Retirement Pension
Who is Eligible?
You don't have to apply to participate in the PERS retirement program. Eligibility and contributions are tracked and administered automatically by the Payroll department.
PERS membership is generally established after serving a full 6 month waiting period in a qualifying position and if you work 600+ hours in a calendar year. Hours with Multnomah County and other PERS-covered employers that you work for can be combined. The 600 hours rule often overrides employment status which means non benefit eligible employees such as on-call employees may become eligible for contributions if they work over 600 hours in a calendar year.
- Eligible employees qualify for a defined benefit pension after five years of vesting.
- We pay the employee's share of the retirement contribution (6% of subject wages).
- Learn more on the PERS website
Membership Tiers
- PERS Tier 1 - hired on or prior to 12/31/1995
- PERS Tier 2 - hired between 1/1/1996 and 8/28/2003
- PERS OPSRP (Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan) - hired on or after 8/29/2003
Benefit Components
1. Lifetime Pension (Defined Benefit Plan). Funded by Employer contributions.
Formula: Benefit Factor* x Years of Retirement Credit x Final Average Salary**
* 1.67% for Tier 1 & 2 General Service. 2% for Tier 1 & 2 Police &Fire. 1.5% for OPSRP General Service. 1.80% for OPSRP Police & Fire. ** Final Average Salary Calculation for Tier 1 & 2. Final Average Salary Calculation for OPSRP.
Example: Joe is an OPSRP General member and has 20 years retirement credits. His final average salary is $65,000
1.5% (=0.015) x 20 years x $65,000 = $19,500 per year ($1,625 per month)
This example is based on a Single Life Option. Learn about the various retirement options you will have including beneficiary options in the pre-retirement guide. Tier 1 & 2. OPSRP.
2. Individual Account Program (IAP) (Defined Contribution Plan) Funded by Member contributions (amount equals to 6%*** of your subject wage) which Multnomah County currently pays.
*** Effective 7/1/2020, If your gross pay in a month exceeds the monthly salary threshold, a portion of the 6% contribution is peeled off and put into EPSA (Employee Pension Stability Account) to fund the pension plan (2.5% for Tier 1 & 2 members. 0.75% for OPSRP members); therefore, only 3.5% for Tier 1 & 2 members and 5.25% for OPSRP members goes to the IAP account instead of 6%. This is called IAP Redirect, and it is in effect whenever the PERS system is less than 90% funded (as of 12/31/2023, PERS’ funded status was 77%). If you like to make additional after-tax contributions (IAP Voluntary Contributions), through payroll deduction, (equal to the redirected amount only), you can sign up for it in PERS OMS account.
Your account is credited with earnings/losses annually based on investment returns. At retirement, you can take your IAP account funds in a lump-sum, roll over or in a series of installments. It is NOT a lifetime benefit.
Your IAP account contributions are invested in a Target-Date Fund (TDF) based on your age. You can change your TDF to better match your risk tolerance and saving goals once per year from 9/1 to 9/30.
Vesting
- Pension - Work for 5 calendar years in a qualifying position for at least 600 hours per calendar year. The years don’t need to be consecutive, but you cannot have a gap of more than 5 years OR upon reaching normal retirement age
- IAP - 100% vested once membership is established
Membership Portability
Once you establish your membership, you don’t need to repeat the 6 month waiting period if you leave the Multnomah County and start working for another PERS covered employer as long as you don’t withdraw your account. Please note that your new employer may not pick up Member Contributions (Multnomah County pays both Employer and Member contributions).
Multnomah County PERS questions can be directed to pers@multco.us, or call 888-320-7377 to talk with a PERS Member Services representative.
The information and links included here for information regarding PERS & OPSRP are primarily links to the State of Oregon's website for PERS.
For additional information, please contact PERS/OPSRP member services at:
Phone: (503) 598-PERS (7377)
Toll Free: (888) 320-PERS
Fax: (503) 598-0561
TTY: (503) 603-7766
Hours: 8:30 am - 5:00 pm
or click here to submit a question.
Member Information & Help
- Overview of PERS Benefits for New Employees
- OPSRP Pension Plan
- PERS Home Page
- Tier One/Tier Two Pension Plan