Atlanta General Employees Pension Plan: Options, Refund (2026)

Updated October 7, 2026. Quick answer: The City of Atlanta General Employees’ Pension Plan pays a lifetime monthly pension, with no lump-sum retirement option described in the documents read. Normal retirement is age 60 with 10 Years of Service (2005 Amendment) or age 62 with 10 Years (2025 Amendment). Survivor coverage pays 75% to an eligible beneficiary, funded by an extra 1% of pay or, under the 2025 Amendment, a reduced pension elected at retirement. Taking a refund of contributions forfeits all further plan benefits, with 20% federal withholding unless rolled over.

Atlanta firefighters belong to a separate city fund with its own rules: Atlanta firefighters pension decisions.

Which plan and which employees this page covers

Atlanta runs several pension plans. This page covers one: the City of Atlanta General Employees’ Pension Plan, as described in its Summary Plan Description (“Effective January 1, 2025”, updated May 2026) and the plan administrator’s participant pages, read on October 7, 2026. The Police Officers’ and Firefighters’ plans have their own descriptions and are not covered. The Summary Plan Description says “The City of Atlanta General Employees’ Pension Plan is a defined benefit pension plan” and that “Plan participants do not have individual accounts in the Plan”, so the choices below concern timing, survivor coverage and leaving, not investing a balance.

Benefits depend on the Amendment that applies, sorted by hire date and pay grade: “IMPORTANT: The applicable amendment to which you belong determines the specific benefits that you are eligible to receive from the Plan”. This page covers three. The 1978 Amendment covers full-time General Employees hired between April 1, 1978 and December 31, 2000 who did not elect the 2005 Amendment. The 2005 Amendment covers, among others, those hired between September 1, 2005 and June 30, 2010 at pay grade 18 or below. The 2025 Amendment covers full-time employees hired at pay grade 18 or below (pay grade 9 or below if hired on or after January 1, 2025) on or after September 1, 2011 who did not elect the 2005 Amendment, or on or after January 1, 2025. The 1962 Plan in the appendix is not worked through.

Full-time General Employees hired between January 1, 2001 and August 31, 2005, or after that at pay grade 19 or above, may be in the separate defined contribution plan instead, which this page does not cover. The ordinance text was not read, and the Summary Plan Description says “In the event this booklet conflicts with City ordinances and State laws governing the Plan, the provisions of the City ordinances and State laws will be followed”. State tax questions are on Georgia retirement taxes and does Georgia tax pensions.

The choices, side by side

The plan pays a monthly pension for life. The decisions are when to start, whether to leave and claim a vested pension later, survivor coverage, a refund instead, and buying back service.

No lump-sum retirement option or deferred retirement option plan appears in the documents read. The retirement application does ask whether the employee plans to “take a vacation to run out your accrued vacation time” or “take a lump-sum payout”. That is a vacation payout from the City, and the Summary Plan Description says “any final vacation payout received at the time of your separation from the City will be included when determining your Average Monthly Salary”. Those hired before 2025 in the hybrid plan keep a separate balance: “If you worked for the City before 2025, you keep your Defined Contribution balance as of December 31, 2024”. See pension lump sum versus monthly annuity break-even.

When the pension starts and how it is figured

Normal retirement is “Age 60 and have completed at least 15 Years of Service” (1978), “Age 60 and have completed at least 10 Years of Service” (2005) and “Age 62 and have completed at least 10 Years of Service” (2025). The formulas are “2.0% x Years of Service x Average Monthly Salary” for the 1978 Amendment (“limited to 100% of Average Monthly Salary”) and “2.5% x Years of Service x Average Monthly Salary” for the 2005 Amendment (“limited to 80% of Average Monthly Salary”). The 2025 Amendment uses a tiered formula capped at “limited to 70% of Average Monthly Salary”. Average Monthly Salary is “the average of your highest 36 consecutive months of earnings divided by 36” for most Amendments, and for the 2025 Amendment “the average of your highest 60 consecutive months of earnings divided by 60”. Overtime is out: “any overtime pay you received was excluded from the calculation of your Average Monthly Salary”.

A computed example from assumed figures, not an Atlanta figure: a 2005 Amendment member retiring at 60 with an assumed 20 Years of Service and an assumed $4,000 Average Monthly Salary gets 2.5% x 20 x $4,000, a computed $2,000 a month. The plan’s own example reads “2.5% x 25 x $3,000 = $1,875”.

The 2025 formula is tiered: 1.0% per Year of Service as of 12/31/2024, 1.6% for service up to 10 years, then “plus 2.0% x YOS between 11 and 20 years” and “plus 2.4% x YOS over 20 years”. A computed example from assumed figures: with an assumed 4 Years of Service on 12/31/2024 and 24 in all, the multiplier is 1.0% x 4 + 1.6% x 6 + 2.0% x 10 + 2.4% x 4, a computed 43.2%, so an assumed $3,500 Average Monthly Salary yields a computed $1,512 a month.

