81-2027.07 Annual benefit adjustment; calculations.
81-2027.07. Annual benefit adjustment; calculations.(1) Beginning June 30, 1999, and each June 30 thereafter, the retirement board shall determine the number of eligible retirees in the retirement system and shall grant an annual benefit adjustment to each eligible retiree. The annual benefit adjustment shall be calculated by multiplying the eligible retiree's total monthly benefit by the lesser of:(a)(i) For calculations on June 30, 1999, the cumulative change in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics from June 30, 1998, through June 30, 1999; or(ii) For calculations on June 30, 2000, and each June 30 thereafter, the cumulative change in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor from the last adjustment of the total monthly benefit of each eligible retiree pursuant to this section through June 30 of the year for which the annual benefit adjustment is being calculated; or(b)(i) For calculations on June 30, 1999, an amount equal to three percent per annum compounded from June 30, 1998, through June 30, 1999; or(ii) For calculations on June 30, 2000, and each June 30 thereafter, an amount equal to three percent per annum compounded for the period from the last adjustment of the total monthly benefit of each eligible retiree pursuant to this section through June 30 of the year for which the annual benefit adjustment is being calculated.(2) Beginning July 1 each year, each eligible retiree shall receive the sum of the annual benefit adjustment and such retiree's total monthly benefit, which sum shall be the retiree's adjusted total monthly benefit. Each eligible retiree shall receive the adjusted total monthly benefit until the expiration of the annuity option selected by the member or until the eligible retiree again qualifies for the annual benefit adjustment, whichever occurs first. Subsequent to the date of the annual benefit adjustment, an eligible retiree shall never receive less than the adjusted total monthly benefit until the annuity option selected by the member expires.(3) The retirement board shall adjust the annual benefit adjustment provided in this section so that the total amount of all cost-of-living adjustments provided to the eligible retiree at the time of the annual benefit adjustment does not exceed the change in the National Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between June 30 of the prior year to June 30 of the present year. If the consumer price index used in this section and section 81-2027.06 is discontinued or replaced, a substitute index published by the United States Department of Labor shall be selected by the board which shall be a reasonable representative measurement of the cost of living for retired employees. SourceLaws 1998, LB 532, § 12; Laws 1999, LB 703, § 18.