Who controls and pays for the Contra Costa County Employee Retirement Association employees is becoming a question for the courts.
As part of a series of actions taken to balance the county budget, the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors decided to implement a 2.75% cut to salaries of its top and mid-level employees – including those at the pension association. They also mandated increased employee contributions. Both changes were self-inflicted, as the board decided to include itself in the cuts.
But the pension association is crying foul, saying that allowing the Supervisors to dictate pay to staff is a way to allow political agendas to influence the independence of the board.
From the Contra Costa Times:
Contra Costa County’s $5 billion pension system filed a civil suit Thursday against the county in an intergovernmental power struggle over the pay and benefits of the retirement agency’s staff.
The Contra Costa County Employees’ Retirement Association asserts that wage and benefit cuts the board of supervisors applied to its 12 top and midlevel managers Oct. 1 were illegal.
Read the full article here.