Midpen Open Space and Rangers’ Union Consider First Responder-Friendly Retirement Plan | Local News

As employees who cannot strike, members of the Rangers Association believe they are being denied appropriate retirement plans given the nature of their work and the challenges they face, particularly by compared to other nearby first responders, Hapke said.

“You don’t see cops, firefighters and first responders in 40 years of careers in the field being able to survive, because that’s a young man’s job,” he said. “We don’t think it’s appropriate to be classified in the same pension system as administrative staff. We should have the same pension system as other jobs that perform the same functions as us. »

Midpen, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, is a public agency that acquires and preserves undeveloped land to protect sensitive habitats and encourage recreational and educational opportunities. Midpen chief executive Ana María Ruiz said the current ranger pension plan falls under the category of CalPERS miscellaneous public agency members, like other Midpen staff.

According to Hapke, the Midpen rangers have wanted a security pension plan since the California Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act was passed in 2013 under a different bargaining group. The law changed the way CalPERS limits compensation and pays pensions to current and future employees.

The Rangers Association formed in January 2021 and has been negotiating its terms of employment with Midpen since July 2021. Although tentative agreements have been reached on other compensation elements like salary increases, Midpen n did not reclassify the job description of the rangers in order to qualify them. for the Security Retirement Scheme.

While rangers say their work involves a variety of firefighting, law enforcement and emergency medical care roles, the same jobs covered by a CalPERS safety benefit, Midpen says its policies limit ranger shares to certain circumstances and therefore cannot be reclassified. .

Midpen’s board plans to vote on ranger terms and conditions for next year at its August 10 meeting. Hapke and other rangers plan to talk and ask people to ask the council to come back to the table.

Hapke said a Midpen ranger who retires under the district’s current plan after 30 years of service at age 55 would receive 39% of his salary while retired. The proposed security plan would instead provide 75% of the ranger’s salary for the same time frame.

Ruiz noted that the increase could be problematic for the district in future years, estimating that costs could range from $320,000 to $1.5 million in the first three years. The higher figure is based on a potential increase in workers’ compensation and liability insurance. In the long term, she said, to retain the current workforce, the plan could increase staffing costs by up to 330% by 2045.

“It is our concern, that this will result in a major cost to a public body that is passed on to our ratepayers because the majority of our revenue comes from property taxes,” she said.