Updated October 30, 2026. Quick answer: Washington LEOFF Plan 2 retirees who have been retired at least a year by July 1 get an automatic July COLA that follows the Seattle-area CPI and is capped at 3%, with inflation above 3% banked. LEOFF Plan 1 retirees get an uncapped COLA each April 1 with no banking. The 2026 tables give Plan 2 3.00%, 2.55% or 0.00% by retirement date and Plan 1 2.55%, 6.25% or 0.00%. The 2027 percentages are not published.
Plan 2: the rule in the statute
RCW 41.26.440 reads: “The value of the ratio obtained shall be the annual adjustment to the original retirement allowance and shall be applied beginning with the July payment.” “In no event, however, shall the annual adjustment: (a) Produce a retirement allowance which is lower than the original retirement allowance; (b) Exceed three percent in the initial annual adjustment; or (c) Differ from the previous year’s annual adjustment by more than three percent.”
Plan 1: the rule in the statute
RCW 41.26.240 reads: “Effective April 1 of 1971, and of each succeeding year, every retirement allowance which has been in effect for more than one year shall be adjusted to that dollar amount which exceeds its original dollar amount by the percentage difference which the department finds to exist between the index for the previous calendar year and the index for the calendar year prior to the effective retirement date”. The DRS Plan 1 page says: “LEOFF Plan 1 retirees will continue to receive their annual, uncapped COLA based on the Seattle-Area Consumer Price Index (CPI) in April each year.”
The 2026 tables
The DRS COLA page prints these Plan 2 results for July 2026: “July 2, 2025-July 1, 2026 0.00% January 1, 2025-July 1, 2025 2.55% Prior to January 1, 2025 3.00%”. It prints these Plan 1 results for April 2026: “April 2, 2025-March 31, 2026 0.00% January 1, 2025-April 1, 2025 2.55% April 2, 2024-December 31, 2024 6.25% Prior to April 2, 2024 2.55%”.
Caps and banking
The DRS page states the Plan 2 rule: “The maximum annual COLA you can receive for most DRS plans is 3%. If inflation that year is above 3%, the additional amount is applied to future adjustments (this is called COLA banking).” For Plan 1 it says: “Maximum COLA: LEOFF Plan 1 Base COLA does not have a maximum and does not include COLA Banking.”
What the documents do not say
The DRS page labels the Plan 2 table as effective July 1, 2026 and the Plan 1 table as effective April 1, 2026, but does not name the document that set them.
Where 2027 stands
The 2027 LEOFF COLA percentages are not published: the DRS page shows only the 2026 tables, and the 2026 average index must exist before they can be calculated.
Common mistakes
- Applying the Plan 2 cap to Plan 1. The DRS page says the Plan 1 base COLA has no maximum and no banking.
- Expecting both plans to adjust in the same month. Plan 1 adjusts April 1 and Plan 2 adjusts in July.
- Reading a 0.00% row as an error. It applies to a recent retirement date in the table.
Related: Washington LEOFF retirement decisions, how public pension decisions work, and whether Washington taxes pensions.
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Answer againSources
- Washington State Legislature, RCW 41.26.440 Postretirement cost of living (LEOFF Plan 2): app.leg.wa.gov
- Washington State Legislature, RCW 41.26.240 Increases or decreases in retirement allowances (LEOFF Plan 1): app.leg.wa.gov
- Washington Department of Retirement Systems, LEOFF Plan 1: www.drs.wa.gov
- Washington Department of Retirement Systems, COLA: Cost of Living Adjustment: www.drs.wa.gov
- Related official page (not quoted): IRS Tax Topic 410, Pensions and annuities: www.irs.gov
- Related official page (not quoted): IRS Tax Topic 411, Pensions: the General Rule and the Simplified Method: www.irs.gov
Read from the primary documents linked above on October 30, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer or the IRS itself is the right place to confirm anything consequential.