Public Employees Retirement Board (PERB)

Tag Herbek, Legal Counsel, 1536 K Street, Suite 400 P.O. Box 94816 Lincoln, NE 68509-4816 402-471-2053

The PERB administers five state-wide public retirement systems (School employees, State employees, County employees, Judges, State Patrol), one Class V retirement system (Omaha Public Schools), as well as administering a Deferred Compensation Program for State and some County employees.

The retirement plans affect approximately 180,571 members and beneficiaries.

As of November, 2024, the PERB serves 180,571 active, inactive and retired public employees and beneficiaries in all plans.

1971

1971

NA

Nebraska Revised Statutes 84-1501

NA

9 appointed Board Members, 1 ex-officio member.

Governor

Yes

Two board members are participants of the School System (one administrator and one teacher); one active or retired member each from the Judges System, State Patrol System, County and State Retirement Systems, OSERS System, and two public members. The two public members may not be plan members, or employees of the State of Nebraska or any of its political subdivisions. The State Investment Officer is the ex-officio member. All members must be citizens of the State of Nebraska. (Neb. Rev. Stat. 84-1501)

$75day for board meetings or board related business (i.e. conferences, education or committee meetings.)

Yes

5-year terms, staggered. One member each expires in 2027, 2028. Three members expire in 2025, two expire in 2026, and two expire in 2029.

Terms Rotate

2

12

2

12

2

12

No

Shared

$38,112

$38,112

$38,112

The funding source for the PERB and NPERS operating expenses comes from the retirement plan trust assets.

Yes. The boards spending authority is limited to that which is granted by the Legislature for the board and agency expenses. The PERB approves the Biennium Budget requests for the board and agency prior to submission to the State Budget Office.

