The document provides data on salaries, pensions, and benefits for City of Claremont employees and the Claremont Police Department (CPD) in 2018. It summarizes that the average base pay for city employees was $52,946 compared to $88,856 for CPD. The total compensation for city employees was $13.1 million compared to $8 million for CPD. The top 33 pensioners received over $2 million in pensions, with individual pensions ranging from $66k to $179k. Benefits for CPD employees averaged 64% of base pay, higher than the 41% average for other city employees.

1. City of Claremont Salaries
and CalPERS Pensions: 2018
Date Prepared: October 2019

2. Disclaimers
 Data utilized provided by Transparent California, downloaded 10/9/2019.
 Employee data excludes non-benefited employees (stipends, part-time/limited
resources, new employees.
 Pension data excludes beneficiaries of deceased pension recipients (15 persons
total; annual pension amount < $350k)
 Pension data excludes benefits and disability stipends, a limitation of the CalPERS
data available from Transparent California. It is also not shown how much of each
pension is funded and how much requires contribution from the City of Claremont.
 This data is intended for public awareness and is not intended for any official use
or decision-making.
 Prepared by A.M. Russell, private citizen of Claremont and data nerd—not
affiliated with any public agencies or political nonprofits.

3. Key Definitions: Pension System
 CalPERS – Responsible for managing and paying out pensions for Claremont
employees.
 Unfunded pension obligations – a pensioner is entitled to their full pension
regardless if there are sufficient funds in CalPERS to pay for it. The City of
Claremont must pay CalPERS for unfunded pension obligations.
 California Rule – A set of court decisions going back to 1955 commonly interpreted
to mean the pension promised at hire becomes a “vested right,” protected by
contract law, that can't be cut unless offset by a comparable new benefit. Note:
more recent case law and cases in progress are evolving the limitations of the
California Rule, but as of October 2019 it is not yet known whether pension
benefits can be cut to a “reasonable and fair” pension.
 Public Employee Pension Reform Act of 2012 – Sweeping reforms that do the most
for employees hired after 2012 and do little to pension recipients hired prior to
2012 due to the California Rule.

4. Pension Summary
 2018 base pensions totaled $7 million dollars for 145 living pensioners. This is
excluding the cost of benefits and disability stipends, which can often exceed
base pension.
 The top 33 pensioners account for half of the annual base pension amount,
and have a pension range of $66k – 179k; excluding benefits and disability
stipend.
 The Max Pension has increased steadily over all years of analysis, but average
pension amount has declined since the period 2005 - 2009.

5. Pension Data by Pension Amount
$2,175,512.00
$963,399.00
$1,298,027.00
$1,948,702.00
$623,026.00
$-
$500,000.00
$1,000,000.00
$1,500,000.00
$2,000,000.00
$2,500,000.00
Over $100k $75k - 99k $50 - 75k $25k - 50k Less than $25k
Sum of Pensions by Pension Amount
Row Labels Avg Pension Amt Max Pension Amt Sum of All Pensions Pensioner Count
Over $100k $ 135,969.50 $ 179,331.00 $ 2,175,512.00 16
$75k - 99k $ 87,581.73 $ 98,925.00 $ 963,399.00 11
$50 - 75k $ 61,810.81 $ 70,534.00 $ 1,298,027.00 21
$25k - 50k $ 37,475.04 $ 47,983.00 $ 1,948,702.00 52
Less than $25k $ 13,845.02 $ 24,777.00 $ 623,026.00 45
Grand Total $ 48,335.63 $ 179,331.00 $ 7,008,666.00 145

6. Pension Data by Year of Retirement
$23,723
$31,832
$36,549
$49,289
$64,108
$46,425
$49,719
$31,626
$66,671
$88,678
$131,049
$168,667
$161,232
$179,331
$-
$20,000
$40,000
$60,000
$80,000
$100,000
$120,000
$140,000
$160,000
$180,000
$200,000
1984 - 1989 1990 - 1994 1995 - 1999 2000 - 2004 2005 - 2009 2010 - 2014 2015 - 2017
Average / Max Pension Amount by Year of Retirement
Avg Pension Amount Max Pension Amount
Row Labels Average of pension_amount Max of pension_amount2 Sum of pension_amount Pensioner Count
1984 - 1989 $ 23,722.60 $ 31,626.00 $ 118,613.00 5
1990 - 1994 $ 31,831.60 $ 66,671.00 $ 477,474.00 15
1995 - 1999 $ 36,548.53 $ 88,678.00 $ 694,422.00 19
2000 - 2004 $ 49,288.83 $ 131,049.00 $ 1,133,643.00 23
2005 - 2009 $ 64,108.03 $ 168,667.00 $ 2,436,105.00 38
2010 - 2014 $ 46,424.78 $ 161,232.00 $ 1,253,469.00 27
2015 - 2017 $ 49,718.89 $ 179,331.00 $ 894,940.00 18
Grand Total $ 48,335.63 $ 179,331.00 $ 7,008,666.00 145

