It is the responsibility of the COAERS Board of Trustees and the City of Austin to maintain a strong retirement system that provides reliable lifetime retirement benefits for City of Austin employees.

The retirement plan is not designed or funded to provide automatic cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) or extra one-time payments. Contributions to the retirement system are structured to finance your lifetime benefit, without consideration of a future adjustment to your monthly benefit payment.

A COLA can only be provided if the Texas Legislature amends the statutes governing COAERS and only after it is certified as financially sustainable by the retirement system’s actuary, approved by the COAERS Board, and approved by the Austin City Council.

If you are a retiree, please know that your current monthly benefit payment is secure and, in fact, protected from reduction by the Texas Constitution; however, there is no guarantee that your benefit will increase in the future. If you are an active employee contemplating retirement, you should remember that COLAs are not guaranteed or automatic, and you should factor this into your retirement decision.

When making the decision to retire, it is important that you consider all sources of retirement income, such as Social Security, personal savings, and the City of Austin’s Deferred Compensation Plan.