Yes on Proposition A
Retiree cost of living adjustment
What is it?
Proposition A is a Charter Amendment introduced by the Board of Supervisors which will allow city employees who retired before November 6, 1996 to receive supplemental cost of living adjustments to their retirement benefits. This will be accomplished by eliminating the "full funding" requirement and instituting a monthly monetary cap on payments. This brings pre-1996 retiree benefits in line with current benefits.
Fiscal impacts
Proposition A will increase the yearly expenses from the City budget by approximately $8 million per year for the next ten years, $5 million of which will come from the General Fund.
Why is this on the ballot?
This is a City Charter amendment. All charter amendments must be approved by a 50% + 1 majority.
- Sponsor: Ahsha Safaí
- Co-Sponsors: Supervisors Myrna Melgar, Aaron Peskin, Rafael Mandelman, Shamann Walton, Gordon Mar, Hillary Ronen, Dean Preston, and Matt Dorsey
- Placed on ballot by: Unanimously by all Supervisors
Why vote yes?
The short version is: this changes the law to treat all civil servants the same, and grants them a supplemental cost of living adjustment on top of their basic cost of living adjustment.
The long version is much more confusing, and is explained in greater detail of page 2 of the Legislative Digest. Prop A eliminates the full-funding requirement for the SF Employee Retirement System (SFERS) for people who retired before November 6, 1996 but also imposes a supplemental cost-of-living adjustment cap of $200 per month when the retirement system is not fully funded. The full-funding requirement was created in November 2011, but due to a legal challenge and ruling, it was not imposed on anyone who retired after November 6, 1996. So the intent of the voters in 2011 was never fully realized and, instead, it only penalized retirees who retired a little too early.