Minnesota Agencies

Provides retirement, survivor, and disability benefits for public employees of county and local government in Minnesota.

PERA's website provides this brief history of the organization:

"In 1931, during the Great Depression, a group of public employees asked the state of Minnesota for legislation authorizing a retirement association for all public employees not covered by the state’s existing retirement plan (established in 1929). The Minnesota Legislature decided that a large retirement association would be able to operate more economically and efficiently than the smaller versions that already existed, so on April 24, 1931 they established the Public Employees Retirement Association of Minnesota. Operations began officially a few months later on July 1. 

"PERA now administers three statewide retirement plans providing a defined benefit plan (DBP) to participating public employees in the state of Minnesota. In addition, we manage a statewide retirement plan providing defined contribution (DCP) coverage to public officials, city managers, physicians, and certain ambulance service personnel, rescue squad personnel, and volunteer firefighters. We also manage?a lump-sum defined benefit plan for volunteer firefighters in the state. All of these programs are tax-qualified retirement plans under Section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code."

The management of the Public Employees Retirement Association is vested in an 11-member board of trustees consisting of ten members and the state auditor. The state auditor may designate a deputy auditor with expertise in pension matters as the auditor's representative on the board. The governor shall appoint five trustees to four-year terms, one of whom shall be designated to represent school boards, one to represent cities, one to represent counties, one who is a retired annuitant, and one who is a public member knowledgeable in pension matters. The membership of the association, including recipients of retirement annuities and disability and survivor benefits, shall elect five trustees for terms of four years, one of whom must be a member of the police and fire fund and one of whom must be a former member who met the definition of public employee under Minn. Stat. 353.01, subd. 2 and 2a, for at least five years prior to terminating membership and who is receiving a retirement annuity or a member who receives a disability benefit. Terms expire on January 31 of the fourth year, and positions are vacant until newly elected members are seated. Except as otherwise provided, trustees elected by the membership of the association must be public employees and members of the association.