The City of Santa Barbara allotted $20,636,405 — or 15.9 percent— of its total $129,561,865 in general funds to the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) for employee pensions in 2018, according to Finance Director Robert Samario. This was an increase from 14.3 percent in 2017, as part of the city’s ongoing 2016 effort to increase its contribution rates over a five-year period to reduce unfunded pension liabilities created by investment losses during the 2008 recession.
Of the $20.6 million allotted in 2018, $5,575,580 went to retired firefighters and $8,178,449 went to retired police officers. Together, employees from the two departments accrued more than half of the 2018 CalPERS funds.