San Diego County supervisors are proposing a new perk for retirement-age public safety employees: a Deferred Retirement Option Program, or DROP, that would allow some workers to start drawing their pensions while they are still on the county payroll. Supporters say it could help stabilize chronically short-staffed departments, while critics brand it taxpayer-funded “double-dipping.” The Board of Supervisors introduced an ordinance at its Jan. 13 meeting that would apply to eligible staff in the sheriff’s, district attorney’s and probation offices and, if approved at a second reading, would launch the program in March.
As reported by The San Diego Union-Tribune, supervisors moved quickly to introduce the ordinance yesterday and scheduled a second reading for Jan. 28 as part of an effort to retain experienced employees on the job.
How the DROP Would Work
The draft ordinance and negotiated letters of understanding spell out the mechanics. Participation would be voluntary and capped at a maximum of three years. During that time, an employee’s monthly retirement benefit would be deposited into a DROP account while the employee remains on the payroll.
The Letters of Understanding state that DROP accounts would earn no interest, employee retirement contributions would continue with 75% deposited into the DROP account, and employer contributions would be retained by the retirement system rather than diverted to the DROP account. Those program terms are described in the county’s attachments and staff materials…