Opinion ID: 2628033
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The relationship between the COLA and its purpose

Text: Given that the COLA is designed to encourage public employee retirees to continue to live in the state by neutralizing or lessening the incentive to move from the state created by Alaska's high living costs, what can be said about the COLA as a means to that end? We conclude that it is fairly and substantially related. As the statistics referred to by the superior court show, the cost of living in Alaska is still substantially higher than the average cost of living in the United States. The decision of a retired person to stay in the state or move to another one can be influenced by many factors. Some of the most important are the location of close relatives and friends, the desire to remain a part of the community in which the retiree has worked and lived for many years, weather, cultural and recreational resources, income, and the cost of living. To the extent that cost of living is a factor that creates a disincentive to stay in the state, the COLA works to neutralize it by increasing income. The disincentive to remain in Alaska caused by high costs is not undercut by the fact that there are now a number of metropolitan areas outside Alaska with higher living costs. The cost of living in most areas of the United States is still lower than in Alaska, and in many areas it is much lower. [25] Thus the rationale for neutralizing the incentive to move still exists. Further, insofar as economics are a factor in decisions about where to live after retirement, the COLA seems well designed to achieve its purpose because it does defray to some extent Alaska's high living costs. We think the COLA can readily be described as having a fair and substantial relationship to its purpose.