High Court Ruling Boosts Benefits for Retirement

Thousands of Ventura County government employees are expected to see their retirement benefits boosted and the county forced to spend millions of dollars following a state Supreme Court ruling issued Thursday.

Ruling on a suit filed against the Board of Retirement by the 780-member Ventura County Deputy Sheriff’s Assn. and three retirees, the state’s high court ruled that the county must include 11 additional employee benefits above base pay when calculating retirement benefits.

The landmark ruling is expected to apply to tens of thousands of county employees across the state who are covered by the County Employees’ Retirement Law of 1937. The decision is also expected to impact future union negotiations by increasing the cost to counties of every benefit paid, officials said.

“There’s no question this is going to be a significant financial impact on the county,” said Van Perris, manager of the Ventura County Employees’ Retirement Assn. “There could be a big price tag on this.”

Most county pensions are determined by considering an employee’s highest annual compensation at the time of retirement and, in some cases, by factoring in their age and length of service.

The court’s ruling means that extra pay received by employees for such things as bilingual skills, uniform expenses and vacation time where employees choose cash over time off must be included in the pension calculation. Overtime pay is excluded.

“I feel very positively that this is the way the Legislature intended the law to be construed,” said Stephen H. Silver, attorney for the deputies. “It’s not like anyone is getting anything out of it that they’re not entitled to. If anything, counties have been saving money all through the years by under-compensating these people.”

Assistant County Counsel Noel Klebaum said the county’s only remaining legal recourse is to petition for a rehearing, a decision that will have to be made by the county Board of Supervisors and Board of Retirement.

Attorneys on both sides said it remains unclear whether the Supreme Court’s decision is retroactive to the 1994 date when the Board of Retirement first denied the union’s request to include the benefits in pension calculations.

County officials estimate that the additional annual costs to the retirement system at $1.5 million, Perris said. If the court’s ruling Thursday is retroactive, the county’s overall costs could balloon by several million dollars.

Annual county contributions to the retirement fund have actually declined over the past two years amid booming investment performances and a decision by supervisors in 1995 to issue pension obligation bonds to cover a $150-million liability in the retirement system.

Although the court’s ruling came in response to the deputies’ suit, Perris expects seven other unions representing more than 5,000 Ventura County employees to seek the added benefits.

“I assume what’s good for the sheriffs is going to be good for everyone else,” he said.

The high court agreed to take the case in October 1996 following a 2nd District Court of Appeal decision that both the county and Deputy Sheriff’s Assn. had appealed.

The appellate court had ruled that the 11 benefits should not be included in the pension calculation, but that a 12th benefit--employer 401K retirement plan contributions--could.

The state Supreme Court completely reversed the appellate court decision.

The Deputy Sheriff’s Assn. agreed to spend an extra $1,000 in a bid to put the matter before the state Supreme Court and wound up winning huge sums in added retirement benefits for members, said David Williams, president of the union.

The high court’s ruling is also expected to apply to the 20 counties included in the County Employees’ Retirement Law of 1937. They include some of the state’s largest, including Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Sacramento, San Diego and Alameda, Perris said.