PREFACE
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Preace
Caliornia’s public employee pension problems are welldocumented. Even under the most optimistic assumptions,the unded ratios or statewide systems such as the CaliorniaPublic Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and theCaliornia State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS)all well below accepted standards.Yet little research has been done on Caliornia’sindependent pension systems. These include systems in20 counties that operate systems permitted by the CountyEmployees Retirement Law o 1937 (CERL), as well as citiesand special districts that operate their own pension unds.This report examines the current state o Caliornia’sindependent public employee pension systems. It examinessystem assets and unded levels, membership, benet levels,employee and employer contribution rates, and overallpension costs. It compares the potential impacts o pensioncosts on non-pension expenditures and oers conclusionson the nancial condition o systems, benet levels, andindependent system reporting standards.This project was supported in part through undingrom The James Irvine Foundation and Caliornia Forward.The authors are wholly responsible or its content.
Comments may be directed to the authors:
Evan StormsCaliornia Common Sense/Stanord University
Joe Nation, PhDStanord Institute or Economic Policy Research (SIEPR)366 Galvez StreetRoom 109, Gunn BuildingStanord, CA 94305-6050