Updated October 21, 2026. Quick answer: The Indiana 1977 Fund handbook says retired members and survivors get a July 1 adjustment tied to the Consumer Price Index. The handbook rounds the increase, caps it and says the benefit is not reduced when the CPI falls. Check the handbook and your own member account for how it applies to you.
What this section covers
The Indiana Public Retirement System handbook for the 1977 Police Officers’ and Firefighters’ Retirement Fund covers cost of living in a short section headed “Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA)”. It opens: “A COLA for retired 1977 Fund members is based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI).”
For the wider choices in this system, see Indiana 1977 Fund retirement decisions.
Who it applies to
The section speaks to “retired 1977 Fund members” and, in the next sentence, to “members and survivors”. It also says when a first increase can begin: “may not be increased until July of the year following the calendar year of the first monthly benefit to the 1977 Fund member or survivor.”
The handbook prints no separate tier test for this section. Members in a DROP have a related note, covered below.
The rules, one by one
Each row below is a rule from the COLA section or the related notes, in the handbook’s own words.
| Rule | What the handbook says |
|---|---|
| What the COLA is based on | “A COLA for retired 1977 Fund members is based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI).” |
| Which index | “The CPI used is the United States city average prepared by the United States Department of Labor” |
| When and how it is applied | “Monthly retirement benefits to members and survivors are adjusted on each July 1 by the average of the CPI for January, February, and March as compared to the same months in the preceding year.” |
| The first adjustment | “a 1977 Fund member or survivor’s monthly benefit may not be increased until July of the year following the calendar year of the first monthly benefit to the 1977 Fund member or survivor.” |
| Rounding and the cap | “The increase is rounded to the nearest 0.1% and cannot be greater than 3%.” |
| No reduction | “a 1977 Fund retired member or survivor’s monthly benefit may not be reduced due to a decrease in the CPI.” |
| 13th check | “The 13th check does not apply to the 1977 Fund.” |
| DROP frozen benefit | “There is no COLA added to the DROP Frozen Benefit if the first-class officer salary increases during the member’s DROP period.” The statute treats the COLA differently. Section 13(b) of the Indiana Code chapter on the 1977 fund DROP (IC 36-8-8.5) says “A cost of living adjustment to the monthly benefit of a member of the 1977 fund is determined under the provisions of IC 36-8-8, as applied after: (1) the member’s DROP retirement date; or (2) the date the member retires because of a disability as provided under section 16.5(d) of this chapter.” |
The figures the handbook prints
The rounding and the cap sit in one running sentence: “The increase is rounded to the nearest 0.1% and cannot be greater than 3%.” The timing sits in another: “Monthly retirement benefits to members and survivors are adjusted on each July 1”.
What to do and where to look
The handbook describes how the adjustment works but names no form to file for it. Check the amount and date on your own member account. If you are weighing DROP, read the handbook’s note that “There is no COLA added to the DROP Frozen Benefit” alongside how DROP plans work in general. If you return to work after a disability, the handbook speaks of the COLA that 1977 Fund members “received during your period of reemployment.” The statute attaches that adjustment to a reinstated disability benefit and states conditions. Section 13.5(l) of IC 36-8-8 says “Notwithstanding section 12.3 of this chapter and any other provision of this section, a member who: (1) has had a covered impairment; (2) recovers and returns to active service with the department; and (3) within two (2) years after returning to active service has an impairment that, except for section 12.3(b)(3) of this chapter, would be a covered impairment; is entitled to the benefit under this subsection if the impairment described in subdivision (3) results from the same condition or conditions (without an intervening circumstance) that caused the covered impairment described in subdivision (1).” It adds “The member is entitled to receive the monthly disability benefit amount paid to the member at the time of the member’s return to active service plus any adjustments under section 15 of this chapter that would have been applicable during the member’s period of reemployment.” Survivor choices are covered in single life versus joint and survivor pensions, and the wider picture in public pension retirement decisions.
Edition
This page reads Indiana Public Retirement System, 1977 Police Officers’ and Firefighters’ Retirement Fund Member Handbook (Effective 07/01/2025), the current file the Indiana Public Retirement System served on October 21, 2026. Check the edition and your own tier or plan on your own member account; the handbook’s text controls over this summary.
Common mistakes
- Expecting an increase in the first year of retirement. The handbook says a benefit “may not be increased until July of the year following the calendar year of the first monthly benefit”.
- Expecting a rise above the limit when prices jump. The handbook says “The increase is rounded to the nearest 0.1% and cannot be greater than 3%.”
- Expecting the benefit to fall when prices fall. The handbook says “may not be reduced due to a decrease in the CPI.”
Related: Indiana 1977 Fund retirement decisions, how DROP plans work in general, single life versus joint and survivor pensions, and public pension retirement decisions.
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Answer againSources
- Indiana Public Retirement System, 1977 Police Officers’ and Firefighters’ Retirement Fund Member Handbook (Effective 07/01/2025): www.in.gov
- Related official page (not quoted): INPRS 1977 Fund member forms and information: www.in.gov
Read from the pension system handbooks linked above on October 21, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a pension system or a qualified professional is the right place to confirm anything consequential.