Updated October 30, 2026. Quick answer: Minnesota PERA Police and Fire Plan recipients get a fixed 1% increase on January 1, 2027. The 2026 increase was 3% for recipients who started benefits on or before January 1, 2025. PERA’s handbook says the increase is fixed and not tied to inflation. A recipient generally needs 12 full months of benefits as of the prior June 30, and the first full increase comes sooner starting in 2027.
How the Police and Fire increase works
Minnesota Statutes section 356.415 says: “Retirement annuity, disability benefit, or survivor benefit recipients of the public employees police and fire retirement plan are entitled to an annual postretirement adjustment, effective as of each January 1”. It adds: “who has been receiving the annuity or benefit for at least 12 full months as of the June 30 of the calendar year immediately before the effective date of the increase, a postretirement increase of one percent must be applied each year”.
PERA’s handbook describes it this way: “Retirees will receive a 1% increase each year. This is a fixed percentage of the prior year’s benefit amount and is not tied to inflation.”
Who is covered and who is left out
The statute covers recipients of the Police and Fire plan. This page covers Police and Fire Plan annuity, disability and survivor benefit recipients only. The PERA General Employees and Correctional plans are not covered here.
A recipient with fewer than 12 full months of benefits is not left out of the first increase entirely. The statute says it covers each recipient “who has been receiving the annuity or benefit for at least one full month, but less than 12 months as of the June 30 of the calendar year immediately before the effective date of the increase, a postretirement increase of 1/12 of one percent for each full month”. Separately, starting in 2027, PERA says: “Starting January 1, 2027, the waiting period for Police & Fire Plan members to receive their first full post-retirement annual increase will decrease from 19-30 months to 7-18 months.” PERA’s July 16, 2026 legislative changes page also prints a table by benefit effective date for the first prorated increase; its first rows show a July 1 effective date at 18 months for 12/12, or 100%, and an August 1 date at 17 months for 11/12, or 91.7%. Check that table for your own date.
The 2026 increase and where 2027 stands
PERA’s 2025 annual report says: “Recipients who started benefits on or before January 1, 2025 will receive a 3% increase in 2026 and a 1% increase in 2027 and each year after.” “In the Police & Fire Plan, the annual increase is fixed at 1%.”
The 2027 PERA Police and Fire increase is set at 1%: Minnesota statute fixes it at one percent each January 1, and PERA’s 2025 annual report and its July 16, 2026 legislative changes page both give 1%.
PERA’s July 16, 2026 legislative changes page confirms: “The Police & Fire Plan full annual increase is 1%.”
Two gaps to know about: the 3% for 2026 appears in PERA’s report but not in the current statute text, and the session law text and its enactment date were not read (the statute’s change table cites 2026 c 106 art 2 s 4 and 2025 c 37 art 11 s 1 for this subdivision). The old section 353.271 shows as repealed in 2009, so section 356.415 is the section cited here.
A worked example
As a computed illustration (not a source figure), a recipient with a benefit of $30,000 (invented, for the computation) a year who qualifies for the full 1% would see an increase of $300 (computed) a year on January 1, 2027.
Common mistakes
- Expecting 3% again. The 3% applied to 2026, and PERA’s report says the increase is 1% in 2027 and each year after.
- Thinking the 1% follows inflation. PERA’s handbook says it is a fixed percentage and not tied to inflation.
- Applying this page to other PERA plans. It covers the Police and Fire Plan only, not General Employees or Correctional.
Related: Minnesota PERA Police and Fire retirement decisions, how public pension decisions work, and whether Minnesota taxes pensions.
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Answer againSources
- Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes, Minn. Stat. 356.415 Postretirement adjustments; statewide retirement plans (2026 Statutes): www.revisor.mn.gov
- Minnesota PERA, Police & Fire Plan Handbook: www.mnpera.org
- Minnesota PERA, 2026 Legislative Changes: www.mnpera.org
- Minnesota PERA, PERA 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report: www.mnpera.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.