At its April 28, 2026 meeting, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors voted to appoint Shannon Pascual to the open alternate public member position on VCERA’s Board of Retirement, effective immediately. Mr. Pascual’s term will expire on December 31, 2028.
Click below to view the Board Letter and Resolution from the Ventura County Board of Supervisors for the appointment:
Election results are in for the General Member seat on the VCERA Board of Retirement. On May 1, 2026, the Ventura County Elections Division issued certified results for the special election held on April 28, 2026.
Xiaoli Cioffi received the most votes out of the 574 cast among three candidates on the ballot. The term for this seat ends on December 31, 2027.
VCERA congratulates Ms. Cioffi on her appointment to the Board of Retirement. Below are the vote totals for each candidate:
| Candidate Name | Votes |
| Ed Alamillo | 221 |
| Xiaoli Cioffi | 282 |
| Edwin “Eddie” Jacob | 71 |
Click below to view the Certifications of Election Results and the Official Statements of Votes Cast:
Certification of Election Results – General Member
VCERA’s annual benefit statements as of December 31, 2025, as well as information about the Alameda Decision, were mailed to all active VCERA members on March 19, 2026. View the Alameda Fact Sheet here.
If you have any questions about your statement or the Alameda Fact Sheet, please contact VCERA at (805) 339-4250 or info@vcera.gov.
To enhance security and indicate that we are an official government agency, our website will move from www.vcera.org to www.vcera.gov. In addition, all staff email addresses will update to the @vcera.gov domain. Our original website and email addresses will remain active, so you can continue to reach us without interruption.
The County Board of Supervisors approved new Memorandums of Agreement (MOA) on Tuesday, December 16, 2025, affecting SEIU, IUOE, VCPPOA-Probation, VCSCOA, and County Management employees. The changes include increases to the number of vacation and annual leave hours redeemable for cash in future calendar years beginning in 2027. Some MOAs also increase the number of leave hours employees may accrue.
Annual leave redemption (i.e. vacation buydown) earnings are includable in compensation earnable for Legacy members. The Earnings included in a member’s Final Average Compensation (FAC) are limited to that which is both “earned and payable” in each 12 months of the member’s FAC measurement period (Government Code Section 31461(b)(2)). “Earned” refers to the number of leave hours an employee is able to accrue. “Payable” refers to the maximum cashout limit permitted by each member’s MOA. VCERA can include the lesser of these two values in the FAC.
When an MOA increases the number of leave hours an employee may cash out per year, it may increase the hours VCERA can include in the FAC. However, the higher limit only applies to years in the FAC measurement period that end after the new limit takes effect. This ensures that only hours that were actually payable during each specific year are included in FAC earnings. VCERA determines the maximum that may be included based on the MOA and the applicable calendar year limits and then includes the hours the member actually redeemed during the measurement period, up to that limit. The resulting limit applies to the entire measurement period, regardless of the calendar year in which the redemptions occurred.
Example 1 (36-month measurement period):
If your three-year (36-month) measurement period ends within 2027 and the cashout limit for 2027 increases from 100 hours to 200 hours, the FAC can include up to 400 hours of leave redemption. VCERA calculates the maximum includable annual leave redemption hours by applying 100 hours for 2025, another 100 hours for 2026, and 200 hours for 2027, for a total of 400 includable hours or the leave hours the member is eligible to accrue during those years, whichever is less. VCERA then includes only the hours you actually redeemed during the measurement period, up to that calculated limit, which applies to the entire period regardless of the year in which redemptions occurred.
Example 2 (12-month measurement period):
If you have a one-year (12-month) measurement period ending within 2027 and the cashout limit for 2027 increases from 100 hours to 200 hours, the higher cashout limit applies because the period ends after the new limit takes effect. VCERA calculates the maximum includable leave redemption for that period using the 200-hour limit or the leave hours the member is eligible to accrue during the year, whichever is less. VCERA then includes only the hours you actually redeemed during the measurement period, up to that calculated limit, which applies to the entire measurement period regardless of the year in which the redemptions occurred.
For more information about the specific provisions of your union’s current Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), please visit and search for the MOA for your bargaining unit: https://hr.venturacounty.gov/policies-memorandum.
A special election for a General Member Representative on the VCERA Board of Retirement will be held on Tuesday, April 28, 2026. The elected member will serve a term commencing upon certification of the election until December 31, 2027.
