745	0.0046984	0.0067639	0.0046558	0.0046857	0.0045854	0.0067116	0.0045812	0.0047004
37	0.0044109	0.0047333	0.0067873	0.0046886	0.0047200	0.0046145	0.0067315	0.0046101	0.0047353
38	0.0044494	0.0047701	0.0068123	0.0047233	0.0047562	0.0046452	0.0067527	0.0046404	0.0047723
39	0.0044900	0.0048091	0.0068393	0.0047600	0.0047945	0.0046777	0.0067754	0.0046725	0.0048114
40	0.0045330	0.0048505	0.0068682	0.0047988	0.0048351	0.0047120	0.0067998	0.0047065	0.0048529
41	0.0045784	0.0048944	0.0068994	0.0048400	0.0048782	0.0047483	0.0068261	0.0047423	0.0048969
42	0.0046266	0.0049409	0.0069329	0.0048837	0.0049239	0.0047868	0.0068543	0.0047803	0.0049436
43	0.0046777	0.0049904	0.0069690	0.0049300	0.0049724	0.0048275	0.0068846	0.0048206	0.0049932
44	0.0047319	0.0050430	0.0070078	0.0049791	0.0050240	0.0048706	0.0069172	0.0048632	0.0050460
45	0.0047894	0.0050989	0.0070495	0.0050312	0.0050787	0.0049163	0.0069523	0.0049084	0.0051021
46	0.0048504	0.0051584	0.0070945	0.0050866	0.0051370	0.0049647	0.0069900	0.0049562	0.0051617
47	0.0049153	0.0052218	0.0071429	0.0051455	0.0051990	0.0050161	0.0070305	0.0050070	0.0052253
48	0.0049844	0.0052894	0.0071953	0.0052082	0.0052652	0.0050707	0.0070740	0.0050609	0.0052932
49	0.0050581	0.0053617	0.0072519	0.0052752	0.0053358	0.0051287	0.0071210	0.0051183	0.0053657
50	0.0051368	0.0054390	0.0073132	0.0053466	0.0054114	0.0051905	0.0071717	0.0051793	0.0054432
51	0.0052210	0.0055218	0.0073796	0.0054231	0.0054923	0.0052564	0.0072265	0.0052444	0.0055264
52	0.0053104	0.0056098	0.0074510	0.0055044	0.0055783	0.0053265	0.0072858	0.0053139	0.0056147
53	0.0054060	0.0057042	0.0075283	0.0055914	0.0056704	0.0054014	0.0073500	0.0053881	0.0057094
54	0.0055084	0.0058054	0.0076121	0.0056846	0.0057692	0.0054813	0.0074191	0.0054671	0.0058110
55	0.0056182	0.0059141	0.0077029	0.0057845	0.0058752	0.0055668	0.0074939	0.0055515	0.0059201
56	0.0057354	0.0060302	0.0078008	0.0058912	0.0059885	0.0056581	0.0075749	0.0056420	0.0060367
57	0.0058601	0.0061539	0.0079058	0.0060049	0.0061091	0.0057557	0.0076627	0.0057388	0.0061608
58	0.0059937	0.0062865	0.0080192	0.0061265	0.0062384	0.0058600	0.0077573	0.0058422	0.0062940
59	0.0061368	0.0064287	0.0081415	0.0062566	0.0063769	0.0059712	0.0078589	0.0059524	0.0064368
60	0.0062900	0.0065812	0.0082732	0.0063959	0.0065253	0.0060901	0.0079685	0.0060703	0.0065898
61	0.0064540	0.0067444	0.0084149	0.0065448	0.0066842	0.0062172	0.0080866	0.0061963	0.0067538
62	0.0066294	0.0069191	0.0085668	0.0067036	0.0068540	0.0063529	0.0082138	0.0063311	0.0069292
63	0.0068167	0.0071058	0.0087294	0.0068729	0.0070354	0.0064976	0.0083506	0.0064751	0.0071168
64	0.0070165	0.0073050	0.0089030	0.0070531	0.0072287	0.0066517	0.0084970	0.0066285	0.0073169
65	0.0072307	0.0075186	0.0090893	0.0072458	0.0074359	0.0068158	0.0086537	0.0067919	0.0075315
66	0.0074600	0.0077474	0.0092891	0.0074517	0.0076576	0.0069903	0.0088208	0.0069657	0.0077614
67	0.0077052	0.0079921	0.0095028	0.0076715	0.0078946	0.0071765	0.0090000	0.0071514	0.0080073
