Updated October 30, 2026. Quick answer: The Delaware State Employees’ Pension Plan has no automatic COLA: increases are only granted upon legislative approval. The latest is the increase effective July 1, 2026, which is 2% for pensions effective on or before June 30, 2006 and 1% for those after that and on or before June 30, 2021. A 2027 increase is not set yet.
No automatic COLA
The Summary Plan Description states: “Pension law does not provide for automatic post-retirement increases. Increases are only granted upon legislative approval.” Each increase is enacted as a subsection of 29 Del. C. 5532, by pension effective date.
The July 1, 2026 increase
The codified section, subsection (t), provides that a pension “that was effective on or before June 30, 2006, and is payable on July 1, 2026, shall be increased effective July 1, 2026, by 2%.” For the later group: a pension “that was effective on or before June 30, 2021, but after June 30, 2006, and is payable on July 1, 2026, shall be increased effective July 1, 2026, by 1%.” Together these are the latest increase in the code. It also provides: “These increases shall continue to be paid through June 30, 2027, and every fiscal year thereafter, provided that funds are appropriated by the General Assembly”.
Earlier increases and who is left out
The code shows earlier steps by pension date, such as: a pension “that was effective on or before June 30, 2004, and is payable on July 1, 2024, shall be increased effective July 1, 2024, by 2%.” Pensions effective after June 30, 2021 are not named in subsection (t). The June 2025 Board of Pension Trustees minutes describe a proposed bill as “For pensions before 06/30/2005 the increase is 3%. For pensions after 06/30/2005 and before 07/01/2020 the increase is 2%. This bill has been assigned to House Appropriations Committee.” but the sources read do not show that it passed, so this page asserts no 2025 increase.
Where 2027 stands
No 2027 increase is set yet: the codified section ends with the July 1, 2026 increase, and a new one would take legislation, so this page updates when the General Assembly passes it. The wording about payment through June 30, 2027 continues an existing increase, subject to appropriation, and is not a new 2027 percentage.
A worked example
As a computed illustration (not a source figure), a pension of $2,000 (invented, for the computation) a month in the older group would rise by $40 (computed) a month, and the same pension in the later group would rise by $20 (computed) a month.
Common mistakes
- Expecting a yearly raise. The plan has no automatic increase, and each one is a separate act of the General Assembly.
- Reading the payment through June 30, 2027 as a new 2027 raise. It continues the July 2026 increase, subject to appropriation.
- Applying one percentage to every pension. The increase depends on the pension’s effective date.
Related: Delaware State Pension retirement decisions, how public pension decisions work, and whether Delaware taxes pensions.
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Answer againSources
- Delaware Office of Pensions, State Employees’ Pension Plan Summary Plan Description: open.omb.delaware.gov
- Delaware General Assembly, 29 Del. C. 5532 Increases in pensions (Title 29 Chapter 55 Subchapter II): delcode.delaware.gov
- Delaware Office of Pensions, State Board of Pension Trustees minutes, June 27, 2025: open.omb.delaware.gov
- 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.