NORTH COAST, Calif. – The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office's helicopter is back in the air.
Award-winning pilot Paul Bradley is back and taking to the skies above Sonoma County again in the agency's copter, known as Henry-1.
Bradley had left last year to take a job in Redding but decided to return to Sonoma County. Wednesday was his first day back and he was ready to go, the sheriff's office reported.
And he was back on the job just in time. At about 5:15 p.m. that day, Sonoma County Sheriff’s dispatchers received a request from Santa Rosa Fire Department to assist them with a rescue in Taylor Mountain Regional Park.
A 46-year-old hiker had slipped and fallen down a steep, rocky trail, officials reported. The only way to get her out to treat her injuries would be by carrying her or ATV. These methods weren’t reasonable as her injuries were such that it risked her suffering tremendous pain. So, they called for Henry-1.
The crew quickly assembled at flew to the scene. The sheriff's office said Bradley was able to land within about 30 yards of the patient. The paramedic assessed her and the team carried her to the helicopter.
She was loaded aboard and, since they were so close, she was flown directly to the hospital. Everyone involved was grateful to have Henry-1 as a resource again, the sheriff's office said.
Henry-1, a Bell 407, was grounded without a pilot, but over the past few months some residents may have seen it in the air, as Bradley worked a few shifts over the weekends, providing the citizens of the county service from above.
“His commitment to the sheriff’s office drew him back home and we are very pleased to be back in full operation,” the agency said.
The sheriff's office said Bradley is an extremely talented pilot and enjoys the multi-faceted versatility that he is afforded by working with the Henry-1 crew.
Henry-1 provides law enforcement functions, fire support and long line rescues for people here in Sonoma County but also agencies in other counties, including Lake.
The Henry-1 crew consists of a pilot, deputy sheriff/EMT and a paramedic, all highly trained in these very technical skillsets.
“On behalf of the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office and the people of Sonoma County, welcome back Paul and Henry-1,” the sheriff's office said.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – For those who continue to need assistance in recovering from last year's devastating wildland fires, teams from World Renew are now working in Lake County and available to offer help.
If you – or a friend or neighbor – have suffered losses in the Valley, Rocky or Jerusalem fires, and were uninsured, underinsured or are financially disadvantaged, then Harry and Phyllis Kuipers of World Renew, a faith-based disaster response service from Grand Rapids, Mich., would like to meet you and learn about your as-of-yet unmet needs.
The Kuiperses, along with five more teams, have come to Lake County at the request of the community-based long-term recovery group called Team Lake County, or TLC, to assess the unmet needs of the fire victims – whether they are construction, household, emotional or financial needs.
The Kuipers and the other team members of World Renew will be here until Feb. 5 to take your application, which will be placed in a priority list for TLC's case managers to review.
TLC coordinates the collaboration of all the faith-based and nonprofit agencies dedicated to providing relief for the fire victims.
“It's important for people to get into the system,” Harry Kuipers pointed out. “We try to give these people a little ray of hope, and let people know there are people who care about what they've been going through. Sometimes people going through this feel depressed, lonely and rejected. How do you know how they feel unless you've 'put their shoes on' for awhile."
His wife, Phyllis, said, “The more people come in for applications and interviews, the more they'll tell others. That's how it works – by word of mouth.”
The Kuiperses, who are retirees – as are many World Renew volunteers – aren't restricted in their missionary work as they would be if they had full-time jobs.
Like a lot of retirees, they enjoy traveling to various parts of the United States to learn more about their country and its people. By doing humanitarian work, they have a much better chance to meet people.
“Wow, there are really good people that we have the opportunity to meet,” Harry Kuipers said. “We go to different parts of the country and talk with the people and get a feel for the places in which they live.”
After completing outreach work earlier this week at several sites around the lake where displaced fire victims are presently residing, World Renew will return on Friday, Jan. 29, to their office space in the activity room next to the Middletown Library at 21256 Washington St.