68	0.0079692	0.0082556	0.0097332	0.0079076	0.0081496	0.0073755	0.0091921	0.0073497	0.0082721
69	0.0082539	0.0085400	0.0099823	0.0081620	0.0084247	0.0075879	0.0093974	0.0075612	0.0085580
70	0.0085622	0.0088479	0.0102523	0.0084366	0.0087223	0.0078162	0.0096186	0.0077883	0.0088676
71	0.0088938	0.0091793	0.0105419	0.0087308	0.0090421	0.0080615	0.0098577	0.0080327	0.0092008
72	0.0092539	0.0095393	0.0108558	0.0090487	0.0093889	0.0083261	0.0101166	0.0082964	0.0095628
73	0.0096446	0.0099300	0.0111955	0.0093919	0.0097647	0.0086093	0.0103939	0.0085784	0.0099559
74	0.0100684	0.0103538	0.0115628	0.0097624	0.0101717	0.0089142	0.0106939	0.0088826	0.0103824
75	0.0105280	0.0108135	0.0119604	0.0101627	0.0106127	0.0092422	0.0110180	0.0092104	0.0108451
76	0.0110267	0.0113124	0.0123914	0.0105960	0.0110908	0.0095951	0.0113678	0.0095637	0.0113472
77	0.0115688	0.0118547	0.0128599	0.0110662	0.0116103	0.0099757	0.0117460	0.0099450	0.0118933
78	0.0121597	0.0124460	0.0133705	0.0115778	0.0121762	0.0103875	0.0121558	0.0103575	0.0124885
79	0.0128051	0.0130919	0.0139278	0.0121352	0.0127939	0.0108344	0.0126012	0.0108049	0.0131389
80	0.0135111	0.0137984	0.0145368	0.0127433	0.0134689	0.0113202	0.0130863	0.0112914	0.0138505
81	0.0142843	0.0145725	0.0152030	0.0134074	0.0142077	0.0118492	0.0136157	0.0118211	0.0146303
82	0.0151240	0.0154130	0.0159279	0.0141293	0.0150101	0.0124242	0.0141938	0.0123986	0.0154769
83	0.0160353	0.0163252	0.0167162	0.0149136	0.0158811	0.0130497	0.0148256	0.0130286	0.0163958
84	0.0170241	0.0173149	0.0175726	0.0157650	0.0168262	0.0137302	0.0155137	0.0137139	0.0173927
85	0.0180966	0.0183884	0.0185016	0.0166876	0.0178509	0.0144701	0.0162628	0.0144589	0.0184740
86	0.0192583	0.0195513	0.0195059	0.0176841	0.0189598	0.0152736	0.0170771	0.0152680	0.0196456
87	0.0205119	0.0208062	0.0205851	0.0187541	0.0201546	0.0161432	0.0179605	0.0161446	0.0209102
88	0.0218550	0.0221507	0.0217347	0.0198932	0.0214321	0.0170791	0.0189147	0.0170905	0.0222656
89	0.0232781	0.0235752	0.0229444	0.0210916	0.0227826	0.0180779	0.0199388	0.0181048	0.0237021
90	0.0247625	0.0250609	0.0241977	0.0223336	0.0241882	0.0191323	0.0210275	0.0191823	0.0252008
91	0.0262789	0.0265782	0.0254717	0.0235975	0.0256220	0.0202301	0.0221705	0.0203134	0.0267317
92	0.0278427	0.0281429	0.0267640	0.0248804	0.0270932	0.0213620	0.0233525	0.0214834	0.0283116
93	0.0294384	0.0297392	0.0280581	0.0261661	0.0285859	0.0225126	0.0245532	0.0226729	0.0299249
94	0.0310505	0.0313517	0.0293389	0.0274402	0.0300847	0.0236656	0.0257646	0.0238739	0.0315562
95	0.0326651	0.0329665	0.0305940	0.0286908	0.0315762	0.0248057	0.0269704	0.0250708	0.0331914
96	0.0342704	0.0345719	0.0318149	0.0299099	0.0330499	0.0259197	0.0281559	0.0262493	0.0348186
97	0.0358572	0.0361585	0.0329987	0.0310951	0.0344988	0.0269980	0.0293096	0.0273986	0.0364281
98	0.0374173	0.0377185	0.0341503	0.0322517	0.0359196	0.0280348	0.0304239	0.0285118	0.0380114
99	0.0389423	0.0392433	0.0352857	0.0333956	0.0373129	0.0290309	0.0314979	0.0295884	0.0395582))

