Election results are in for the General Member and Alternate Safety Member seats on the VCERA Board of Retirement. On February 5, 2025, the Ventura County Elections Division issued certified results for the election held on February 3, 2025. The following are the winning candidates, who will be completing the remaining portion of the three-year terms for each seat.
For the General Member election, Jordan Roberts received the most votes out of the 708 cast among five candidates on the ballot. The term for this seat ends on December 31, 2027.
For the Alternate Safety Member seat, only one individual filed nomination documents. Therefore, per Government Code section 31523, an election was not held and the clerk cast a unanimous ballot in favor of the candidate, Ryan Resnick. The term for this seat ends on December 31, 2026.
VCERA congratulates these individuals on their appointments to the Board of Retirement. Below are the vote totals for each candidate:
General Member Election Candidate Name Votes Susan White Wood 81 Roy Morris 31 Derek Fouarge 156 Liza R. Rocha 203 Jordan Roberts 231
Click below to view the Certifications of Election Results and the Official Statements of Votes Cast for each election:
An election for a General Member Representative and a special election for an Alternate Safety Member Representative on the VCERA Board of Retirement will be held on February 3, 2025.
Any active General member is eligible to run for the General Member Representative office. The elected member will serve a 3-year term from January 1, 2025 until December 31, 2027.
Only Safety members in the Fire Suppression group, including Airport Operations Officers and Harbor Patrol Officers, are eligible for the Alternate Safety Member office. The elected member will serve from the date of certification of election results until December 31, 2026.
Nomination documents can be obtained by appointment starting on December 2, 2024, in the County Elections Office or by emailing campaign.finance@venturacounty.gov. To make an appointment, visit https://clerkrecorder.venturacounty.gov/elections. Completed nomination packets must be returned to the Elections Office by December 9, 2024, 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.
The Alameda Decision of 2020 concluded that all amendments to the definition of compensation earnable, enacted because of the Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013 (PEPRA), were constitutional. The Court also ruled that boards may not include the value of benefits paid “in-kind,” such as the portion of flex credit applied to healthcare benefits. To comply with the decision, the Board of Retirement adopted the Flexible Benefits Correction Resolution on April 17, 2023, excluding a portion of the Flexible Credit Allowance from the compensation earnable calculation for legacy retirement plan members. This resulted in reduced pension benefits for those retiring on or after July 30, 2020. Eligible members will receive a refund of member contributions on non-cashable flex credit, plus interest (net of overpaid benefits plus interest for retirees.) The corresponding employer contributions remain with the VCERA fund as a credit toward future employer contributions. With this savings, on June 27, 2023, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors approved the creation of the Legacy Retiree Healthcare Premium Subsidy and Reimbursement Plan (“HRA plan”) to mitigate some of the loss in retirement benefits to members.
Additionally, on June 27, 2023, the Board of Supervisors approved an Amendment to the Memorandum of Agreement between the Ventura County Fire Protection District and the Ventura County Professional Firefighters’ Association (VCPFA). This amendment enables the monthly funding of a Legacy Retiree Healthcare Contribution on behalf of eligible retirees, directed into the VCPFA-administered medical trust to cover health-related expenses for qualified retirees.
The County HRA Plan will provide eligible retirees a healthcare reimbursement account, funded by employer contributions in amounts based on individual bargaining agreements, with potential annual increases of up to 3%. The HRA can be used for eligible out-of-pocket medical, dental, and vision expenses for eligible retirees and their dependents.
While VCERA does not administer retiree health benefits or the HRA plan, and thus cannot answer questions about such plans, you can learn more by calling the Ventura County HRA Administrator at (805) 654-5033, or by visiting the HRA Benefit web page.
On May 20, 2024, the Board of Retirement voted to adopt a 7.9% interest rate on underpaid benefits stemming from Alameda-related corrections. Members who retired on or after July 30, 2020 who had certain estimated exclusions applied at the time of their initial retirement calculation may be affected.
After the Alameda court decision in July 2020, VCERA staff used the information available to recalculate benefits and began excluding certain items from Final Average Compensation (FAC) calculations to comply with the decision. These exclusions that occurred early in the process after July 2020 were best estimates at that time. Since then, more precise numbers have been calculated by the employers and by VCERA, and some of these exclusions have now been reversed. Such exclusions included 1) the removal of all flex credits for VRSD members, which was later determined to be improper because VRSD had reported only the cashable amount of flex credits, and 2) the removal of situational pay codes in full where it was later determined that only a portion of hours reported with the pay code should be removed. As a result of reversing these exclusions, VCERA has, in some cases, identified a new higher FAC period and has recalculated benefits. The recalculations resulted in underpaid benefits owed to the affected retired members. These missed benefit payments will be treated as back-pay.
