MPERS is governed by a Board of Trustees comprised of 11 members. Four members are elected by active employees and retirees of MoDOT and the Highway Patrol. The four elected members are:

The next election cycle began on Monday, February 28, 2022, with the announcement of the start of the nomination period. The election schedule is as follows:

Completed Trustee Candidate Declaration Forms and Trustee Candidate Nomination Forms must be received at MPERS by 4:00 p.m.

MPERS will notify nominees.

Completed Trustee Candidate Information and Biography Form must be received at MPERS by 4:00 p.m.

Voting begins - electronic ballots are available online and voting is open to eligible members of each voting group if there are at least two candidates up for election in the voting group.

Voting ends - electronic ballots must be submitted by 4:00 p.m.

Validation of electronic ballots. The executive director will make a preliminary announcement of election results and notify the successful candidates.

Board meeting - Executive director will certify to the Board the results of the election and introduce the successful candidates.

If you would like to be a candidate during the election, please review the Board Election Brochure located on our website.

If you wish to make your voice heard by casting a vote, please make sure you have an active myMPERS Secure Member Access Account.

If you aren't sure about the status of your myMPERS account, please contact MPERS at 800-270-1271 or mpers@mpers.org.

On February 24, 2022, Governor Parson signed the Fiscal Year 2022 supplemental budget bill that was passed by the General Assembly earlier in the day. One of the provisions of the bill includes a statewide pay plan for state team members, including a 5.5 percent cost of living adjustment.  

How may this affect your future MPERS benefit?  

It could change your final average pay used to calculate your benefit. If the increase in pay falls within the 36 highest consecutive months of pay used to calculate your benefit, your benefit would change. Please remember, if you are planning on taking BackDROP when you retire, any pay increases or comp time payouts that fall within the BackDROP period will not be used to calculate your final average pay.  

If you would like to see how the pay increase may affect your benefit, please run a benefit estimate via myMPERS after March 31, 2022.  

This allows our pension system to generate personalized benefit estimates for you.

This provides you with your personal join link for the webinar. If you don't complete this step, you won't be able to access the webinar.

Keeping your personal information safe is a priority at MPERS. The best way to securely submit important documents is by using the Secure Document Upload feature on our website.

Recently, there was an issue after a valid direct deposit change form was submitted to MPERS from a personal email address. This personal email address ended up being hacked, so the submission of this form via e-mail gave the hacker the individual's bank account information and access to a form with the individual's signature.

The hacker resubmitted the direct deposit change form with their own bank information and the member’s signature.

When Secure Document Upload is used, the document is uploaded to a secure server and encrypted before it is sent to MPERS. This adds another layer of security and protection for your personal information.

Secure Document Upload has been available for several years, but we want to make it easier for you to access.

If you have any questions or need assistance with sending documents via Secure Document Upload, please reach out to MPERS at 800-270-1271.

Oversight Formula Wrap-Up

As we wrap up this particular series of MPERS’ Matters, let’s do a quick summary of the series.

Over the last 12 months we have taken an in-depth look at the oversight formula and what it means to the sustainability of MPERS.

We began by covering the basics of the oversight formula. The System works to make sure that contributions (C) into the pension fund plus investment returns (I) on that money equal the value of the benefits (B) promised to its members plus expenses (E) to run the plan. This basic formula is illustrated as follows:

The contributions component of the formula is made by covered employers (MoDOT and the Patrol) as well as active employees in the 2011 Tier. Currently, the employer contribution rate for MoDOT is 58% and the rate for the Patrol is 58.65%. Active employees in the 2011 Tier contribute 4% of their salary to help fund their future retirement benefit.

The next component of the oversight formula is investments. In combination with employer and employee contributions, investment returns fund the System. If investment income increases, employer contributions may decrease. Inversely, if investment income decreases, employer contributions may increase. The System did very well during FY 2021 and yielded a 30.8% investment return. This will help the System for many years to come.

The benefits component includes monthly, lifetime retirement benefits paid to survivors and retirees and also includes disability and death benefits. Retirement benefits are calculated using a benefit formula that includes credited service, a multiplier set by law, and final average pay. MPERS administers three retirement plans: the Closed Plan, the Year 2000 plan, and the 2011 Tier. Membership in these plans is determined by the initial hire date in a benefit-eligible position.

The final component of the oversight formula we explored was expenses. Expenses are broken down into three categories: benefit payments, investment fees/costs, and the operating budget. Benefit payments, by far, are the single largest cost to MPERS-just over $270 million paid in FY 2021.

In summary, the oversight formula must maintain a delicate balance of contributions and investments versus benefits and expenses. The balance allows MPERS to make sure it will be able to pay current benefits and promised future benefits to members when they retire.

If you would like to catch up on the entire series, you can do so by visiting the newsletter archive or by selecting the links below.

Check Out This Month's Benefit Bite!

Did you know that there are plan handbooks available? Are you a member of the Closed Plan and would like to know everything there is to know about the Closed Plan? There is a handbook for that!

Are you a member of the Year 2000 Plan or the 2011 Tier and are ridiculously curious about the ins and outs of your plan? There is a handbook for that!

Each of the handbooks cover, in detail, topics including, but not limited to the following:

If you would like to learn more about your plan, please select the corresponding handbook below.

What would you like to see in The Pensioner: Looking Forward?

Send comments and suggestions to Julie.West@mpers.org.