Over 500 County Retirees in $100K Club

Orange County workers are living large in their retirement

The Orange County Employees Retirement System (OCERS) has posted on its web site the payroll of its retiree members, showing the department or agency each retiree worked in and the annual retirement pay they receive. Names of each retiree are not provided.

OCERS serves not only county government under control of the elected Board of Supervisors, but other government entities that are not controlled by the Board of Supervisors, such as the Orange County Transportation Authority, the Orange County Fire Authority, the Orange County Sanitation District and the City of San Juan Capistrano.

The way I read the information posted, of the approximately 12,000 retired employees and survivors of deceased employees listed on the OCERS web site, about 500 are shown as receiving an annual retirement of $ 100,000 or more. That is roughly 4.2% of the retirees. Twelve in this group are above the $ 200,000 level.

It appears from this author’s scanning of the list that the majority of these 500 retirees are law enforcement folks. The Sheriff-Coroner Department seems to dominate the list of the top 500, with significant numbers also from the Fire Authority, District Attorney, the Courts and the Probation Department.

No matter what your perspective on public sector retirement programs, there is something in the information posted at the OCERS web site for you to love or to hate.

About Over But Not Out

A retired Orange County employee, and moderate Republican. The editor seriously does not know OBNO's identity as did not the former editor, but his point of view is obviously interesting and valued.