By BETH MUSGRAVE
Staff Writer
Herald-Leader (Kentucky)
The city police and fire pension board is considering a legislative proposal that would change the way disability pensions are calculated, a move it hopes will decrease the number of Lexington police and firefighters seeking disability pensions.
The proposal, if approved by the board and by the pension fund’s members, would reduce the pension amount for police and firefighters with minor disabilities.
The Policemen’s and Firefighters’ Retirement Fund began considering the changes after an all-time high of 26 police and firefighters retired on disability last year. More than 30 percent of the pension’s current payroll goes to police and firefighters on disability pensions -- compared to just over 3 percent for Kentucky State Police.
The proposed changes also come after a Herald-Leader investigation in August found that many police officers and firefighters received disability pensions, then moved on to jobs similar to the ones two doctors said they were too disabled to do. Questions also have been raised about whether some people who have been awarded disabilities are still disabled.
Trustees of the Policemen’s and Firefighters’ Retirement Fund met yesterday to consider proposed changes that it will take to the state legislature in January.
Under the proposed legislation, the amount someone would receive would be calculated on a sliding scale based on percentage of total disability. For example, someone with a 1 percent to 5 percent disability would receive much less than someone who has a disability of more than 40 percent.
Currently, if two doctors say a police officer or firefighter is 1 percent disabled, he or she is entitled to a minimum of 60 percent of total salary. Disability pensions are not taxed. Disability pensions have other perks, including free tuition at a state college or university for children of those receiving the disability pension.
The sliding scale should make disability pensions less attractive, pension board members say.
An actuary analysis of the change in legislation showed that calculating disability pensions on a sliding scale would save the board more than $1 million in future benefits each year, said Donna Counts, commissioner of finance for the city and pension board trustee.
Pension board members, including active and retired firefighters as well as city officials, voiced no objections to the proposed change. The board will vote at its Dec. 14 meeting on a final draft of its proposed legislative changes. The proposal will then be sent to current and retired police and firefighters for a vote. If it passes, the measure will be taken to the state legislature.
During the trustees meeting, Mike Tracy, a firefighter and trustee board member, questioned a line in the proposed legislation that would allow the pension board to hire a private investigator.
Tracy said he was worried that firefighters and police officers with grudges might try to turn in people they don’t like.
But Michael Allen, a trustee and the director of human resources for the city, said the legislation only allows the board to employ a private investigator. That doesn’t mean the board will use a private investigator on a whim.
“This is a tool that we have available to us,” Allen said.
Public Safety Commissioner Rebecca Langston agreed.
“It’s just an option that the board needs to have,” Langston said. “If you’ll read the letters to the editor, or if you’ve read them recently, you’ll know that we’ve been slammed numerous times over disability retirements.”
The board agreed to keep the provision in the proposed legislation.
In recent months, the board has voted to make other changes in the disability pension system. It voted in June to send those receiving disability pensions back to doctors to re-certify that they are disabled.
As of last month, seven disabled police and firefighters who have been evaluated have all passed doctors’ tests and are still disabled, Counts said. Dozens of others are still waiting for evaluations to be completed.