Outside Pension Review Sought

Hoping to keep workers off picket lines, Ventura County administrators and union officials have launched a search for an independent consultant to assess the cost of an expanded retirement package at the center of tense contract negotiations.

Negotiators for the county and the Service Employees International Union, Local 998, met Wednesday morning to create a list of prospective consultants to determine a price tag for adding cost-of-living raises to retirement benefits for more than 4,200 county government employees. Both sides hope to hire a consultant by Aug. 8.

Supervisors hope that a neutral third party will jump-start stalled contract talks, which led to an eight-day strike last month.

“If we can all agree on the same person, it engenders a great deal of trust and says we are all working together,” said Frank Schillo, chairman of the county Board of Supervisors. “That’s important in any kind of negotiations. You don’t get into, ‘My consultant says this, your consultant says that.’ Instead, this is ‘our consultant.’ ”

Union chief Barry Hammitt is also placing faith in a jointly selected pension consultant, which employees demanded the county hire before they agreed to return to work July 26.

“I don’t think we should be anything but optimistic,” Hammitt said. “But if we need to, I don’t think there’s any question employees will be back on the street again.”

County officials have rejected the demand to hike workers’ retirement benefits, which employees want retroactive to 1979. Early estimates put the cost of 3% annual cost-of-living adjustments at $108 million upfront, plus millions more in annual payments. Union representatives say they do not trust the county’s numbers.

The retirement benefits would be in addition to salary increases offered to county employees in an effort to match salaries of government workers in neighboring cities and counties. The county agreed to a $20-million salary package but refused to guarantee cost-of-living adjustments for pensions.

Among the consultant’s top priorities will be evaluating the health of the county’s retirement fund, currently over-funded by several million dollars.

“An explanation of how much can and can’t be used will be very basic to understanding where we are and what can be done,” Schillo said.

County Executive Officer Johnny Johnston has said workers’ demands far exceed the reserves in their retirement fund, which is also declining in value because of the weakening stock market.

The fund could also be hit in coming months as the union representing the county’s sheriff’s deputies comes to the table to renegotiate its contracts. That union is asking for benefit increases that would allow a deputy with 25 years of service to retire at age 50 with 75% of his or her pay, a 50% increase from current standards.

The consulting firm will also be asked to review the county’s policy of not contributing annually to the workers’ retirement fund, Hammitt said. County officials said they are not obligated to make contributions because the fund is flush and more than covers payments to current and future retirees.

Hammitt wants the consultant to examine the noncontribution policy to determine if it is legal.

Both sides are also hoping the consultant, expected to conclude work by the end of October, will come up with new suggestions.

“Depending on how clever you are, you can put something together that’s less expensive than what the county is doing now,” Hammitt said.

Supervisor John Flynn added that it’s hard to tell how effective the consultant will be until the new numbers have been tabulated.

“Every argument seems to boil down to numbers,” Flynn said. “And that’s probably a good thing. Hopefully, the consultant can come up with some numbers everybody believes in.”