The Department of Employee Trust Funds (ETF) recently announced that the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) employee and employer contribution rates will increase slightly effective January 1, 2020. WRS rates are evaluated and adjusted annually.
The slight increase is due to lower than expected Core Trust Fund investment performance and economic assumption changes that were approved by the ETF Board in December, 2018.
Contribution increase and decrease fluctuations are considered normal for retirement systems like the WRS that pre-fund retirement benefits. For example, WRS contribution rates in 2019 were lowered due to favorable investment performance.
UW System employee contribution rates are determined by employment category. Most UW employees are in the General/Teacher/Executive category. Employees with law enforcement or public protection duties (police officers, fire fighters) are in the Protective category.
The 2020 contribution rates will apply to all paychecks paid in 2020; beginning with the January 2, 2020 paycheck for Faculty, Academic Staff and Limited Appointees paid monthly, and the January 2, 2020 paycheck for University staff paid bi-weekly. As a reminder, WRS contributions are taken on a pre-tax basis for state and federal tax purposes.
For more information, visit the WRS webpage on the UW System Employee Benefits website.
Source: UW System Human Resources