SDCERS administers more than a dozen benefit tiers between its three participating plan sponsors – the City, Port and Airport. Within those tiers, members are eligible for different benefit options which affect member contribution rates, retirement eligibility and future retirement benefits.
With so many tiers, how do you know which tier you’re in? Generally speaking, your tier is determined by your hire date.
For City employees, your tier may be determined by your initial hire date with the City, even if you terminated City employment and were then rehired at a later date. As a City employee, if you left your contributions on deposit with SDCERS or redeposit them upon rehire, you may be eligible for the tier in existence at the time of your prior service. If you do not have contributions on deposit at the time of rehire and do not redeposit previously withdrawn contributions, you would be eligible for the tier in place at the time of rehire.
Beginning in January, new SDCERS members who have been hired by the Port or Airport and who have not performed work for a reciprocal agency within the past six months are enrolled into the System’s newest benefit tier, created by the California Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act. Find out more about PEPRA by reading the FAQ on the Latest News page here.
Learn more about SDCERS benefit tiers and the benefits you are eligible for by reading the Member Publications under the Forms and Publications page here. If you have questions, you can submit them through SDCERS' website here or call SDCERS’ Call Center at 619-525-3600.