Updated October 30, 2026. Quick answer: The Registrars of Voters Employees’ Retirement System of Louisiana (ROVERS) has no automatic COLA: the board of trustees votes on each one. Its last COLA that can be quoted took effect July 1, 2024, and the board’s June 2026 minutes record a July 1, 2026 increase. A 2027 COLA is not set yet.
How a ROVERS COLA is granted
R.S. 11:2073 says the board is “authorized to use interest earnings on investments of the system in excess of normal requirements, as determined by the actuary, to provide an annual cost of living adjustment payable monthly for members retired at least two years, in an amount not to exceed three percent of the original benefit.” It continues: “Such benefits shall be paid only when funds are available from this source, and payments shall be made in such manner and in such amount as is determined by the board of trustees”.
This is the older wording as the legislature’s site prints it. A 2026 act, Act 227, amends that section, and its text could not be quoted cleanly here, so this page does not describe its changes.
Timing and the two year limit
At the March 2026 meeting the minutes record: “He explained that currently the Board was allowed to grant a COLA once every two years and that the last COLA was granted effective July 1, 2024.” They add: “the Board decided to delay their decision regarding granting a COLA until the June meeting since at that time they would possibly know whether the proposed legislation to grant COLAs based on the current benefit had passed.”
The actuary’s valuation says: “Under R.S. 11:243(G)(3), the earliest date that the system may grant a COLA is July 1, 2026.” It records the earlier increase this way: “The system granted a COLA as of July 1, 2024, using funds from the funding deposit account.” Whether Act 227 removes the once every two years limit is not clear from the sources.
The latest increases
The valuation’s description of the 2024 increase reads: “COLA paying 3% of the retiree or survivor’s original benefit if benefits have been paid for at least 2 years prior to July 1, 2024.”
The June 4, 2026 agenda lists: “d. Discussion and action related to possible COLA X. Director’s Report”. The signed minutes of that meeting are a scanned image with no searchable text, so they cannot be quoted. Read by eye, they record a COLA of 3% for retirees retired a minimum of two years, plus a supplemental 2% for retirees age 65 and older who have been retired a minimum of one year, effective July 1, 2026. That reading has not been checked by text extraction.
Where 2027 stands
The 2027 COLA is not set yet: no source sets or proposes one, and this page updates when the ROVERS Board of Trustees votes on one. The ROVERS home page lists the next regular meeting as December 14, 2026. No source says whether a COLA will be on that agenda.
Common mistakes
- Expecting a COLA every year. The board votes on each one, and in the March 2026 minutes the actuary said the Board was currently allowed to grant a COLA once every two years.
- Assuming a COLA is coming in July 2027 because one started in July 2026. No source sets or proposes a 2027 increase.
- Counting a retiree who retired less than two years before the start date. The statute ties the COLA to members retired at least two years.
Related: Louisiana Registrars of Voters retirement decisions, how public pension decisions work, and whether Louisiana taxes pensions.
Find the right next step for your situation
About how much do you have invested? Pick the range that fits; your next step appears immediately below.
Talk to an advisor about retirement income
For U.S. investors with $250,000 or more in investable assets. WiserAdvisor is an independent service matching you with 2 to 3 vetted advisers. Its form asks for your ZIP code and answers to a few questions; a match is not guaranteed.
Free to request, with no obligation to hire. By submitting, you consent to calls, texts and emails from WiserAdvisor and up to three advisers. Advisers pay for introductions.
Clear Money Guide may earn a referral payment for a qualifying completed form. An introduction is not a Clear Money Guide recommendation.
Opens on WiserAdvisor’s site in a new tab.
Explore advisor help with retirement income
Considering financial advice? Request an adviser introduction with no obligation to hire.
The form is run by Kapitalwise, our advisor-matching partner. Requesting an introduction is free. Submitting the form shares your contact details with advisers, so expect calls and texts. Advisers pay for introductions. Clear Money Guide may earn a referral payment for a qualifying submitted form, whether or not you hire anyone. A match is not guaranteed.
The Kapitalwise form opens here; you stay on this page.
What happens when you press the button
It asks about nine questions: age, investable assets, location; then your name, email and phone number, and verifies the phone by text. Nothing loads and nothing reaches Kapitalwise until you press the button.
Prefer flat-fee or hourly pricing instead? Compare ranges here.
Answer againSources
- Louisiana Legislature, R.S. 11:2073 Cost-of-living increase (text as printed on legis.la.gov): legis.la.gov
- Registrars of Voters Employees’ Retirement System, ROVERS Signed and Approved Meeting Minutes, March 11, 2026: www.larovers.com
- Registrars of Voters Employees’ Retirement System (Curran Actuarial Consulting), ROVERS Actuarial Valuation Report 2025 (June 30, 2025): www.larovers.com
- Registrars of Voters Employees’ Retirement System, ROVERS Board Agenda, June 4, 2026: www.larovers.com
- Registrars of Voters Employees’ Retirement System, ROVERS home page: www.larovers.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.