STARS Pension Administration System

Coming Soon! PSPRS and its pension administration system vendor, Vitech, are preparing to launch the STARS system in spring of 2026. Parallel and end-to-end testing, data validation and payroll verification testing are scheduled. Upon successful testing, a launch date will be announced.

Employer points of contact and staff who will assume PSPRS-plan administrative duties are encouraged to attend the monthly employer STARS check-in online meetings. These meetings include STARS updates, demonstrations and question-and-answer sessions. Directions to attend are on this webpage.

Coming Soon! PSPRS staff are preparing the STARS employer training curriculum, related tools and resources, as well as the schedule. Training will cover topics like employer self-service functions, payroll and contribution reporting, making payments, health insurance, and local board and member account functions. The training will be hosted virtually and recorded for all employers to engage with us in their setting, and revisit at their convenience.

PSPRS requested feedback from each employer to indicate individual administrators for each employer who will be able to authorize staff members to administer PSPRS-plan functions in STARS. Local board administrator duties are assigned to local board secretaries. For security purposes, the administrator will have the ability and responsibility to assign access based on roles and responsibilities of the staff performing the duties. It is best practice to limit access to the minimum necessary to perform their assigned task to mitigate risk of compromised data security. Training and resources will be provided on how to accomplish this task.

After launch, employer administrators will be able to transfer ownership to other individuals, should that be necessary. More details to come with employer training in 2026.

Yes. Employers can still, and are encouraged to, submit contribution, demographic and health insurance files for testing. PSPRS seeks a smooth transition to the STARS system and is ready to help employers with file submissions. Please consult in the “Review Your Employer Group Number/STARS Point of Contact” document in the STARS Resources section of this webpage for your PSPRS point of contact. Please allow time for responses.

If you have previously tested a file but have made changes to your system or changed systems all together, please keep us in mind and get in touch with us so we can re-test your files to provide additional assurance!

The STARS system should work properly with all reputable internet browsers. PSPRS staff have tested and navigated the STARS system through multiple browsers, including Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge, and have not experienced technical difficulties.

Employers will have the ability to upload demographic changes and contributions in file uploads and will not have to submit information on a one-by-one basis. However, the ability to submit a change manually for single changes will be an option as well.

Yes. Public safety and participating corrections/detention/court probation and surveillance employers will use STARS to administer cancer insurance tasks, including the payment of premiums.

No. We are excited about the enhancements that STARS brings for our employers particularly when it comes to payments, as this has been a common inconvenience for employers regarding payment method and timing of payment. STARS will be able to accept Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments in the new Employer Self-Service (ESS) portal. STARS will no longer support E-Bill payments.

Physical checks are also discouraged because they are less secure, less efficient and more expensive than modern electronic payment methods. The federal government and banks have actively pushed for this transition, with the U.S. Treasury moving to phase out most paper checks for federal payments by September 30, 2025. However, we do understand that this is the primary or only payment method for some of our employers, and for that reason we do continue to accept physical checks.

The ACH payment process enhancement is easier for employers and also helps supports PSPRS transition to comply with the statutory requirement to calculate an interest penalty on contributions not remitted within 15 business days after an employer’s pay period end date.

Yes. STARS will be able to accommodate multiple bank accounts, which can be used by employer administrators and users who need to make payments for multiple employers, like police, fire, corrections and elected officials.

Employers can request W-9 forms from PSPRS by emailing the finance team at [email protected].

Yes, but credits will not be separately distinguished between employer and member contributions. They will all be classified as pension contributions.

When STARS launches, any credits created in the system will be approached on a “first in, first out” basis, following this hierarchy:

1. 1. Fire insurance premium tax credit (applied to both employer and member contributions)
   2. Prepaid credit contribution
   3. Work report adjustment credit contribution

As credits become available, they will be applied to any open invoices or work reports, then applied to the next upcoming invoice/work report.

Any unused prepaid credit account or contribution prepayment credits at year’s end (June 30) will be automatically applied to the employer’s unfunded liability or reserve balance(s) based on the new application of credits mentioned above (FIPTC, prepaid credit, work report adjustment). STARS cannot carry over prepayment balances from one fiscal year to the next.