Earlier this year, Colorado PERA held telephone town halls and a series of meetings in communities across the state. The purpose of the meetings was to inform and listen to members, retirees, employers, and taxpayers about reducing PERA’s risk profile while maintaining a sustainable retirement for Colorado’s public employees and strengthening the Colorado economy.

This outreach effort, called PERAtour, came after a review process indicated that changing demographics and market conditions had increased the risk profile of each of the PERA divisions, extending the period until PERA reaches full-funded status well beyond 30 years.

At the same time, PERA launched a dedicated website, peratour.org, dedicated to providing factual information about changes to external conditions, gathering feedback from members, retirees, taxpayers, and interested citizens, and reporting the opinions that participants shared in person, by phone, and online.

There is a wealth of information available on the website, and several highlights from PERAtour are listed below.

PERAtour: A statewide conversation

• A narrated or self-directed presentation providing an overview of the purpose and process for PERAtour.

Narrated Board presentation

• A video presentation made available to the PERA Board of Trustees in June, including a recap of what was learned from the PERAtour community meetings.

“What we’ve heard”

• A series of blog posts summarizing feedback from meeting attendees.
• Feedback on the principles and priorities that should guide potential future changes to PERA
• Retirement benefits should treat all employees fairly
• A deep commitment to public service
• Keeping up with inflation in retirement
• Participants concerned about changing workforce

Support for core principles, by the numbers

• An infographic showing the level of support for core principles to guide any potential future changes to PERA.

What our members have to say

• Linda, Anne, Steve, and John, all PERA retirees, share their thoughts about what they heard during PERAtour community meetings.

PERAtour: Denver

• A full-length video recording of a PERAtour meeting in Denver, including Executive Director Greg Smith’s responses to questions asked by attendees.