Overview of the Colorado Public Employees' Retirement Association (PERA)

The state legislature established the Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association (PERA) in 1931 to provide a pension benefit to state and local government employees, predating the federal Social Security Act of 1935 by four years. PERA is administered under Article 51 of Title 24 of the Colorado Revised Statutes.

PERA is a substitute for Social Security for most participating public employees. PERA benefits are pre-funded; while a member is working both the employer and the employee contribute a fixed percentage of the employee’s salary to the retirement trust fund.