They will remain there to finish their work until the following Friday, Feb. 5.
From Monday through Fridays they'll work from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. On Saturdays they'll only work from 9 a.m. until noon. Sundays are their day of rest.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Two of California's biggest and most damaging wildland fires in 2015 have resulted in insurance losses estimated at more than $1 billion, officials reported this week.
Two of the most destructive fires in California's history, the Valley and Butte fires, ravaged nearly 150,000 acres in Northern California last fall and caused an estimated $1 billion in insurance losses.
The Valley fire pillaged 1,958 structures in Lake, Napa and Sonoma counties, resulting in approximately $700 million in insured losses and making it the third most damaging wildfire in state history based on total structures burned.
In terms of structures lost, the Butte fire is the seventh-most destructive fire to hit California, damaging 818 structures in Amador and Calaveras counties and causing an estimated $300 million in insured losses.
“The Valley and Butte fires were sober reminders of the dangers residents can face in rural areas of the state,” said Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones. “A year-round fire season is California's new reality. Residents and communities, especially those in high-risk fire areas, must take precautions now before the next devastating wildfire strikes.”
Insurers impacted by the Butte and Valley fires are processing claims for residential and commercial structures, cars, personal property, farms and other items. However, the $1 billion claim total does not include all surplus insurance line claims or damages to public infrastructure such as roads and utilities.
To date, insurers report they have received 5,600 claims, have paid out more than $500 million overall, and expect to pay an additional $500 million in anticipated future losses after all claims are received, processed and paid.
Insurers are confident that all or most claims resulting from these fires have been reported, but should new claims be filed, these loss estimates may also increase.
Losses from these fires are not expected to impact insurance industry solvency in California. The department continues to monitor wildfire claims handling to ensure the claims are paid in a timely manner so homeowners, businesses and communities can rebuild and recover as quickly as possible.
Separately, the Federal Emergency Management Agency reported last week that federal and state agencies have provided nearly $128 million in disaster assistance and grants to aid survivors of the two fires.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. –The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, or CalRecycle, reported that it has completed the first phase of Valley fire debris removal operations in Lake County.
The Debris Removal Operations Center at 21297 Calistoga Road in Middletown will close to the public at 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 30, CalRecycle Reported.
At that time, Lake County’s Department of Environmental Health will become the main point of contact for the Valley fire debris removal operations.
Lake County Environmental Health is located at 922 Bevins Court in Lakeport, telephone 707-263-1164.
Phase two of the Valley fire debris removal operation is expected to begin in late March or early April, depending on the weather, officials said.
At that time, CalRecycle crews will complete debris removal at approximately 30 sites that are currently not accessible due to weather-related issues.
Also at that time, CalRecycle will look to address debris removal for additional sites identified by Lake County where owners have not signed up for debris removal and have not begun the cleanup process.
Since CalRecycle started cleanup operations on Oct. 3, 2015, teams have completed debris removal at 1,130 sites.
CalRecycle spokesman Lance Klug told Lake County News that the cleanup has included some commercial sites.
“We have cleaned commercial sites where there was a danger to the public,” such as those close to schools, he said.
In the coming days and weeks, CalRecycle contractors will continue to install erosion control measures and hydro-seeding on cleared sites.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) will receive the federal share of nearly $143 million in two grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for reimbursement of costs for the Butte and Valley wildfires that occurred between Sept. 9 and Oct. 30, 2015, in California.
These awards provide federal funding for CalRecycle for the Public Assistance (PA) program for FEMA-DR-4240-CA, the Butte and Valley fires disaster.
This funding is being provided under authority of Section 407 of the Robert T. Stafford Act. The two grants include:
• $84,899,091 in private property debris removal for the Butte Fire in Calaveras County. The Federal share is $63,674,318.25.
• $57,770,898 in private property debris removal for the Valley Fire in Lake County. The Federal share is $43,328,173.50.
