HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda Packet - April 24 1996 - CC CIIIMIE OF AZUSA
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Finance Department • 213 E. Foothill Blvd. • P.O. Box 1395 • Azusa, CA 91702-1395
(818)334.5125
AGENDA ITEM
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS 0 THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: GEOFF CRAIG, DIRECTOR OF FINANCE '
VIA: HENRY GARCIA, CITY ADMINISTRATOR�Q�
DATE: APRIL 24, 1996 ti��
SUBJECT: AMENDMENT TO CONTRACT WITH PUBLIC EMPLOYEES'
RETIREMENT SYSTEM TO INCLUDE EMPLOYER-PAID MEMBER
SHARE IN BASE PAY DURING FINAL COMPENSATION PERIOD
Background
As part of the negotiations which culminated in the five-year contracts with the various bargaining
units, management agreed that, effective July 1, 1996, the City shall amend its contract with the
Public Employees Retirement System(PERS)to include the Employer Paid Member Share in base
pay during the fmal compensation period. This report explains the procedure and the cost and
presents the required Ordinance for second reading.
Findings
The City of Azusa joined the California Public Employees' Retirement System on January 1, 1949.
The System is the State of California's retirement plan for its employees and it allows local agencies
to contract with it for similar services. In this way, cities such as Azusa are spared the trouble and
expense of administering separate, smaller, retirement systems, respectively. Contributions to the
System consist of a fixed"employee" share of 7%of compensation and a variable"employer" share
of between 5% and 6% (plus any additional that is still needed to pay for the"unfunded liability"
for the cost of retirements of employees who were already eligible for benefits when the City joined
and for changes over the ensuing years in the overall age, longevity and contractual benefits of the
■.
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
April 24, 1996
Page 2
City work force). As a rule, cities in California pay both shares of the Retirement System
contributions for their full-time employees by depositing the required funds with the System
following each pay period.
Several years ago,the PERS Board of Administration made the finding that, if the employer agrees,
the 7% "employee" share can be included in the measurement of compensation upon which the
annuitant's future retirement pay will be based. This is known as "Employer-Paid Member
Contributions Converted to Payrate During the Final Compensation Period" for local miscellaneous
members. (At Azusa, for miscellaneous members, the"Final Compensation Period" is defined as
the 36 highest-paid consecutive months of PERS-covered full-time employment.) As part of the
negotiations which culminated in the five-year contracts with the various bargaining units,
management agreed that, effective July 1, 1996, the City shall amend its PERS contract with the
Public Employees Retirement System (PERS)to include this provision. The employee share will
be shown as both an addition to, and a deduction from, gross pay. Federal and State Income Taxes
will be deferred until the employee receives his or her retirement income.
The City has nearly paid its "unfunded liability". In addition, PERS investment specialists have,
in recent years, garnered a double-digit rate of return on their investment of the System's idle cash.
For these reasons,PERS estimates that the cost to the City of Azusa for this amendment will be as
low as 1.196% of payroll for the next twenty years (a total of$852,700) and that it will drop to
0.536%thereafter. However, it appears that the PERS investment specialists will again achieve a
very large return on their investments and that this could have the effect of altogether erasing the
City's "unfunded liability". Thus, Azusa's increase would only be 0.536%, or, perhaps, less.
In return, City employees agreed to forego a cost-of-living increase scheduled in 1995 and they
developed a lower-cost disability insurance plan that together saved the City over $250,000
annually, beginning with this Fiscal Year.
At the last regular meeting, Council began the amendment process by passing a Resolution of
Intention and a Resolution pertaining to deferral of income taxes on the contributions. Then Council
introduced the attached Ordinance authorizing the amendment. Staff is recommending that Council
proceed with the second reading.
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
April 24, 1996
Page 3
Recommendations
Staff recommends that Council conduct the second reading and adopt the Ordinance Authorizing
an Amendment to the Contract Between the City Council of the City of Azusa and the Board of
Administration of the California Public Employees' Retirement System.
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Finance Department • 213 E. Foothill Blvd. • P.O. Box 1395 • Azusa,CA 91702-1395
(818)334-5125
CERTIFICATION
OF
FINAL ACTION OF GOVERNING BODY
I hereby certify that the CITY COUNCIL (Governing Body) of the CITY OF AZUSA(Public
Agency) adopted on May 6, 1996, by an affirmative vote of a majority of the members of said
Governing Body, ORDINANCE NO. approving the attached contractual agreement
between the Governing Body of said Agency and the Board of Administration of the California
Public Employees' Retirement System, a certified copy of said Ordinance in the form furnished
by said Board of Administration being attached hereto.
