About 80% of the county's 6,200-person work force, however, was hired under the original pension plan, which means significant cost reductions for the county won't come until these employees are off the books -- at least a decade or so out.

The county's newest pension plan is the result of a new state law. The law caps pension payouts and requires employees to make greater pension contributions in cities and counties where retirement checks are too high, as deemed by a calculus set forth in the legislation.

Under the law, the county had to slightly scale back its last benefit plan, which began in June, for new non-public safety employees. Whether or not the law will affect the benefits of public safety employees, whose pensions are calculated differently, still is being determined.

The state law also will require existing county employees to contribute more to their pensions. Currently, most county employees pay 25% of the expected cost of their retirement through payroll deductions. A 50% contribution is being phased in.

While some local governments are exempt from the state law, including the city of Fresno since it's a charter city, other communities also introduced new retirement plans this month to comply with the new rules.

New employees who work for the state are seeing reduced benefits as well.

Clovis City Manager Rob Woolley doesn't expect anyone to take much notice of the changes in his office. And he doesn't expect the changes to start reducing the city's expenses for at least five years.

New employees in Clovis are poised for a significantly reduced pension plan, although contribution levels for existing employees will not change because employees already are paying as much as the state law requires.

"When new employees start out, particularly in this economic environment, just getting a job with benefits is a positive," Woolley said. "As they mature into the work force, I think (the changes) might become a bigger issue for them."