Updated October 30, 2026. Quick answer: South Carolina Police Officers Retirement System (PORS) retirees and surviving annuitants get an annual benefit adjustment each July 1 equal to the lesser of 1% of the annual benefit or $500. State law fixes it, so the July 2027 adjustment follows the same rule. The PEBA handbook says the earliest a retiree can receive it is the second July 1 after retirement. Under the statute, retirees receiving Medicaid nursing home care get none that year, with an exception for a retiree discharged and not readmitted within six months.
The rule in the statute
The South Carolina Code reads: “Effective July 1, 2012, and annually thereafter, the retirement allowance received by retirees and their surviving annuitants pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, inclusive of Section 9-11-140 must be increased by the lesser of one percent or five hundred dollars.” “Only those retirees and their surviving annuitants in receipt of an allowance on July first preceding the effective date of the increase are eligible to receive the increase.” “Any increase in allowance granted pursuant to this section must be included in the determination of any subsequent increase.”
The exception
The statute adds: “retirees and beneficiaries under the Police Officers Retirement System receiving Medicaid (Title XIX) sponsored nursing home care as of June thirtieth of the prior fiscal year shall receive no increase in retirement benefits during the current fiscal year.” “However, a retired employee affected by the above prohibition may receive the scheduled increase if he is discharged from the nursing home and does not require admission to a hospital or nursing home within six months.”
How PEBA describes it
The PORS handbook says: “Per current state law, effective each July 1, eligible PORS retirees are to receive an annual benefit adjustment of 1% of their annual benefit up to a maximum of $500 per year.” “The earliest you can receive a benefit adjustment is the second July 1 after your date of retirement.” The actuarial valuation describes the timing differently: “At each July 1 after their first full year of retirement, annuitants will receive a benefit adjustment equal to the lesser of 1.00% of their retirement benefit or $500 per annum.”
A worked example
As computed illustrations (not source figures), a retiree with an annual benefit of $30,000 (invented, for the computation) would get 1%, which is $300 (computed) a year, below the cap. A retiree with an annual benefit of $60,000 (invented, for the computation) would compute to $600 (computed), so the cap holds the increase to $500.
What the documents do not say
The handbook and the valuation describe first eligibility differently, so both are quoted above. No document read records the amount actually paid to an individual in July 2026, and no handbook for the following fiscal year is archived, so the 2027 statement rests on the statute.
Where 2027 stands
The July 2027 PORS adjustment is fixed by the same statute: it is a set annual adjustment, not a vote, unless the General Assembly amends the law.
Common mistakes
- Expecting a CPI-linked COLA. The statute fixes the adjustment at the lesser of 1% or $500.
- Expecting the adjustment on the first July 1 after retiring. The handbook says the earliest is the second July 1.
- Applying the PORS rule to the South Carolina Retirement System. This page covers PORS only.
Related: South Carolina PORS retirement decisions, how public pension decisions work, and whether South Carolina taxes pensions.
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Answer againSources
- South Carolina Legislature (scstatehouse.gov), South Carolina Code of Laws Title 9 Chapter 11 (Police Officers Retirement System): www.scstatehouse.gov
- SC Public Employee Benefit Authority (PEBA), Police Officers Retirement System Member Handbook, Fiscal year 2027: www.peba.sc.gov
- SC PEBA, PORS Actuarial Valuation Report as of July 1, 2025: www.peba.sc.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.