Following the board’s May 2024 approval, an interest rate of 7.9% will be applied to these back-payments. This is consistent with a March 2023 board decision to apply the same interest rate to other Alameda corrections. The 7.9% interest rate was selected based on average long-term earnings, and also mirrored the quarterly performance report as of December 31, 2022.
In the Alameda Decision, issued on 7/30/2020, the California Supreme Court ruled that retirement boards, such as VCERA’s, could not include in Legacy members’ compensation earnable any pay items that were excluded by law, including “in-kind” benefits. “Flex credit” allowances provided to employees each pay period and applied to healthcare benefits are “in-kind” benefits that must be excluded. Rather than implement that exclusion immediately, the VCERA Board agreed to delay a decision on flex credit until April 2023 at the request of the County and labor organizations, allowing time to negotiate alternative benefits.
In May 2023, after the Board adopted a Resolution to implement the Alameda Decision’s ruling as to flex credit, VCERA began limiting flex credit in Legacy members’ retirement earnings to the “maximum cashable amount,” which was the flat or employee-only rate minus the lesser of the opt-out fee or lowest-cost employer-sponsored healthcare plan. This was the formula under the County’s benefit structure in place at that time, referred to as the “old benefit structure.” After the County changed the program’s structure in June 2023, referred to as the “new benefit structure,” the “maximum cashable amount” for most bargaining units was equal to the opt-out allowance.
The following two sample paychecks illustrate the new benefit structure with regard to opt-out allowances and flex credit allowances for Legacy members.
Example #1: New Benefit Structure with Opt-Out Allowance
“Opt Out Allowance” is the flat amount ($147.00) payable to this employee for not electing a County-provided health plan. [Under the new benefit structure, this employee no longer receives the old “Flex Credit FT $497” amount and no longer pays the “Opt Out” fee.]
“Retirement Earnings Final” is the total pensionable retirement earnings in this pay period. For Legacy members, “Retirement Earnings Final” is what is included as “compensation earnable.” For this Legacy member, it is the sum of all pay items listed under “Earnings.”
“Retirement Cnty Reg Fund” is the amount the County reported paying toward this employee’s future retirement benefit (“normal cost”). The County also includes in this amount a portion of the amortized unfunded liability (UAAL).
“Retirement Cnty COL Fund” is the amount the County reported paying toward this employee’s future cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) (“normal cost”). The County also includes in this amount a portion of the UAAL.
Note: Under the new benefit structure, employees receive either the “Flex Credit” allowance or the “Opt Out Allowance.” There is no longer an opt-out fee. The maximum cashable amount is equal to the opt-out allowance and is the same for all members of the same bargaining unit. (Click here to see charts of maximum cashable amounts by union.)
Note: Effective 6/25/2023, the County began reporting the new benefit structure’s maximum cashable amount in “Retirement Earnings Final” for Legacy members. The pensionable amount varies by bargaining unit. For example, the maximum cashable amount is $229.94 per pay period for VCDSA-represented employees; it is $279.94 per pay period for CNA-represented employees.
Example #2: New Benefit Structure with Flex Credit Allowance
“Flex Credit” is the flex credit allowance ($147.00) for this employee in this bargaining unit.
“Retirement Earnings Final” is the total pensionable retirement earnings in this pay period. For this Legacy member, it is the sum of all pay items listed under “Earnings,” except the “Flex Credit Additional” amount.
Note: The sum of “Flex Credit” and “Flex Credit Additional” amounts equals the flex credit amount negotiated by each bargaining unit. Under the new benefit structure, the “Flex Credit” amount is pensionable, but the “Flex Credit Additional” amount is not pensionable.
Other Information
PEPRA members do not have flex credit included in their retirement earnings because PEPRA excludes from “pensionable compensation” any employer-provided allowance. Also, the “Retirement Earnings Final” amounts on Legacy members’ paychecks prior to 6/25/2023 were overstated due to the inclusion of the full flex credit.
VCERA has created the Alameda Administrative Appeal Request Form to provide members who are affected by the Alameda Decision with the opportunity to appeal VCERA’s corrections to their retirement accounts. Corrective actions could include removing certain pay items from a member’s final average compensation (FAC), refunding retirement contributions overpaid to VCERA, and reducing monthly retirement benefits.
Members are permitted to file an administrative appeal with VCERA only if:
A member’s excluded pay items were “compensation earnable” under the law and therefore includable in FAC.
VCERA’s calculations or other numerical data provided in the “VCERA Account Correction Notice” were incorrect.
A member retired before the effective date of the law that VCERA applied to him/her.
All members affected by the Alameda Decision will receive written notices before any account correction occurs, along with information on how to file an appeal. Appeals must be filed within 30 days of the postmark date of the notice. For members who file an appeal, VCERA will provide a written determination concerning the appeal within 60 days of receipt.
