HomeMy WebLinkAbout09 - OB-1 - Amendment to the Contract Between CalPer - 3/6/2012CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
MEETING DATE: MARCH 6, 2012
ITEM NUMBER:
SUBJECT: AMENDMENT TO THE CONTRACT BETWEEN CALPERS AND THE CITY OF COSTA
MESA TO INCLUDE PROVISIONS PURSUANT TO GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION
20475 IN ORDER TO IMPLEMENT THE 2%@60 RETIREMENT FORMULA
(MISCELLANEOUS GROUP)
DATE: FEBRUARY 23, 2012
FROM: CEO's OFFICE/HUMAN RESOURCES DIVISION
PRESENTATION LANCE M. NAKAMOTO, HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER
BY: BOBBY YOUNG, DIRECTOR OF FINANCE AND I.T.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council:
LANCE M. NAKAMOTO AT (714) 754-5172
RYAN THOMAS AT (714) 754-5104
1) Adopt Urgency Ordinance No. 12 - (Attachment 1) which authorizes an amendment
to the contract between the Board of Administration of the California Public
Employees' Retirement System (CaIPERS) and the City Council of the City of Costa
Mesa in order to implement the lower -level retirement formula of 2%@60 for
Miscellaneous employees under Government Code Section 20475.
2) Give second reading by title only and adopt Ordinance No. 12- (Attachment 11),
which authorizes the amendment to the CaIPERS contract to implement the
2%@60 retirement formula for Miscellaneous employees under Government Code
Section 20475.
BACKGROUND:
Presently, the City of Costa Mesa contracts with CaIPERS for a 2.5% @ 55 retirement
plan for Miscellaneous employees. At a Special Meeting of the City Council Meeting on
October 26, 2010, the City Council adopted a Side Letter of Agreement (LOA) with the
Costa Mesa City Employees Association (CMCEA). The LOA amends the existing
CMCEA Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) by adding "Section III, Article 6 —
Retirement — PERS Retirement Formula — New Hires: CMCEA agrees to the City
implementing a second tier PERS Retirement Formula of 2%@60 for new hires and that
the employees hired after the implementation of the 2%@ 60 formula will pay 7.0% of
their PERSable earnings towards the employee retirement contribution."
ANALYSIS:
There is a specific period of time each year when Cal PERS allows agencies to amend
their contracts. In addition, California regulations allow only one contract amendment to
be processed with CalPERS at a time.
In order to process contract amendments involving benefits with CaIPERS, the City
must first request preparation of a special valuation from CalPERS that discloses the
costs (or savings) of the specific benefit being requested. This is required in order to
disclose costs (or savings) to the public during the next step, the contract amendment
process. Once the valuation is received by the City, a request is made to CalPERS to
begin the contract amendment process. It takes approximately 30 days from the date of
request for CaIPERS to prepare and deliver the required contract amendment
documents.
During the past several months staff has been working with CalPERS representatives to
assemble the required paperwork and documentation necessary to implement the
2%@60 retirement formula with one year final compensation and post retirement
survivor allowance.
Further, CaIPERS requires that clearly defined procedures established by State statute
be followed for contract amendments. The following are regulations required by
CalPERS in order to complete the contract amendment process:
1. On February 7, 2012, Resolution of Intention No. 12-9 was approved by the City
Council, and a first reading of the Ordinance authorizing an amendment to the
contract occurred. In addition, authorization was given for the City Clerk to
provide "Certification of Governing Body's Action", "Certification of Compliance
with Government Code Section 7507" and "Certification of Compliance with
Government Code Section 20475".
2. A final reading of the Ordinance and a City Council vote on adoption must occur at
least twenty (20) days after the adoption of the Resolution of Intention (March 6,
2012 City Council Meeting). The City Attorney recommends that an Urgency
Ordinance be acted on concurrently. If the Urgency Ordinance is adopted, it will
take effect the day following adoption, March 7, 2012.
3. The effective date of the contract amendment must be the first day of a payroll
period and may not be earlier than the day after the effective date of the Ordinance
(or Urgency Ordinance). Therefore, the earliest possible effective date of the
contract amendment would be March 11, 2012, the first day of a payroll period.
ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED:
The implementation of this second tier retirement plan is the City's obligation under the
LOA that was agreed to by both parties. In addition, this is the lowest CalPERS authorized
formula for miscellaneous employees that is available to the City. Any other alternatives
that the City Council would like to discuss with CMCEA would have to be done through the
meet and confer process.
E
FISCAL REVIEW:
The City's immediate total fiscal impact of this amendment is unknown at this time due to
fact that the 2%@60 benefit will only be given to new employees. However, the 2%@60
benefit is less expensive and therefore will cost less than the current 2.5% 55 benefit.
According to a CalPERS valuation prepared for this contract amendment, when the total
number of active members is the same in both plans the decrease in the employer rate
would be 2.6%, a savings of about $500,000 with the current payroll.
In the meantime, the City may have less active participants in the 2.5% 55 plan, which
may increase PERS rates for that plan, but the total retirement cost to the City should
remain constant before reducing over time.
Also, the lower benefit should also provide lower total liabilities and therefore help reduce
total unfunded liabilities the City currently has and would continue to have if new hires were
provided the 2.5% 55 benefit. Plans with this lower benefit would also be less volatile
during periods of economic recession and therefore more stable.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City Attorney's Office has reviewed the attached documents and, where appropriate,
approved them as to form.
CONCLUSION:
The final step in the process to establish a second tier 2%@60 retirement formula for
new hires within the Miscellaneous employees group is the adoption of the ordinance
authorizing the amendment to the contract to implement Government Code Section
20475.
3
LANCE M. NAKAMOTO
Human Resources Manager
BOBBY YOUNG
Director of Finance and I.T.
Assistant CEO
City Attorney
City Clerk
Assistant Finance Director
TAMARA S. LETOURNEAU
Interim Assistant CEO
TOM DUARTE
City Attorney
Budget and Research Manager
ATTACHMENTS: I Urgency Ordinance No. 12 -
II Ordinance No. 12 -
030612 Council Agenda Report-CalPERS Contract Amendment 03/06/2012 2pm
Different Level of Benefits — Miscellaneous Group
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