Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2004 15:08:23 -0700
From: Peter Gilkey
Organization: University of Oregon
To: iifs@lists.uoregon.edu
Subject: iifs: Pers Tier One

Dear Fellow IFS Senators:

To quote from the PERS main web page: "Due to our complex computer programming issues, 5,766 annual statements were delayed by approximately three weeks. We mailed letters to members whose statements would be delayed, explaining that they had been misidentified as Tier One members when they were Tier Two. This affected their earnings contributions and had to be corrected. However, it appears that a small percentage of the 5,766 members affected were actually Tier One members."

I got a such a letter from PERS informing me: "Dear Pers member. Your 2003 PERS Annual Statement will be delayed. A computer error incorrectly identified you as a PERS Tier One member and did not credit 2003 interest to your Tier Two member account. That error is being corrected, and your 2003 Annual Statement will show 22 percent interest crediting for last year".

I checked, and yes the envelope was addressed to me. I checked my 2002 PERS statement and, yes, I really in fact was Pers Tier One. So I was concerned. I called the PERS line and managed to get thru. The cheerful voice on the other end of the line explained that they had sent this letter to ALL the Pers Tier One members. Right. So if you got such a letter, don't panic. You are not alone. The cheerful voice informed also me I should not worry and everything would be all right.

UGH. So I pass this along just in case your constitutents give you a call.

Peter B Gilkey President (2004) InterInstitutional Faculty Senate

Fri, 25 Jun 2004 15:32:25 -0700

We just received a shipment of the PERS annual statements this week. The statements have been sorted by department and will be sent to your department's payroll/personnel person via campus mail on Monday, June 28. Unfortunately, not all of the members' annual statements were included in the shipment. All of the Tier Two statements and some of the Tier One statements were missing.

PERS just printed the rest of the statements (5,766 more) and is going to send them to us to sort and distribute to departments through campus mail. All Tier Two employees and some Tier One members will receive their statements sometime around July 8. If you are a Tier One employee who received a Tier Two letter in error (like I did), please disregard it. It does not apply to you. However, the fact that you received the letter does mean your Tier One annual statement was most likely not included in the first shipment we received. You probably won't receive your annual statement until sometime around July 8.

Please wait until the end of July to contact PERS at 1-888-320-7377 if you do not receive an annual statement in July. You can also refer to the PERS web site for an update on the annual statements. Go to http://www.pers.state.or.us/ and then click on Annual Statement Update (6-25) on the right hand side of the page.

Helen Stoop, Benefits Administrator Human Resources University of Oregon