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County told OPERS hazard-pay change will be billed retroactively to employees
Summary
Commissioners heard that a change to OPERS hazard-pay contributions for jailers and deputies (from 4% to 8%) was not applied to two months of payroll and that the retirement system will seek retroactive withholding from affected employees; staff described options to amortize catch-up deductions.
County officials discussed a missed payroll change that will increase retirement withholding for jailers and deputies and require retroactive collection.
Officials said the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS) increased the employee contribution for hazardous-duty positions (jailers and sheriff deputies) from 4% to 8%, but the change was not applied on two months of payroll. The county resolved the contribution for January payroll but was told by OPERS that the agency will bill the county for the two months that were missed and that affected employees will have catch-up withholding applied to their paychecks.
Why this matters: county staff estimated about 25 employees are affected. Commissioners and staff discussed options to spread the retroactive withholding across multiple pay periods (the office suggested amortizing the catch-up over several months — examples discussed ranged from six to eight months — so the additional withholding is a small percentage each payroll rather than a single large deduction).
Staff asked OPERS for explicit instructions and said they will return with a plan to employees in writing. County officials also discussed standard payroll bookkeeping practice for catch-up items — marking them as a separate line so employees do not mistake one-time catch-ups for regular pay.
Commissioners directed staff to explain the deduction schedule to affected employees in writing and to coordinate with OPERS before implementing the withholding plan. No formal policy change was adopted at the meeting.
Ending: Staff said they will follow up with OPERS, prepare written notice for affected employees, and bring any implementation steps back to the commissioners if needed.