The filing deadline was March 18. Three candidates submitted filings for the election:
Official ballot packets, with Instructions for Voting and Candidate Statements, will be distributed by U.S. mail to all eligible General members on April 6. Voted ballots, including mailed ballots, must be returned to the County Elections Office by 5:00 p.m. on April 28.
The results and official election certification will be provided to VCERA by 5:00 p.m. on April 30, and VCERA will submit the certified election results to the Board of Supervisors on May 1.
View the General Member Election Calendar, or contact us with questions.
Form 1099-Rs reporting the 2025 retirement earnings of retirees and other VCERA payees were mailed on January 29, 2026. The 1099-Rs are also available in Member Portal accounts. Members are encouraged to consult a qualified tax preparer with questions about their 2025 taxable income.
For an explanation of how to read your 1099-R, click here. For information regarding income tax, click here.
A special election for a General Member Representative on the VCERA Board of Retirement will be held on Tuesday, April 28, 2026.
Any active General member is eligible to run for the General Member Representative office. The elected member will serve a term commencing upon certification of the election until December 31, 2027.
Nomination documents can be obtained by appointment starting on March 4, 2026. To make an appointment, contact VCERA by email at vcera.info@ventura.org or by phone at (805) 339-4261. Completed nomination packets must be returned to VCERA by March 18, 2026, at 5 p.m.
Serving on the VCERA Board of Retirement offers a unique opportunity to shape the future of retirement security for thousands of dedicated public employees in Ventura County. As a Board member, you will play an important role in reviewing VCERA’s investments, policies, and long-term sustainability, helping to provide essential lifetime benefits to those who have served our community.
View the General Member Election Notice and Calendar, which provides information on the election process, timeline, and how to become a candidate, or contact us with questions.
The 2026 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for eligible retirees, beneficiaries, and other payees with a retirement date of April 1, 2026 or earlier will be reflected in retirement benefit payments on April 30, 2026.
The COLA awarded to Safety retirees and General Tier 1 (Legacy) retirees is based on the year-over-year change (as of December) in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim region. If the CPI change, after being rounded to the nearest half percent, is more than the 3.0% COLA maximum, the excess will be “banked” and applied to a COLA in a future year when the annual CPI change is less than 3.0%. The regional CPI change from December 2024 to December 2025 was 3.0% after rounding. The Board of Retirement approved the 3.0% COLA at its meeting on January 26, 2026.
The COLA awarded to eligible General Tier 2 (Legacy) and Tier 8 (PEPRA) retirees represented by SEIU or CNA is 2.0%. This percentage is not subject to CPI changes. The 2.0% General Tier 2 and Tier 8 COLA increases are automatic under the terms of the Board of Retirement Regulation and applicable labor agreements, and require no additional Board approval. For SEIU retirees, this applies to any eligible service rendered on or after March 16, 2003 (for retirements on or after March 13, 2005). For CNA retirees, this applies to any eligible service rendered on or after June 25, 2023.
If you would like to learn more about VCERA’s annual COLAs, click here or contact VCERA.
*For more information about benefit tiers, click here.
**SEIU is the Service Employees International Union. CNA is the California Nurses Association.
At its December 16, 2025 meeting, the Board of Supervisors approved revisions to the Bylaws and Regulations (Bylaws) that had previously been approved by VCERA’s Board of Retirement at its July 28, 2025 meeting, as well as revisions to the Tax Compliance Regulations (Tax Regulations) that had previously been approved by VCERA’s Board of Retirement at its October 27, 2025 meeting.
The Bylaws of the Board of Retirement address a variety of administrative and operational matters. They were last revised in September 2019.
The approved changes to the Bylaws include:
The Board adopted several recommended updates to VCERA’s Tax Regulations to conform with recent changes in federal tax law, as well as conform to current administrative practices. The updates include changes required by the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act of 2019 and the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (the SECURE Acts), and published relevant IRS guidance, as well as a few formatting enhancements. They were last revised in January 2016.
The affected Tax Regulations include these Internal Revenue Code (IRC) sections and changes:
View the final updated documents and all information related to Board policies and procedures on our Board Governance webpage.
See redline versions below for all changes made:
*The SECURE 2.0 Act passed in December 2022. Among other changes, it increased the Required Minimum Distribution Age (RMD) to age 73 effective in 2023, and to age 75 in 2034. This change in RMD age thresholds will allow members to further delay their retirement date until they reach a later age.
