Calabasas council adopts CalPERS contract amendment to offer two-year retirement incentive

The Calabasas City Council unanimously approved a resolution of intention and adopted an ordinance on Feb. 11 authorizing an amendment to the city's contract with the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) that would give eligible employees two years of additional service credit as a retirement incentive.

Ron Allers, the city's chief financial officer, told the council the incentive would apply to classic members age 50 and older and to PEPRA members age 52 and older, each with at least five years of service. He said the council previously adopted a resolution in January that CalPERS rejected for formatting and wording differences and that the city is now adopting the CalPERS'provided resolution and an accompanying ordinance so CalPERS can process the contract amendment.

"What this amendment does is provide two years of additional service credit to those employees who are eligible to retire," Allers said. "Employees would be age 50 and above with five years of service if they are a classic member. If they happen to be a PEPRA member, they are age 52 and above with five years of service credit." He told the council the city has already submitted a list of employees to CalPERS for an actuarial analysis and expects that analysis back in March; the council will then set the retirement window (a minimum of 90 days and a maximum of 180 days) and publish the cost.

Council members pressed for budget clarity and timeline. One member confirmed that the city would not incur actual budgetary impacts until fiscal year 2028'29, a point Allers affirmed. Council discussion framed the measure as a tool to reduce future staffing costs by encouraging higher-paid, longer-tenured employees to retire and leaving positions open rather than immediately refilling them.

Mayor Visagian also criticized CalPERS' handling of the prior resolution, calling their rejection over formatting "piddling" and saying CalPERS had needlessly delayed the city's process.

The council voted 5'0to'0 to approve the resolution of intention to amend the contract and then voted to adopt Ordinance No. 2026-421 (waiving full reading) authorizing the contract amendment. The ordinance becomes effective 30 days after adoption, and the council stated it will return for a final vote after the actuarial study to set the retirement window and finalize costs.

Next steps: staff will receive CalPERS'actuarial information in March, return to the council for final approval of program parameters, publish any costs associated with the incentive and set the open retirement window for eligible employees.