Philadelphia City Council Sets Hearing Date For DROP Issue
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Nine months after Mayor Nutter called for the elimination of the DROP pension perk, City Council is finally set to schedule a hearing on the issue. But its increasingly likely that they'll tweak -- rather than abolish -- the controversial program.
A statement issued by the office of Council President Anna Verna says new legislation related to DROP will be introduced at the regular Council meeting of May 26th. Then, at some point during the week of June 6th, a hearing would be held on the new DROP bill, as well as Mayor Nutter's original plan to abolish the program outright.
The new legislation is expected to revise the much-criticized lump sum pension perk at a less lucrative rate, so that it is cost neutral.
This would keep DROP alive rather than eliminate it.
Nutter's original estimate put the cost of DROP at more than $25 million a year, while Council's estimate is that the program costs the city's pension fund $10 million a year.
Reported by Mike Dunn, KYW Newsradio