7. City of Claremont Salaries - Definitions
 “Benefits” includes pension contributions.
 “Other Pay” I have literally no idea what this is. Bonuses?
 “Overtime” may include time worked for special events, staffing shortages,
and other reasonable explanations. Unlike salaried employees in the private
sector, nearly all classes of public employees qualify for overtime.
 “Base pay” is the salary for the position.
 “Total Compensation” is all of the above.
 City of Claremont employees include Claremont Police Department, grouped
separately in this analysis to highlight differences in salary and benefits
(including pension contributions).

8. City of Claremont – Data Summary
154
44
City Employee Count vs
CPD Count
City Employee Count CPD Employee Count
$52,946
$88,856
Average Base Pay
City Avg Base Pay CPD Avg Base Pay
Light green: City of Claremont Municipal Employees
Dark green: Claremont Police Department
$13,085,488
$7,954,916
City Total Compensation vs CPD Total
Compensation
City Comp CPD Comp

9. City of Claremont – Data Summary
Row Labels Avg Base Pay
Count of
Employee Avg Other Pay Avg Benefits Avg OT Pay Sum Base Pay Sum Other Pay Sum Benefits Sum OT Pay Sum Total Pay Benefits
City $ 52,946 154 $ 5,532 $ 23,417 $ 3,075 $ 8,153,731 $ 851,889 $ 3,606,273
$
473,595 $ 13,085,488
CPD $ 88,856 44 $ 11,957 $ 59,732 $ 20,248 $ 3,909,678 $ 526,118 $ 2,628,209
$
890,911 $ 7,954,916
Grand Total $ 60,926 198 $ 6,960 $ 31,487 $ 6,891 $ 12,063,409 $ 1,378,007 $ 6,234,482
$
1,364,506 $ 21,040,404

10. CPD Base Pay by Job Title: Total / Average
$1,575,502
$844,387
$553,672 $550,923
$186,604 $160,910
$37,680$78,775 $93,821
$138,418 $110,185
$186,604 $160,910
$9,420
0
200000
400000
600000
800000
1000000
1200000
1400000
1600000
1800000
Police Officer Police Corporal Police Lieutenant Police Sergeant Police Chief Police Captain Police Aide
Sum of Base Pay
Average of Base Pay2

11. CPD Total Comp Job Title: Total / Average
$3,055,208
$1,832,148
$1,188,101 $1,162,484
$358,902 $301,649
$56,424
$152,760 $203,572
$297,025
$232,497
$358,902 $301,649
$14,106
$-
$500,000.00
$1,000,000.00
$1,500,000.00
$2,000,000.00
$2,500,000.00
$3,000,000.00
$3,500,000.00
Police Officer Police
Corporal
Police
Lieutenant
Police
Sergeant
Police Chief Police
Captain
Police Aide
Sum of Total Pay & Benefits
Average of Total Pay & Benefits2

12. City of Claremont – Base Pay by Job Title
0
50000
100000
150000
200000
250000
300000
350000
400000
450000
Sum of Base Pay
Average of Base Pay2

13. Top 20 Highest Paid Jobs
Job Title Base Pay
Assistant City Manager $ 201,262.00
Finance Director $ 161,169.00
Human Services Director $ 159,167.00
Community Development Director $ 153,390.00
Deputy Community Services Director $ 121,744.00
Information Systems Officer $ 119,806.00
Personnel Manager $ 115,550.00
Principal Planner $ 112,288.00
City Manager* (new hire in 2018) $ 110,793.00
City Clerk $ 106,921.00
Deputy Human Services Director $ 106,033.00
Public Information Officer $ 105,743.00
Community Services Manager $ 104,844.00
City Engineer $ 104,059.00
Assistant To The City Manager $ 97,691.00
Associate Civil Engineer $ 96,190.00
Information Systems Administrator $ 88,583.00
Assistant Engineer $ 87,926.00
Accounting Supervisor $ 86,744.00
Fleet Maintenance Supervisor $ 85,331.00

14. Benefits as a Percentage of Base Pay
 CPD benefits amount is 64% of base pay on average, with a max of 87%
percent of base pay.
 Claremont municipal employees benefits amount is 41% of base pay with a
max of 66% of base pay.

15. Conclusions
 Draw your own conclusions. ;-)