City Publishes Employee Salary Information

The city of Beverly Hills has published a comprehensive list of city employee salaries and benefits.

The public can access spreadsheets with 2011 and 2012 salary information by clicking here or viewing the files posted to the right.

Below are details posted on the city's website about Beverly Hills' attempts to reduce long-term employee costs:

• The city cut employee health benefits for all employees by introducing a "cafeteria plan." This plan provides the employee a fixed amount that can be used to purchase health, dental and vision care from a fixed group of providers. If an employee wishes additional coverage he or she must cover the cost. This program is estimated to save the city $2.1 to $4.8 million over the next five years.
• The city reduced retiree medical costs through Alternative Retiree Medical Plan (ARMP), which buys out employees from the existing defined benefit program. Non-sworn employees (the program has not yet been offered to Police and Fire sworn personnel) hired before Jan. 1, 2010 were offered the value of their current retiree benefit in exchange for giving up their defined benefits when they retired. Fifty eight percent of the eligible participants (178 employees) took advantage of this program. In 2011, the one-time cost to the city was $5.6 million, but the reduction in unfunded liabilities over a 40-year period is $27 million.
• The city capped costs for retiree medical coverage for employees hired after Jan. 1, 2010 by offering defined contributions to a retirement health plan, rather than defined benefits. A defined contribution deposits a set amount of money into a Retiree Health Plan (RHP) for the employee.  When the employee leaves the city, they take whatever has been contributed with them. It is estimated that this program will reduce the city’s long-term liabilities by $66.2 million over the next 40 years.
• The city has negotiated a two-tiered benefit system for Police, Police Management and Fire bargaining units by increasing retirement age from 50 to 55. The two-tier PERS will save the city an estimated $790,000 a year, gradually increasing over time as new employees replace existing employees. 
• Beginning July 1, 2013 (Fire) and Jan. 1, 2014 (Police and Police Management) these bargaining units will begin paying a percentage of their PERS costs, saving the city with an estimated $3.5 million over the next five years.

The salary and benefit information is organized according to the bargaining unit of the city's various employee groups.

"Higher 2011 compensation for some employees compared with 2012 is due, for the most part, to one-time payments to retiring employees and to one-time payouts for reducing the city’s long-term costs for retiree medical benefits," according to the city's website.

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