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Committee debates charter amendment to let former redevelopment employees count prior years toward retiree health
Summary
Supervisors discussed a narrowly tailored charter amendment aimed at allowing a limited group of former redevelopment agency employees to count prior service toward city retiree health vesting; the committee adopted amendments and continued the item for additional technical work and fiscal analysis.
The Rules Committee considered a charter amendment that would allow certain employees who formerly worked for the city—s redevelopment agency to count their prior years of service toward city retiree health vesting.
Supervisor Cohen described the measure as a narrowly crafted remedy for roughly 35–40 employees affected by the state—s 2012 redevelopment dissolution. The amendment would allow employees hired by redevelopment on or before a cutoff date to count that service for vesting retiree-health benefits under older, more generous rules; language was added to exclude employees who previously received coverage under the Public Employees— Medical and Hospital Care Act (PEMHCA) and to prevent double-dipping for employees who already vested under the city rules.
Controller Ben Rosenfield presented a draft costing analysis identifying three primary fiscal effects: (1) treating these employees under older vesting rules would make benefits more generous for the group, (2) employees covered by the amendment could contribute at lower prefunding rates than current hires, and (3) lingering complications around former redevelopment pension plans could accelerate recognition of any unfunded liabilities. Rosenfield said the city is refining its estimates; the measure likely increases costs for the city but the scale depends on individual employee choices, years of service and whether obligations remain payable from redevelopment tax-increment funds.
Union representatives (Local 21 and SEIU) and redevelopment staff urged the committee to adopt the amendment so that mid-career employees who moved into city employment through the dissolution process are not forced to start their vesting clocks over. Staff from the Office of Community Investment & Infrastructure described the loss of institutional knowledge if those employees depart.
The committee accepted Supervisor Cohen—s amendments to tighten eligibility language and to add clarifying provisions, then continued the item to the call of the chair to allow final technical edits and updated fiscal analysis to be prepared before the board votes.
