Police officers and firefighters have led the rush of employees looking to join the city's deferred retirement option plan as it faces possible extinction, data released by the city's Board of Pensions and Retirement show.
About 625 city workers - out of 3,100 eligible employees - have applied for the program, known as DROP, since Aug. 3. On that day Mayor Nutter released a study he commissioned that said DROP had cost the troubled pension fund an additional $258 million over the last 10 years.
Some big names on the list include Deputy Police Commissioners William Blackburn Jr. and John Gaittens; firefighters union vice president Tim McShea; the Free Library's second-in-command, Joseph McPeak; and Sarah Hart, deputy district attorney for performance and policy.
Hart, a 30-year veteran, said she was applying "just to keep my options open."
"I'm not sure I'm going to be able to go into it, but I want to be able to make an informed decision," said Hart, who has helped implement initiatives that have reduced the prison count and cut costs. "I'm being prudent."
McPeak, the Free Library's associate director, said the study did not enter into his plans, having maxed out on his pension this year after 35 years. "This is really something I'd been thinking about for a while," he said.
At The Inquirer's request, the pension board released a list of all those who had applied for DROP between Aug. 3 and Aug. 11 - 524 in all. The board last week reported 542; it was unclear on Monday why the two numbers differed.
An additional 100 or so have applied since last Thursday, Fran Bielli, executive director of the pension board, said Monday.
The applications are not binding. A DROP applicant cannot join the program for 90 days, to ensure that employees are making an informed decision. The board gives the employee an estimate of his or her eligible DROP payment and pension within 60 days, and the employee is directed to a seminar on the program before officially enrolling.
DROP is a benefit that allows an employee who has reached eligible retirement age and has least 10 years of service to choose a retirement date up to four years in the future. The employee's pension is then frozen at that point, but he or she can continue to work for a salary while amassing pension payments in a fund to be collected when he or she leaves. Those payments collect 4.5 interest until the employee leaves.