FEMA reimburses 75 percent of the total costs through its PA program. The state of California will cover the remaining 25 percent of the nearly $143 million total cost.
FEMA’s PA program includes grants for the repair and rebuilding of public infrastructure, such as bridges, roads, schools, hospitals and sewer treatment facilities.
The program also provides reimbursement for eligible debris removal and emergency protective measures, such as search and rescue operations, temporary roads and overtime for emergency workers, police and firefighters.
Eligible applicants include state and local governments, tribal governments and certain private nonprofits. FEMA obligates funding for these projects directly to the state.
It is the state's responsibility to ensure that the eligible sub-recipients receive these awards. Following the state's review process and upon receipt of appropriate documentation, they will provide funds to the sub-recipients on a reimbursable basis.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Two Clearlake residents have been placed on probation, ordered to pay fines and stop fishing for three years for an April 2015 poaching case in which they were found by wardens with nearly 450 fish over the legal limit.
On Jan. 12 Thuan Van Ngo and Beem Thi Tran were convicted and sentenced for illegally catching and possessing too many crappie on Clear Lake, according to Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff.
On April 24, 2015, Fish and Wildlife wardens Doug Willson and Tim Little were observing fishing activity at the Holiday Harbor Marina in Nice when they saw Ngo and Tran catching crappie, placing them in buckets and then placing the buckets next to a car, Hinchcliff said.
Hinchcliff said the wardens then observed a van pull up next to the buckets. The fish were placed in the van and both individuals left the area in the van with the fish. Approximately 15 minutes later the two returned and began fishing again.
The wardens observed Tran catch and keep 54 crappie; in addition to what she had, Ngo had 40 crappie, Hinchcliff said, explaining that the daily catch and possession limit is 25 crappie per person.
Willson and Little contacted the, and Ngo denied having placed fish in the van before it left the area. Hinchcliff said the wardens searched the van and found 110 crappie hidden inside the vehicle.
After further discussions with Tran and Ngo, Hinchcliff said the wardens obtained permission to search a business and residence belonging to the subjects in Clearlake.
At those Clearlake locations the wardens discovered and seized a total of 488 fish, according to Hinchcliff.
In total Tran and Ngo were in possession of 598 fish, 448 fish in excess of the amount they could legally possess, Hinchcliff said.
Hinchcliff, who handles poaching cases in the local courts, said he charged Ngo and Tran with conspiracy, and with taking and possessing fish exceeding the daily catch and possession limit.
They also were charged with possessing more than three times the legal possession limit pursuant to Fish and Game Code section 12013, which Hinchcliff said increases the penalties that can be imposed.
At their Jan. 12 court appearance, Hinchcliff said Ngo and Tran pleaded no contest to illegally catching crappie in excess of the daily bag limit.
Judge Stephen Hedstrom sentenced both to three years' probation and prohibited each from fishing for three years, Hinchcliff said.
In addition, Hinchcliff said Hedstrom ordered Ngo to pay a fine of $4,100 and Tran was ordered to pay a fine and restitution of $965.
Editor's note: The article originally incorrectly reported that both subjects were men.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Police have arrested a Clearlake man who they say is responsible for having shot another city resident on Wednesday night.
William Mitchell, 57, was arrested at his home on Thursday morning, according to Sgt. Martin Snyder of the Clearlake Police Department.
Just before 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, Clearlake Police officers were dispatched to the area of 15th Street and Country Club Drive for a report of three gunshots heard in the area with unknown subjects yelling for medical assistance, Snyder said.
Snyder said the officers arrived on scene and located a residence in the 3200 block of 15th Street where the shooting was reported to have occurred. However, they were unable to locate a victim at that time.
While the officers were on scene it was reported to them that a victim of an apparent gunshot wound had been dropped off at St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake, Snyder said.
