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Hermosa Beach police get new, better retirement deal
by Robb Fulcher
Hermosa Beach police officers will receive a 50 percent increase in retirement benefits if they hang up their badges on or after age 50, under a labor agreement recently approved by the city council..
The council approved the boost in benefits as part of a contract with the Hermosa Beach Police Officers Association.
The increase in retirement benefits applies to all of the department's 38 sworn members, from the chief on down. The increase was recently made possible by the State Legislature. Officers in El Segundo, Gardena and Hawthorne also have landed the new benefits.
Retirement benefits for police are paid out by the state's Public Employees Retirement System, which receives payments over the years from cities such as Hermosa.
The new retirement package, which takes effect at the beginning of the year, is not expected to cause a significant hardship to the city, Michael Earl, Hermosa's personnel and risk management director, said on Monday.
"It was arrived at in negotiations with a bargaining group," he said. "The retirement benefit was weighed against pay increases."
Under the new package, Hermosa police officers retiring at or after age 50 will receive a "3 percent at 50" yearly benefit, which is 3 percent of their final-year base salary multiplied by the number of years they have served. The maximum amount they can receive is 85 percent of their final-year salary.
Overtime pay is not figured into the formula for the retirement benefit.
The new formula replaces a "2 percent at 50" retirement benefit, which was previously the maximum payable by the state retirement system and the amount received by Hermosa's officers.
The contract with the police officers association also includes a two percent pay raise effective in January and a 5 percent raise effective July 2002, for the rank-and-file officers.
The raises will cost the city $152,400 during the current fiscal year, according to a report by Earl. The contract sets the officers' pay through July 2003.
Two police lieutenants and a captain, who are represented by a different bargaining group, will receive a five percent pay raise in January 2001, a two percent raise in July 2001 and another two percent raise in July 2002.
Those raises will cost the city $24,700 over the current fiscal year, according to a report by Earl.
A contract was approved last month giving the "3 percent at 50" retirement benefit to the city fire chief, and a "3 percent at 55" benefit to the city's five other department heads, requiring them to serve five years longer before qualifying.
The fire and police chiefs will receive two pay raises of two percent each by July 2001, and the other department heads will receive two raises of four percent each.
Those raises will cost the city a total of $53,000 over the current fiscal year, according to a report by Earl. ER