Updated October 30, 2026. Quick answer: Louisiana MPERS does not pay an automatic yearly COLA to retirees (the board approves each one), and a 2027 increase is not set yet. The latest increase was a 3% permanent COLA paid beginning with the July 1, 2022 benefit payments. MPERS says it hopes to have enough funds to pay some form of COLA in 2028 or 2029, so nothing is promised for 2027.
How an MPERS increase is granted
Louisiana law ties any increase to a dedicated account. R.S. 11:2225.5 says: “Funding for additional benefits for retirees, survivors, and beneficiaries shall be provided only from the funding deposit account and only when sufficient funds are available as determined by the actuary.” On timing, it says: “No additional benefit shall be payable until at least one year has elapsed since benefit commencement.”
The form is limited too. The board decides “Whether the additional benefit will be a nonrecurring lump-sum payment or a permanent benefit increase.” “Any additional benefit paid under the provisions of this Subsection shall be in the form of a nonrecurring lump sum no more frequently than once in a three-year period.” As for a permanent increase: “The amount of any permanent benefit increase shall not exceed three percent of the benefit to be used in the calculation in accordance with Subparagraph (1)(b) of this Subsection.”
A retiring member can also choose a separate route. The valuation’s summary of plan provisions says: “A member may also elect to receive an actuarially reduced benefit which provides for an automatic 2 ½% annual compound increase in monthly retirement benefits based on the reduced benefit and commencing on the later of age fifty-five or retirement anniversary; this COLA is in addition to any ad hoc COLAs which are payable”.
MPERS describes the same two steps in its FAQs: “there must be sufficient funds in the funding deposit account”. and the board must approve it.
Who is eligible and who is left out
This page covers retirees, survivors and beneficiaries of the statewide Municipal Police Employees’ Retirement System of Louisiana. The Firefighters’ Retirement System and MERS are separate systems and are not covered here. MPERS says of the 2022 increase: “The COLA was paid beginning on July 1, 2022 benefit payments to all eligible benefit recipients who retired on or before July 1, 2021.”
A person who retired after that date was not part of the 2022 increase. Under the statute, no additional benefit is payable until at least one year has elapsed since benefit commencement.
The latest increase: 2022
The MPERS FAQs record: “On June 22, 2022, the board of trustees authorized granting a 3% one-time permanent COLA under R.S. 11:2225(A)(7)(b) (which has been repealed).” The actuarial valuation confirms: “The most recent COLA granted by the Board of Trustees was effective July 1, 2022. The June 30, 2025 balance in the Funding Deposit Account is $4,953,104.”
One gap to know about: the FAQs page is undated, and a 2026 House bill on the contribution rates feeding the account is in the sources only as an unsigned enrolled copy, so this page does not say what it changes for any 2027 benefit.
Where 2027 stands
The 2027 MPERS COLA is not set yet: the MPERS Board of Trustees acts only when the actuary finds sufficient funds, and this page updates when MPERS publishes a 2027 increase.
The FAQs say: “We hope to have enough funds to pay some form of COLA in 2028 or 2029, which will most likely be sooner than a COLA could have been granted under previous law.”
That is an expectation, not a decision. A COLA happens only when the board acts, and the board acts only when the account can pay for it.
Common mistakes
- Expecting a COLA every year. Louisiana law ties MPERS increases to funds in a dedicated account, and the board must approve each one.
- Assuming the 2022 increase repeats. It was a one-time permanent 3% increase for those who retired on or before July 1, 2021.
- Reading 2028 or 2029 as a schedule. MPERS says it hopes to have funds then, and gives no date.
Related: Louisiana MPERS retirement decisions, how public pension decisions work, and whether Louisiana taxes pensions.
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Answer againSources
- Louisiana State Legislature (legis.la.gov), R.S. 11:2225.5 Funding deposit account: www.legis.la.gov
- Municipal Police Employees’ Retirement System of Louisiana, MPERS Actuarial Valuation, June 30, 2025: lampers.org
- Municipal Police Employees’ Retirement System of Louisiana, MPERS FAQs, category COLAs: lampers.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.