Oregon lawmakers punt while PERS costs continue to rise

When Democratic leadership pulled the plug on a tax reform bill Thursday, their inaction automatically sent the closely tied reform of Oregon's Public Employees Retirement System gurgling down the drain.

That’s a failure that lawmakers of both parties may live to regret because PERS costs are going up at the fastest rate in history -- and that’s the so-called “collared” rate, which keeps the annual growth of employer costs to 20 percent.

Consequently, the bite PERS takes out of public payrolls will nearly double over the next three bienniums, according to figures provided by PERS.

The 900 Oregon public employers in the system -- state agencies, school districts, cities, counties, community colleges, universities -- will collectively face $6 billion in additional costs over the next six years, according to some estimates.

Read more: http://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/2017/06/24/oregon-lawmakers-punt-while-pers-costs-continue-rise/415340001/