SAN DIEGO – The San Diego City Attorney's Office filed suit Tuesday against the city employee pension system and its board to wipe out a program that allowed city employees to buy credit for up to five years they had not worked, increasing their pension pay.

The lawsuit, filed in Superior Court, follows a vote Friday by the San Diego City Employees' Retirement System board that said the city should absorb the $146 million cost of the program. That is about 15 percent of the retirement system's billion-dollar pension deficit.

Each year's price to purchase the credits was set by the pension board and was a percentage of worker salaries. But until 2003, the purchase price was set too low to cover the costs, resulting in a deficit.

The city has cut off the pension credit benefit to new workers.

Chris Waddell, general counsel for the pension system, declined comment because he had not read the lawsuit.

– Ronald W. Powell