Soaring overtime costs won’t affect how much D.C. taxpayers will pay once the officers retire, according to D.C. documents and government sources.
Pensions for police are based on the last years of salary, not on the total amount they earned each year, according to the District of Columbia Police Officers’ Retirement plan.
The pension issue was raised after one 40-year veteran worked 2,192 overtime hours last year, earning more than $149,000 for the extra work, more than double his salary of $73,000.
D.C. leaders are grappling with the rising costs of overtime. The District spent $30 million in police overtime last year and, with the city under a 30-day crime emergency, the D.C. Council recently approved $8 million to cover the costs of overtime.
In some police departments around the country, pensions are based on the amount the officers earned in their final years, including overtime, and officers sometimes cram a lot of overtime in their last years to increase their retirement benefits, police said.
But the pensions for D.C. police are based on a percentage of their final salaries.
D.C. police receive roughly 2.5 percent of their last three year’s salaries for each year served. Officers can’t earn more than 80 percent of their final salary.
For example, an officer with 25 years of service who averaged $65,000 in his final years will earn a $40,625 pension.
D.C. officers hired before 1980 are eligible for pension after having worked for the department at least 20 years. Officers hired between 1980 and 1996 may retire at any time after turning 50 as long as they have 25 years of service. Officers hired after 1996 can retire at any age after 25 years of service.
The D.C. labor union is trying to lower the number of years of service needed for retirement benefits from 25 to 20 years in order to remain competitive with other police departments. Police at some other agencies also receive a higher percentage of their final salary, said Officer Kristopher Baumann, of the Fraternal Order of Police.
“We don’t have a competitive advantage,” Baumann said. “That’s why were losing officers.”
Police Chief Charles Ramsey has been negotiating to increase his own retirement package. Earlier this month, the D.C. council approved a $16,000 annual bump to Ramsey’s pension, from $44,000 a year to $60,000.
