Updated October 30, 2026. Quick answer: The Colorado FPPA Statewide Retirement Plan does not promise a COLA: the FPPA Board of Directors sets one each year, if it grants one at all. The latest on the FPPA table is the 2026 row, a 0.50% COLA, which would be paid with the October benefit payment. A 2027 COLA is not set yet.
How the COLA is set
FPPA states: “COLAs in the Statewide Retirement Plan are not guaranteed and are not a fixed amount. They are set annually by the FPPA Board of Directors. COLAs may be any amount, up to the rate of inflation (Measured by CPI-W) or 3%, whichever is greater.” On timing it says: “COLAs are evaluated each June, and if approved by the Board of Directors, are effective with payees’ October benefit payment.”
Who is eligible and who is left out
FPPA sets a waiting period: “Members become eligible for COLAs and One-Time Lump Sums once they have received retirement benefits for at least 12 calendar months prior to October 1.” This page covers the Statewide Retirement Plan Defined Benefit Component, which FPPA describes this way: “The Defined Benefit Component (SRP: DB) covers all full-time firefighters, police officers, and other first responders of participating departments in Colorado hired on or after April 8, 1978.” FPPA also runs Old Hire Plans, Volunteer Firefighter Plans, the Statewide Death and Disability Plan and the Colorado Springs New Hire Plan, and this page does not cover them.
The latest increase and the lump sum
FPPA’s table of recent Statewide Retirement Plan COLAs lists, for each year, the CPI-W inflation rate, the approved COLA and the approved One-Time Lump Sum. Its last two rows read: “2025 2.90% 0.27% 2.63% 2026 2.6% 0.50% 2.10%”. That puts the 2026 COLA at 0.50% and the 2026 One-Time Lump Sum at 2.10%. The page does not print the date of the Board vote, and the October 2026 timing follows from FPPA’s stated October policy rather than from a sentence about 2026. A One-Time Lump Sum is a separate payment, and FPPA explains it this way: “One-Time Lump Sum amounts are calculated by subtracting the approved COLA percentage from the CPI-W inflation rate for the previous year.”
Where 2027 stands
No 2027 COLA is set yet: the FPPA Board of Directors evaluates COLAs each June, and this page updates when the Board publishes its 2027 decision. The FPPA page ends with the 2026 row and shows no 2027 figure. The statute behind the plan was not part of the pages read, so this page relies on FPPA’s own description of its policy.
A worked example
As a computed illustration (not a source figure), a payee with an annual benefit of $20,000 (invented, for the computation) would see a 0.50% COLA add $100 (computed) a year, and a 2.10% One-Time Lump Sum pay $420 (computed) once, without raising the monthly benefit.
Common mistakes
- Expecting a COLA every year. FPPA says the Statewide Retirement Plan has never guaranteed COLAs or One-Time Lump Sums.
- Counting the One-Time Lump Sum as part of the monthly benefit. FPPA calls it a single payment that does not affect the regular monthly amount.
- Assuming a new retiree gets a COLA the next October. FPPA requires at least 12 calendar months of benefits before October 1.
Related: Colorado FPPA retirement decisions, how public pension decisions work, and whether Colorado taxes pensions.
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Answer againSources
- Fire and Police Pension Association of Colorado, Cost of Living Adjustments: SRP: www.fppaco.org
- Fire and Police Pension Association of Colorado, Statewide Retirement Plan Defined Benefit Component brochure: fppaco.org
- 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.