Early retirement and 30-and-out

Early retirement is “Any age and have completed at least 15 Years of Service” (1978), “Any age and have completed at least 10 Years of Service” (2005) and “Age 52 and have completed at least 10 Years of Service” (2025), with a reduction. Under the 1978 and 2005 Amendments, “there is an age penalty of 6% for the first five years you are under the Normal Retirement Age of 60 and then an additional 3% age adjustment for every year you are more than five years under the Normal Retirement Age of 60”. Under the 2025 Amendment, “there is an age penalty of 6% for every year you are under the Normal Retirement Age of 62”.

A computed example from assumed figures, not an Atlanta figure: a 2025 Amendment member retiring at an assumed age 57 is 5 years under 62, a computed 30% reduction. On an assumed $2,000 normal benefit that removes a computed $600, leaving a computed $1,400 a month. For a 1978 or 2005 member at an assumed age 53 (7 years under 60), the reduction is 5 x 6% plus 2 x 3%, a computed 36%, or a computed $720 off an assumed $2,000, leaving a computed $1,280.

The penalty can be avoided. For the 2005 and 2025 Amendments, with at least 30 Years of Service a member “may retire at any age without an age adjustment penalty”. The 30-and-out rule is not stated for the 1978 Amendment in the pages read.

Leaving before retirement: vested pension versus refund

“You qualify for a vested monthly pension benefit if you terminate employment after earning at least 5 Years of Service.” “The amount of your vested monthly pension beginning at age 60 (or age 62 if under the 2025 Amendment) is determined by multiplying your Normal Monthly Pension Benefit amount, determined as of your termination date, by your vested percentage.” For the 2005 and 2025 Amendments the vesting table lists 25% at 5 Years of Service, rising 5% a year to 45% at 9, and 100% at 10 or more; the 1978 Amendment reaches 50% at 10 and 100% at 15 or more. Below 5 years the table says “0%, Refund of contributions only”.

A computed example from assumed figures: at 7 Years of Service the vested percentage is 35%, so an assumed Normal Monthly Pension Benefit of $1,800 gives a computed $630 a month, starting at the age the Amendment sets. Members under the 1978 and 2005 Amendments who leave less than 100% vested “will become 100% vested in their pension benefit if they defer commencement of payments of their pension benefit until age 65”. The pages read give no equivalent for the 2025 Amendment.

Taking a refund of contributions

“If you terminate your employment with the City or with Atlanta Public Schools, then you may apply for a refund of your contributions to the pension plan.” The cost: “If you elect a refund, however, you forfeit all further benefits from your pension plan.” The refund ends the pension rights for the years refunded. See pension refund versus leaving it.

Refunds carry interest: “refunds of employee pension contributions will include interest at the rate of 5% per year on all contributions on deposit as of December 31, 1985, and each December 31st thereafter”. Members who leave without a vested benefit face a deadline: “Any participant that terminates employment without a vested benefit must apply for a refund of their contributions to the Plan within five years of termination or any interest earnings will be forfeited.”

“To receive a refund, you must file an “Application for a Pension Refund” with the Plan Administrator.” “Your contributions and any applicable interest will be refunded to you after you have been placed in inactive status on your department payroll and within 3 months following the issuance of your final salary check.” The pages read do not say whether a spouse’s consent is needed.

On tax, the Summary Plan Description says “you incur a tax liability on all amounts which have not been previously taxed” and “all interest paid to you is taxable”. For a rollover, “you must roll any taxable amounts over into an Individual Retirement Account or another employer plan that will accept the rollover within a specified time period”, and “You cannot roll over any amounts refunded to you on which you have already paid taxes”. On withholding: “federal law requires that 20% of that amount be withheld and paid to the Internal Revenue Service to be applied to your federal income taxes”. It also warns: “You may also incur a 10% early withdrawal penalty on any amounts that have not been previously taxed if you receive your pension refund payment before you reach age 59 ½”.

A computed example from an assumed $10,000 taxable refund paid to the member, not an Atlanta figure: 20% is a computed $2,000 withheld, leaving a computed $8,000 in cash. See 20% withholding on a pension lump sum.

