Greetings to you all!

This edition of the MPERA Fiscal Year End Update has some very important information, such as finalizing your payroll schedule, fiscal year-end cut-offs, and the upcoming employer contribution rate increases for SRS, GWPORS, and HPORS. Also included is a reminder to update your employees’ addresses and to terminate your employees in ERIC as soon as they leave employment.

PAYROLL SCHEDULES
You are now able to finalize your payroll schedule for Fiscal Year 2026, and the deadline for finalizing is June 15. Make sure you have a payroll in every month, as this is the best service for members. If you require assistance, check our website for the training video, or contact our employer call center at 1-844-304-5452 or in Helena at 406-444-3994.

FISCAL YEAR END CUT-OFFS
All June 2025 payroll reports and contributions are due to our office no later than July 8, 2025, (five working days after June 30). Please note the following regarding your payroll:

• Report all employees – All employees should be reported on your payroll. 
• Report according to your regular payroll schedule – Your payroll report needs to be submitted according to your regular payroll schedule. If you run your PERS reports first, contact the Employer Reporting call center if you have extra reports so that they can determine if an Off Cycle date needs to be set up in your schedule.
• Payouts without termination – Do not withhold retirement contributions from lump sum payouts of vacation, sick and compensatory leave paid if the employee has not terminated employment.
  • Reporting employees who have no hours for the summer – If you have employees who do not work through the summer, you can set the employee on a Seasonal Leave status when you report their last earnings of the fiscal year. Note: When you set the employee out on leave status, ERIC will not expect payroll details for the employee. 

CONTRIBUTION RATE CHANGES
Effective July 1, 2025, the employer contribution rates for SRS, GWPORS, and HPORS increases for all employers. Member contributions will not change. See Rates for further details.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATES
Effective July 1, 2025, any employer adjustments for contributions owed in any Defined Benefit system will now be assessed the actuarially assumed rate of return as interest on the amount owed. Our current actuarially assumed rate of return is 7.3%.

Effective July 1, 2025, if an employer fails to inform a new employee of their optional PERS election, the employee must be allowed to purchase retroactive service and their employer must pay the employer contributions as well as accrued interest on both the employer and employee contributions. See Legislative Updates for additional legislative details.

UPDATING EMPLOYEE ADDRESSES
Be sure all your employee addresses are up to date. MPERA will be sending Annual Statements later this summer and we rely on you to send us accurate information.

TERM EMPLOYEES
Remember to terminate employees in ERIC as soon as they leave employment, as this helps us provide them with accurate information regarding their retirement account.