Alan Conroy, executive director of the Kansas Public Employee Retirement System, said the currently available KPERS 3 plan performed as anticipated by lowering costs to government employers by shifting to workers a portion of financial risk of building a retirement portfolio. (Kansas Reflector screen capture of Legislature’s YouTube channel)
TOPEKA — The Kansas Legislature’s auditors say the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System plan available to the state’s government employees hired since 2015 has higher worker contribution requirements, a longer vesting period and lower financial rewards than plans in comparable states.
Auditors said a survey of 1,300 current and former Kansas public employees indicated people enrolled in KPERS 3 were more likely to leave their job than participants in the predecessor KPERS 1 or KPERS 2 plans. Dissatisfaction with KPERS 3 stemmed from reality of a plan delivering a lower proportion of final salary in terms of retirement benefits when compared to alternatives.