Committee advances modest PERA true‑up giving Denver schools temporary employer contribution relief

The House Finance Committee voted 11‑2 to forward House Bill 11‑05, a limited true‑up of Denver Public Schools’ employer contributions to PERA, to the Committee on Appropriations after adopting two sponsor offering amendments.

Sponsors, including Representative Camacho and Assistant Majority Leader Bacon, said DPS has contributed substantially more than other school divisions since it merged with PERA in 2009 and that the bill exercises a statutory true‑up required every five years to realign employer contribution rates. The bill as amended reduces DPS’s employer contribution by a total of 3 percentage points but funds 0.82 percentage points from the DPS Health Care Trust Fund so the net reduction to the pension contribution rate is approximately 2.18 percentage points…