Updated October 30, 2026. Quick answer: The Parochial Employees’ Retirement System of Louisiana does not pay an automatic COLA. Its Board of Trustees can approve one when the law’s funding and timing tests are met. The latest was a 2.5% COLA effective January 1, 2025. A 2027 COLA is not set yet, and the Board cannot start one before January 1, 2027.
How a COLA is granted
PERS says in its own brochure: “It is important to note that cost of living adjustments are not automatic or guaranteed. Statutory requirements must be met and our Board of Trustees must approve such action before payment can be made.” Louisiana law, R.S. 11:1937, allows a COLA for retirees “aged sixty-two or over, who have been retired at least one year, in an amount not to exceed two and one-half percent for each year from the effective date of the benefit”. It adds: “Such cost-of-living adjustment shall be paid only when such excess funds are available and in such manner and amount as determined by the board.”
The tests and who is covered
The Winter 2026 newsletter explains: “A COLA is allowed only when the prior year’s investment earnings exceed expected earnings by enough to cover the cost of the COLA, and the statutory timing limits are satisfied.” The system’s actuary adds that “To grant a COLA, the system must meet the frequency criteria specified in R.S. 11:243(G)(3).”
This page covers retirees and survivors of Plan A and Plan B, the plans the 2025 valuation reports on. Plan C is not covered here. A separate option, an actuarially reduced benefit with a built in annual COLA, is a member election and is not covered either. Whether the funded ratio tests are met for a 2027 grant was not worked out here.
The latest COLA
The valuation, dated June 13, 2026, records the last grant: “January 1, 2025 COLA paying 2.5% of current benefit to all retirees and survivors of Plan A and Plan B who had received benefits for at least one year and were at least 62 years old.” It also explains how the Board has treated COLAs: “prior to prefunding from the Funding Deposit Account these COLAs were not shown to have a historical pattern, the amounts of the COLAs were not set relative to a defined cost-of-living or inflation index, and there was no evidence to conclude that COLAs would be granted on a predictable basis in the future.” Of the years since, it says: “Since 2016, the Board has elected to utilize funds set aside in the system’s Funding Deposit Accounts to prefund COLAs.” “The consistent approach to setting the employer rate above the minimum and depositing funds into the Funding Deposit Account has increased the frequency of COLAs.” The vote date for the January 1, 2025 COLA could not be read from the Board minutes, so this page does not give one.
Where 2027 stands
No 2027 COLA is set yet: only the Board of Trustees can approve one, and this page updates when the Parochial Employees’ Retirement System publishes a Board decision. The valuation says: “Since the Board last granted a cost-of-living increase effective January 1, 2025, pursuant to R.S. 11:243(G)(3) the Board may not authorize a COLA pursuant to this actuarial valuation to begin prior to January 1, 2027.” That is a limit, not a promise. The agenda for the Board meeting of “Board of Trustees Meeting-September 12, 2026”. lists no COLA item, and it gives the next meeting as “December 8, 2026, 9:00 AM”. The Winter 2026 newsletter says only that no further COLA can be approved until a later year; the valuation is the later and more specific document.
Common mistakes
- Reading the January 1, 2027 date as a scheduled raise. The valuation says the Board may not start one earlier than that, and nothing says it will.
- Assuming the 2.5% is a yearly rate. The statute sets a ceiling for an increase the Board chooses to approve, and the valuation says that before prefunding began, COLAs were not set relative to an inflation index.
- Applying this page to every Parochial member. R.S. 11:1937 names Plan C as well, but the valuation this page relies on reports on Plan A and Plan B, and the member-elected reduced benefit option is a separate arrangement.
Related: Louisiana Parochial Employees’ Retirement System retirement decisions, how public pension decisions work, and whether Louisiana taxes pensions.
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Answer againSources
- Parochial Employees’ Retirement System, PERS Summary brochure (Cost of Living Allowance for Retirees): img1.wsimg.com
- Louisiana State Legislature, La. R.S. 11:1937 (Cost-of-living adjustment): www.legis.la.gov
- Parochial Employees’ Retirement System, PERS Newsletter, Winter 2026: img1.wsimg.com
- PERS (posted on persla.org; actuary’s report to the Board), Parochial Employees’ Retirement System of Louisiana Annual Funding Valuation, December 31, 2025: img1.wsimg.com
- Parochial Employees’ Retirement System, PERS Board of Trustees meeting agenda, September 12, 2026: img1.wsimg.com
- 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.