The victim, who later was identified as 24-year-old Anthony Monize of Clearlake, had an apparent gunshot wound to his torso. Snyder said Monize was transported out-of-county via an air ambulance for medical treatment.
Based upon witnesses statements, Mitchell was identified as the suspect in the case, Snyder said.
An argument took place between Monize and Mitchell at the 15th Street residence, according to Snyder.
After the altercation, Mitchell went to his residence on Ninth Street in Clearlake and retrieved a firearm. Snyder said Mitchell returned several minutes later and shot numerous rounds, striking Monize.
Mitchell fled the scene prior to the arrival of police on scene. However, Snyder said officers took Mitchell into custody without incident at his home on Thursday morning.
Snyder said Mitchell later was transported and booked into the Lake County Jail on charges of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon.
His booking sheet had not yet been posted on the sheriff's Web site early Thursday night.
As of Thursday evening, Monize was in stable condition and expected to recover from his injuries, Snyder said.
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – An event next month will offer information for south county community members planning to rebuild or make repairs in the wake of the Valley fire.
The After the Fire Rebuilding Summit and Open House is a first stop for home and business owners as well as farmers and ranchers.
The open house will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 2, from 3 to 7 p.m. at the Twin Pine Casino Event Center, 22223 Highway 29, Middletown.
Valley Fire Long-Term Recovery Coordinator Carol Huchingson said she is excited to be part of the rebuilding efforts.
“Now that the debris cleanup is almost completed, Valley fire survivors can concentrate their efforts on rebuilding,” Huchingson said. “The task force and the county are working hard to do all we can to help make the process as smooth as possible and get people thinking about the next steps in recovery here in Lake County.”
Residents of nearby communities not damaged by the Valley fire, but vulnerable to wildfires and flooding, also are encouraged to attend.
A team of experts in fire- and flood-resistant techniques will be available for one-on-one question-and-answer sessions.
Topics will include:
· State and local codes and standards. · Building materials and construction techniques related to fire and flood prevention. · Representatives from local businesses will have samples of fire- and flood-resistant building products. · Landscape and forestry experts discussing the proper landscape development and forest maintenance to reduce fire and flood risk. · Insurance representatives from flood, homeowners and business insurance agencies. · Preserving treasures and restoring photos affected by the fire.
The Lake County Chamber of Commerce will also be present, and has invited local design professionals to be on hand to answer any questions about reconstruction.
Participants will include Cal Fire, California Fire Safety Council, California Contractors Licensing Board, California Insurance Commission, Lake County Historical Society, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, California Office of Emergency Services, National Flood Insurance Program and the Lake County Chamber of Commerce.
The Valley Fire Long-Term Recovery Task Force meeting will immediately follow the event, beginning at 7 p.m. in the Event Center, at Twin Pine Casino. This meeting is open to the public.
Recovery information can be found online at www.LakeCountyRecovers.com or at county of Lake, California Facebook page.
To learn how one savvy survivor saved his home and property from the Valley Fire by using fire-resistant techniques, click on www.fema.gov/disaster/4240 .
UPPER LAKE, Calif. – At its Tuesday evening meeting, the new Upper Lake Unified School District Board took action to officially hire its first employee and met in closed session to discuss hiring two others.
The board unanimously approved a memorandum of understanding with the Upper Lake Union High School District that will allow the high school's Principal/Superintendent Patrick Iaccino to also act as interim superintendent of the district.
He has agreed to fill the interim position for six months, with no additional pay.
Iaccino is one of the architects of the effort to successfully unify the high school district with the Upper Lake Union Elementary School District.
The two existing districts will officially cease to exist on June 30, at which point they will be fully unified under the new Upper Lake Unified School District.
The meeting of the new district board at the Upper Lake High School library followed by an hour a special meeting in the same room of the Upper Lake Union High School District Board – whose members include Keith Austin and Claudine Pedroncelli, who serve jointly on the new board – to approve the same agreement.