The Alameda Decision excluded from Legacy members’ pensionable earnings payments for annual leave redemptions (i.e., vacation buydowns) that exceed what “may be earned and payable in each 12-month period” during their final average compensation (FAC) period. When multiple leave redemptions from two calendar years are paid in a 12-month period, the total redeemed hours in that period may exceed their redeemable calendar-year hour limit. To comply with Alameda, VCERA must remove these “excess” hours from members’ pensionable earnings used to calculate their FAC, which could affect their retirement benefits.
VCERA has produced frequently asked questions (FAQs) to help educate members on this complex subject. Please click on the links below to learn more. You can also click here to view the Alameda Decision FAQs and Glossary.
The 2024 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for eligible retirees, beneficiaries and other payees with a retirement date of April 1, 2024 or earlier will be reflected in retirement benefit payments on April 30, 2024:
COLA increases under Board of Retirement Regulation are automatic under the terms of the Regulation and applicable labor agreement, and require no additional Board approval.
The COLA awarded to Safety retirees and General Tier 1 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 2022 to December 2023 was 3.5% (after rounding).
The COLA awarded to eligible General Tier 2 and Tier 8 retirees represented by SEIU or CNA is a fixed 2.0%. This percentage is not subject to CPI changes. 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.
*Note: This news post reflects information available at the time of publication. Please check our newer articles for the most current updates or revised timelines.
VCERA staff has provided the Board of Retirement with three Alameda Implementation status updates since October 2023. Highlights from those status reports include:
The total number of Alameda Implementation corrections exceeds 13,000. (This total refers to the different corrections by type, not the number of members affected.) When categorized by pay exclusions, there are 6,100+ corrections involving PEPRA Exclusions (i.e., “excluded” and “situational” pay codes and leave straddling) and 7,800+ corrections involving Alameda Exclusions (i.e., flex credit and leave donations). Many member accounts will require multiple corrections in the above categories, and each correction may affect multiple pay periods. The total number of impacted members is not yet known, as additional account review is needed.
Phase 1 of the Alameda Implementation involves calculating pensionable earnings and member contributions. This phase is projected to last from May 2023 to approximately September 2024. Phase 2 involves staff calculating retirement benefits and processing refunds with interest. This phase will last from approximately September 2024 to at least September 2025. The overall project timeline may require changes due to VCERA staffing needs and revised timelines from third-party resources.
To complete Phase 1, VCERA partnered with several third parties, including the County of Ventura, Vitech, MBS and Simpler Systems, to perform historical data corrections and to enhance technologies prior to Phase 2 calculations. Each third party fulfills a different role in developing, testing, calculating and delivering various data points to VCERA.
VCERA recruited four fixed-term employees to assist with the Alameda Implementation directly or indirectly. The employees will begin their training in January 2024.
Staff will begin manual Alameda calculations for VRSD member accounts in January 2024. Affected members will be notified in writing before any account adjustments are made.
VCERA will post additional updates about its Alameda Implementation as the multi-year project progresses.
December 22, 2023 – The Ventura County Employees’ Retirement Association (VCERA) Board of Retirement has appointed Amy Herron as VCERA’s new Retirement Administrator, effective January 8, 2024. She will replace Rick Santos, who has held the position on an interim basis since August 2023, when the previous administrator retired.
Ms. Herron’s appointment as VCERA’s chief executive was announced at the Board of Retirement’s meeting on December 18, 2023. The Board conducted a nationwide recruitment and interviewed multiple candidates this fall before making its hiring decision.
Ms. Herron has served as VCERA’s Chief Operations Officer since January 2023. Prior to this, she was the Chief Deputy over Payroll & Accounts Payable at the County of Ventura Auditor-Controller for about six years. She also held various positions with the County of Santa Barbara Auditor-Controller for 20 years, finishing the latter half of her tenure there as the Financial Systems Division Chief. Amy is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Public Finance Officer (CPFO) and Project Management Professional (PMP). She holds a bachelor’s degree from UC Santa Barbara (UCSB) in business economics with an emphasis in accounting.
Mike Sedell, Chair of the Board of Retirement, stated: “On behalf of the Board, I am pleased to congratulate Ms. Herron on her appointment as the new Retirement Administrator. She possesses outstanding leadership skills, institutional knowledge, technical know-how and a vision for VCERA’s future. We wish her every success in the years ahead. Furthermore, the Board is grateful to Mr. Santos for serving as the Interim Administrator, effectively bridging that leadership gap as we searched for a permanent administrator. His work and diplomacy over the past five months have been invaluable.”
“I am honored to be entrusted by the Board with this important responsibility,” Ms. Herron said. “VCERA will continue to have my full focus as it grows and matures as an organization, and as we make progress with the implementation of the Alameda Decision. With the support of a great staff, I will work to deliver the best possible services and promised benefits to our 20,000 members and beneficiaries.”
