An RFP for Actuarial Auditing Services was issued on June 5, 2023:
The following documents were posted on June 29, 2023 in response to vendor inquiries:
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Linda Webb Resigns as Retirement Administrator
June 15, 2023 – The Ventura County Employees’ Retirement Association (VCERA) today announced that Linda Webb has decided to step down as its Retirement Administrator, the chief executive position she has held since January 2015. The governing Board of Retirement is expected to appoint an interim administrator to lead the agency until a full-time replacement is identified following a nationwide recruitment.
“I appreciate the support of the Board of Retirement during my tenure at VCERA,” Ms. Webb said. “They have been attentive and responsive, paving the way for transformative change since 2015.”
“It is with sadness that I am leaving VCERA, but it has been my honor and privilege to serve with you,” Ms. Webb wrote to VCERA staff. “It was not my plan to resign/retire at this time, as I had hoped to continue working here for several more years. However, this is a family-first decision.”
Ms. Webb has been tapped to serve as Executive Director at the Fort Worth Employees’ Retirement Fund in Texas, which will allow her to better care for her family in that region following a recent traumatic accident in her immediate family. Before joining VCERA in 2015, Ms. Webb worked at the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System for 17 years, most recently as its Director of Member Services.
Mike Sedell, Chair of the VCERA Board of Retirement, stated: “Over the past 8½ years, Linda has worked with the Board to advance our partnerships with members, plan sponsors, and other stakeholders; to ensure efficient and effective operations; and to assure members that their earned benefits are secure by maintaining a well-funded retirement system. She has worked well with the County of Ventura and earned the respect of her colleagues and staff. We are truly sorry to have to accept her resignation.”
“With our amazing staff, VCERA has made great strides in service to our members, technology and fiscal soundness during my tenure,” Ms. Webb stated. “My appreciation to the staff is deep and sincere, and I believe VCERA is in good hands with the current team in place. I am confident the future is bright for VCERA.”
(Click here to view the press release.)
2023 Board of Retirement Election Results
Election results are in for the General Member, Safety Member and Retired Member seats on the VCERA Board of Retirement. On June 23, 2023, the Ventura County Elections Division issued certified results for the elections held on June 20, 2023. The following winning candidates will serve a three-term term starting on January 1, 2024.
For the General Member election, Greg Bergman received a plurality of the 743 votes cast among four candidates on the ballot.
For the Safety Member election, incumbent Aaron Grass received a majority of the 454 votes cast among two candidates on the ballot. Robert Ashby received the second-highest number of votes and will serve as the Alternate Safety Member.
For the Retired Member election, incumbent Arthur Goulet received a majority of the 1,930 votes cast among two candidates on the ballot. Maeve Fox ran unopposed for the Alternate Retired Member seat.
VCERA congratulates these individuals on their appointments to the Board of Retirement. Below are the vote totals for each candidate:
General Member Election
Candidate Name Votes
Greg Bergman 258
Derek Fouarge 148
Cecilia Hernandez-Garcia 233
Brandon J. Miller 104
Safety Member Election
Candidate Name Votes
Robert Ashby 217
Aaron Grass 237
Retired Member Election
Candidate Name Votes
Arthur E. “Art” Goulet 1,181
Henry C. Solis 743
In the right sidebar of this page are the Certifications of Election Results and the Official Statements of Votes Cast for each election.
Alameda Implementation Status Report
On September 11, 2023, VCERA staff updated the Board of Retirement on the progress of the Alameda implementation, which is divided into two phases:
- Phase 1 (May 2023 – September 2024) is primarily focused on the efforts needed to calculate mass corrections to pensionable earnings and member contributions, which involves vendor and partner coordination, system enhancements and testing, data cleanup, system queries and reporting, and more.
- Phase 2 (September 2024 – September 2025) involves staff performing calculations to individual member accounts to correct monthly retirement benefits (prospectively) and process contribution refunds/rollovers with interest to all affected members.
The entire project is expected to last approximately two years, depending on a variety of factors.* Monthly retirement benefit corrections and contribution refunds will not begin until Phase 2. As a reminder, VCERA will not pursue collection of any net overpaid retirement benefits resulting from the Alameda implementation.
