Sheriff Entitled to Full Salary After Retirement

When Sheriff John Duffy assailed the media at a press conference Monday for driving him out of office, he stated that he would continue to receive his full salary of more than $93,000 after he steps down in 1991.

After bitterly criticizing the media for asking whether public money helped to finance his home security system and for forcing him not to seek an unprecedented sixth term because of concerns for his family’s safety, Duffy said, “It will cost the taxpayers double the money, I might add,” to pay for Duffy’s retirement salary and the salary of his successor.

He’s right. According to San Diego County Treasurer Paul Boland, Duffy--who has worked for the county since 1953--is entitled to every penny of his annual salary. Only one other county law enforcement officer among a staff of 1,487 has served more than 35 years, Boland added.

“(Duffy has) put in his time,” Boland said. “You know that Smith Barney commercial . . . ‘He did it the old-fashioned way. He earned it.’ ”

Boland said Duffy, who is 59, will not receive special treatment. The county has two retirement programs--one for law enforcement officers and one for other workers.

According to the Safety Plan, which covers the sheriff, deputies, marshals and a handful of investigators for the district attorney, a law enforcement officer who retires at age 55 after 20 years of service receives 52.4% of his salary, Boland said. After 29 years of service, an officer gets 76% of his salary. To receive full salary, an officer must serve at least 38 years, 2 months and be 55 or older.

When he steps down in 1991, Duffy will have served 38 years and--with his military service--will meet the full- salary requirement, Boland said. Though no longer in effect, the county Board of Supervisors once approved a plan that allowed military service to be added to an officer’s tenure.

In comparison, under the General Membership Plan, which covers all other county employees, a worker who retires at age 55 with 20 years of service receives 29.8% of his salary. To receive his full salary, an employee must work at least 41 years, 1 month and be 65 or older. The general plan covers 12,475 employees, of which only 12 have worked for more than 35 years.

Having a different retirement program for law enforcement officers is not unusual, Boland added.

“The primary reason for offering a more attractive retirement program to law enforcement officers was because the county wanted younger people for such positions,” Boland said.

“They wanted younger people because they were physically capable of doing the many difficult things law enforcement officers must do. To attract people to do this type of work, the county provided the incentive of retiring early without having to worry about how to make ends meet.”

Boland explained that law enforcement officers “get more back when they retire compared to other workers” because they contribute more to the pension fund while they are working.

For example, a 23-year-old who is hired today as a deputy contributes 7.46% of each paycheck to the Safety Plan. That is considerably more than the 4.93% a a county employee the same age contributes to the general plan, Boland said.

“There really is no monetary advantage,” he said. “What makes the Safety Plan more attractive is that it allows you to retire earlier.”

The Safety Plan entitles a law enforcement officer to retire at any age and collect a healthy portion of his salary, as long as he has served 20 years. And it allows an officer to retire after 10 years of service, but he must be at least 50 years old, Boland said.

A a worker covered under the General Membership Plan must be at least 55 and have 10 years of service.

The amount of money that county workers contribute to their retirement programs is determined by a commonly used system known as an “entry age system of contribution.”

According to this method, the age of a county employee at the time that individual is hired is used to determine what percentage the worker contributes to the retirement fund, Boland said.

“The employee pays that same figure from every paycheck, every two weeks, for as long as he works for the county,” Boland said. “That percentage never changes.”

The percentages have been established by considering several factors: how long employees work before retiring; how long employees live after retiring; and how many employees leave county service before retiring.

Boland said the percentage of contribution was changed in 1978.

“In an attempt to reduce the cost of the retirement program, the pension was reduced,” Boland said. “All those workers hired after 1978 receive a lower percentage (of their salary) than those people hired before that time even though they may have the same years of service and the same (retirement) age. But keep in mind that those hired later had less taken out of their paychecks.”

For example, in the general plan, a 32-year-old employee hired prior to 1978 contributes 7.02% to the fund. A 32-year-old worker hired after 1978 pays 5.55%.

Though a county law enforcement officer’s pension has its advantages, Boland says the military offers an even better deal. It pays 50% after 20 years regardless of age. “If an 18-year-old joins the Army he can retire at 38 and get 50% of his salary,” Boland said. “That’s not a bad deal.”

In comparison, a county law enforcement officer who retires at age 41 after serving 20 years receives 25% of his salary, Boland said. And under the general plan, a county employee would not be eligible to receive a portion of his salary until he reached age 55.