You may be eligible to purchase service credit for employment in a public agency that occurred before you entered VCERA membership. “Public agency” is defined as:

1.  Any department or agency of the United States government, including active military service.

2.  Any department or agency of the State of California, including school districts.

3.  Any city or county within California.

4.  Any public corporation, municipal corporation or public district situated in whole or in part within Ventura County.

5.  Any local agency formation commission.

6.  Any department or agency within the District of Columbia.

You may not purchase prior public service with VCERA if you are eligible to receive a retirement benefit for that period of service in another retirement system.

The retirement service purchased will be credited under the same benefit tier that applied to you when you joined VCERA. (Current Safety members who were General members upon joining VCERA may receive Safety credit for the purchase only if the time being purchased consisted of active law enforcement, active fire suppression or active U.S. military service during a time of war or national emergency.)

The cost to purchase prior public service is the sum of twice the contributions you would have paid to VCERA for the length of time being purchased plus the interest that would have accrued on those contributions since your membership date.

For purposes of vesting and retirement eligibility, purchased prior public service does not count toward these VCERA milestones.

Click here to download a Service Credit Purchase Request.