Age	LEOFF 1	LEOFF 2	PERS 1	PERS 2/3	PSERS	SERS 2/3	TRS 1	TRS 2/3	WSPRS 1/ 2
20	.0039630	.0042990	.0066256	.0044560	.0044926	.0043681	.0067741	.0043601	.0043122
21	.0039783	.0043125	.0066400	.0044786	.0045172	.0043857	.0067970	.0043765	.0043261
22	.0039944	.0043266	.0066556	.0045024	.0045432	.0044042	.0068200	.0043935	.0043409
23	.0040113	.0043414	.0066725	.0045277	.0045708	.0044238	.0068425	.0044110	.0043563
24	.0040290	.0043571	.0066909	.0045527	.0045970	.0044446	.0068636	.0044289	.0043727
25	.0040476	.0043735	.0067108	.0045775	.0046219	.0044665	.0068824	.0044471	.0043899
26	.0040672	.0043908	.0067323	.0046023	.0046458	.0044898	.0068973	.0044650	.0044081
27	.0040879	.0044091	.0067558	.0046271	.0046688	.0045144	.0069111	.0044835	.0044273
28	.0041096	.0044283	.0067812	.0046522	.0046911	.0045404	.0069240	.0045024	.0044475
29	.0041325	.0044486	.0068089	.0046765	.0047126	.0045658	.0069358	.0045218	.0044690
30	.0041567	.0044701	.0068389	.0047004	.0047338	.0045907	.0069464	.0045417	.0044917
31	.0041821	.0044927	.0068716	.0047243	.0047552	.0046155	.0069558	.0045622	.0045156
32	.0042089	.0045166	.0069070	.0047485	.0047771	.0046406	.0069647	.0045835	.0045409
33	.0042369	.0045416	.0069454	.0047740	.0048004	.0046662	.0069736	.0046056	.0045674
34	.0042663	.0045679	.0069870	.0048003	.0048250	.0046915	.0069837	.0046292	.0045953
35	.0042972	.0045956	.0070321	.0048278	.0048512	.0047169	.0069950	.0046542	.0046246
36	.0043296	.0046246	.0070452	.0048564	.0048790	.0047428	.0070072	.0046806	.0046555
37	.0043637	.0046552	.0070575	.0048864	.0049084	.0047694	.0070212	.0047088	.0046879
38	.0043996	.0046874	.0070688	.0049179	.0049396	.0047969	.0070369	.0047387	.0047222
39	.0044374	.0047214	.0070789	.0049517	.0049727	.0048272	.0070543	.0047705	.0047584
40	.0044774	.0047574	.0070877	.0049878	.0050077	.0048606	.0070735	.0048043	.0047968
41	.0045196	.0047956	.0070940	.0050264	.0050448	.0048971	.0070945	.0048402	.0048374
42	.0045644	.0048361	.0070990	.0050678	.0050842	.0049369	.0071156	.0048778	.0048805
43	.0046118	.0048791	.0070989	.0051123	.0051264	.0049803	.0071367	.0049171	.0049263
44	.0046620	.0049248	.0070984	.0051581	.0051690	.0050256	.0071581	.0049584	.0049750
45	.0047153	.0049733	.0070975	.0052058	.0052129	.0050731	.0071796	.0050016	.0050267
