Updated October 30, 2026. Quick answer: The City of Philadelphia Municipal Pension Fund has no automatic annual COLA in the plan documents read. Instead a Pension Adjustment Fund, funded with 50% of the excess earnings between 1% and 6% above the assumed earnings rate, lets the Board of Pensions vote each year on whether to pay an enhanced benefit. The latest vote archived, for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024, distributed $56.9 thousand in total. No 2027 increase is set.
How the Pension Adjustment Fund works
The Fund’s financial statements say: “A Pension Adjustment Fund (PAF) is funded with 50% of the excess earnings that are between 1% and 6% above the actuarial assumed earnings rate.” The vote: “Each year within 60 days of the end of the fiscal year, by majority vote of its members, the Board of Directors of the Fund (the Board) shall consider whether sufficient funds have accumulated in the PAF to support an enhanced benefit distribution”.
What the Code provides
The statements describe the legal basis: “As defined under title §22-311 of the Philadelphia Code, the Pension Adjustment Fund (PAF) provides for additional benefit distributions to retirees and beneficiaries through the use of excess earnings.” The City Controller’s history adds: “City Council amended the retirement code to distribute excess investment earnings to retirees and beneficiaries when the Pension Fund’s investments exceed expected returns.”
The latest archived distribution
The statements record: “As of July 1, 2023, the date of the most recent actuarial valuation, there was $7.2 million in the PAF and the Board voted to make PAF distributions of $56.9 thousand during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024.” That is a total across all retirees, not a percentage COLA.
The 2026 Benefits Committee
The 2026 Benefits Committee minutes say only: “All the required information for the PAF has been submitted to the Actuary”.
What the documents do not say
Philadelphia Code section 22-311 could not be retrieved, so the governing text is known through the statements and the Controller’s page. The July 2026 Reference Guide contains no recurring COLA rule. No Board document recording a distribution after fiscal 2024 was archived, so none is stated.
Where 2027 stands
No 2027 Philadelphia pension increase is set: the Board considers a distribution within 60 days after each fiscal year ends, and none is archived for 2027.
Common mistakes
- Expecting a yearly percentage increase. The plan documents read provide none.
- Reading the $56.9 thousand as a per-retiree amount. It is the total the Board voted for the fiscal year.
- Assuming a distribution is guaranteed whenever markets are strong. The Board considers it and decides by majority vote.
Related: Philadelphia Board of Pensions retirement decisions, how public pension decisions work, and whether Pennsylvania taxes pensions.
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Answer againSources
- Philadelphia Board of Pensions and Retirement, City of Philadelphia Municipal Pension Fund Financial Statements and Supplementary Information, year ended June 30, 2024: www.phila.gov
- Philadelphia City Controller, Philadelphia pension fund history page (Pension Adjustment Fund, 1999 and 2007): controller.phila.gov
- Philadelphia Board of Pensions and Retirement, Benefits Committee meeting minutes, April 23, 2026: www.phila.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.