Updated October 21, 2026. Quick answer: North Carolina’s retirement systems say LGERS cost-of-living adjustments may be granted after retirement but are not guaranteed. The LGERS Board of Trustees may vote an increase when investment gains cover its cost, and the General Assembly can overrule it. The system’s list shows no LGERS increase or supplement for 2023 through 2026, and a 2% one-time supplement in 2022.
What this covers
The retirement systems publish a page on retirement allowance increases, with a policy statement and a year-by-year table for each system. This page follows the LGERS section only. For the wider choices, see North Carolina LGERS retirement decisions and public pension retirement decisions.
The rule in the system’s words
The LGERS section says “After retirement, cost-of-living adjustments may be granted, but are not guaranteed.” On who decides: “LGERS retirement benefit increases or supplements may be periodically granted by the LGERS Board of Trustees when the LGERS employer contribution rate would not need to increase to pay for the increase.”
“The Board reviews this information, and if there are sufficient investment gains to cover the additional actuarial accrued liabilities created by providing the increase, the Board may vote to grant an increase for LGERS retirees.” The Board does not have the last word: “However, the Board’s decision can be overruled by the General Assembly enacting legislation to provide for a larger or smaller increase for LGERS retirees.”
How it differs for state employees
The page treats TSERS differently. For TSERS it says “It is up to the discretion of the General Assembly to enact legislation to provide for an increase for TSERS retirees.” The two systems have separate tables, and this page does not use the TSERS one.
The LGERS table, recent years
These rows are quoted from the LGERS table on the page. Older years, back to 1981, are in the table itself.
| Years | What the LGERS table prints |
|---|---|
| 2023 to 2026 | “2026 no increase or supplement 2025 no increase or supplement 2024 no increase or supplement 2023 no increase or supplement” |
| 2022 | “2022 2% one-time supplement” |
| 2017 to 2021 | “2021 no increase or supplement 2020 no increase or supplement 2019 no increase or supplement 2018 no increase or supplement 2017 no increase or supplement” |
| 2016 | “2016 0.105% increase” |
| 2015 | “2015 0.625% increase” |
The limits and timing the page sets
A separate LGERS section of the same page sets limits on what the Board can grant: “The Board may grant permanent increases to retirement allowances under G.S. 128-27(k) up to a maximum amount of four percent, or one-time supplemental payments under G.S. 128-27(k1) up to a maximum amount of four percent of the annual pension, provided that the percentage increase does not exceed the year-over-year increase in the national Consumer Price Index and that the cost of the increase to the pension fund is paid for with investment gains.” On timing it says “the decision is made at the January board meeting each year”, and that “any permanent increase in retirement allowances becomes effective in July of the same year, and any one-time supplemental payment is issued in October of the same year to individuals who were receiving monthly benefits as of September.” The page prints no figure for a future year. A listed year with no increase is a fact about that year, not a forecast.
Edition
The text on this page is written for members of the Local Governmental Employees’ Retirement System (LGERS). Teachers and state employees belong to a different system (TSERS) with its own provisions, and North Carolina law controls over this summary. The page was read as the retirement systems served it on 2026-10-21, when it showed the note “This page was last modified on 10/21/2026”. The state tax treatment of the pension itself is on whether North Carolina taxes pensions.
Common mistakes
- Reading the TSERS table as the LGERS one. The two tables differ: the TSERS table lists “2023 4% one-time supplement” while the LGERS table lists no increase for 2023.
- Counting on an increase every year. The page says increases are “not guaranteed”.
- Treating a one-time supplement as a permanent raise. The table labels 2022 a “2% one-time supplement”.
Related: North Carolina LGERS retirement decisions, and public pension retirement decisions.
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Answer againSources
- North Carolina Retirement Systems, Retirement Allowance Increases (LGERS and TSERS): www.myncretirement.gov
- Related official page (not quoted): North Carolina General Statutes, Chapter 128, Article 3 (Retirement System for Counties, Cities and Towns): www.ncleg.gov
Read from the pension system handbooks linked above on October 21, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a pension system or a qualified professional is the right place to confirm anything consequential.