2023 Accomplishments 1. The number of member accounts in the School, Judges, Patrol, State, County, and Deferred Compensation plans grew from 150,585 in 2022 to a record total of 155,718 in 2023. The total assets of the plans increased from 18.7 billion in 2022 to 20.1 billion in 2023. 2. NPERS distributed over $1.2 billion in benefits to plan members in all six plans. The benefits included $869 million in monthly annuity payments to over 32,000 members. NPERS processed 6,248 distributions totaling $334 million. 3. Effective July 1, 2023, eligible School, Judges, and Patrol retirees received a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in their monthly benefit distributions. The COLA is calculated using the consumer price index and may be capped at 2.5% or 1.0% per plan provisions. For the year ending June 30, 2023, the CPI increase was 2.34%. As a result, all School, Judges and Patrol retirees received the maximum COLA increase. Tier 1 members received an increase of 2.5% and Tier 234 members received an increase of 1%. 4. NPERS exercised careful control of agency expenditures and financial reporting. The financial statements represent accurate and reliable information. 5. NPERS worked with the actuaries to prepare annual valuation reports for all five plans. 6. In accordance with Government Finance Officers Associations recommended guidance, NPERS conducted an actuarial audit. 7. As directed by LB 147, NPERS continued work on a multi-year project to transfer management of the Omaha Public Schools (OPS) retirement system to NPERS. The transfer will occur on September 1, 2024. 8. NPERS Director and Legal Counsel worked cooperatively with the Retirement Systems Committee on legislation, research, analysis, and reports regarding various issues for all of NPERS retirement plans. 9. The Member Services department answered 47,665 phone calls and met with 2,600 members who visited NPERS' office for retirement information and counseling. 10. The Benefits Processing department processed 1,908 new retirements across all plans, 108 estimates for purchase of service and 42 actual purchases of service, 35 Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDROs), and 15 disability retirements. 6 NEBRASKA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEMS 2024 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE LEGISLATIVE RETIREMENT COMMITTEE AGENCY OVERVIEW 11. The Benefits Processing department reached 89.65% school benefit delivery rate in 2023. The current Service Delivery Policy requires school benefit payments to be processed and paid within three calendar months after the effective date of retirement. This delivery rate truly embodies the dedication the NPERS Schools team has to the agencys Vision and Mission, while navigating the numerous and varied complexities of the NPERS School Plan. 12. The Benefits Processing department was a key collaborator in creating sweeping new educational material for the implementation of three W4 tax documents with the goal of assisting members in completing successful distribution requests across all NPERS retirement plans. The Benefits Processing Department also completed extensive revisions to distribution forms, letters, and other related materials to support the W4 tax form deployments. In addition, the department provided intensive testing within the NPERS system of new W4 functions, processing, and letter generation. 13. The Nebraska Auditor of Public Accounts audited the State and County plans in the spring along with an attestation of the DCP plan and audited the School, Judges, and Patrol plans in the fall. 14. The Internal Audit department reviewed SOC reports from AmeritasOMNI, Empower, and State Street. Quarterly audits of Empower distributions were conducted to include oversight of the migration. The 3 Year Audit Plan was accepted by the board and a new School Plan Eligibility Checklist was created to assist School Plan employers. The Internal Audit department has worked with NPERS departments to ensure consistent application of the laws governing the retirement systems. 15. The Internal Audit department initiated 10 School employer audits, 3 School employer narrow scope audits, and 22 County employer audits. The department completed 11 School employer audits, 27 County employer audits, and resolved 6 School and County employer APA audit points. The department assisted in education for the School Plan members through in-person and virtual School Plan Employer Workshops. 16. Internal Audit presented at the Nebraska Association of County Officials for the first time to provide education on consistent audit findings. 17. The Education Services department's web-based offerings reached a wide audience of NPERS' membership, providing education opportunities to all six of the plans the agency administers. The total number of attendees in 2023 for NPERS' web offerings was 702. Total webinar and In-Person seminar attendance for 2023 was 2,034 members! 18. Education Services, a department who focuses on innovation and moving forward, revised binder materials for our In-Person seminars to move from a standard three-ring format to a new spiral bound packet of materials, which includes our presentations, various handouts, resources, glossaries, contact information for local estate planners, and articles regarding adjusting to retirement. Not only have these new resources changed the way we get information to seminar participants, but we also decreased seminar material costs significantly for these particular materials. NEBRASKA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEMS 2024 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE LEGISLATIVE RETIREMENT COMMITTEE 7 AGENCY ACTIVITY 19. In conjunction with our Internal Audit team, Education Services helped develop new resources to assist School Employer Reporting agents with the new rules for member eligibility (NPERS School Plan Eligibility Checklist) and prepared new handouts explaining bona fide termination from service (School Termination of Employment -Employer Cheat Sheet). 20. The Education Services department partnered with the Nebraska Council for Economic Education to roll out a Financial Resources webpage, specifically catering to our younger membership. This Financial Resources webpage offers a variety of online resources that strengthen financial skills and wellness enabling those who access them to make better choices and more informed decisions about personal finance. These resources are free and available 247 on the NPERS website for all our plan members. 