Excerpt from the Youngstown Vindicator
The State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio is expected to make a decision in the next few months on a cost-of-living adjustment for those getting pensions.
The STRS board is looking at four options. Each would give a 2 percent COLA, although there are differences in each plan. The board has been reviewing options since June 2021.
The most likely option at this time is a one-time 2 percent COLA and eliminating a minimum 60 years of age requirement for full retirement benefits, Nick Treneff, STRS spokesman, said.
But no decision will be made until after the results of two studies are finished, which is expected in March, he said.
Currently, teachers with 30 years of experience can retire at any age and collect full benefits. That is going up to 35 years of experience in August 2023. The plan is, effective August 2026, for teachers to need to be at least 60 years of age with 35 years of experience to be eligible for full benefits.
A one-time COLA at 2 percent would cost about $1 billion, Treneff said.
“An evaluation is ongoing as to whether it’s too much stress on the system,” he said.
One of the other options is a permanent annual 2 percent COLA, which would add $13.8 billion in costs. If that option is implemented, STRS’s unfunded liabilities would total $34.6 billion, Treneff said.
The pension fund has more than $90 billion in assets as of June 30, 2021.
