Orange County Municipal Code Art. III Voter Approval of Retirement System Benefit Increases

(a) The Board of Supervisors shall not take any action, by ordinance, resolution, or otherwise, which increases the retirement benefits of any employee, legislative officer or elected official of the County of Orange in the Orange County Employees Retirement System or any successor retirement system ("retirement system"), with the exception of statutorily-established cost of living adjustments, salary increases, and annual leave or compensatory time cash-outs, without first obtaining the approval of a majority of those qualified electors voting on the matter.

(b) Prior to placement of any proposed increased benefits on the ballot, the retirement system shall prepare, or have prepared on its behalf, an actuarial study of the cost and the funded and unfunded actuarial accrued liability attributable to the retirement benefit changes proposed by the amendment. Such actuarial study shall be available to the public and a summary of the actuarial study shall be published in the ballot pamphlet.

(c) Nothing in subsection (a) of this section shall prevent the County from negotiating tentative agreements with employee organizations for retirement benefit increases permitted by state law provided, however, that no tentative agreement for an increase in benefits, with the exception of statutorily-established cost of living adjustments, salary increases, and annual leave or compensatory time cash-outs, of any employee, legislative officer or elected official under such retirement system, shall become binding or effective until approved by a majority of those qualified electors voting on the matter. The Board of Supervisors shall have no authority to enter into final or binding agreements with any bargaining unit regarding retirement system benefit increases until and unless those increases to retirement system benefits are approved by a majority of those qualified electors voting on the matter.

(d) The provisions of this section shall become operative on January 1, 2009.

(Ord. No. 08-017, § 1, enacted 11-4-08)