AgdaPkt 2003-07-14 - Laserfiche WebLink

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7. z -A REPORT To the Honorable Mayor and City Council From the City Manager July 14, 2003 Subject Resolution of intent to designate a period for Two Years Additional Service Credit pursuant to Section 20903 of the Public Employees Retirement System for local miscellaneous members in the designated classification. Recommendation It is recommended that the City Council, by resolution, provide a designated time period for granting Two -Years Additional Service Credit pursuant to Government Code, Section 20903 of the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS), for local miscellaneous members in the designated classification of Library Division Manager. Background Over the past few months, the City has been faced with difficult budget decisions due to the current economic conditions and the State budget crisis. A variety of costs saving strategies have been proposed to employees in order to meet the required budget reductions. One such option was a benefit, commonly referred to as the PERS "golden handshake ", which provides a retirement enhancement of two years additional service credit. On average this benefit provides a 4% increase in a retiree's monthly pension benefit from CalPERS. The City of Redwood City amended its contract with PERS to offer this benefit to the Miscellaneous Group of employees on January 14, 1993. The City must adopt a resolution designating a specific time period for this benefit to be offered. Additionally, the City must designate the employee classification affected by this benefit. In offering this benefit to City employees, the City Manager, Human Resources Director and the Finance Director considered several factors before seeking Council approval. The criteria that requests needed to meet included: 1) the employee voluntarily requested it; 2) the request complied with PERS governing laws; 3) the request could be offered with zero cost to the general fund 2003 -2004 budget; and, 4) the request made strong business sense to the department. Given the stringent criteria, only one request was approved for further consideration by Council. The classification selected was Library Division Manager and only for the designated period of July 15, 2003 through September 15, 2003. Alternative Do not approve the resolution and research other early retirement enhancements.