Little-known LA police/fire retirement plan pays pension, salary at same time (DROP Program) (sales, gated)

[Exitus Acta Probat]

I'd heard of the pension spiking and the unusually high pensions irrespective of the spiking, but I had not heard of DROP until recently.

The DROP program is an expensive public pension program that hardly anyone knows about, but pays out lump sums that average $200,000 and up to nearly a million dollars in some cases. KPCC's Madeleine Brand spoke with KCET's Judy Muller, who investigated the DROP program.

LAPD and L.A. Fire Department personnel who've worked for at least 25 years and are at least 50 years old can "retire," then go back to work immediately. When they return to work, pension payments are held while they continue collecting a salary, and after five years, they can leave and collect that money in a lump-sum payment.

Little-known LA police/fire retirement plan pays pension, salary at same time | 89.3 KPCC

And we still wonder why the streets and sidewalks aren't getting fixed, etc.

[Ingenere]

gubment employees my man.

[jm1982]

Thanks for posting this . It seems that LAPD/LAFD get away with this type of stuff because they put fear into people. The police chief recently ran a TV ad in support of raising the sales tax from 9% to 9.5% . The ad depicted a car accident victim being taken off in the stretcher with the underlining threat being "If you don't vote to pay more in tax we won't help you" .

Having these types of pension programs and ridiculous ways to extort more money from tax payers is disgusting .

This would maybe be all fine and dandy if as you mentioned the basic were being fixed streets, sidewalks , prompt response to issues ,etc in the city...but they aren't. Time and time again more money just goes into the pockets of the chosen few (thousand) employees that work for these departments...

Very sad and one of the reasons why L.A and CA aren't going down a good path.

Unfortunately it seems there are a lot of people that have the mentality that "we shouldn't EVER limit what our LAPD/LAFD make or the types of "BENEFITS" they have"

YES I agree these people should be paid a decent and fair salary...but at some point do we not have to ask "When is enough , enough?"...

It just takes common sense to realize we can't afford paying out these kinds of pensions that are unsustainable.

[Patrolman]

Get your facts straight. The DROP program doesn't cost the taxpayers a single dime. The City wouldn't do it if there was nothing in it for them. You actually think that the City would have a DROP program just out of the goodness of their hearts? In fact, the City profits from the program. They get to use the DROP money they're holding and they retain experienced sworn police/fire employees (especially police) a lot longer than if they just retired. New employees cost the taxpayers more money than retaining established employees.

There are dozens of cities in the state that have a DROP program. It's been so successful and profitable that some cities have expanded the amount of time a public safety employee can participate in DROP from five up to and including ten years.

In addition, there is no pension spiking for sworn police/fire employees in the City of L.A.

The DROP program has been in place since 2002 and that was after numerous public hearings were held.

Try doing a bit more research before spouting off on something you know nothing about.

[jm1982]

DROP, the Billion-Dollar Pension Perk, Still Getting No Political Play | Politics | SoCal Connected | Shows | KCET

How would you feel about expanding this program to ALL city employees...not just "public safety" ones?...

[Patrolman]

That's the City's decision, not mine.

[Dunbar42]

Originally Posted by Patrolman

They get to use the DROP money they're holding and they retain experienced sworn police/fire employees (especially police) a lot longer than if they just retired. New employees cost the taxpayers more money than retaining established employees.

You mean the pension fund that's paying the DROP employees 5% interest on their deferred pension benefits makes the city money? Ya right, and new employees would start at a much lower salary than veterans so it's doubtful that they cost the city more money over that same five year period.

[Patrolman]

Originally Posted by Dunbar42

You mean the pension fund that's paying the DROP employees 5% interest on their deferred pension benefits makes the city money? Ya right, and new employees would start at a much lower salary than veterans so it's doubtful that they cost the city more money over that same five year period.

You need to investigate the facts before spouting off. According to the City Charter, the plan has to be, at the very minimum, cost neutral. Granted that new employees start at a lower salary than tenured employees, but it cost money to initiate the hiring program and it costs money to train new recruits. Recruits draw their salary at the beginnning of the academy. Then you have to pull officers from the field to act as instructors at full salary. Then you have to hire officers on overtime to backfill those positions. Why go to such unnecessary expense when you can retain experienced personnel in patrol cars and fire stations. It isn't double-dipping like Councilman Bernard Parks is doing.

[Ingenere]

LOLOL you actually believe it when the government projects the "cost savings" or "cost neutral status" of a program?

IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

[Exitus Acta Probat]

Originally Posted by Patrolman

Get your facts straight. The DROP program doesn't cost the taxpayers a single dime. The City wouldn't do it if there was nothing in it for them. You actually think that the City would have a DROP program just out of the goodness of their hearts? In fact, the City profits from the program. They get to use the DROP money they're holding and they retain experienced sworn police/fire employees (especially police) a lot longer than if they just retired. New employees cost the taxpayers more money than retaining established employees.

There are dozens of cities in the state that have a DROP program. It's been so successful and profitable that some cities have expanded the amount of time a public safety employee can participate in DROP from five up to and including ten years.

In addition, there is no pension spiking for sworn police/fire employees in the City of L.A.

The DROP program has been in place since 2002 and that was after numerous public hearings were held.

Try doing a bit more research before spouting off on something you know nothing about.

What you've posted is just boiler plate misinformation. Garcetti recently mentioned a study saying that DROP saves L.A. taxpayers money. However, the fact is, there is no such study. Furthermore, if somebody is in their 50's, why would they simply leave the LAPD for another agency? Who is it that is courting LAPD officers when they're only a few years from retirement? Furthermore, DROP has been discontinued by other cities who have determined that it's costing taxpayers too much money.

My research: done.