A new report was released in June by Colorado PERA, “Colorado PERA Economic and Fiscal Impacts”. The report, which was prepared by the economic and business analysis firm Pacey Economics, shows that distributions from Colorado PERA translate to $5.2 billion in economic output. This helps support more than 29,000 Colorado jobs annually.
The report shows that $3.5 billion in annual PERA distributions to more than 90,000 Colorado residents drives the following:
- $5.2 billion in economic output, which includes all local shopping at grocery stores, restaurants, and more
- $1.46 billion in labor income
- 29,357 jobs
Every party of the state is touched by the benefit of these distributions. They create “an infusion of income into the local economy that creates a chain of economic activities whose total impact is greater than the initial retirement distribution payment. The impact of the PERA retirement distributions reaches well beyond those who receive the initial retirement distributions,” according to the report.
Additionally, the report notes that the economic impact of the distributions has increased nearly $2 billion since 2009. You can read the entire report by Pacey here. Also, check out the infographic from PERA below that shows just how far its distributions go:
