Sheriffs get new pension

The Orange County Board of Supervisors approved a resolution Tuesday to implement a new pension plan for sheriff’s deputies, raise their retirement age, reduce benefits and ask them for the first time to contribute to their retirement plans.

All four sitting supervisors voted to implement the agreement with the Assn. of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs, although Supervisor John Moorlach, 2nd District, had voted in February against approving it.

Supervisor Bill Campbell, 3rd District, said the plan will save the county only a modest sum now but will bear more fruit in the future as current employees retire and new ones are hired.

“The immediate benefit of this is that new employees will be paying a certain percent of the pension cost, and that’s a savings to us,” he said. “The (larger) benefit will be seen over time.”

The plan will save the county an estimated $4.4 million during the three-year term of the agreement, according to a report prepared by county staff.

The agreement between the county and deputies’ union — which runs through October 2012 — calls for new deputies hired after enactment to receive a “3% at 55” pension benefit, which means at age 55 recipients can begin collecting 3% of their final-year salary for every year they served.

Existing employees will remain in the current “3% at 50” plan but will have to contribute up to 5% of their income to the retirement plan. New employees will begin paying 6.6% of their income as a retirement contribution.

The plan will go into effect April 9.

Moorlach said he would reluctantly vote to approve the plan, even though he favors cutting the deputies’ retirement benefit to “2% at 50.”

“I would have certainly liked to have seen a more aggressive change,” he said.

The county employees’ pension fund faces a future deficit of $3 billion, in part because deputies have never contributed from their paychecks as other county employees do. Moorlach asked county staff for a more complete analysis of how the plan will affect the future unfunded liability.

The new plan also will impose a salary freeze on deputies through at least October 2011.

In return, deputies will receive increased contributions from the county to their medical trust fund. The agreement requires the county to pay $745 per employee per month, compared with $620 under the old arrangement. Also, the county’s contribution will increase twice more before the agreement expires.