Author: Andie Jokerst

On August 29, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors appointed a new trustee to serve on the SDCERA Board of Retirement. Cheryl Coney will serve in the ninth seat for a three-year term, which expires on June 30, 2026. 

Ms. Coney is a San Diego native and works for the California Teachers Association (CTA). Ms. Coney has experience in community and worker organizing and has worked in the labor movement for over a decade. Before joining CTA, Ms. Coney worked for the National Education Association. She also served as the project director for the Union Women’s Leadership Educational Project and as a labor educator at the Washington State Labor Education and Research Center. 

Ms. Coney holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and History from Rutgers University and a Master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Washington.

The annual changes to SDCERA active member contribution rates will go into effect on June 30, 2023. The rate changes will appear in the July 21 paycheck. The average member contribution rate increased by less than 1% from 11.58% to 12.44%.

Click your SDCERA classification and tier below to see how your contribution rate will change on June 30. If you aren’t sure which tier you’re in, visit our Find Your Tier page.

To see your current contribution rate and your total contributions, log into the SDCERA Member Portal.

The County of San Diego Registrar of Voters has certified the election results for the active general member seat on the SDCERA Board of Retirement. Matthew Dix was elected to the 2^nd active member seat. He will begin his three-year term on July 1, 2023.

The Board of Retirement is SDCERA’s governing body. SDCERA administers retirement and associated benefits for eligible employees of the County of San Diego and other participating employers. SDCERA collects contributions from active members and their employers, invests these funds and pays benefits to retired members and beneficiaries.

All SDCERA active general members should soon receive their ballots at their home addresses. Candidates are running for the 2^nd seat on the Board of Retirement.

Ballots must be returned to the Registrar of Voters (ROV) by 5 p.m. on Election Day, May 2. You can return your ballot using the included return envelope, postage prepaid. You can also drop it off at the ROV office. If you return your ballot via U.S. mail, return it early to ensure it’s received by the ROV.

If you did not receive a ballot and believed you should have, or if you are concerned that your ballot will not arrive in time, contact the ROV directly at 858-505-7319. The ROV will schedule a time for you to come in and get a new ballot or for you to drop off your ballot.

This election is for active general members only. If you are a safety SDCERA member, please disregard this email.

Election Schedule

April 18	ROV mails ballots to active general members
May 2	Election Day: Ballots must be returned to the ROV by 5 p.m.
May 5	ROV certifies election winner
July 1	Winner’s term begins

The SDCERA office will be closed on March 31 in observance of César Chávez Day. We will reopen on April 3 at 8 a.m.

See a full list of SDCERA holidays here.

SDCERA is working now to process all March retirements. If you turned in your retirement application before April 1, you will see your first pension payment on April 28, and it will include the 2023 cost of living adjustment. At that point, you’ll also receive a final letter from SDCERA confirming your final benefit calculation. Here’s a link to the payment calendar to see all 2023 payment dates.

Make sure you have an SDCERA Member Portal account to see all pension payment information.

On Friday, March 10, 2023, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) took over Silicon Valley Bank. This was the largest U.S. bank failure since 2008 and has led to an episode of financial market volatility. The Federal Reserve System and the FDIC took steps to ensure banking payment systems, including SVB bank, remained operational when markets opened on Monday, March 13.

SDCERA’s Trust Fund has no banking exposure to Silicon Valley Bank. SDCERA’s bank for paying retiree payroll is Union Bank N.A. SDCERA deposits in Union Bank to make payments are overcollateralized as required by California Government Code (53630 et. seq.) so that there is no risk of loss to SDCERA should there be an issue at Union Bank.

Overall, in accordance with California Employees Retirement Law (CERL), the SDCERA Trust Fund maintains ample liquidity to reliably pay retiree benefits, and the assets are diversified to maximize return and minimize risk. A monthly update on markets and SDCERA’s Trust Fund can be found on SDCERA’s website.