L.A. Charter Amendment FF election guide: Law enforcement pensions

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When it comes to policing in Los Angeles, the LAPD isn’t the only show in town.

The Sheriff’s Department and municipal cops handle the county, but even within the city of Los Angeles there are three other law enforcement agencies in addition to the LAPD that patrol city parks, the port and the airport.

Voters will soon decide whether some members of these smaller departments should have access to the same retirement benefits enjoyed by the vast majority of the city’s other public safety employees.

If the ballot measure known as Charter Amendment FF passes, about 460 officers employed by the Police, Airport, Harbor, and Recreation and Parks departments would switch into the more generous Los Angeles Fire and Police Pensions plan, or LAFPP.

These officers are currently covered by the general pension system for municipal workers, Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System, or LACERS. All other city personnel except police and fire department employees — from sanitation workers to City Hall officials — are on this plan.

The measure would add to the city’s pension burden, at a time L.A. is facing a financial squeeze, thanks in large part to lower-than-expected tax revenues and higher salary costs — due in part to a pay raise for LAPD officers.

Taxpayers would be on the hook for $23 million at the outset and about $1 million per year afterward.

Two agencies that operate separately from the city budget — the Port of Los Angeles and Los Angeles World Airports — would foot another $86 million, plus roughly $6.3 million annually.

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What would the measure do?

Charter Amendment FF would address the remaining several hundred officers who’ve been excluded from LAFPP. Currently, police and fire department employees are covered by LAFPP, as are most peace officers hired by the L.A. Port Police and the L.A. Airport Police as of 2004 and 2018, respectively. A previous ballot measure saw to that. But several hundred others who were hired before then would have the option of moving to the public safety pension if the measure passes.

Pension benefits are calculated using a formula based on the pay received by a retiree during the two years of their highest compensation and the number of years worked.

L.A. police officers and firefighters have long enjoyed more generous pension benefits than other city employees, allowing them to retire earlier with a bigger monthly retirement check.

Here’s an example: Under LACERS, a civilian city employee would make roughly 63% of their salary in pension payments if they retired after 30 years on the job; under LAFPP, the same employee would get 75% of their salary, and after 33 years that percentage would rise to 90%. That’s a potential difference of tens of thousands a year in retirement checks.

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Why is this on the ballot?

Retirement benefits for all city workers are usually negotiated with various public employee unions, then ratified by ordinance. Moving most of the city’s law enforcement personnel into the same pension fund, receiving comparable retirement benefits, would also make it easier to shift officers as needed and even potentially merge one or more of the agencies into the LAPD.

Marshall McClain, president of the union that represents Airport Police officers, said he was “appreciative” of Mayor Karen Bass’ willingness to negotiate the ballot language with the union.

“She flat-out said, ‘You guys don’t impact my general fund; I don’t know what the consternation is all about it,’” McClain said. “It’s not a matter of why now, it’s more of a matter of why did it take this long in order to treat all of your employees around the city the same.”

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Who will pay for it?

The city would take a one-time overall hit of roughly $109 million to transfer the officers, and then the annual cost would be $6.3 million, mostly absorbed by the airport and the port.

The proposed move is expected to shift only about $1 million annually in retirement costs onto the city’s general fund, which is used to pay for basic services. The same fund will also cover $23 million of the $109 million in upfront costs for the move.

Airport Police salaries and benefits are paid for through revenue earned by LAX from landing fees and other charges.

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Who supports it?

McClain’s union, the Los Angeles Police Airport Assn., supports the measure, which also had signatures of support from Bass, then-City Council President Paul Krekorian and former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Some public officials and advocates have opposed similarly generous pension deals in the past, on the grounds that they are hard to undo.

Acknowledging it could usher in future merger of the Airport Police and LAPD, McClain said he sees the proposed measure as a common sense move. Airport officers undergo the “same standards and training” as all LAPD officers, including those who work at LAX.

“Both entities are being paid for by the airport, so how are you paying officers from LAPD a higher salary and benefits alongside the Airport Police officer?” McClain said. “If you had two of these officers in a car together and let’s say tragically they were injured or killed, their families would be benefited differently.”

As a concession, the union agreed to forgo its annual raises next year if the ballot measure passes; if it doesn’t, the 3% raises would kick in and the contract talks would reopen to negotiate ways to offset the difference, McClain said.