The Del Mar City Council voted April 7 unanimously for an additional $425,000 transfer to the Pension Reserve Fund.

Mayor Tracy Martinez and Deputy Mayor John Spelich, who put the item on the meeting agenda, said the transfer would fulfill the city’s pension reserve policy, which lays out a plan to reach 100% funded status by 2032.

The city currently contributes $2.25 million each year to CalPERS for pension obligations, with $864,000 for the city’s current pension costs for city employees, and $1.39 million to fund the city’s unfunded pension liability. According to a council agenda report, the most recent CalPERS data shows a $19.3 million unfunded pension liability for Del Mar as of the end of the 2024 fiscal year.

The city also contributes funds each year in the City’s Pension Reserve Fund, which are then transferred into a Section 115 Trust that the city created in 2024.

“I believe that every elected official should demonstrate this fiscal responsibility,” Martinez said. “It’s part of our job to do so, it puts our city at risk, we have the money, it doesn’t mean we’re not going to put maybe another million or $2 million into paving. We can do more things than one, but we cannot neglect the responsibility.”

Councilmembers Terry Gaasterland and Dan Quirk were opposed to the additional transfer when it came up earlier this year, but both ultimately agreed to it following discussion among the council and city staff.

Quirk wanted to prioritize spending on street improvements.

“If we spent some money up front on the roads and then we get all of our roads to a pavement conditions index score of 95 or 99, in 2028 or 2029 we’ll find that we only have to spend $500,000 to $700,000 on our roads instead of, if we spend less today, we’ll have to spend $2 million on our roads in 2029.”

Quirk asked the council to be “open-minded on maximizing our repaving.”

Several residents during public comment spoke in favor of the transfer.

“Find the money somewhere else,” Del Mar resident Tom McGrail said during public comment. “Don’t steal it from the pension reserve fund. The pension reserves are already liabilities incurred. We can’t walk away from this. This is not something that should be deferred. We should step up, adhere to our policy and pay for our pension obligation.”