At this time, at least several hundred retirees and several thousand active and deferred members will be impacted in some way by the Alameda corrections. For example, the accounts of 850+ retirees and 6,500+ active/deferred members must be corrected just for flex credit. The system enhancements in Phase 1 will enable staff to perform the Phase 2 corrections more efficiently, but impacted member accounts must still be evaluated individually before benefits can be adjusted and refunds issued.
VCERA will provide regular updates to the Board on the Alameda implementation and will publish updates on our Alameda Decision Information webpage. Please refer to the Alameda Decision FAQs and Glossary for additional information about the Alameda Decision.
* This timeline is an estimate based on initial review of the project scope. The actual timeline may fluctuate due to factors such as resources, vendor timelines, processing complexity and unanticipated priorities. Updates to this estimated timeline will be published as more information becomes available.
Member Portal Multifactor Authentication
To provide additional levels of security, VCERA has implemented Multifactor Authentication (MFA) on our Member Portal. MFA will assist with prevention of cybersecurity incidents, protect your personal information, and further secure your data against identity theft. MFA requires you to provide two forms of authentication (Member Portal password and one-time PIN code), before access to the Member Portal is granted.
Only members who have a registered account on the Member Portal (https://members.vcera.org/) will receive a verification code during each log in. The verification code will contain a one-time PIN code that you will input on the User Device Registration screen on the Member Portal. If you do not receive the verification code, please check your spam/junk folder(s) or contact VCERA at 805-677-8700.
Final Average Compensation
One of the factors used to calculate your retirement benefit is your final average compensation (FAC), which is based on your benefit tier and/or hire date. The time period in which your FAC is earned is called your “measurement period”:
For Safety Tier 1 and General Tier 1 members: Highest 12 consecutive months (26 pay periods) of “compensation earnable,” as defined in Government Code section 31461.
For all other members:
- Hired prior to January 1, 2013: Highest 36 consecutive months (78 pay periods) of “compensation earnable,” as defined in Government Code section 31461.
- Hired on or after January 1, 2013: Highest 36 consecutive months (78 pay periods) of “pensionable compensation,” as defined in Government Code section 7522.34.
Vacation Buydown / Annual Leave Redemption
Government Code Section 31461(b)(2) instructs VCERA to limit the number of annual leave or vacation redemption hours that may be included in retirement compensation to the maximum redeemable hours allowed by Memorandum of Agreements (MOA) for each calendar year. As a reminder, for PEPRA members, Vacation Buydown/Annual Leave Redemption is not includable in final average compensation.
Depending on membership type, VCERA will look at the highest 12 or 36 consecutive months of compensation at retirement. Within that highest measurement period, VCERA will include the number of redeemed leave hours that the applicable MOA allows a member to redeem. For example, if a member’s MOA allows a maximum leave redemption of 200 hours per calendar year, then VCERA will only include up to 600 hours of redeemed leave in a 36-month measurement period for purposes of retirement compensation. Please refer to your appropriate MOA to locate your specific annual vacation redemption limit.
Impact of Alameda Decision on Flex Credit and Retirement Benefits
When the California Supreme Court issued the Alameda Decision on July 30, 2020, it ruled that retirement boards do not have the discretion to include in Legacy members’ compensation earnable “in-kind” benefits. As determined in prior case law, “flex credit” payments that are applied to healthcare-related benefits are considered to be in-kind payments. Accordingly, flex credit amounts that cannot be received by employees in unrestricted cash must be excluded from compensation earnable. These in-kind payments are examples of an “Alameda Exclusion.”
Flexible Benefits Program – Old and New Structures
For decades, the County of Ventura offered its employees in-kind benefits under its Flexible Benefits Program. In 2023, the County modified the program to ensure it complied with regulatory requirements. The “maximum cashable amounts” under both program structures differ, as explained below. The maximum cashable amounts are considered pensionable for Legacy members; no portion of flex credit is pensionable for PEPRA members.
Under the old Flexible Benefits Program structure, all employees were paid a flex credit allowance to help subsidize their health insurance premiums. Those who opted out were charged an opt-out fee. The maximum cashable amount of the flex credit allowance was equal to the “employee-only” or “flat” flex credit allowance minus the lesser of the opt-out fee or lowest-priced medical plan.
Under the new Flexible Benefits Program structure, employees receive either a flex credit allowance or an opt-out allowance. There is no longer an opt-out fee. The maximum cashable amount for all members within the same bargaining unit (i.e., union) is equal to the opt-out allowance.
