The average pension for a retired San Bernardino County employee who put in 30 or more years was $88,000 in 2014, and three retirees pull in more than $300,000 a year in benefits, according to Transparent California, a government watchdog organization that tracks salary and other compensation data of public employees.
Transparent California obtained pension data from the San Bernardino County Employees’ Retirement Association (SBCERA), which also represents employees of other state and local agencies including the South Coast Air Quality Management District, San Bernardino Superior Court, and the California Association of Counties.
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The data, which the watchdog group reported Thursday, reflects employees who retired after working 30 or more years at their respective employers.
In San Bernardino County, three retirees receive pensions topping $300,000 annually. Former County Counsel Ruth Stringer, who retired in 2010 after 33 years working for the county, receives $327,717 annually. Former Sheriff Rod Hoops, who worked 34 years with the county before retiring in 2012, receives a pension of $319,459.68. And former Undersheriff Richard Beemer, who retired in January 2010, receives $301,853.64 annually.
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As of 2013, neighboring Riverside County, according to CalPERS data, did not have any retirees with pensions exceeding $300,000, said Robert Fellner, project manager for Transparent California. Furthermore, the average $88,000 pension benefit in San Bernardino County is higher than the $73,700 benefit received by Riverside County employees in 2013, and vastly higher than the $67,026 average of Los Angeles County retirees in 2014, Fellner said.
In Los Angeles County, former undersheriff Larry Waldie received the highest pension in 2014 at $317,582.28, about $10,000 less than what retired San Bernardino County Counsel Ruth Stringer brought home. Waldie also put in 11 more years of service to his county than Stringer did hers, the data shows.
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In 2013, Riverside County’s top pensioner was retired CEO David Parrish, who received $248,456.04, followed by retired CEO William Luna at $219,629 and then retired undersheriff Neil Lingle, who received $212,501, according to California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) data.
The data indicates pensioners in San Bernardino County are better compensated in their retirement years than their counterparts in Riverside and Los Angeles counties.
“It certainly appears that (San Bernardino) County retirees have it much better than their neighbors,” Fellner said
But the situation may not be so black and white. County spokesman David Wert said in an e-mail that all pension systems work differently, and that myriad factors can go into why San Bernardino County retirees are receiving more in retirement benefits than their counterparts in neighboring counties. He said San Bernardino, Riverside and Los Angeles counties each have different retirement systems with different rules.
“They could have different formulas, different cash-out rules, different retiree COLA (Cost-Of-Living Adjustment) rules, etc. Further, they could have different benefit structures based on other non-pension choices that they’ve made,” Wert said.
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He said San Bernardino County has actually reduced its pension rates, and those costs are expected to decline over time.
“However, San Bernardino County taxpayers deserve the best public servants, and San Bernardino County has the best employees,” Wert said. “One of the reasons San Bernardino County attracts the best employees is because the county makes every effort to compensate them fairly.”
Of the 22 municipalities or public agencies served by SBCERA, retirees of San Bernardino Associated Governments (SanBag), the county’s transportation planning agency, had the highest average in pension and retirement benefits in 2014: $180,000, followed by San Bernardino County’s Local Agency Formation Commission, with an average pension of $149,000. Third on the list was SBCERA itself, with an average pension of $131,000.
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Retirees of the Diamond Bar-based South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) received an average pension of $110,000 in 2014, unusually high and typically seen only with retired police officers and firefighters, Fellner said.
In comparison, retirees for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department received an average $111,306, just slightly more than what SCAQMD retirees bring home annually.
“That is pretty stunning to me,” Fellner said. “Employees of the SCAQMD have it much, much better than their neighbors, or most anyone else in the state.”
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Because Riverside County does not have its own pension system and is part of CalPERS, its 2014 pension data is not expected to be released until the end of June, Fellner said.
Although the South Coast Air Quality Management District is based in Diamond Bar and consists of all of Orange County and the non-desert regions of Los Angeles County, Riverside County, and San Bernardino County, state law has made it part of SBCERA since the agency was formed in 1977, according to Michael O’Kelly, its chief financial officer.
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Pension payments are set by the same formula as county employees, he said: 2 percent of each year’s salary available at age 55 for those who started before 2013, and 2 percent per year available at age 62 for those who’ve started since January 2013.
O’Kelly said he didn’t have the data to say whether the agency’s pensions are higher than others.
“I couldn’t say if it’s true, because I haven’t done the analysis of the state,” he said.
O’Kelly added that he had not reviewed Transparent California’s numbers.
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Among SCAQMD retirees, the highest compensated received more than $184,000 last year, and five received more than $150,000 in retirement payments last year.
The benefits paid to SBCERA members and beneficiaries are commensurate with each particular members’ years of service and compensation, said Christie Porter, SBCERA’s chief of member services.
“We administer the benefits impartially and in accordance with the applicable law,” Porter said.