| 2023 | Retiree Payment Date |
|---|---|
| January | January 31, 2023 |
| February | February 28, 2023 |
| March | March 31, 2023 |
| April | April 28, 2023 |
| May | May 31, 2023 |
Please CLICK HERE to access the Member Portal.
Please note: To access your account, you must register by creating a username and password. A registration guide is available for Active and Retired members.
The VCERA Member Portal is a password-protected and enabled with Multifactor Authentication. This self-service web portal allows you to conveniently view key elements of your retirement account. The portal is designed to give VCERA members up-to-date access to the retirement information most relevant to them:
If you need additional assistance, or experience any of the following issues:
Please contact the VCERA Member Portal hotline at (805) 677-8700 or send an email to memberportal@vcera.org. For all other member requests, call VCERA at (805) 339-4250 or send an email to VCERA.Info@ventura.org.
(Click here to report a death)
As a VCERA member, death and survivor benefits may be payable to your surviving spouse, minor children, other eligible beneficiary or estate. The type and amount of benefits depend on many different factors and can only be determined after a full review of the decedent’s individual circumstances. Below is an overview of the death and survivor benefits that may be payable upon the death of a member.
September 20, 2023 – VCERA has opened recruitment for its next Retirement Administrator. As the agency’s top executive, the Retirement Administrator must be an experienced and highly ethical professional who possesses outstanding interpersonal, technical and management skills. Prior retirement administration experience is highly desirable.
The annual salary range for the position is $246,426 – $302,548.
On September 11, 2023, VCERA staff updated the Board of Retirement on the progress of the Alameda implementation, which is divided into two phases:
July 20, 2023 – The Ventura County Employees’ Retirement Association (VCERA) Board of Retirement has appointed Richard Santos as VCERA’s Interim Retirement Administrator. He will replace the retiring chief executive, Linda Webb, who held the position since 2015. Mr. Santos will begin meeting with Ms. Webb in early August before her departure later in the month.
Mr. Santos will lead VCERA until a full-time administrator is selected by the Board of Retirement following a nationwide recruitment that is scheduled to begin in September 2023.
VCERA contracts with PBI Research Services (PBI) for death and beneficiary audit services. In late May 2023, a third-party file transfer software used by PBI, MOVEit, identified a vulnerability in its software that was actively exploited by attackers. The exploit provided attackers the ability to gain access to the MOVEit Administrative Portal only. PBI stated that its core systems and software were not accessed.
Although the California Supreme Court’s Alameda Decision touched all CERL retirement systems, VCERA was particularly impacted. The ruling affected multiple parts of VCERA’s operations, most importantly the recalculation of retirement benefits. To help members and stakeholders better understand the Alameda Decision, its broad impact and its implementation, VCERA has produced Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and a Glossary of Terms. All of the terms in the Glossary are used in the FAQs, so referring to the documents simultaneously is encouraged.
When the California Supreme Court issued the Alameda Decision on July 30, 2020, it ruled that retirement boards do not have the discretion to include in Legacy members’ compensation earnable “in-kind” benefits. As determined in prior case law, “flex credit” payments that are applied to healthcare-related benefits are considered to be in-kind payments. Accordingly, flex credit amounts that cannot be received by employees in unrestricted cash must be excluded from compensation earnable. These in-kind payments are examples of an “Alameda Exclusion.”
Election results are in for the General Member, Safety Member and Retired Member seats on the VCERA Board of Retirement. On June 23, 2023, the Ventura County Elections Division issued certified results for the elections held on June 20, 2023. The following winning candidates will serve a three-term term starting on January 1, 2024.
For the General Member election, Greg Bergman received a plurality of the 743 votes cast among four candidates on the ballot.
June 15, 2023 – The Ventura County Employees’ Retirement Association (VCERA) today announced that Linda Webb has decided to step down as its Retirement Administrator, the chief executive position she has held since January 2015. The governing Board of Retirement is expected to appoint an interim administrator to lead the agency until a full-time replacement is identified following a nationwide recruitment.
An RFP for Actuarial Auditing Services was issued on June 5, 2023:
VCERA RFP for Actuarial Auditing Services
The following documents were posted on June 29, 2023 in response to vendor inquiries:
2023 Actuarial Audit RFP Q&As
2017 Actuarial Audit Presentation
Pay codes are used by employers to identify and classify types of pay remitted to employees. Some types of pay are includable in retirement earnings,* as determined by CERL and the Board of Retirement, and some are not. In the Alameda Decision, the California Supreme Court clarified for county retirement systems which categories of pay are excluded from a member’s retirement earnings.
VCERA’s 2023 annual benefit statements were mailed to all active VCERA members on May 4, 2023. If you have any questions about your statement, please contact VCERA at (805) 339-4250 or VCERA.info@ventura.org.
On April 17, 2023, the VCERA Board of Retirement adopted two Resolutions regarding the Alameda Decision, each affecting different groups of VCERA members.
Some members are not affected at all. For example, those who retired from VCERA prior to January 1, 2013, will not see any change in their retirement benefits as a result of the Alameda Decision.
On April 10, 2023, VCERA mailed a letter to its entire membership regarding the Alameda Decision’s anticipated impact on different categories of members.
At the March 27, 2023, Board of Retirement meeting, the Board reviewed the pending proposed Resolution Regarding Correction of Pensionability of Benefits under County of Ventura’s Flexible Benefits Program (“Flex Credit Resolution”) in advance of its formal consideration on April 17, 2023. (Links to the materials reviewed by the Board are available below.) The Resolution is to bring VCERA into compliance with the Alameda Decision (“Alameda”), which was issued by the California Supreme Court on July 30, 2020, regarding the pensionability of in-kind benefits that cannot be received in cash.
At the upcoming March 27, 2023, VCERA Board of Retirement meeting, at 10:00 a.m. Time Certain, the Board will be reviewing a proposed Resolution to implement the exclusion of in-kind benefits per the California Supreme Court’s July 30, 2020, ruling in ALAMEDA COUNTY DEPUTY SHERIFF’S ASSN.
It has come to VCERA’s attention that the Ventura County Deputy Sheriffs’ Association (VCDSA) recently released a pension calculator application to its members. VCERA disclaims the accuracy of this pension calculator, as none of the calculations generated by this pension calculator have been tested, reviewed or verified by VCERA. An estimate produced by the VCDSA or any other pension calculator does not create any right to receive benefits under VCERA.
Form 1099-Rs reporting the 2022 retirement earnings of retirees and other VCERA payees will be mailed by January 31, 2022. The 1099-Rs are available in Member Portal accounts. Members are encouraged to consult a qualified tax preparer with questions about their 2022 taxable income.
For information regarding income tax, please click here.
The 2023 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for eligible retirees, beneficiaries and other payees with a retirement date of April 1, 2023 or earlier will be reflected in retirement benefit payments on April 28, 2023:
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) revised the federal tax withholding form W-4P in 2022. VCERA had a temporary grace period but will begin using the revised 2023 version of Form W-4P on January 1, 2023.
If you plan to change your tax withholding at the end of 2022 or beginning of 2023, you will need to use the right form as described below:
This meeting will be conducted by the Board of Retirement both in
person and by teleconference under California Government Code
Section 54953(b). Any person may view the meeting in person
at,
Ventura Beach Marriott
2055 E Harbor Blvd.
Ventura, CA 93001
Instructions on how the public can attend the Board meetings, is
posted on VCERA’s website in the Meeting Agendas & Minutes
section.
Upon the death of a VCERA member, certain benefits may be payable to a surviving spouse, registered domestic partner or a designated beneficiary(ies).
