Colorado FPPA Forms 27-Member Task Force on Retiree COLA After 12% Contribution Increase
Updated
Updated · The Colorado Sun · Sep 9
Colorado FPPA Forms 27-Member Task Force on Retiree COLA After 12% Contribution Increase
1 articles · Updated · The Colorado Sun · Sep 9
Summary
A 27-member FPPA task force will hold its first meeting Thursday to examine how Colorado can raise cost-of-living adjustments for retired police and firefighters without undermining pension stability.
The review follows more than a decade of frustration after members raised payroll contributions to 12% from 8% in 2014, yet the highest annual COLA since then was only 0.5% and some years brought nothing.
FPPA says COLAs now cost more because retirees live longer, pay has risen faster than expected and investment return assumptions have fallen; the board also plans to hire an independent actuary to test those assumptions.
The pension is still 100% funded—versus 79% on average for U.S. public plans and 69% for Colorado PERA—but FPPA policy allows a COLA only if it can be sustained for all members in perpetuity.
Retirees argue the fund can afford more, noting public pensions averaged a 2.9% COLA last year, while FPPA leaders say they want to avoid the long-term underfunding problems that have plagued PERA.
With Colorado's police pension fully funded in 2026, why are retirees still fighting for basic inflation protection after raising their own contributions?
Will the upcoming September 2026 task force finally unlock the permanent cost-of-living raises Colorado's retired first responders were promised?