Howard County maintains two defined benefit retirement plans for their employees: one for the general employees including correctional officers, and the other for police officers and firefighters. The retirement department is committed to enhancing the understanding of the plan benefits while providing quality service to our members as they move to and through retirement.
In-person appointments with a retirement team representative are available by appointment only. For employees looking to retire within the next two months please contact one of our team members to make the necessary arrangements.
Retirement Plan Summaries and Policies
General/Correctional Employees Plan
Police and Fire Plan
Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP) for Police and Fire
Military Service Policy
Retirement Presentations
Forms For Retirees
PRINTABLE FORMS
MD State Tax Withholding (For non-Maryland residents, please contact the Office of Human Resources for the applicable withholding form.)
Return forms via US Mail to:
Howard County Office of Human Resources, Attn: Retirement Coordinator, 3430 Court House Dr., Ellicott City MD 21043
Retirees receiving benefits from the Maryland State Retirement Agency should follow this link for forms: www.sra.state.md.us
RETIREE WEBSITE
Retirees of the Howard County Retirement Plan and The Howard County Police and Fire Employees' Plan can manage their information online by going to https://howardcounty.mypenpay.com.
- Update primary address
- View up to 24 months of payment history
- Update direct deposit and tax withholding elections
- View copies of the previous 5 years' Form 1099-R
- Elect to go paperless
If you need help logging into mypenpay, call system support at (866) 471-0368.
2024 CHECK DATES
Direct deposits occur on the first business day of each month:
Check Date Deposit Date
January 1, 2024 Tuesday, January 2nd
February 1, 2024 Thursday, February 1st
March 1, 2024 Friday, March 1st
April 1, 2024 Monday, April 1st
May 1, 2024 Wednesday, May 1st
June 1, 2024 Monday, June 3rd
July 1, 2024 Monday, July 1st
August 1, 2024 Thursday, August 1st
September 1, 2024 Tuesday, September 3rd
October 1, 2024 Tuesday, October 1st
November 1, 2024 Friday, November 1st
December 1, 2024 Monday, December 2nd
Retiree COLA
Every July 1, a Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) is added to the monthly benefit of each retiree and beneficiary who has been in pay status for 12 months or more.
The July 1, 2023 Cost-of-Living increase is 2% for qualified payees of the Howard County Police and Fire Employees Retirement Plan and 3%* for qualified payees of the Howard County Retirement Plan. It is important to note that the increase will be applied to your gross monthly retirement benefit, before any tax withholding or health insurance premium payments.
The COLA is based on the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) for the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson area, from February of the current year to February of the preceding year as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The percentage change in 2023 is 6.1158%. Details of the COLA calculation are set forth in Section 1.435 and 1.435(A) of the Howard County Code.
*The COLA catch-up is in effect for retirees and beneficiaries in the Howard County Retirement Plan whose benefit commencement began prior to August 1, 2016*. Benefit adjustments will be greater than the posted increase for each plan and will vary dependent upon past COLA’s awarded to the individual retirees and beneficiaries.