By Doug Page
The Dayton Daily News
DAYTON, Ohio — The mandatory retirement of longtime police and firefighters is having an immediate effect on how both departments operate.
A flood of the retirements will take place just after the first of the year, which marks the first retirements under the Ohio Police & Firefighters Pension Fund DROP (Delayed Retirement Option Plan). Established by the legislature in 2003, the DROP is open to police and firefighters with at least 25 years on the job who are at least 48 years old.
As an incentive to stay, OPF set up an annuity using contributions from the participants, plus their monthly retirement benefits at the time they could have retired.
The OPF’s actuary estimates the average annuity for a participant who remained on the job for the full eight years would be around $500,000.
Participants are committed to working a minimum of three more years and a maximum of eight.
If they retire before three years are up, they forfeit the annuity.
If they continue past the eight year maximum, they forfeit the annuity.
Upon retirement, the participant receives the proceeds of the annuity, which has been earning interest, David Graham of OPF said. According to Graham, the program doesn’t cost taxpayers additional money.
While the program has kept experienced officers and firefighters on the street, when they are gone, a void will be left, officials said.
Neither department has hired a new firefighter or police officer since 2006. It was then the U.S. Department of Justice stepped in on allegations the city’s civil service exam for police and firefighters discriminated against minorities.
In a 2009 settlement, the city paid compensation to some test-takers and agreed to rewrite its tests under federal oversight. Saturday, the first new test was given to applicants. The first class of recruits could enter the academy in 2011 and be on the street sometime in 2012.
Fire Chief Herbert Redden received Justice Department approval to hire the EMTs as long as their sole duty was to man the medics. None can fill the role of a firefighter even if they are qualified, the chief said.
The addition of the 22 EMTs “keeps my head above water until the Justice Department approves the hiring of firefighters,” Redden said.
In addition to reorganizing the police department, Biehl plans to move around 20 officers from their duties at the city dispatch center and court security. The police department will move its dispatch to the Regional Dispatch Center next month.
The department also is turning over court security over to the city courts.
Fraternal Order of Police President Randy Beane said Biehl should brace himself for more than the 24 DROP retirements in 2011.
“I know there will be more officers retiring than just the DROP officers,” he said. “People aren’t particularly happy with the reorganization.”
The union agreed to $800,000 in concessions this summer during contract negotiations. The addition of one major in the reorganization angered many officers, Beane said.
In December 2008, the department had 418 officers. The city projects that number will be 366 at year’s end. Calculate in the 24 DROP retirements, the city would have a maximum of 334 officer by the end of 2012.
Copyright 2010 Dayton Newspapers, Inc.