State Employment / Income Taxes (transplants, live, retirement)

[CMKM-Miller]

This is a question for state employees and California transplants to Oregon. One, what is the states retirement system. Do all state employees contribute to Oregon PERS and if so, do they also contribute to social security ? Also, I hear a lot about personal income taxes in Oregon being high, but those who have lived in California, how do they compare ? I always thought California taxed people through the nose. Are taxes roughly the same, higher or lower ? Any feedback or knowledge is appreciated.

[Bendite]

My husband works for the State. Income tax in Oregon is 9%. His deductions are: Fed tax, state tax, Soc Security, Medicare, Workers Comp. He used to work for the State of Colorado and they did not take out Social Security then, but the rules changed a couple of years ago and I think every state employee has to contribute to Social Security now. As far as I know, PERS is optional

[BLAZER PROPHET]

As to the retirement system, it depends. The teachers union has set them up very nicely. I think it's changes, but it used to be that at age 55 and with 25 years you could retire to 110% of your pay + 100% paid health benefits for life. I have some friends (a couple) that retired at age 55 under Pers (as teachers with 25+ years teaching) and their combined retirement income was over $140,000 per year. HOWEVER, I think that little sweetheart deal ended as the state was, literally, going broke. Other nonteachers still have good benefits. When I worked for the state they had 3 separate retirement plans at the same time- 2 I paid into and 1 was all state funded. None by themselves were great, but added together they were quite nice. And then I could have added SS to the mix.