SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE
By Lauryn Schroeder
Eleven firefighters received pension payments exceeding $500,000 last year, and all of them did so by taking part in a little-known loophole in one of San Diego’s most controversial employee benefit programs.
The Deferred Retirement Option Plan, or DROP, allows city employees to collect a paycheck and a pension at the same time, but for a fixed period.
The idea was to retain experienced employees who might otherwise be tempted to retire, saving the city the costs of recruitment and training for newcomers.
The program has been held up as an example of pension excess, amid accusations that employees were double dipping by collecting retirement benefits and a paycheck simultaneously. It was discontinued for new employees starting in 2005.
City workers hired before 2005 can still take advantage of the program, but must leave the payroll after five years in DROP.
That cap was lifted for firefighters in 2002. They have been allowed to extend their time collecting two checks for as long as 16 additional months while their accrued vacation time is paid out.
The retirement payments are deposited into a special account that builds up until the firefighters leave the payroll, resulting in the large checks the year they leave the department.
Last year, the top retirement payee was Frank De Clercq, former president of San Diego Fire Fighters Local 145.
De Clercq’s salary was $85,000. He entered the DROP program in 2009, locking in to leave the payroll in June 2014.
When it came time for De Clercq to leave the department in 2014, he still had enough leave time built up to keep him on the payroll — and in the DROP program — through October 2015.
When De Clercq finally left the city’s employ, his DROP account had accrued $711,000, paid out in a lump sum. He did not return three calls this past week seeking comment.
During the extended DROP period for such firefighters, the city can’t fill their positions — which causes their colleagues to cover more shifts, work more overtime and accrue large leave balances themselves.
Continue reading the story on the San Diego Union-Tribune website.
Learn more about DROPs on the Government Finance Officers Association website.