21. The Data Services department processed 37,196 pieces of incoming mail, 45,050 pieces of outgoing mail, and scanned 180,071 documents. There were 213 member accounts validated for service credit. 22. The NPERS Information Technology department completed a project to implement new tax forms as required by the IRS. This includes the W-4P, W-4R and W-4N. This project required changes to the member portal to enable members to enter tax information as required by the new forms.2022 Accomplishments 1. The number of member accounts in the School, Judges, Patrol, State, County, and Deferred Compensation plans grew from 145,450 in 2021 to a record total of 150,585 in 2022. The total assets of the plans decreased from 20.9 billion in 2021 to 18.7 billion in 2022. 2. NPERS distributed over $1.1 billion in benefits to plan members in all six plans. The benefits included $817 million in monthly annuity payments to over 32,000 members. NPERS processed 7,493 distributions totaling $245 million. 3. Effective July 1, 2022, eligible School, Judges, and Patrol retirees received a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in their monthly benefit distributions. The COLA is calculated using the consumer price index and may be capped at 2.5% or 1.0% per plan provisions. For the year ending June 30, 2022, the CPI increase was 9.81%. As a result, all School, Judges and Patrol retirees received the maximum COLA increase. Tier 1 members received an increase of 2.5% and Tier 234 members received an increase of 1%. 4. The State and County Cash Balance (CB) plans exceeded 100% funding as of December 31, 2021. The PERB voted to grant a 7.5% dividend to State CB members and a 6.5% dividend to County CB members. A total of more than $146 million was awarded to plan members based upon their account balance as of 12312021. 5. NPERS exercised careful control of agency expenditures and financial reporting. The financial statements represent accurate and reliable information. 6. NPERS worked with the actuaries to prepare annual valuation reports for all five plans. 7. In accordance with Government Finance Officers Associations recommended guidance, NPERS conducted an actuarial audit. 8. As directed by LB 147, NPERS continued work on a multi-year project to transfer management of the Omaha Public Schools (OPS) retirement system to NPERS. The transfer will occur on September 1, 2024. 9. NPERS Director and Legal Counsel worked cooperatively with the Retirement Systems Committee on legislation, research, analysis, and reports regarding various issues for all of NPERS retirement plans. 10. The Member Services department answered 42,914 phone calls and met with 2,352 members who visited NPERS' office for retirement information and counseling. 6 NEBRASKA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEMS 2023 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE LEGISLATIVE RETIREMENT COMMITTEE AGENCY OVERVIEW 11. The Benefits Processing department processed 2,124 new retirements across all plans, 108 estimates for purchase of service and 43 actual purchases of service, 39 Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDROs), and 22 disability retirements. 12. The Benefits Processing department reached a record 90.56% school benefit delivery rate in 2022. The current Service Delivery Policy requires school benefit payments to be processed and paid within three calendar months after the effective date of retirement. This delivery rate truly embodies the dedication the NPERS Schools team has to the agencys Vision and Mission, while navigating the numerous and varied complexities of the NPERS School Plan. 13. The Benefits Processing department personnel completed additional cross-training to support optimal and timely processing of State Patrol Plan and Judges Plan benefits. Additional training materials were also created to support continuing education efforts for the NPERS Member Services Department focusing on the State Patrol Plan. 14. The Benefits Processing department completed a comprehensive review of the agencys required minimum distribution (RMD) letters to members. RMD letters are sent during key times throughout the calendar year to support member alerts, notifications, and educational support for successful RMD distribution requests. Benefits Department staff members collaborated extensively across department teams during this process to expand and enhance vital RMD member messaging across all plans. 15. The Benefits Processing department conducted an extensive revision of letters supporting death processing. 16. The State Auditor audited the State and County plans in the spring and the School, Judges, and Patrol plans in the fall. 17. The Internal Audit department reviewed SOC reports from AmeritasOMNI, Empower, and State Street. Quarterly audits of Empower funds were conducted to include the oversight of the migration and termination. The 3 Year Audit Plan was accepted by the board and the external employer audits were revamped to include having the goal of the audit be an educational process along with ensuring compliance. Narrow scope audits were implemented to address issues as they come up. 18. The Internal Audit department initiated 12 School employer audits, 6 School employer narrow scope audits, and 11 County employer audits. The department completed 29 School employer audits, 10 County employer audits, and resolved 7 School employer APA audit points. The department assisted in education for the School Plan members through in-person and virtual School Plan Employer Workshops. 19. The Education Services department's web-based offerings reached a wide audience of NPERS' membership, providing education opportunities to all six of the plans the agency administers. The total number of attendees in 2022 for NPERS' web offerings was 706. NEBRASKA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEMS 2023 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE LEGISLATIVE RETIREMENT COMMITTEE 7 AGENCY ACTIVITY 20. The Education Services department continued to maintain the YouTube channel for NPERS, which allows the agency to track the analytics of each of the videos on the website and on the channel. 