Current COLA
Increase for Safety Plan C as of April 2025: 2.0 Percent
Safety Plan C retirees and eligible survivors will receive the maximum allowable annual COLA of 2.0 percent, starting with their April 2025 payment.
How the Current COLA Was Determined
At its February 5, 2025 meeting, LACERA’s Board of Retirement approved a 3.5 percent 2025 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) award, which exceeds the maximum allowed for retirees and eligible payees for all plans. (All plans will receive the maximum allowed annual increase, and the excess CPI percentage will be added to the COLA Accumulation, as summarized below.)
The 2025 COLA award is based on the cost-of-living increase from December 2023 to December 2024, as reflected in the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index (CPI) for all urban consumers in the Los Angeles–Long Beach–Anaheim metro area. The calendar year-to-date CPI change is 3.4 percent. In determining the applied COLA award, the amount is rounded to the nearest one-half percent, as prescribed by law, which is a 3.5 percent increase.
COLA Accumulation
Current COLA Accumulation Chart
According to the provisions of LACERA retirement plans, if the COLA percentage exceeds the maximum allowable amount, the excess CPI percentage is accumulated to supplement future COLA benefits (called the COLA accumulation). LACERA uses the COLA accumulation balances available to fund the maximum increase allowable under each plan. The longer you have been retired (or receiving a survivor's allowance), the more COLA carryover you may have accumulated.
The current CPI percentage increase of 3.4 percent is used to calculate this year’s COLA Accumulation. That amount exceeds the 2.0 percent maximum allowed in Safety Plan C, so the remaining 1.4 percent will be added to the COLA Accumulation.