All qualified permanent and probationary employees are eligible to participate in the City's Miscellaneous Plan, agent multiple-employer defined benefit pension plans administered by the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), which acts as a common investment and administrative agent for its participating member employers. Benefit provisions under the Plan are established by State statute and City resolution. CalPERS issues publicly available reports that include a full description of the pension plan regarding benefit provisions, assumptions and membership information that can be found on the CalPERS website.
CalPERS provides service retirement and disability benefits, annual cost of living adjustments and death benefits to plan members, who must be public employees and beneficiaries. Benefits are based on years of credited service, equal to one year of full-time employment. Members with five years of total service are eligible to retire at age 50 with statutorily reduced benefits. All members are eligible for non-duty disability benefits after 10 years of service.
The death benefit is one of the following: the Basic Death Benefit, the 1957 Survivor Benefit, or the Optional Settlement 2W Death Benefit. The cost of living adjustments for the plan are applied as specified by the Public Employees' Retirement Law.
The Plan's provisions and benefits in effect at measurement date, are summarized as follows:
| Miscellaneous | ||
| Prior to January 1, 2013 | On or after January 1, 2013 | |
|---|---|---|
| Hire date | 2.7% @ 55 | 2.0% @ 62 |
| Benefit formula | 5 years of service | 5 years of service |
| Benefit vesting schedule | monthly for life | monthly for life |
| Benefit payments | 50-67 | 52-67 |
| Retirement age | 2.0% - 2.7% | 1.0% - 2.5% |
| Monthly benefits, as a % of eligible compensation | 7%-8% | 7.75% |
| Required employee contribution rates | 13.20% | 13.20% |
| Required employer contribution rates | ||