21. The Education Services department made a massive effort in 2022 to ensure plan members could have access to webinar and educational events year-round for State of Nebraska, Nebraska County, and Nebraska School employees. The department also helped with legislation to remove the age requirement for attendance at NPERS pre-retirement events, to ensure secure retirements by starting financial planning earlier in members careers. 22. The Data Services department processed 36,469 pieces of incoming mail, 47,254 pieces of outgoing mail, and scanned 204,960 documents. There were 515 member accounts validated for service credit. 23. The Information Technology and Education Services departments completed a redesign of the NPERS website and member portal. This redesign is the product of creative and diligent innovation on the part of everyone who had a hand in making it more user-friendly, easily navigable, and aesthetically pleasing. 24. The Information Technology department completed a technology assessment project for the NPERS' pension administration system (NPRIS). 2021 Accomplishments 1. The number of member accounts in the School, Judges, Patrol, State, County, and Deferred Compensation plans grew from 141,748 in 2020 to a record total of 145,450 in 2021. The total assets of the plans increased from $16.8 billion in 2020 to a record total of $20.9 billion in 2021. 2. The Member Services department answered 44,046 phone calls and met with 2,186 members who visited our office for retirement information and counseling. 3. The Benefits Processing department processed 2,074 new retirements across all plans, 114 estimates for purchase of service and 60 actual purchases of service, 35 Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDROs), and 13 disability retirements. 4. NPERS distributed over $991 million in benefits to plan members in all six plans. The benefits included $768 million in monthly annuity payments to over 32,000 members. NPERS processed 7,036 distributions totaling $223 million. 5. NPERS exercised careful control of agency expenditures and financial reporting. The financial statements represent accurate and reliable information. 6. The State Auditor audited the State and County plans in the spring and the School, Judges, and Patrol plans in the fall. 7. The Internal Audit department developed guidance and materials to assist School plan employers in complying with retirement regulations. This information was presented at the NASBO conference as well as during the School Plan Employer Workshops. 8. The Internal Audit department completed 26 School employer audits consisting of 471 contributing members tested and 478 non-contributing employees tested, as well as 28 County employer audits consisting of 465 contributing members tested and 364 non-contributing employees tested. 9. NPERS worked with the actuaries to prepare annual valuation reports for all five plans. 10. Effective July 1, 2021, eligible School, Judges, and Patrol retirees received a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in their monthly benefit distributions. The COLA is calculated using the consumer price index and may be capped at 2.5% or 1.0% per plan provisions. For the year ending June 30, 2021, the CPI increase was 6.12%. As a result, all School, Judges and Patrol retirees received the maximum COLA increase. Tier 1 members received an increase of 2.5% and Tier 234 members received an increase of 1%. The COLA increase resulted in $1,467,770.92 in additional benefits paid to NPERS members. 11. The State and County Cash Balance (CB) plans exceeded the 100% funding as of December 31, 2020. The PERB voted to grant a 5.25% dividend to the State CB members and a 2.5% dividend to the County CB members. A total of $84,947,282.94 was awarded to plan members based upon their account balance of December 31, 2020. 12. The Education Services department's new web-based offerings allowed NPERS to reach a wide audience of its members, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Education Services department was able to provide education opportunities to all six of the plans administered at NPERS. The total number of attendees for the 2021 web offerings was 2,466. 6 NEBRASKA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEMS 2022 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE LEGISLATIVE RETIREMENT COMMITTEE 13. The Education Services department added ten new videos to the NPERS YouTube Channel this year. The channel had over 10,000 views of the content that has been produced. This content included two new step-by-step guides, one on completing the School Refund Application and the other on completing the NPERS Direct Deposit form. A video explaining the Annuity Benefit Options for the School Retirement plan and a recording of the live webinar for School Employer Reporting Agents were also added. 14. The Data Services department processed 36,594 pieces of incoming mail, 265,840 pieces of outgoing mail, and scanned 182,154 documents. There were 692 member accounts validated for service credit. 15. The IT department developed a portal for state and county employers to submit online non-contributing member forms through the NPERS self-service website. 16. The IT department implemented the Microsoft Azure DevOps platform for work management, issue tracking, and release planning of software changes in our pension administration system. 17. As directed by LB 147, NPERS initiated a multi-year project to transfer management of the Omaha Public Schools (OPS) retirement system to NPERS. The transfer will occur on September 1, 2024. NPERS initiated the process for selecting service vendors and submitted a project work plan to the Nebraska Legislature. 18. NPERS Director and Legal Counsel worked cooperatively with the Retirement Systems Committee on legislation, research, analysis, and reports regarding various issues for all of NPERS retirement plans. 19. The Benefits Processing department made additional improvements to the school team's digital calculation workbook, identifying additional standardizations to multiple sheets within the workbook, and expanding the extraction information from NPERS operating system. 20. The Benefits Processing department Purchase of Service (POS) team held a POS training with NPERS Member Services Department, consisting of four training modules which covered an overview of POS processing, as well as three dedicated modules exploring Air-Time purchases, Out of State purchases, Leave of Absences, and Refund Buybacks. The materials and training modules may be used annually to reinforce and broaden POS acumen within the agency. 