Legislative and Board Actions on Flex Credit
In 2021-2022, legislative efforts to include the full flex credit allowance in Legacy members’ retirement earnings failed. As a result, VCERA must implement the Alameda Decision by excluding from final average compensation (FAC) the non-cashable portion of flex credit that had formerly been included in FAC. On April 17, 2023, the Board of Retirement passed a resolution permitting the inclusion of the maximum cashable amounts of flex credit under the old and new program structures in members’ FACs.
For Legacy members who retired on or after July 30, 2020, VCERA must recalculate their FACs and monthly retirement benefits to exclude any portion of flex credit payments deemed non-pensionable. The charts linked below will enable affected members to estimate the impact of these flex credit changes on their future retirement benefits.
Using “Estimated Impact Charts”
The “Estimated Impact Presentation and Examples” PDF describes the past and present methods for determining the pensionability of flex credit. It also provides SEIU and VCDSA member scenarios under the old and new Flexible Benefits Program structures.
The “Estimated Impact Charts” PDF lists calculation factors used to estimate the reduction in a member’s retirement earnings and future monthly benefit. On page 3 of the PDF, Legacy members first need to identify their benefit tier and bargaining unit. The applicable row will show the estimated reduction in their retirement earnings and the estimated monthly benefit decrease per year of service. For example, a General Tier 2 Management employee who retires at age 50 with 20 years of service should multiply $11.39 by 20, resulting in an estimated monthly benefit reduction of $227.80.
Note: The Estimated Impact PDF below was updated as of 7/1/2023. As of that date, all County unions (but not the Courts) had adopted the County’s new Flexible Benefits Program structure. Members approaching retirement should contact VCERA to request a retirement benefit estimate rather than relying on information in these charts.
Estimating Your Retirement Benefit Online
Legacy members can run their own benefit estimate using the Legacy Pension Calculator. To input an accurate Final Average Monthly Compensation amount in the “Compensation” field, members should find their Current Retirement Earnings Final amount on their paystubs, multiply it by 26 (to get an annual total), and then divide the total by 12 (to get a monthly average). The retirement earnings amount is expected to be accurate as of the 7/14/2023 paycheck.
Alameda Decision FAQs and Glossary
Although the California Supreme Court’s Alameda Decision touched all CERL retirement systems, VCERA was particularly impacted. The ruling affected multiple parts of VCERA’s operations, most importantly the recalculation of retirement benefits. To help members and stakeholders better understand the Alameda Decision, its broad impact and its implementation, VCERA has produced Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and a Glossary of Terms. All of the terms in the Glossary are used in the FAQs, so referring to the documents simultaneously is encouraged.
If you would like other questions answered by VCERA, please submit your request at www.vcera.org/contact.
Death & Survivor Benefits
As a VCERA member, death and survivor benefits may be payable to your surviving spouse, minor children, other eligible beneficiary or estate. The type and amount of benefits depend on many different factors and can only be determined after a full review of the decedent’s individual circumstances. Below is an overview of the death and survivor benefits that may be payable upon the death of a member.
Active Member Death
When an active member passes away, the benefits payable will depend on years of retirement service credit and whether the death was job-related or not job-related. Retirement law states that the rights and claims of a surviving spouse or minor children may supersede the rights and claims of another named beneficiary.
Nonservice-Connected Death
When an active member dies for reasons unrelated to employment (i.e., nonservice-connected), the benefits payable to a beneficiary depend on the member’s years of retirement service credit at the time of death. Benefits may include:
- Lump-sum benefit: The “basic death benefit” consists of a one-time payment of the contributions and interest in the member’s VCERA account, plus one month’s salary for each completed year of retirement service credit, up to a maximum of six months’ salary. (Salary is based on the average monthly compensation over the last 12 months of employment. Service credit excludes prior public service purchases.)
A surviving spouse may be eligible to elect one of the following two options in lieu of the basic death benefit described above.
- Monthly retirement benefit: If a member is vested in VCERA (i.e., having at least five years of eligible service credit, including reciprocal service), a surviving spouse may elect a monthly, lifetime retirement benefit equal to 60% of the monthly allowance the member would have been entitled to if he or she had retired with a nonservice-connected disability as of the date of death.
If there is no surviving spouse or partner, the monthly benefit may be payable to the member’s minor children until age 18 (continuing through age 21 if they remain unmarried and regularly enrolled as full-time students in an accredited school).
