Supervisors advance charter amendment to prefund San Francisco retiree health trust

Supervisor Norman Yee, chair of the Budget and Finance Committee, and Supervisor Scott Wiener’s colleague introduced and advanced a charter amendment aimed at prefunding the City and County of San Francisco’s Retiree Health Care Trust Fund.

Supervisor Farrell told the committee the measure is designed to address the city’s approximately $4.4 billion unfunded other post-employment benefits (OPEB) liability. "With this Charter Amendment, we will reduce and eliminate our $4,400,000,000 unfunded retiree healthcare liability without asking employees for any additional concessions at all and without reducing any benefits," Farrell said during his presentation.

The amendment contains three principal elements: it restricts withdrawals from the trust until the fund is fully funded, it creates a narrow exception allowing withdrawals in years when an employer’s retiree…