21. The Benefits Processing department began utilization of a premier death audit solution to improve death notice procurement, provide more efficient beneficiary payments, and relieve burdens of repayments placed on beneficiaries and families.2020 Accomplishments 1. The number of member accounts in the School, Judges, Patrol, State, County, and Deferred Compensation plans grew from137,715 in 2019 to a record total of 141,748 in 2020. The total assets of the plans increased from $16.4 billion in 2019 to a record total of $16.8 billion in 2020. 2. The Member Services department answered 44,656 phone calls and met with 1,621members who visited our office for retirement information and counseling. 3. The Benefits Processing department processed 1,889 new retirements across all plans, 131 estimates for purchase of service and 88 actual purchases of service, 43 Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDROs), and 16 disability retirements. 4. NPERS distributed over $940 million in benefits to plan members in all six plans. The benefits included $731 million in monthly annuity payments to over 30,000 members. NPERS processed 7,143 distributions totaling $209 million. 5. NPERS exercised careful control of agency expenditures and financial reporting. The financial statements represent accurate and reliable information. 6. The State Auditor audited the State and County plans in the spring and the School, Judges, and Patrol plans in the fall. 7. The PERB approved the Three-Year Internal Audit Plan covering 2021-2023. The Internal Audit Department completed 31 School employer audits and 21 County employer audits. 8. NPERS worked with the actuaries to prepare annual valuation reports for all five plans. In addition, the actuaries updated the 30-year projection models, and completed an actuarial experience study. 9. Effective July 1, 2020, eligible School, Judges, and Patrol retirees received a cost of living adjustment (COLA) in their monthly benefit distributions. The COLA is calculated using the consumer price index and may be capped at 2.5% or 1.0% per plan provisions. For the year ending June 30, 2020, the CPI increase was .52%. As a result, all School, Judges and Patrol retirees received a .52% increase. 10. The State and County Cash Balance (CB) plans exceeded 100% funding as of December 31, 2019. The PERB voted to grant a 3.00% dividend to State and County CB members. A total of $53,508,123.23 was awarded to plan members based upon their account balance as of 12312019. 11. The Education Services department used their resources and ingenuity to take our full day seminars entirely on-line, in video format, for both the School and StateCounty plans. Preretirement or Financial Planning Seminars are now accessible to anyone who has an internet connection. 12. The Education Services department established a YouTube channel for NPERS, which allows the agency to track the analytics of each of the videos on the website and on the channel. 13. The Education Services department worked closely with the Nebraska Investment Council to publish the 2020 Investment Report in conjunction with the rollout of the 17 new investment fund options that are available to our Defined Contribution, Deferred Compensation Plan, and Deferred Retirement Option Plan members. This was done along with the production of a new Investment Education Video, numerous website materials, newsletter articles, member correspondence, and seven full form revisions. 6 6 NEBRASKA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEMS 2021 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE LEGISLATIVE RETIREMENT COMMITTEE 14. The Data Services department processed 37,864 pieces of incoming mail, 251,357 pieces of outgoing mail, and scanned 253,241 documents. There were 2,255 member accounts validated for service credit. 15. The IT department and Education Services department, in coordination with the Department of Administrative Services, worked to create an online self-service option to enable state employees to enroll in the Deferred Compensation Plan (DCP) through the DAS Workday system. Workday is the software used by state employees to enroll in and change elections for employee benefit plans. 16. The IT department developed a portal for schools to submit online non-contributing member forms. The forms can be submitted by employer reporting agents and HR contacts through the NPERS self-service website. 17. The IT department completed technical work to enable employees to work remotely in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This included deploying computers, enabling secure VPN connections, conducting a risk assessment, modifying work processes, and training staff to use technical resources to work remotely. 18. NPERS Director and Legal Counsel worked cooperatively with the Retirement Systems Committee on legislation, research, analysis, and reports regarding various issues for all of NPERS retirement plans. 19. The Benefits Processing department implemented a digital calculation spreadsheet in response to remote work during COVID-19. The new format standardized entries and data, made access to vital information immediate and user-friendly, and will allow for additional uses and efficiencies for the department. 20. The Benefits Processing department increased efficiency by transitioning School, Judges, and Patrol benefits most commonly used letters to print to mailroom functioning, State and County annuity processing created and implemented digital processing, and additional specialty groups created numerous digital improvements to their processes. 21. The Benefits Processing department welcomed new employees and continued to cross-train multiple staff members in other duties, so work may continue uninterrupted. Multiple trainers expanded their knowledge of digital training platforms, so learning may continue both in-person and online. 22. The Member Services department successfully transitioned to working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Call Center was able to remain fully operational during this time and workflow processes were converted to a digital format.23. The Member Services department successfully conducted its first ever virtual office visit. 24. The Member Services department streamlined part of its process by implementing pre-written notes that can be input into a members file.