FROM: Barbara Hannah, Chief Counsel
SUBJECT: Reconfirming SBCERA Employees' Survivor Benefits
RECOMMENDATION:
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Recommend that the Board approve and adopt SBCERA Resolution No. 2025-3: Reconfirming and Restating Inclusion of its Employees within the Coverage of Article 15.6 of County Employees' Retirement Law.
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BACKGROUND:
Staff recommends approval of the Resolution reconfirming and restating the inclusion of San Bernardino County Employees' Retirement Association (SBCERA) employees within the coverage of Article 15.6 (Survivor Benefits) of the County Employees' Retirement Law of 1937 (CERL). This action is part of an ongoing effort to clean up and clarify SBCERA's governing plan documents. The adoption of the Resolution is largely ministerial in nature and intended to reaffirm a long-standing statutory operational practice. Specifically, it confirms that SBCERA employees remain covered under Article 15.6 of the CERL, which provides for survivor benefits in lieu of Social Security coverage for eligible members/beneficiaries.
Article 15.6 became operative in San Bernardino County following the adoption of Resolution No. R-75-47 by the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors on March 31, 1975. This replaced Social Security benefits effective January 3,1976. The implementation of Article 15.6 in lieu of Social Security was applicable to employees assigned to SBCERA. Following SBCERA's designation as a special district in accordance with Government Code section 31468(l)(2), the employees of SBCERA continued to be included within the coverage of Article 15.6 regarding survivor benefits.
The Resolution formally reconfirms and restates that SBCERA employees remain covered under Article 15.6 as required by Government Code section 31855.2. The Resolution does not create new obligations or change existing policy. Rather, it serves to clarify and document the continued applicability of Article 15.6 to SBCERA employees. Staff views this...
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