BACKGROUND
The City of Roseville (City) offers retiree medical insurance to former City employees through its contract with the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS). Retiree medical insurance benefits are governed by the Public Employees' Medical and Hospital Care Act (PEMHCA) (California Government Code Section 22750 et seq.). Under the PEMHCA, the City contributes a set amount towards retiree medical insurance premiums on a monthly basis. The amount of the City’s contribution is the statutory minimum as prescribed by PEMHCA (PEMHCA minimum). Pursuant to Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with various bargaining units, and the Management and Confidential Terms, Conditions and Understandings, the City makes additional contributions to some retirees.
On June 3, 2015, the City Council adopted Ordinance 5496, codified at Chapter 3.09 of the Roseville Municipal Code (RMC), which enacted a new option for retirees concerning the City’s retiree medical benefit. Current and former City employees eligible for Tier 1 or Tier 2 retiree medical contributions (as defined in the applicable MOU under which they retired) are permitted to waive participation in the retiree medical benefit described in their applicable MOU and opt in to the benefit described in Section 3.09.030. Current and former City employees who do not exercise this option remain eligible for and/or continue to receive their Tier 1 or Tier 2 City contribution, as defined by their applicable MOU. Since January 1, 2017, current or former employees described in Section 3.09.020, who sign an Irrevocable Election Agreement, receive benefits under the optional benefit ordinance. An election under Chapter 3.09 is time sensitive and must occur, if desired by a retiree, prior to the City's first retiree medical payment.
In response to requests from the Retired City of Roseville Employees (RCORE) Association, the City intends to make minor clean-up edits to its Retiree Medical Insurance Optional Benefit Ordinance and make one additional code change to specify that notices of future amendments to the ordinance shall be sent by U.S. mail to affected retirees. These recommended amendments do not and are not intended to change, modify or otherwise impact the benefit described in Chapter 3.09. As required by current Section 3.09.040, the City provided notice of the proposed amendments to Chapter 3.09 to retirees; and amendment of Chapter 3.09 requires an affirmative vote of at least four-fifths of the membership of the City Council. The City collaborated with RCORE on the proposed edits and RCORE has assisted with communication to its members regarding the proposed clean-up amendments.