Board member Diane Plante questioned the briefness of the memorandum of understanding, saying she was expecting it to be more specific in outlining the tasks expected of the interim superintendent.
Iaccino noted that it was intentionally left broad, explaining there are many tasks and he understands what's ahead.
Plante referred to the language that said there will be some time and some services provided. Iaccino replied that, in truth, there will be a lot of time and a lot of services necessary.
Upper Lake Union Elementary School District Superintendent Valerie Gardner said she had worked with Iaccino on the tasks that need to be done. “We thought what we would be doing is bringing to you our suggestion,” she said, noting that the board also has a consultant hired to help give them the bigger picture.
“It's so detailed what we've already done, I don't know how you could put that in a document,” she said, adding that it would be good to offer an update on the subject during a board workshop planned for this Saturday at the high school.
Iaccino confirmed that the board will be updated on the work being done to finalize the unification process at that workshop.
“A lot of this is new,” he said, and not just to the new district but to state officials due to some changes in educational rules.
“It's a work in progress. It's things that are going to change over time,” he said, adding all of that is difficult to include in a document.
Additionally, he said the legal services firm serving the new district drafted the document and it was purposefully left ambiguous and broad.
Gardner said it also was difficult to say who would do what tasks, and ultimately the board would have the final say.
Claudine Pedroncelli asked what Iaccino's hiring as interim would mean for the high school district.
“I don't leave them high and dry,” he said, explaining he has met with his management team, the members of which may need to take on some additional tasks as they work to dissolve the current district over the next five months.
Austin said that the agreement ultimately has nothing to do with Iaccino but is between the two districts, explaining that the high school is choosing to allow Iaccino serve in the interim superintendent role.
Wally Holbrook, the former Lake County superintendent of schools whose firm Education Leadership Solutions was hired to consult with the district on board training, establishing procedures and other matters, told the board that, as written, the memorandum of understanding also gives them a lot of flexibility, and it can be amended.
After the Saturday workshop the situation will become clearer and the board and Iaccino may want to make updates to the document, Holbrook said.
The board voted to accept the agreement 5-0, then Board President Mel O'Meara invited Iaccino up to take his place at the table along with the board members, getting applause from the small audience of teachers and staff as he took his seat.
The board also approved a resolution authorizing Iaccino to sign orders and other documents on behalf of the governing board for the time period of Jan. 1 to June 30.
Iaccino said there will be times when they will need more than one signature on certain documents, and he wanted to add one or two more people to the list of approved signatories.
Gardner said that it would be appropriate to have representatives of both districts on the list of approved signatories. Iaccino agreed, and suggested Gardner and her chief business officer, Becky Jeffries, should be added, along with his chief business officer, Sue Milhaupt.
“There's no way all four of us are not going to be here,” Iaccino said.
Milhaupt cautioned that there will be certain documents she and Jeffries cannot sign due to a conflict of interest, with Gardner noting that between the four of them they could cover what needed to be signed.
Austin pointed out that Iaccino is a district employee and asked if Gardner was, too. Gardner said she wasn't. “So that's an interesting point,” she said.
Austin said the Lake County Office of Education has said that Jeffries and Milhaupt can both be signatories for the new district.
It was decided that the board would go ahead and accept the signing authorization document with only Iaccino's name on it and bring back an updated list of signatories at its next meeting.
Board members didn't believe there would be a need for more signers in the interim, with both Jeffries and Milhaupt noting that the new district didn't yet have a bank account.
Holbrook and his partner in the consulting firm, Richard Smith, then briefly went over the agenda for the Saturday board training workshop, which along with the board will include Iaccino and Gardner, and Jeffries and Milhaupt.
The workshop begins at 10 a.m. in the library at the high school, 675 Clover Valley Road.
Holbrook said the public is welcome to attend but the primary participation will come from the board and the district officials.
During his first report as interim superintendent, Iaccino said he visited the elementary school, noting that every high school teacher should regularly spend time with the little children in the grade school.
