Updated October 30, 2026. Quick answer: Arkansas APERS pays a COLA every July 1: 3% for retirees first hired before July 1, 2022 who have been retired at least 12 months, and the lesser of 3% or the CPI-W change for those first hired after. The fiscal year 2025 annual report describes the standing 3% annual increase every July 1. The 2027 figure is not set yet as its own published number.
Hired before July 1, 2022: a flat 3%
The APERS Member Handbook says that every July 1, retirees first “hired prior to July 1, 2022”. who have been retired at least 12 months “receive a 3% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA)”. The handbook adds that DROP participants also qualify “for at least 12 months”.
Hired after July 1, 2022: the lesser of 3% or CPI-W
For newer hires the handbook says: “the COLA amount will be the lesser of 3% or the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W)”. “as determined by the United States Department of Labor over the one-year period ending in the December immediately preceding”. the redetermination. The annual financial report describes the rule for the newer group, with its own wording of the hire date (members first hired on or after July 1, 2022, where the handbook says after July 1, 2022): “the redetermined amount is the monthly benefit payable as of the preceding July 1 increased by the lesser of three percent (3%), or the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index”.
The latest increase
The fiscal year 2025 annual report ties benefit growth to “the 3% increase in the annual cost of living adjustment that happens every year on July 1”. The sources read do not state the exact date of the most recent increase.
Where 2027 stands
The 2027 APERS COLA is not published as its own figure yet: the 3% rule and the CPI-W cap are standing plan rules, and this page updates when APERS publishes the 2027 figure. No board vote is described in the documents read, since the plan sets the COLA by rule. The APERS website pages were not readable, so no current notice was checked, and the statute section is not named in the documents read. If you are planning retirement income, count on the standing rule for your hire date and check APERS for the published 2027 figure.
A worked example
As a computed illustration (not a source figure), a pre-2022 hire with a monthly benefit of $2,000 (invented, for the computation) would see $60 (computed) a month added. A post-2022 hire would see 3% or less, depending on the CPI-W change.
Common mistakes
- Giving every APERS retiree the flat 3%. Retirees first hired after July 1, 2022 get the lesser of 3% or the CPI-W change.
- Expecting a COLA before 12 months of retirement. For retirees first hired before July 1, 2022 the handbook requires at least 12 months, and DROP participants qualify after 12 months in DROP; the handbook’s sentence on later hires states no waiting period.
- Treating the 3% as a vote each year. The handbook states it as a plan rule, so no annual board vote is described.
Related: Arkansas APERS retirement decisions, how public pension decisions work, and whether Arkansas taxes pensions.
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Answer againSources
- Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System, APERS Member Handbook: apers.org
- Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System, APERS Annual Comprehensive Financial Report FY2025: apers.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.