(Nevada Highway Patrol photo)
Nevada state fire and police officers may see their take-home pay decrease 4% later this year after an approved employee retirement contribution rate hike goes into effect.
The Nevada Police Union in an open letter released Tuesday urged state legislators to take actions to offset the scheduled rate hike. That could include providing employees with cost-of-living adjustments, offering one-time retention bonuses, delaying or rejecting the rate hike, or funding the retirement system directly.
In November, Nevada’s Public Employees Retirement System, better known as PERS, approved increased contribution rates for all members, beginning July 1. For fire and police employees, the adjustment translates to them contributing to PERS an additional 4% of their salary on top of what they are currently contributing.
Put another way: Many state police officers will go from contributing 25% of their paycheck to PERS to contributing 30%.
Gov. Joe Lombardo’s recommended executive budget for the upcoming biennium does not recommend raises for state employees. The Nevada State Legislature, which passes the state budget, began their 120-day session this week.
The scheduled PERS contribution rate increase with no salary adjustments, combined with ongoing inflation rates of around 2-3%, “will significantly diminish the take-home pay of state police officers, with the impact most felt by newer police officers, who will now see nearly a third of their earnings allocated to PERS,” reads the police union’s letter.
“Our law enforcement officers risk their lives daily to keep our state safe,” said union President Dan Gordon in a statement. “It’s imperative that our legislators take immediate action to ensure that the retirement system does not become a financial burden on these dedicated public servants.”
The Nevada Police Union represents approximately 1,200 state employees, including within the Nevada State Police, Highway Patrol, Parole & Probation and Capitol Police, as well as law enforcement officers within the Nevada System of Higher Education, the Nevada Department of Wildlife, Nevada State Parks, and Nevada Department of Agriculture.
Many of those workforces have higher-than-average employee vacancy rates, including an astounding 50% vacancy rate within Highway Patrol.
City and county police agencies offer higher salaries and cover their employee’s contribution shares, the police union said, making the state less competitive.
Come July 1, Nevada will have “among the highest, if not the highest” contribution rates for police officers in the nation, according to the union.
Assemblymember Jovan Jackson asked PERS Executive Director Tina Leiss about that claim on Tuesday during a meeting of the Assembly Committee on Government Affairs.
“Our rates are approaching a fairly high level, there’s no doubt about that,” she said in response. “I will mention that not every state or every plan funds to the actual costs of their benefits. We do.”
She continued, “We are considering, and we are paying, what the actuary says you need to pay. Other states, other systems may just set a rate that may or may not be fully funding their benefits.”
Regular PERS members
Fire and police employees pay a higher contribution rate than most members of PERS. Leiss told lawmakers they are separated out because they are able to retire earlier than other public employees, which makes their program more expensive overall.
Regular PERS members will also see their mandatory contribution rates increase, but to a lesser degree than fire and police members. The rate change for regular PERS employees will result in a 1.7% reduction in take-home pay.
Kent Ervin from the Nevada Faculty Alliance, which represents professional employees within NSHE, told lawmakers Tuesday that COLAs of 5% and 3% are needed over the upcoming biennium “just to maintain the purchasing value of salaries.”
PERS staff is expected to appear before lawmakers on the Senate Finance Committee on Monday.