“That's a whole other ballgame,” he said, adding it was a lot of fun. Next up, he plans to visit the middle school. The open session of the meeting lasted just over half an hour before the board went into a closed session to discuss the district's administrative configuration and the hiring of a new chief business official.
The board returned nearly two hours later and reconvened briefly to announce that it had taken three actions.
The actions taken, O'Meara said, included wanting to pursue a memorandum of understanding with Dina McCrea, Iaccino's administrative assistant at the high school, to serve as support staff for the new unified district.
Second, the board wants to enter into discussions and meet to put together a proposed contract with Iaccino to serve as superintendent of the new district from July 1 of this year through June 30, 2017.
Third, the board wants to enter into discussions with Jeffries to possibly become the new district's chief business officer.
The board's next regular meeting will be at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 9, in the high school library.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – In 1994, Navy veteran James Evans retired to Clearlake Oaks to enjoy the outdoor opportunities Lake County has to offer.
Evans enlisted in the Navy at age 17 and served three years as an aircraft mechanic before entering the private sector as a high precision camera mechanic.
When he and his wife moved to Lake County, it was with the intention of remaining here indefinitely.
However, without the means to keep up with the maintenance of his home, there was concern as to what the future would hold.
That was when Evans reached out to Habitat for Humanity Lake County.
Last summer, Habitat for Humanity Lake County received its third grant – totaling about $200,000 – from the Home Depot Foundation Veterans Home Repair Initiative, as Lake County News has reported.
Thanks to that Home Depot grant program aimed at helping veterans, Habitat for Humanity Lake County was able to provide much-needed repairs that have improved the livability of Evans' home.
“It’s nice to be able to sit on the porch without getting wet or worrying about getting hurt, and the new floors in my bathrooms and washroom are a blessing,” Evans said. “Getting the door fixed makes us feel safer.”
He added, “The Habitat crew did good work; we appreciate everything they did for us.”
If you are a low-income homeowner who has owned and lived in your home for at least five years and are in need of repair services, Habitat for Humanity Lake County may be able to help.
For more information about available services, call the Habitat for Humanity office at 707-994-1100, stop by the office at 16285 A Main St. in Lower Lake or visit www.lakehabitat.org .
The state’s cost for retiree health and dental benefits has grown to $74.10 billion, according to a report published Tuesday by State Controller Betty T. Yee.
The so-called “unfunded liability” is a closely watched figure that represents the present-day cost to provide retiree health and dental benefits earned as of June 30, 2015 – one of the state’s largest long-term debts.
The state traditionally paid these costs as they came due rather than setting aside and investing money beforehand.
However, Gov. Jerry Brown, in contract negotiations with public employee unions, is moving towards an approach more like that used for public employee pensions, in which the costs are paid upfront using employee and state contributions and investment earnings.
The total liability grew $2.38 billion compared to the prior fiscal year, but the size of the increase was $1.50 billion less than estimated in last year’s report.
Health care claims did not grow as rapidly as expected, and changes in health care delivery and assumptions about long-term trends helped to lower costs by $1.76 billion.
Conversely, demographic shifts added more than a quarter billion dollars to the liability.
These costs have increased dramatically over the past 15 years.
In 2001, retiree health care costs accounted for 0.6 percent of the state General Fund budget. This year, they will total $1.90 billion, or about 1.6 percent of the budget.
If no changes are made to the state’s method of funding retiree health care costs, the current $74.10 billion unfunded liability will grow to more than $100 billion by the 2020-21 fiscal year, and $300 billion by 2047-48.
“California has a duty to ensure it can meet obligations to workers who earned these retirement benefits,” said Controller Yee, the state’s chief fiscal officer and a board member of CalPERS and CalSTRS, the nation’s two largest public pension systems. “We need to assure through collective bargaining that we set aside money to meet this obligation and keep the state on sound fiscal footing.”
