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8.A. - Page 21 of 72 <br />As previously mentioned, the Preliminary Ten -Year Forecast includes a strategy to make annual additional <br />payments to CalPERS of $400,000, and annual contributions of $1.1 million to the City's Section 115 <br />pension trust account (through FY 2022-23), which can be used to fund the City's annual payments in <br />future years when revenues are expected to be insufficient to provide for additional annual payments <br />directly to CalPERS. The Preliminary Ten -Year Forecast also includes the additional annual payments <br />directly to CaIPERS (in the chart above) to fully fund the pension plans within 18 years. <br />Other Post -employment Benefit (OPEB) Liabilities — Retiree Health <br />A second category of retirement -related benefits which impact the City's finances is the City's retiree <br />health program. The City currently provides eligible retirees with reimbursement of their medical <br />insurance premiums, subject to their collective bargaining agreement, which includes a maximum <br />reimbursement amount. <br />In 2010, the City established a Section 115 OPEB trust account through the California Employer's Retiree <br />Benefits Trust (CERBT) program to fund retiree health benefits. As of September 30, 2019, there was a <br />balance of $39.9 million in the trust account. As of the most recent actuarial report, June 30, 2019, the <br />City's unfunded liability for these benefits was $49.5 million. <br />The Preliminary Ten -Year Forecast includes anticipated additional General Fund contributions to the <br />CERBT Section 115 OPEB trust account of $300,000 annually in order to build resources towards paying <br />off the unfunded retiree health liability in future years. This is in addition to $600,000 of FY 2018-19 <br />operating balance that was contributed in January 2020. <br />Industrial Disability Retirements <br />Public safety employees who are injured on the job and are thus unable to perform essential job duties <br />may apply for and receive an industrial disability retirement (IDR). The City currently reimburses safety <br />employees who retire on an IDR the amount of $1,859 per month for health plan premiums, which <br />includes medical coverage for the retiree and their family. The family medical benefit is not offered to <br />safety employees who retire on a service retirement related to the years they have worked; those <br />retirees receive health plan premium reimbursement for the retiree only. The City must pay 15 percent <br />of payroll for sworn Police employees, and 10 percent of payroll for sworn Fire employees, to fund <br />retiree health benefits. <br />Over the last five years, 74 percent of Police Department retirees have retired on an IDR and 53 percent <br />of Fire Department retirees have retired on an IDR. Between 2011 and 2019, Police IDR rates are 215 <br />percent higher than CaIPERS actuarial retiree health projections and Fire IDR rates are 126 percent <br />higher than CaIPERS actuarial retiree health projections. <br />The high IDR rates greatly impact the City's unfunded retiree health liability by increasing the City's costs. <br />In the spring of 2019, the City and affected public safety bargaining units began working together on IDR <br />Committees in an effort to develop alternative solutions to reduce the City's retiree health liability as <br />related to IDRs, and the committee's efforts are still underway. <br />Page 21 of 26 <br />City of Redwood City 1017 Middlefield Road, Redwood City, CA. 94063 Tel: 650-780-7000 www.redwoodcity.org <br />256 <br />