46	.0047719	.0050249	.0070965	.0052558	.0052584	.0051232	.0072015	.0050470	.0050817
47	.0048320	.0050797	.0070915	.0053071	.0053044	.0051753	.0072216	.0050943	.0051402
48	.0048959	.0051382	.0071400	.0053597	.0053509	.0052297	.0072393	.0051435	.0052026
49	.0049640	.0052005	.0071924	.0054123	.0053965	.0052834	.0072541	.0051948	.0052691
50	.0050366	.0052671	.0072490	.0054649	.0054413	.0053369	.0072655	.0052480	.0053403
51	.0051142	.0053389	.0073101	.0055179	.0054854	.0053893	.0072727	.0053034	.0054164
52	.0051972	.0054158	.0073762	.0055712	.0055289	.0054418	.0072741	.0053604	.0054980
53	.0052853	.0054978	.0074471	.0056258	.0055733	.0054938	.0073367	.0054189	.0055849
54	.0053797	.0055858	.0075233	.0056745	.0056596	.0055433	.0074042	.0054793	.0056779
55	.0054807	.0056802	.0076058	.0057184	.0057498	.0055902	.0074767	.0055411	.0057777
56	.0055889	.0057814	.0076921	.0058127	.0058440	.0056775	.0075550	.0056278	.0058848
57	.0057044	.0058893	.0077823	.0059112	.0059501	.0057690	.0076393	.0057206	.0059992
58	.0058273	.0060042	.0078773	.0060140	.0060619	.0058646	.0077298	.0058208	.0061211
59	.0059589	.0061272	.0079792	.0061247	.0061827	.0059661	.0078266	.0059269	.0062516
60	.0060997	.0062589	.0080922	.0062396	.0063106	.0060720	.0079310	.0060395	.0063915
61	.0062505	.0064002	.0082202	.0063666	.0064504	.0061903	.0080462	.0061608	.0065415
62	.0064118	.0065513	.0083578	.0065016	.0065977	.0063169	.0081703	.0062902	.0067019
63	.0065841	.0067129	.0085052	.0066506	.0067558	.0064550	.0083036	.0064296	.0068736
64	.0067682	.0068853	.0086629	.0068077	.0069257	.0066012	.0084463	.0065775	.0070570
65	.0069647	.0070694	.0088312	.0069798	.0071083	.0067597	.0085990	.0067357	.0072527
66	.0071751	.0072670	.0090119	.0071671	.0073064	.0069302	.0087617	.0069054	.0074626
67	.0074005	.0074781	.0092055	.0073673	.0075182	.0071120	.0089361	.0070866	.0076873
68	.0076417	.0077043	.0094125	.0075807	.0077444	.0073062	.0091231	.0072802	.0079279
69	.0079015	.0079491	.0096357	.0078101	.0079879	.0075136	.0093229	.0074865	.0081872
70	.0081820	.0082138	.0098771	.0080572	.0082505	.0077363	.0095381	.0077080	.0084672
71	.0084859	.0085025	.0101389	.0083241	.0085349	.0079758	.0097709	.0079465	.0087708
72	.0088138	.0088151	.0104201	.0086103	.0088406	.0082342	.0100231	.0082039	.0090984