Under standards created by the federal Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB), state and local governments have been reporting the costs of retiree health care and Other Postemployment Benefits (OPEB) in notes to their financial statements.
Starting in the 2017-18 fiscal year, a new GASB standard calls on state and local governments to incorporate OPEB costs in their financial statements. Many, like California, are expected to report substantial unfunded liabilities for retiree health care.
State pensions are prefunded with contributions from employees and the state, allowing investment returns to significantly reduce liabilities. By contrast, California pays for retiree health benefits on a pay-as-you-go basis, covering costs as they come due. Today’s OPEB report provides estimates of California’s obligation for retiree health and dental benefits based on two different funding scenarios:
· The current pay-as-you-go policy results in an unfunded liability of $74.10 billion. The shortcomings of this method are apparent in the numbers. While the current fiscal year’s budget sets aside $1.9 billion to cover just actual costs, a true accounting of existing and future costs would have required more than $5 billion.
· If the state shifted to fully prefunding future benefits, the unfunded liability for the current fiscal year would have been cut by 35 percent to $48.41 billion. To take advantage of the hefty reduction in liability from full prefunding, the state would have needed to contribute $3.99 billion in 2015-16, or $2.09 billion more than it budgeted.
Recognizing that a move to prefunding likely will need to be gradual, Controller Yee noted that even incremental steps would meaningfully reduce the state’s liability.
For example, prefunding just 10 percent of the annual service cost, in excess of pay-as-you-go expenses, would increase current annual costs by $250 million but reduce the total unfunded liability over time by $3.29 billion.
Prefunding 50 percent would cost $970 million more each year but ultimately result in savings of $13.17 billion in the unfunded liability.
Gov. Brown has proposed prefunding the entire liability by the 2044-45 fiscal year, saving the state more than $240 billion in unfunded liability.
In his contract negotiations with the state’s bargaining units, the governor is asking unions to agree to make contributions to retiree health costs.
To aid in that effort, Controller Yee’s team and the actuaries who prepared the report provided a briefing last week to the Department of Human Resources and the Department of Finance on the updated figures and the advantages of prefunding.
Controller Yee noted that CalPERS, the nation’s largest public pension fund and second largest purchaser of health care benefits, already offers an optional California Employers’ Retiree Benefit Trust Fund to help employers assure long-term sustainability and security of retiree health benefits.
More than 450 California public employers currently participate in the fund, including the state through three of its bargaining units (California Highway Patrol, Craft and Maintenance, and Physicians, Dentists and Podiatrists). The fund is valued at more than $4 billion.
The actuarial report can be found on the Controller’s Web site at www.sco.ca.gov .
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The California Highway Patrol's Clear Lake Area office has a new officer who is heading out onto the road.
Officer Kyle Zerbel is the newest addition to the local CHP office.
The Clear Lake Area office, based in Kelseyville, has more than 20 officers plus sergeant positions.
Zerbel reported to Lake County after completing the 27-week CHP Academy in West Sacramento, according to Officer Kory Reynolds, the Clear Lake Area office spokesman.
Reynolds said Zerbel was part of the CHP Academy class that graduated 67 newly sworn officers on Oct. 2, 2015.
Zerbel originally is from the Grass Valley area in Nevada County, Reynolds said.
Reynolds said Zerbel has just completed the field portion of his training and will now be patrolling the roads of Lake County.
“We are glad to have Officer Zerbel, he is a welcomed addition to the Clear Lake Area,” said Reynolds, who also oversaw Zerbel's field training.
The Clear Lake Area, which is in the Northern Division section of the CHP, is one of the busiest offices within the division, second only to the Redding Area CHP office, Reynolds said.
Since August, the CHP has been accepting applications on a continuous basis for those interested in becoming officers. For more information visit https://www.chp.ca.gov/CHP-Careers/Officer .
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The California Highway Patrol's Clear Lake Area office has a new officer who is heading out onto the road.
