City, schools untouched by PERS decision

Last updated 7/2/1996 at Noon

Sisters city employees and employees of the school district won't see any changes in the way they are paid in the wake of the Oregon Supreme Court decision striking down Measure 8.

The measure, which required public employees to pay 6 percent of their salaries into their retirement pension funds, was overturned in 4-3 decision June 21 on the contention that it constituted an impairment of contract. Before the measure passed, employees contributed 6 percent of their salary to the Public Employees Retirement Service and their employer "picked up" another six percent. Measure 8 forbade the pick up.

The City of Sisters has long since taken action to counteract the effects of the measure and school district employees are still under a contract that left them protected from its impact.

Sisters city employees received a 6 percent pay raise in December, 1994 shortly after the passage of Measure 8.

The raise meant that employees had to pay the additional 6 percent into PERS, but they would not have to take an effective pay cut.

The 6 percent pay raise must be taken as a pre-tax contribution to the Public Employees Retirement System. Employees do not have the option of taking the increase in cash.

Sisters School District will continue to pick up the PERS payment for its employees. The district's employment contract, initiated before the November, 1994, passage of Measure 8, remains in force through 1998. Contract negotiations can be opened on salary, as they were earlier this year, but the PERS issue was not on the table.

According to district Business Manager Earl Armbruster, "there are three people in the district that pay their own PERS." Armbruster, elementary school principal Tim Comfort and new superintendent Steve Swisher all signed contracts after Measure 8 passed. Armbruster said that the PERS contribution could now probably be renegotiated after the contracts expire, but until then they must pay.

"That will probably not change," Armbruster said.

The court unanimously struck down a provision of Measure 8 that disallowed applying sick leave toward retirement.

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Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.