Nebraska school contribution rates tied to annual actuarial studies under LB645; July reports must use full 8% employee rate

NPERS training specialist Samantha warned that LB645 changes how the state supports the school retirement plan and will require employers to update reporting annually. “This is basically known as the bill that makes all of our jobs harder in the name of saving the state some money,” she said, describing how the law ties contributions to an annual actuarial study and removes a prior automatic state smoothing payment.

That change has immediate practical consequences for payroll reporting: for the July wage-and-contribution period NPERS’ system will require the full employee contribution rate (8% for the current year). Samantha said, “So this year it's going to be the 8%. It has to be fully 8%, there's no partial there. Our system won't accept any partial data.” She added that the employer contribution continues to be recorded as a 101% match in the system (an 8% employee rate shows as 8.08% for the employer-side record).

NPERS staff urged reporting agents to keep contact lists current so the agency can send annual notices about rate changes. The agency also flagged a new portal section for “missing non-cons” (termination records) that will surface items needing action; staff cautioned that new releases may have bugs and asked districts to report anomalies by email with details.

What happens next: employers must update payroll systems and wage-and-contribution uploads to match the published contribution rate each year. NPERS said it will email guides and templates; employers who do not confirm reports by the required confirmation date may face late fees and should respond promptly to system flags.