City Clerk : Adolph A. Solis
Date:
PERS-CON-5(Rev.1/96)
■■
RESOLUTION NO. 96-051
RESOLUTION OF INTENTION TO APPROVE AN AMENDMENT TO THE
CONTRACT BETWEEN THE BOARD OF ADMINISTRATION OF THE
PUBLIC EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM AND THE CITY
COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF AZUSA
WHEREAS, the Public Employees' Retirement Law permits the participation of public
agencies and their employees in the Public Employees' Retirement System by the execution of a
contract, and sets forth the procedure by which said public agencies may elect to subject themselves
and their employees to amendments to said Law; and
WHEREAS,one of the steps in the procedures to amend this contract is the adoption by the
governing body of the public agency of a Resolution giving notice of its intention to approve an
amendment to said contract, which Resolution shall contain a summary of the change proposed in said
contract; and
WHEREAS, the following is a statement of the proposed change:
"To provide Section 20615.5, 7% Employer Paid Member Contributions
Converted to Payrate During the Final Compensation Period for local
miscellaneous members only."
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that:
Section 1. The City Council of the City of Azusa does hereby give notice of intention to approve an
amendment to the contract between the said governing body and the Board of Administration of the Public
Employees'Retirement System, a copy of said amendment being attached hereto, as an "exhibit" and by this
reference made a part hereof.
Section 2. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of the Resolution.
APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 15th day of April, 1996. April
MAY R
I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing Resolution was duly adopted by the City Council of the
City of Azusa at a regular meeting thereof, held on the 15th day of April, 1996 by the following vote
of Council:
AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: Hardison,Madrid,Naranjo,Beebe,Alexander
NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: None
ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: N• e
CI ' CLE ' /
fordance\peramsvcies
RESOLUTION NO. 96-052
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF AZUSA,
CALIFORNIA, TO IMPLEMENT PROVISIONS OF INTERNAL REVENUE
CODE 414(h)(2) REGARDING EMPLOYEE PAID CONTRIBUTIONS TO
PUBLIC EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Azusa has the authority to implement the
provisions of section 414 (h)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC); and
WHEREAS, the Board of Administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System
adopted its resolution re section 414(h)(2) on September 18, 1985; and
WHEREAS, the Internal Revenue Service has stated in December 1985 that the
implementation of the provisions of section 414(h)(2) IRC pursuant to the Resolution of the Board
of Administration would satisfy the legal requirements of section 414(h)(2) IRC; and
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Azusa has determined that, even though the
implementation of the provisions of section 414(h)(2) IRC is not required by law, the tax benefit
offered by section 414(h)(2) IRC should be provided to its employees who are members of the
Public Employees' Retirement System;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED:
Section 1. That the City Council of the City of Azusa will implement the provisions of section
414(h)(2) Internal Revenue Code by making employee contributions pursuant to California
Government Code section 20615.5 to the Public Employees' Retirement System on behalf of its
employees who are members of the Public Employees' Retirement System. "Employee
contributions" shall mean those contributions to the Public Employees' Retirement System which
are deducted from the salary of employees and are credited to individual employee's accounts
pursuant to California Code section 20615.5.
Section 2. That the contributions made by the City Council of the City of Azusa to the Public
Employees' Retirement System, although designated as employee contributions, are being paid
by the City Council of the City of Azusa in lieu of contributions by the employees who are
members of the Public Employees' Retirement System.
Section 3. That employees shall not have the option of choosing to receive the contributed
amounts directly instead of having them paid by the City Council of the City of Azusa to the
Public Employees' Retirement System.
Section 4. That the City Council of the City of Azusa shall pay to the Public Employees'
Retirement System the contributions designated as employee contributions from the same source
of funds as used in paying salary.
Section 5. That the amount of the contributions designated as employee contributions and paid
by the City Council of the City of Azusa to the Public Employees' Retirement System on behalf
of an employee shall be the entire contribution required of the employee by the Public Employees'
Retirement Law (California Government Code Section 2----, et seq.)
Section 6. That the contributions designated as employee contributions made by the City Council
of the City of Azusa to the Public Employees' Retirement System shall be treated for all purposes,
other than taxation, in the same way that member contributions are treated by the Public
Employees' Retirement System.
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 15th day of, April , 1996
4MA OR
I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing Resolution was duly adopted by the City Council
of the City of Azusa at a regular meeting thereof, held on the 15th day of April , 1996
by the following vote of the Council:
AYES COUNCIL MEMBERS: Hardison,Madrid,Naranjo,Beebe,Alexander
NOES COUNCIL MEMBERS: None
ABSENT COUNCIL MEMBENone
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