SB 102

MULTIPLIER BILL PASSES:  SO WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

Senate Bill 102 passed the legislature this year.  This bill has been in the works for two (2) years because of the Oklahoma Pension Legislature Actuary Act that requires bills that have cost associated to them for pension systems to go through the 2 year process.  Now that the bill is passed, what does it mean for the officers in Oklahoma?  

  • The bill increase the multiplier from a 2.5% for each year of service to 3% for each year of service, which is about a 20% increase in benefits.
  • The bill increases member contributions from 8% to 9%.
  • The bill increases the municipality’s contributions from 13% to 14%.
  • The bill takes effect July 1, 2025.  That means for the first full payroll in July of 2025, the member will pay 9% on the salary and the municipality will pay 14% of the member’s salary to OPPRS.
  • The contribution increase by the municipality and the member will continue for 1 year before any increased benefits will begin.
  • July 1, 2026, a member with more than 25 years of credited service will be eligible to retire with the 3% multiplier.  25 years of credited service means actual service (worked).  If you have 25 years of service, you won’t be able to drop back and receive the 3% multiplier.  If there is an election for DROP, the credited service after the DROP must be more than 25 years.

Example:

On July 1, 2026, an officer has 27 years of service.  This officer can retire and receive the 3% multiplier because he has over 25 years of service.  However, if the officer elects to take the Back DROP option, he can only backdrop 2 years.  If the officer wanted to backdrop more than 2 years, his official years of service would drop below 25 years making him ineligible.  If he did more than 2 years of backdrop, he would only receive the 2.5% multiplier.
  • July 1, 2027, a member with more than 20 years of credited service will be eligible to receive the 3% multiplier.  20 years of credited service means actual service (worked).  If you have 20 years of service, you won’t be able to DROP back and receive the 3% multiplier.  If there is an election for DROP, the credited service after the DROP must be more than 20 years.

Example:

On July 1, 2027, the same officer from the above example, would have 28 years of service.  The officer could elect the BackDROP option and do the full 5 years.  Having 28 years of service, a five year backdrop would leave him with 23 years of service.  On July 1, 2027, you only have to have 20 years of service to get the 3% multiplier.   
  • No vested benefit or any benefit based on less than 20 years will receive the 3% multiplier.  Those benefits will remain at the 2.5% level.
  • A Not in the Line of Duty Disability will not be eligible for the 3% multiplier because it is based on the number of years of service which are normally lower than 20 years.

 Remember it takes time for the programmers to make changes to our systems.  We have several projects that are currently being worked on by the programmers.  Since the first increased benefit doesn’t go into effect until July 1, 2026, projections of benefits with the new multiplier are not going to be available for a little while.  So please be patient with the staff.