There will be a PFFA meeting for all PFFA member locals located in the eastern portion of the state.  The meeting will be on February 13, 2024 from 11:30am to 1:30pm at the United Mea Fire Fighters Hall, 52 South Center Street Mesa, Arizona 85210.  Lunch will be provided to those who attend in person.  Parking is best across the street from the Union Hall.  A zoom link will also be provided.  Please RSVP to [email protected]

PSPRS-managed plan retirees and survivors can expect to receive their 2023 tax forms in early February 2024. The 1099-R forms are mailed to home addresses on file no later than January 31. Each year, PSPRS sends roughly 28,000 forms – and receives more than 400 “return to sender” 1099-Rs that landed at former addresses of retirees. Retirees are encouraged to log on to their Members Only accounts to check their mailing information to ensure tax information arrives promptly. Changing addresses on file requires completing and submitting an address and name change form. Downloadable electronic copies of 1099-R forms will also be made available in the Members Only portal no later than January 31. PSPRS also distributes 1099-R forms to all individuals who receive lump sum payments during the calendar year, including primary beneficiaries, death benefit recipients and former plan members who have refunded their account balances.

At the November 29^th PSPRS Board of Trustees meeting, Trustees voted unanimously to approve an increase in the Tier 3 compensation limit from the current $115,868 to $140,952 based on the wage index analysis effective January 1^st,2024.  Tier 3 members are those statewide PSPRS members hired after July 1^st, 2017. What this means is that wages earned by Tier 3 members up to the new limit will be considered pensionable.  This is a 21.65% increase, the largest since Tier 3 began on July 1^st, 2017.  The initial Tier 3 wage limit for pension benefits was $110,000 and was increased to $115,868 in 2021 which was the first three-year review since the new Tier 3 went into effect.

Per statute, the PSPRS Board is required to adjust the annual compensation limit that is subject to pension calculations every three fiscal years for Tier 3 members. To calculate the index, PSPRS is required to analyze pay scale information from three groups totaling twenty-six employers statewide. The employer groups are made up of law enforcement agencies, fire districts and fire departments and are grouped by small size, mid-size and large size and the pay scales reviewed are those in effect on the fiscal year end date, six months prior to the implantation date.  In this case it was the pay scale plans in effect by June 30^th, 2023.  Employers who had significant pay scale changes after the June 30^th date, such as the Phoenix Fire Department, a member of the large category, will be included in the wage index calculation that will take effect in January 2027.

The first group of Tier 3 hires, if hired in 2017 and after July 1^st of that year, will be eligible to retire with 25 years of service in 2042.  It should be noted that there will be 6 more wage index calculations performed that will ultimately increase the pensionable wage limit.  As a reminder for Tier 3 members, at 25 years of service, the multiplier is 62.5% of wages, 30 years is 75% and 32 years is 80% with pay averaged over 5 years instead of 3 years as is the case in Tier 1. So for example, if a member had 25 years of service today and  5 years of  average pay of $140,952, the pension would be 62.5% of that amount or $88,095.