Updated October 30, 2026. Quick answer: The Ohio State Highway Patrol Retirement System (HPRS) board sets the COLA each year between 0.0 and 3.0%, and the 2025 annual report says it approved 0.00% for 2025 and for 2026. A retiree 65 or older whose pension is low enough against the federal poverty level for a family of two gets the mandatory minimum the statute names. The 2027 COLA is not published.
The statute
Division (A) of Ohio Revised Code 5505.174 defines an eligible person by age and by months receiving a pension. Division (B)(1) says: “Except as otherwise provided in this section, the state highway patrol retirement board shall annually increase pensions payable to eligible persons under this chapter in accordance with the following”. For the mandatory group it says: “For each person sixty-five years of age or older who is receiving a pension not greater than one hundred eighty-five per cent of the federal poverty level for a family of two persons”, and the statute then says the board shall increase the pension by three per cent for that group. For everyone else: “For persons other than those described in division (B)(1)(a) of this section, the board may increase the pension.” “If the board determines that an increase may be made, the increase shall not exceed three per cent of the eligible person’s pension.”
When an increase takes effect
The HPRS benefits page says: “Any increase in COLA is effective the month following the anniversary date.” “The date of the first COLA is the anniversary date for all future COLA increases.”
The recent votes
The 2025 annual report says: “The Board has been vested with responsibility to establish the COLA rate each year between 0.0 and 3.0%. In October 2023, the Board set a COLA rate of 0.00%, effective January 1, 2024.” It adds for 2025 and 2026: “the Board approved a 0.00% COLA for each year.”
What the board was studying
The minutes of the Special Committee on COLA for February 18, 2026 record that a presenter “discussed options regarding a supplement and a limited benefit basis COLA and provided an update on the legislation changes being pursued to give the board additional authority.”
What the documents do not say
The exact vote dates and effective months for the 2025 and 2026 votes are not stated, board minutes after the committee records were not found, and the statute read is the 2018 authenticated copy, so a later amendment was not checked.
Where 2027 stands
The 2027 Ohio HPRS COLA is not published: the sources read show no board vote for 2027, and the board decides each year between 0.0 and 3.0%.
Common mistakes
- Expecting an annual COLA. The board has set 0.00% for 2024, 2025 and 2026.
- Assuming the statute guarantees an increase. For most retirees it says the board may increase the pension.
- Applying this page to OPERS, STRS or Police and Fire. It covers only the Highway Patrol system.
Related: Ohio Highway Patrol Retirement System retirement decisions, how public pension decisions work, and whether Ohio taxes pensions.
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Answer againSources
- State of Ohio (Legislative Service Commission), Ohio Revised Code Section 5505.174, Eligibility for cost-of-living increase (authenticated PDF, effective May 11, 2018): codes.ohio.gov
- Ohio Highway Patrol Retirement System, HPRS Pension Benefits page (Cost of Living Adjustments): www.ohprs.org
- Ohio Highway Patrol Retirement System, HPRS 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report: www.ohprs.org
- Ohio Highway Patrol Retirement System, Special Committee on COLA Minutes, February 18, 2026: www.ohprs.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.