Dunham

Plaintiffs (retired Berkeley policemen or widows of retired policemen) sought both a declaration defining disputed pension rights and a money judgment for accrued, unpaid pension benefits. The trial court gave judgment for plaintiffs. Defendants (the City of Berkeley and its Police Employees Pension Board) appeal from the judgment; plaintiffs cross-appeal, contending that the court’s award was inadequate.

Each plaintiff or deceased husband of a plaintiff began service in the Berkeley Police Department prior to June 16, 1944. Their pension rights vested under a plan then in effect known as a “fluctuating” plan in which benefits are based on “the average salary attached to the respective rank or ranks held during the three years immeditaely preceding the date of retirement, . . .” The benefit therefore increases with the salary of an active member occupying the applicable rank. (Terry v. City of Berkeley (1953) 41 Cal.2d 698 [ 263 P.2d 833 ].) The present appeal presents the question whether plaintiffs are entitled to benefit from salary increments provided by a new “Senior Patrolman” and “Career Incentive” program established in the police department.

Before the new…