73	.0091701	.0091561	.0107251	.0089197	.0091722	.0085108	.0102934	.0084793	.0094545
74	.0095574	.0095288	.0110556	.0092540	.0095316	.0088090	.0105863	.0087767	.0098417
75	.0099786	.0099363	.0114135	.0096154	.0099213	.0091299	.0109028	.0090974	.0102629
76	.0104363	.0103798	.0118015	.0100065	.0103437	.0094759	.0112453	.0094437	.0107207
77	.0109340	.0108658	.0122231	.0104305	.0108023	.0098495	.0116161	.0098178	.0112186
78	.0114761	.0113957	.0126816	.0108908	.0113009	.0102538	.0120181	.0102226	.0117609
79	.0120673	.0119743	.0131812	.0113914	.0118439	.0106928	.0124555	.0106622	.0123525
80	.0127133	.0126071	.0137267	.0119372	.0124365	.0111699	.0129318	.0111400	.0129990
81	.0134199	.0132991	.0143230	.0125327	.0130838	.0116897	.0134518	.0116607	.0137063
82	.0141935	.0140556	.0149754	.0131831	.0137915	.0122554	.0140201	.0122286	.0144806
83	.0150329	.0148749	.0156858	.0138907	.0145603	.0128713	.0146417	.0128485	.0153209
84	.0159449	.0157725	.0164602	.0146610	.0153963	.0135431	.0153203	.0135243	.0162339
85	.0169344	.0167437	.0173034	.0154990	.0163048	.0142750	.0160601	.0142601	.0172243
86	.0180074	.0178057	.0182194	.0164082	.0172909	.0150708	.0168660	.0150605	.0182984
87	.0191721	.0189719	.0192109	.0173915	.0183603	.0159338	.0177414	.0159287	.0194643
88	.0204278	.0202253	.0202755	.0184464	.0195120	.0168612	.0186859	.0168647	.0207214
89	.0217668	.0215551	.0214081	.0195682	.0207399	.0178513	.0197002	.0178688	.0220619
90	.0231832	.0229787	.0225995	.0207480	.0220372	.0188950	.0207759	.0189334	.0234798
91	.0246573	.0244483	.0238330	.0219700	.0233859	.0199836	.0219061	.0200515	.0249552
92	.0261621	.0259752	.0250904	.0232169	.0247641	.0211073	.0230763	.0212095	.0264610
93	.0277078	.0275207	.0263675	.0244841	.0261746	.0222518	.0242665	.0223884	.0280075
94	.0292794	.0291108	.0276431	.0257513	.0275992	.0233979	.0254667	.0235783	.0295796
95	.0308761	.0307651	.0289073	.0270087	.0290311	.0245376	.0266650	.0247675	.0311768
96	.0324718	.0323798	.0301473	.0282442	.0304507	.0256481	.0278402	.0259359	.0327726
97	.0340569	.0340193	.0313572	.0294522	.0318500	.0267305	.0289917	.0270827	.0343576
98	.0356440	.0357060	.0325325	.0306287	.0332303	.0277699	.0300994	.0281894	.0359444
99	.0372127	.0373073	.0336697	.0317712	.0345762	.0287711	.0311701	.0292630	.0375126

