Philadephia City Council Members Take Advantage Of the Pension "DROP" Program

When corporations underfund their pensions they are attacked. There are calls for the executives to be purged. When it comes the City of Philadelphia doing the same thing - despite the initial outrage - the council gets reelected.

City of Philadelphia DROP Program Comes Under Scrutiny

Considering the weakened local economy, candidates for City Controller are weighing in on the issue.

Al Schmidt, Republican candidate for the office, said the pension fund has lost almost half its value in less than a year.

“The DROP program contributes to the underfunding of the pension fund because people are withdrawing blocks of money, but still get this guaranteed rate of return,” he said.

Read the "reader comments" section of the post. They say all that needs to be said.


DROP Program Scrutiny Prompts City Council Tirade

Did you read this story in today's Daily News? City Council Majority Leader Marian Tasco sure did. And she didn't like it. Not one bit. Tasco made a speech at the end of Council's weekly session, complaining that she and five colleagues who are in the controversial Deferred Retirement Option Program [DROP] are being "maligned" for their participation.

We reported today that Tasco, Council President Anna Verna and Council members Frank DiCicco, Donna Reed Miller, Frank Rizzo and Jack Kelly are enrolled in DROP and will collect a combined $2.1 million in lump-sum retirement payments at the end of their terms. None of those Council members would tell the Daily News if they intended to exploit a loophole that allows them to run for another term, get re-elected, retire for one day, collect the six-figure payout and then go back on the city payroll.