A D.C. councilman is challenging data the city’s top finance officer used when determining a bill that could give lucrative retirement benefits to Police Chief Cathy Lanier’s staff wouldn’t place a bigger burden on the city’s taxpayers.
Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi issued a statement to the council that says the legislation wouldn’t add to the city’s costs, in part, because it would affect only a small number of people.
During a D.C. Council committee hearing, Lanier said she provided conclusions from an “independent actuary” used by the D.C. retirement board to Gandhi, who then relied upon that actuary’s conclusions for his own.
But sources said the actuary isn’t the one typically used by the District’s retirement board, raising concerns about the actuary’s findings and those of the CFO.
Lanier’s spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.
At-large Councilman Phil Mendelson, chairman of the committee that oversees the police department and is handling the bill, said he will look into the accuracy of the actuary’s statement.
“That’s critical to the bill,” he said.
The legislation
has raised concerns that Fenty and Lanier are trying to provide “golden parachutes” for the chief’s staff in case she’s fired and they’re demoted. The city’s likely next mayor, D.C. Council Chairman Vince Gray, says he has not made any decisions on Lanier’s future.
Under current law, members of the police department continue to receive up to 80 percent of the annual salary they earned at the time of retirement. The legislation would change that to 80 percent of the average of three consecutive years of their highest pay, or 80 percent of what they earned at the time of retirement, whichever is higher.
Language from an early draft of the bill suggests it was written with Lanier’s staff in mind, some of whom she pulled from lower ranks to higher-risk and higher-paying jobs. If a new chief comes in, those officials could be reverted back to the lower ranks they once held, losing the chance at higher retirements if the new bill isn’t passed.
During testimony to a council committee Friday, Lanier rejected the argument that the bill would only benefit her staff.
“This will benefit all my department, all of my members,” Lanier said.