((¹This table is based on the 1995-2000 actuarial experience study monthly benefit per $1.00 of accumulation defined benefit (DB) single life pension.))

[Statutory Authority: RCW 41.50.050(5), chapter 41.45 RCW. 06-18-009, § 415-02-340, filed 8/24/06, effective 9/24/06; 02-18-048, § 415-02-340, filed 8/28/02, effective 9/1/02.]

     Reviser's note: The typographical errors in the above section occurred in the copy filed by the agency and appear in the Register pursuant to the requirements of RCW 34.08.040.
AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending WSR 08-20-068, filed 9/25/08, effective 10/26/08)

WAC 415-02-350   What are cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) and how are they calculated?   (1) What is a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA)? The value of a retiree's, beneficiary's, or ex-spouse's monthly ((allowance)) benefit may change in the years after retirement because of inflation or other factors. A COLA automatically adjusts benefits based on the cost of living changes.

     (2) What retirement plans include COLAs? With one exception, all retirement plans administered by the department provide one or more of the types of COLAs listed in subsection (3) of this section. The judges retirement fund (chapter 2.12 RCW) does not provide a COLA.

RETIREMENT SYSTEM	PLAN	COLA TYPE	STATUTE
JUDICIAL		Base	RCW 2.10.170
LEOFF	Plan 1	Base	RCW 41.26.240
LEOFF	Plan 2	Base	RCW 41.26.440
PSERS		Base	RCW 41.37.160
PERS	Plan 1	Uniform	RCW 41.40.197
PERS	Plan 1	Optional Auto	RCW 41.40.188 (1)(c)
PERS	Plan 2	Base	RCW 41.40.640
PERS	Plan 3	Base	RCW 41.40.840
SERS	Plans 2 and 3	Base	RCW 41.35.210
TRS	Plan 1	Uniform	RCW 41.32.489
TRS	Plan 1	Optional Auto	RCW 41.32.530 (1)(d)
TRS	Plan 2	Base	RCW 41.32.770
TRS	Plan 3	Base	RCW 41.32.845
WSPRS	Plans 1 and 2	Base	RCW 43.43.260

     (3) What are the types of COLAs?

     (a) Optional Auto COLA

     The optional auto COLA((, if offered under your plan,)) is an option you may select at retirement. If you choose this option, your monthly retirement ((allowance)) benefit will be actuarially reduced at retirement, and you will receive an automatic adjustment in your monthly retirement ((allowance)) benefit each year for the rest of your life. The optional auto COLA has no age requirement and is limited to a maximum of three percent of your monthly ((allowance)) benefit.

     (b) Base COLA

     The base COLA is applied in July (April for LEOFF Plan 1) of each year and adjusts the benefit based on the change in the Consumer Price Index for the Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton, Washington area for all plans except the Judicial Retirement System which is based on the U.S. City Average. Base COLAs are limited to a maximum of three percent of the monthly ((allowance)) benefit for all affected plans except LEOFF Plan 1. During a calendar year, the base COLA is payable to:

     (i) Retirees who have been retired for at least one year by July 1st of each year (April 1st for LEOFF Plan 1); and

     (ii) Beneficiaries or eligible ex-spouses who receive benefit payments from an account that, by July 1st, has paid a monthly benefit for at least one year (April 1st for LEOFF Plan 1).

     (c) Uniform COLA

     The uniform COLA is an annual adjustment to the benefit, based on years of service. The annual adjustment for the uniform COLA is independent from any other COLA. During a calendar year, it is payable to:

     (i) Retirees who, by July 1st, have received a retirement benefit for at least one year and who, by December 31st, will have reached age sixty-six or older;

     (ii) Beneficiaries and eligible ex-spouses who receive benefit payments from an account that, by July 1st, has paid a monthly benefit for at least one year and who, by December 31st, will have reached age sixty-six or older; and

     (iii) Retirees, beneficiaries, or eligible ex-spouses of any age whose retirement benefit is calculated under the minimum formula.

     (4) Who is responsible for determining the amount of the COLA? The office of the state actuary (OSA) bases the percentages of the COLAs on the Consumer Price Index. The Index is based on wages earned by urban wage earners and clerical workers in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton, Washington area. OSA provides this information to the department annually.

[Statutory Authority: RCW 41.50.050(5). 08-20-068, § 415-02-350, filed 9/25/08, effective 10/26/08; 08-01-079, § 415-02-350, filed 12/17/07, effective 1/17/08. Statutory Authority: RCW 41.50.050(5), 2.10.170, 41.26.240, 41.26.440, 41.37.160, 41.40.197, 41.40.188 (1)(c), 41.40.640, 41.40.840, 41.35.210, 41.32.489, 41.32.530 (1)(d), 41.32.770, 41.32.845, 43.43.260. 06-18-009, § 415-02-350, filed 8/24/06, effective 9/24/06. Statutory Authority: RCW 41.50.050(5) and chapter 41.45 RCW. 03-06-044, § 415-02-350, filed 2/27/03, effective 4/1/03.]