|
6.A. - Page 11 of 114
<br />The 2018-19 Grand Jury hopes that the data in this updated Appendix A can serve as a reference
<br />for members of the public who wish to understand the pension costs being paid by their City,
<br />without having to sift through financial reports, operating budgets and city council agenda
<br />packages online to find and assemble the data themselves. It also serves as a helpful basis for
<br />comparing each City's pension cost situation against other Cities.
<br />Reports on Steps Taken by Each City to Address Pension Costs and Enhance the Availability
<br />of Public Information About Pension Costs
<br />Set forth below as to each City is (1) additional information summarizing its projected, future
<br />pension costs (see, "Pension Contribution Costs"), (2) a brief overview of its financial condition
<br />(see, "Financial Overview"), (3) a summary of its available general fund reserves that might in the
<br />future help to absorb fiscal strains from rising costs or slowing revenue growth (see, "General
<br />Fund Reserves"), (4) specific actions that it might consider in order to better meet its future
<br />pension obligations (see, "Additional Payments to Ca1PERS," "Pension Reserve Fund,"
<br />"Employee Contribution to City's Normal Cost," "Revenue Enhancement," and "Pension
<br />Obligation Bonds"), and (5) the extent to which the City has and makes accessible to the public
<br />information about its projected pension costs ("Pension Contribution Costs") and projected
<br />financial forecasts ("Long -Term Financial Forecast"). Some of this information is also
<br />summarized in Appendix B to this report in order to facilitate a side-by-side comparison of the
<br />Cities.
<br />The reports on individual Cities show that seven Cities13 are making, or plan to make, additional
<br />payments to Ca1PERS beyond their Annual Required Contribution 14 in order to reduce their total
<br />pension payments. Cities taking steps to better manage rising pension costs include (1) fourteen
<br />Cities that have established, or are currently planning to establish and fund, special funds/reserves
<br />to help buffer the impact of future increases in pension obligations and/or shortfalls in projected
<br />revenues, whether as a result of a recession, natural disaster, or otherwise, 15 (2) eleven Cities have
<br />reduced, or are planning to reduce, the pension costs they would otherwise owe through cost-
<br />sharing agreements with their employees under which those employees pay a portion of the Cities'
<br />pension costs,16 nine Cities have since 2016 have sought and obtained voter approval for ballot
<br />13 The Cities are Belmont, Colma, Foster City, Menlo Park, Redwood City, San Carlos, and San Mateo. (See,
<br />discussions of those specific Cities in sections for each of them below entitled "Additional Payments to Ca1PERS" and
<br />also Appendix B.)
<br />14 Annual Required Contribution (ARC) means the sum of a municipality's share of Normal Cost and, if any, the
<br />Amortization Cost. ARC is the amount an agency is legally required to pay to the plan administrator in order to fund a
<br />pension plan. See, Brainard, Keith and Brown, Alex, The Annual Required Contribution Experience of State
<br />Retirement Plans, FY01 to FYI 3, National Association of State Retirement Administrators, March 2015, p. 2,
<br /><https://www.nasra.org/files/JointPublications/NASRA ARC_ Spotlight.pdf>.
<br />15 The Cities are Brisbane, Burlingame, Colma, Daly City, Foster City, Half Moon Bay, Hillsborough, Menlo Park,
<br />Pacifica, Portola Valley, Redwood City, San Carlos, South San Francisco and Woodside. (See, discussions of those
<br />specific Cities in sections for each of them below entitled "Pension Reserve Fund" and also Appendix B.)
<br />" The Cities are Atherton, Belmont, Burlingame, Foster City, Hillsborough, Menlo Park, Millbrae, Pacifica, Redwood
<br />City, San Mateo and South San Francisco. (See, discussions of those specific Cities in sections for each of them below
<br />entitled "Employee Contribution to City's Normal Cost" and also Appendix B.)
<br />2018-2019 San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury 4
<br />15
<br />
|