The survivor choice

Who counts is narrow: “An “eligible beneficiary” under the Plan is your legal spouse or registered domestic partner, or an unmarried child (natural or legally adopted) under the age of 18 (or under the age of 23 if a full-time student).” “You are required to provide beneficiary coverage, and pay the applicable contribution rate, if you have an eligible beneficiary.” “Under the 1978 and 2005 Amendments, you pay for beneficiary coverage by paying an additional 1% in employee contributions during your active employment.” “Under the 2025 Amendment, you pay for beneficiary coverage at the time of your retirement by electing an actuarially reduced pension annuity to pay for the cost of the 75% survivor annuity upon your death.” The plan’s flyer puts it as “You can choose a reduced benefit at retirement to provide for a qualified beneficiary to receive 75% of your pension benefit in the event of your death”.

For retirees, the amount is “75% of the amount you were receiving will be paid to your eligible primary beneficiary, normally your spouse”. A computed example from assumed figures: if a 2025 Amendment member elects a reduced pension of an assumed $1,800 a month, 75% of $1,800 is a computed $1,350 a month to the survivor. The reduction is not published in the documents read, so the $1,800 is an assumed input. Compare single-life versus joint-and-survivor pension and survivor benefit with a government pension.

Under the 1978 and 2005 Amendments the cost is paid in payroll: “If you have an eligible beneficiary and you are covered by the 1978 or 2005 Amendments, then you are required to contribute at the higher percentage (13% of your Basic Salary after October 31, 2011)”. Adding a beneficiary later costs more: “Your contribution rate to the pension fund on current and future earnings will increase by 1%”. “You must also pay an additional 1% for all your Years of Service prior to adding a beneficiary”. Survivor benefits continue: “A spouse becomes ineligible to receive a pension benefit only upon death”, and “survivors are allowed to remarry without losing their survivor benefits”.

If the member dies before retiring

Members eligible to retire at death leave their beneficiary, under the 1978 and 2005 Amendments, “75% of the amount of pension annuity you would have been entitled to receive had you retired on the date of your death”; under the 2025 Amendment, 75% of the greater of 2% times Years of Service times the 36-month Average Monthly Salary times the vesting percentage, and the pension annuity the member would have been entitled to receive had they retired on the date of death. Otherwise: “If you die before you become eligible for a monthly pension benefit, or if you have no eligible pension beneficiary when you die, then the Plan will pay your beneficiary or estate the amount by which your total employee contributions exceed the benefits already paid out by the Plan.” The beneficiary designation form draws a line by hire date: for those hired before 9/1/2011, “this designation applies to the monthly benefit due to spouse/minor children upon your death (or your refund if no monthly benefit is due)”; for those hired after, “this designation only applies to your refund of contributions”.

Applying and what cannot be undone

“To begin receiving your pension benefits, you must apply for them.” The administrator says “The retirement process ideally begins three months (90 days) before your last day of work”, and the checklist says to “Request and complete Retirement Application at least 2 months before retirement”. Approval is a committee step: “Once your application has been approved by the Administrative Committee, you will begin to receive your monthly pension benefits”.

A refund forfeits further benefits. Under the 1978 and 2005 Amendments the survivor cost was paid through payroll. For the 2025 Amendment the survivor election is made at retirement, and the pages read do not say whether it can be changed after the first payment. A retiree who returns as a regular employee finds that “your retirement benefits will be stopped and frozen until the end of your reemployment”.

Buying back refunded service and other service

A member who earlier withdrew contributions can recover the credit: “you must pay back the amount you withdrew upon termination plus any interest accrued”. “Interest will be charged at the rate of 7% per year for the period of time the amounts you must repay were not in the pension fund.” “You have 60 months to make the necessary payments.” A three-year line applies: “If you are rehired and commence the buy back of your previous distribution within three years” of leaving and the member returns under the Amendment in effect at termination; otherwise “you will be treated like a new hire”. See the pension buyback calculator.

Part-time and temporary service can be bought: “You may purchase service credit under the Plan for your part-time or temporary service with the City or Atlanta Public Schools.” The credit “will count towards calculating the amount of your pension benefit and vesting but will not count for eligibility purposes”. For service elsewhere, “To claim prior service, you must file an application with the Investment Board and wait 5 years”. “A maximum of 10 years of prior service credit may be granted.”

Cost-of-living adjustments

The Summary Plan Description says “the amount of your pension benefit will be adjusted annually for the cost of living”, with limits: “up to 3% of your benefit amount in any one year if you retire under the 1978 and 2005 Amendments or up to 2% of your benefit amount in any one year if you retire under the 2025 Amendment”. For 1978 and 2005 retirees, “this excess amount above 3% will be banked and applied to a year where the change in the cost of living adjustment is less than 3%”. Also, “your pension benefit will not be reduced below the amount to which you were entitled when you retired”. A computed example from an assumed $2,000 pension: a 2% increase adds a computed $40 a month. That is the maximum; the actual change follows the cost-of-living measure.

