Updated October 30, 2026. Quick answer: The Louisiana Firefighters’ Retirement System does not pay an automatic yearly COLA to retirees (the Board votes each one), and a 2027 increase is not set yet. The latest increase was a 3% COLA on July 1, 2026 for retirees and survivors retired as of June 30, 2025. A new one needs another Board vote within the statute’s limits, so there is no 2027 effective month yet.
How an FRS COLA is granted
R.S. 11:2260 says: “The board of trustees is authorized to use interest earnings on investments of the system in excess of normal requirements, as determined by the actuary, to provide annual supplemental monthly cost-of-living adjustments.” On the cap, it says: “The annual supplemental monthly cost-of-living adjustment shall not be more than three percent in any year. Such benefits shall be paid only when funds are available from this source”.
A second statute adds a funding test. R.S. 11:243(G) says no increase may be given “unless either the funds for such increase are provided as authorized from a credit balance in that system’s funding deposit account or the actuary for the system and the legislative auditor certify that the funded ratio of the system meets the requirements of one or more of the Subparagraphs in Paragraph (3) of this Subsection”. One of the three funded-ratio tests reads: “The system has a funded ratio of eighty percent or more and has not granted a benefit increase to retirees, survivors, and beneficiaries in either of the two most recent fiscal years.”
The system’s actuary describes the Board’s practice in its December 7, 2025 valuation report: “Although the Board of Trustees has authority to grant ad hoc Cost-of-living Adjustments (COLAs) under limited circumstances, these COLAs have not been shown to have a historical pattern, the amounts of the COLAs have not been paid relative to a defined cost-of-living or inflation index, and there is no evidence to conclude that COLAs will be granted on a predictable basis in the future.”
A new retiree can also choose a separate route. The same report’s summary of plan provisions says: “A member may also elect to receive an actuarially reduced benefit which provides for an automatic 2 ½% annual compound increase in monthly retirement benefits based on the reduced benefit and commencing on the later of age fifty-five or retirement anniversary; this COLA is in addition to any ad hoc COLAs which are payable”.
Who is eligible and who is left out
This page covers retirees, widows and survivors of the statewide Firefighters’ Retirement System of Louisiana. MERS and MPERS are separate systems and are not covered here. The FRS retirees page says: “You must be retired for one full year to receive a cost-of-living raise.”
The 2026 COLA reached only those named in the newsletter, retirees and survivors who retired as of June 30, 2025. A member who retired later was not part of it.
The latest increase: 2026
The FRS newsletter of July 2026 reports: “The board of trustees provided a 3% COLA for retirees and survivors (retired as of June 30, 2025) on July 1, 2026.”
The newsletter does not say whether the 3% applies to the current benefit, while the statute says the supplemental adjustment is computed on the current retirement or survivor’s benefit. The Board’s vote itself is not in a readable source, so this page relies on the newsletter. Before that, the system’s own valuation says “since the system last granted a cost-of-living increase on January 1, 2015 which is not within the three most recent fiscal years, we have determined that for Fiscal 2025 the plan meets the criteria set forth in R. S. 11:243 for granting a cost-of-living increase.”
Not every year qualifies. A 2024 FRS memo said: “FRS failed to earn the 6.9% assumed rate of return on an actuarial basis, resulting in no “excess interest” for the fiscal year. Therefore, the system does not qualify for the payment of a cost-of-living increase.”
Where 2027 stands
The 2027 Firefighters’ Retirement System COLA is not set yet: the Board of Trustees must vote one within the statutory limits, and this page updates when FRS publishes a 2027 COLA.
The sources read contain no 2027 announcement. The valuation that tested the funding criteria for the 2026 increase was issued in December, so any new test would follow the next annual valuation. Whether the frequency rules allow another increase in 2027 after the July 1, 2026 grant is not stated in any source read, so this page draws no conclusion on it.
Common mistakes
- Expecting a COLA every year. R.S. 11:2260 lets the Board pay its supplemental COLA from excess interest earnings, and only when funds are available.
- Assuming the 2026 increase means one in 2027. The system’s actuary says these COLAs have not been shown to have a historical pattern.
- Counting on a COLA in your first year. You must be retired for one full year to receive one.
Related: Louisiana Firefighters’ Retirement System retirement decisions, how public pension decisions work, and whether Louisiana taxes pensions.
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Answer againSources
- Louisiana State Legislature (legis.la.gov), R.S. 11:2260 Administration: www.legis.la.gov
- Louisiana State Legislature (legis.la.gov), R.S. 11:243 Cost-of-living adjustments; permanent benefit increases; restrictions; funding criteria: www.legis.la.gov
- Firefighters’ Retirement System of Louisiana, FRS Actuarial Valuation, June 30, 2025: lafrs.org
- Firefighters’ Retirement System of Louisiana, FRS Retirees page (FAQ): lafrs.org
- Firefighters’ Retirement System of Louisiana, FRS newsletter (Redline), Volume No. 6, July 2026: lafrs.org
- Firefighters’ Retirement System of Louisiana, COLA Memo 2024 (COLA’s, Cost of Living Allowance): lafrs.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.