The California Supreme Court on Wednesday denied petitions for review on a decision handed down by a state court of appeals regarding supplemental cost-of-living adjustment changes for participants in the $20 billion San Francisco City & County Employees’ Retirement System.
The court denied petitions filed by both the city and the plaintiff, a political action committee called Protect our Benefits.
On March 27, the 1st District Court of Appeal ruled on changes in the pension fund’s supplemental COLA in Proposition C, which voters approved in November 2011. The proposition included a rule that the pension fund must be “fully funded” based on the market value of assets the previous year in order to distribute the 3.5% supplemental COLA.
The city appealed the court’s decision to eliminate the funding requirement for participants who retired after Nov. 6, 1996, when the supplemental COLA was enacted, while the plaintiff appealed the court’s decision to uphold the requirement for participants who retired before Nov. 6, 1996.
Matt Dorsey, spokesman for San Francisco City Attorney Dennis J. Herrera, did not return a phone call seeking comment by press time; Larry P. Barsetti, chairman of Protect Our Benefits, could not be reached by press time.