What the IRS adds on tax

A refund or lump sum from a public pension is a distribution, so the IRS rules apply on top of the Atlanta General Employees’ Pension Plan’s own. On withholding, the IRS says that a taxable eligible rollover distribution paid to you “is subject to mandatory income tax withholding (generally at a rate of 20%), even if you intend to roll it over later”, and that if you roll it over yourself “you’ll have to add funds from other sources equal to the amount withheld”. The Summary Plan Description describes refunds and rollovers on the same basis, including the 20% federal withholding and the rollover option for taxable amounts. The rollover clock, if the money is paid to you: “you have 60 days from the date you receive it to roll it over to another eligible retirement plan”.

On early distributions the IRS says “the law imposes a 10% additional tax on certain early distributions from certain retirement plans”. Its list of exceptions includes “Distributions made to you after you separated from service with your employer after attainment of age 55” and “Distributions made to a qualified public safety employee from a governmental plan” if the employee separated from service during or after the year they attained age 50 or 25 years of service under the plan, whichever is earlier. Whether an exception fits a particular refund depends on your own plan and facts, so confirm it with a tax preparer before you take one.

What this page could not settle

• The pages read do not describe a lump-sum retirement option, a partial lump sum or a DROP.
• The pages read do not state how much the 2025 Amendment’s survivor election reduces the pension, only that the reduction is actuarial, or whether the election can be changed afterward.
• The pages read do not say whether spousal consent is needed for a refund.
• The beneficiary designation form cuts off at 9/1/2011 hire, while the Summary Plan Description sorts people by Amendment (including a July 2010 to October 2011 group that could elect the 2005 Amendment); the administrator at (888) 594-0216 can confirm which survivor rule applies to a September or October 2011 hire.
• The Atlanta Code of Ordinances provisions were not read; the Summary Plan Description says the ordinance controls if the two conflict.
• The 1962 Plan, the Police and Firefighters’ plans, the Atlanta Public Schools portion, the defined contribution plan and the Special Tax Notice were not worked through.
• The 30-and-out rule is not stated for the 1978 Amendment, and no deferral-to-65 rule is stated for the 2025 Amendment.
• The Summary Plan Description is a May 2026 version; later changes would not be reflected.

Common mistakes

• Taking a refund without weighing what it ends; electing a refund forfeits all further benefits from the plan.
• Assuming survivor coverage is automatic; it is paid for through an extra 1% of pay (1978 and 2005 Amendments) or a reduced pension elected at retirement (2025 Amendment).
• Missing the five-year refund deadline after leaving without a vested benefit; interest earnings are forfeited.
• Reading another member’s rules as your own; vesting, ages, formulas and COLA caps depend on the applicable Amendment.
• Expecting a full refund check; 20% of a taxable amount paid directly to the member is withheld unless rolled over.

Related on this site: Georgia retirement taxes, does Georgia tax pensions, pension refund versus leaving it, single-life versus joint-and-survivor pension, pension buyback calculator, 20% withholding on a pension lump sum, pension lump sum versus monthly annuity break-even, survivor benefit with a government pension and public pension retirement decisions by system.

Sources

• City of Atlanta Pension Plans (plan administrator site for the City of Atlanta pension plans), Participant Services (web page, read October 7, 2026): https://coa.sba-inc.com/participant-services/
• City of Atlanta General Employees’ Pension Plan, Summary Plan Description for the General Employees’ Pension Plan (effective January 1, 2025, updated May 2026, version 2026.05): https://coa.sba-inc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/COA-General-Employees_-Pension-Plan-Summary-Plan-Description-SPD-2026.05-Final.pdf
• City of Atlanta Pension Plans, Retirement Checklist and Application for Retirement (version date 10/29/2024): https://coa.sba-inc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/COA-Application-for-Service-Retirement-full-app.pdf
• City of Atlanta Pension Plans, 2025 Retirement Plan Quick Reference Flyer (last updated April 1, 2025): https://coa.sba-inc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/2025-Plan-Flyer-Ongoing-20250226.pdf
• City of Atlanta Pension Plans, Info Sheet for Beneficiary Application and Beneficiary Application (version date 10/29/2024): https://coa.sba-inc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/COA-Application-for-Beneficiary-full-app-w-Info-Sheet-1.pdf
• IRS, Topic no. 413, Rollovers from retirement plans (irs.gov): https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc413
• IRS, Topic no. 558, Additional tax on early distributions from retirement plans other than IRAs (irs.gov): https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc558

Sources: the primary documents linked above, read on October 7, 2026. General information from each system’s own published materials, not legal, tax or financial advice. Your own member statement and the system’s current rules decide your benefit, and a pension counsellor at the system or a fee-only adviser is the right place to confirm anything consequential.