- Combined benefit: If a surviving spouse is eligible for a monthly benefit, he or she may instead elect to receive a combined benefit consisting of a one-time payment equal to one month of salary for each completed year of the deceased member’s retirement service credit, up to a maximum of six months’ salary, plus the monthly benefit described above, reduced by the actuarial equivalent of the lump-sum payment.
Service-Connected Death
When an active member dies for reasons related to employment (i.e., service-connected), the benefits payable to a beneficiary do not depend on the member’s years of retirement service credit or age at the time of death.
- A surviving spouse may elect a monthly retirement benefit, payable for life, equal to 100% of the benefit that the deceased member would have been entitled to if he or she had retired with a service-connected disability as of the date of death.
- If a member is killed in the performance of duty or dies as a result of an accident or injury caused by external violence or physical force incurred in the performance of duty, a surviving spouse may be paid an additional monthly benefit for minor children until the age of 18 (continuing through age 21 if they remain unmarried and regularly enrolled as full-time students in an accredited school). An additional 25% of the basic retirement benefit is paid for one child, 40% for two children, or 50% for three or more children. The benefit may also be payable to the legal guardian of the member’s children.
- If a safety member is killed in the performance of duty or dies as a result of an accident or injury caused by external violence or physical force incurred in the performance of duty, a surviving spouse will receive an additional one-time, lump-sum payment equal to 12 months of salary based on the deceased member’s monthly compensation at the time of death.
Retired Member Death
At the death of a retired member, there is a one-time benefit of $5,000 payable to the named beneficiary or estate. This benefit may be reduced for retirees with outgoing reciprocity and is not payable upon the death of a non-retiree receiving a monthly benefit or continuance benefit.
An eligible surviving spouse or minor children also may be eligible for a monthly benefit, payable for life, depending on the retirement option elected by the member at retirement. The following survivor benefits are based on an Unmodified Option election and the type of retirement applicable to the deceased member:
- Service retirement or nonservice-connected disability retirement: An eligible spouse will receive a 60% continuance of a deceased member’s monthly benefit, payable for life. To be eligible, the spouse must have been (a) married to the member for one year prior to the retirement date or (b) at least age 55 and married to the member for two years prior to the date of death.
- Service-connected disability retirement: An eligible spouse will receive a 100% continuance of a deceased member’s monthly benefit, payable for life. To be eligible, the surviving spouse must have been (a) married to the member prior to the retirement date or (b) at least age 55 and married to the member for two years prior to the date of death.
If there is no eligible spouse or partner, these “continuance” benefits may be payable to minor children until age 18 (continuing through age 21 if they remain unmarried and regularly enrolled as full-time students in an accredited school).
Deferred Member Death
When a deferred member dies, all accumulated VCERA contributions will be paid to the member’s designated beneficiary or estate. Under no circumstances will the deceased member’s spouse or other beneficiary receive a monthly benefit or continuance from VCERA.
Withdrawal of Contributions
If you elect to withdraw your retirement contributions, your VCERA membership immediately ends, as does your right to apply for a service, disability, deferred or reciprocal retirement. Therefore, please carefully consider all your options before deciding to withdraw your funds.
You can either refund or roll over your account balance into a qualified plan. Refundable contributions include the amounts you paid into VCERA, any employer-paid portion of employee contributions (if applicable), and the semiannual interest credited on those amounts.
Taxes
VCERA is required to withhold 20% of the taxable portion of any lump-sum distribution greater than $200 for federal tax purposes. The withholding will not apply if you roll over the taxable portion of the distribution to an IRA or qualified employer retirement plan willing to accept a rollover. For more information, download VCERA’s Special Tax Notice.
Disposition Form
To process your withdrawal request, you (and your spouse, if applicable) must sign a Disposition of Retirement Contributions Form and return it to VCERA before a refund of contributions will be issued. The disposition form is available in the VCERA office, but it will also be mailed to you within a few weeks of terminating employment.
If you do not make a written election on the form, you will be placed automatically in a deferred membership status and your contributions will remain on deposit with VCERA. However, you may withdraw your funds at any time by completing a disposition form.
The foregoing is not intended to be tax advice. Please consult a qualified tax professional for more information prior to requesting a withdrawal of your VCERA contributions.