Retirement Pension
Who is Eligible?
County employees don't have to apply to participate in the PERS retirement program. Eligibility and contributions are tracked and administered automatically by our Payroll department. As your employer, Multnomah County pays both Employer and Member contributions.
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 worked 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 State of Oregon PERS website
Membership Tiers
- PERS OPSRP (Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan) - hired on or after 8/29/2003
- PERS Tier 2 - hired between 1/1/1996 and 8/28/2003
- PERS Tier 1 - hired on or prior to 12/31/1995
Benefit Components:
Lifetime Pension (Defined Benefit Plan) Funded by Employer contributions.
Formula: Benefit Factor x Years of Retirement Credit x Final Average Salary
Individual Account Program (IAP) (Defined Contribution Plan) Funded by Member contributions (amount equals to 6% of your subject wage) which Multnomah County currently pays.
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.
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 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