Most of your monthly retirement benefit is taxable. This is because, all retirement contributions you have made since mid-way through 1987 (except for employees of the Strathmore Public Utility District) are taken on a pre-tax basis. All interest earnings on your retirement account is also taxed deferred. All of your Employer's contributions, which you receive in the form of a monthly pension at retirement, are taxable. The only portion of your monthly benefit which is not taxable are those retirement contributions which you paid prior to approximately September of 1987. During your retirement interview, retirement staff will review this information with you and provide you with information regarding income tax reporting for tax exempt retirement income after retirement.

Yes. As required by the County Employees Retirement Law of 1937 (the '37 Act), all members of the retirement system pay contributions to the retirement plan. Contributions are made through bi-weekly payroll deductions from your paycheck. Since 1987, retirement contributions have been taken on a tax-deferred basis.This means that your retirement contribution is deducted from your bi-weekly salary before income taxes are withheld from your paycheck. This has the effect of lowering the amount withheld for federal and state income taxes. The Retirement Office sets up a separate retirement account for each member of the retirement system. All of your contributions accumulate in this account, identified by your name and social security number. It is important to note that the Employer contributions made toward your future retirement are not placed with Employee contributions in your account. This is because you are not entitled to any of the Employer contributions made on your behalf until you actually retire from service.

There are three sources of funding for TCERA retirement benefits: Employer contributions, Employee contributions, and earnings on investment of the assets of the retirement system.

You can obtain the amount of your retirement account balance by sending a written request to the Retirement Office. The request must include your social security number and your signature.Due to confidentiality requirements imposed by the law, Retirement Office staff may not provide account balances over the telephone. If you have an immediate need for your current account balance, you may visit us at the Retirement Office.You will be asked for picture identification and then a staff member will obtain the information for you. Each year, the Retirement Office sends a Statement of Member's Account to all members of TCERA, except retired members.This statement shows the balance in your account as of December 31st of the preceding year.The statement shows how much you have contributed, the total interest earnings on your account and the annual interest rate for the year ending December 31st.It also lists the beneficiary that you designated for your account.

Yes. The retirement plan maintains a Supplemental Retirement Benefit Reserve (SRBR) which is used to fund additional benefits for retirees. The reserve is funded almost entirely out of "excess" earnings that occur when TCERA's investment performance is higher than expected. No employer or employee contributions are required to go into the SRBR. Unlike your basic retirement allowance, benefits paid from the SRBR are not guaranteed. Even so, the Retirement Board has taken steps to make sure that funds from the SRBR will be available for many years. For more details on the SRBR benefits, return to the area listing TCERA's various publicationa and click on the one entitled "Supplemental Retirement Benefits".