The San Francisco Police Officers Association succeeded in getting a proposal on the ballot on February 5 and the voters of San Francisco supported their officers. Cops will now be able to take part in the "DROP" program, which is short for "deferred retirement option program."

DROP allows officers to take both a salary and their pension payment if they agree to keep working after they retire. San Francisco joins a growing list of cities who have enacted the popular program. An officer who is at least 50 years old and has been with the department for 25 years can join the program and work up to three years while continuing to receive a regular salary and benefits.

The veteran officer will also be accumulating retirement payments in a special account that would be paid out upon actual retirement. Retirement benefits will not be accrued during the extended time on the job. Close to 600 officers are expected to retire over the next three years and the department already faces a shortage of 250 to 300 officers.

City Controller Ed Harrington said the fiscal impact of the deferred retirement program would likely meet its goal of being cost-neutral, but he cautioned that because the eligible officers have higher pay rates than new recruits, the program could have some fiscal impact. He also added that the cost of administering the program will be at least $500,000 a year. The measure was supported by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, as well as seven members on the Board of Supervisors.

But the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR) recommended a "no" vote, arguing that it would set a bad precedent for "changes to pension governance" and that it is "double-dipping" since an officer can earn a salary and a retirement pension at the same time from the same employer. SPUR calculates that a 55-year-old police officer who enters the program while earning $100,000 annually will receive a lump sum of $225,000 after three years.

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