[08grad]

Wondering if any teachers in CCSD can help me out here. I'm wondering what percent comes out of your paycheck each month that is automatically contributed towards PERS since this information is not readily available online.

CCSD advertises a 23.75% PERS contribution in their benefits. Do they pay all of the PERS contribution each month and nothing gets taken out of the salary? Do you contribute half (11.875%) and they match it? Or is it something completely different?

[FML157]

Full-time employees become a member of the Nevada State Public Employees Retirement System. Full retirement costs are paid by the County.

Employee Benefits

[poopskooper]

I also heard that the employee contribution rate is 11.875% with the employer matching that. That does seem awfully high and contradicts what FML157 has posted.




edit: here are some articles that seem to suggest that the 11.875% figure could be true. Most state's PERs systems will have an employee contribution with an employer match but 11.875% just seems a bit high to me but I didn't retire with NVPERS:


Nevada Teaching Salaries and Benefits

http://www.nevadanewsbureau.com/tag/retirement/

http://www.nevadanewsbureau.com/tag/pers/page/2/

Nevada warned of accelerating state retirements


.

[Everdeen]

Some of the PERS benefits that other state employees are eligible for, teachers are not. For example, almost all state employees have two PERS plans to chose from. Teachers only get one. Type 1 is where there is an employee contribution and a match by the employer. Type 2 is 100% paid for by the employer. The advantage of Type 1 is that if you terminate employment with the state, you can withdraw all the money that you contributed and take it with you. They don't even give teachers that option. It was one of the ways they make it difficult to leave once you begin employment here.

[WestieJeff]

So instead of taking half the contribution from the teacher's checks and giving them the option to get it back if they leave, they just let them keep all their money in the first place (since the district pays the whole tab)? Not sure how that's a negative for the teachers.

Originally Posted by Everdeen

Some of the PERS benefits that other state employees are eligible for, teachers are not. For example, almost all state employees have two PERS plans to chose from. Teachers only get one. Type 1 is where there is an employee contribution and a match by the employer. Type 2 is 100% paid for by the employer. The advantage of Type 1 is that if you terminate employment with the state, you can withdraw all the money that you contributed and take it with you. They don't even give teachers that option. It was one of the ways they make it difficult to leave once you begin employment here.

[poopskooper]

Originally Posted by Everdeen

Some of the PERS benefits that other state employees are eligible for, teachers are not. For example, almost all state employees have two PERS plans to chose from. Teachers only get one. Type 1 is where there is an employee contribution and a match by the employer. Type 2 is 100% paid for by the employer. The advantage of Type 1 is that if you terminate employment with the state, you can withdraw all the money that you contributed and take it with you. They don't even give teachers that option. It was one of the ways they make it difficult to leave once you begin employment here.

Thanks for the clarification ...I think it's a clarification. So teachers get no choice in the plan they get. But what plan is it? From the article in the first link I gave, it seems to suggest that teachers are under a Type 1 PERS plan where they contribute 11.875% and the school district matches.

I also read somewhere that teachers have access to a deferred compensation plan --457(b) and also a 403(b) voluntary retirement savings plan.

[WestieJeff]

Teachers are under a plan where the district pays the full amount. There is no employee deduction in their check for PERS contributions.

Originally Posted by poopskooper

Thanks for the clarification ...I think it's a clarification. So teachers get no choice in the plan they get. But what plan is it? From the article in the first link I gave, it seems to suggest that teachers are under a Type 1 PERS plan where they contribute 11.875% and the school district matches.

I also read somewhere that teachers have access to a deferred compensation plan --457(b) and also a 403(b) voluntary retirement savings plan.

[FML157]

CCSD pays for your pension (no deduction from paycheck at all); this seems like a good deal to me.

[Everdeen]

Between the two plans, the net amount that the employee gets is the same, if I remember correctly. It's been a long time and have forgotten the specific details.

Whether or not one person thinks one is advantageous over the other depends on whether you want to stay in Nevada and how long you live. We do not get the choice that others get with the employee/employer match. For me that is a disadvantage. We should be allowed the choice that every other employee gets. I would not have chosen the one that I have.

In addition to PERS, we can participate in a 403(b). In fact, in one of the district mandated videos that we are required to watch every year, it discusses the inadequacies of our retirement plan and strongly encourages us to participate in a 403(b).

[poopskooper]

Although I'm not the OP, I'm kind of curious about this because everything I seem to read suggests that CCSD teachers are under a PERS plan which they contribute and the school district also contributes an equal amount. Has this changed in the last two years?

This article <click here> (along with the ones I posted before) says:

Under state law, increases in contribution rates to the Public Employees Retirement System are to be shared equally between employers and employees. For the fiscal year starting July 1, the contribution rate is scheduled to increase by 2.25 percent to 23.75 percent.


Now that I read the NVPERS explanation <click here> of their two options that Everdeen has explained, it makes it clearer that no matter what the option, the cost is still split between the employee and the employer.

So it's a misnomer to say that the employer pays 100% as if you read the explanation, under the ER Paid plan, even though the employer pays 100%, the employee still pays their share through salary reduction. If the employee did have a choice, it appears what the employer is saying then is "So listen here you underling teacher, you either pay PERS each payday and we will match, or we will pay for the entire cost and reduce your salary to the proper amount so you are paying half of the 100% we pay."

A32. What is the difference between the Employee/Employer Pay Plan and the Employer Pay Plan? How does the choice of plan affect my retirement benefit?

Under the Employee/Employer Pay Plan (EES/ERS) the member pays 50% of the retirement contributions through a payroll deduction and the employer pays the other 50% of the contributions. If you terminate employment, you may elect to refund the employee contributions you personally paid into the system, which will cancel your membership in PERS. Under the Employer Pay Plan (ER Paid or EPC), the employee pays for their portion of the contribution through a salary reduction or in lieu of pay increase and the employer pays 100% of the retirement contributions to PERS. Under this plan, the member does not accrue refundable contributions and will retain their service credit in the event of termination. In addition, your average compensation is adjusted at the time of retirement if you are under the ER Paid plan.

Whether or not you will have the choice between the two contribution plans when you are newly hired depends upon the public employer in which you work. Some public employers require mandatory participation under the ER Paid plan for their employees and others, like the State, allow for a choice.

Regardless of which plan you are under, you share equally in the PERS contribution rate and there is no difference in how your monthly benefit will be calculated.

All this indicates to me that the OP is correct in their assumption that the contribution rate for a CCSD teacher is 11.875% and CCSD matches at 11.875% for a total of 23.75% --which still seems high to me, whew!

Can a current teacher verify this for sure? Or are one of you kind folks who are responding a current teacher?