Philadelphia City Council Overrides Mayor Nutter's Veto of 'DROP' Pension Program
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Philadelphia City Council turned its back on Mayor Nutter today and -- with a veto override -- agreed to preserve the controversial retirement perk for city workers known as "DROP."
Council last spring had decided to revise DROP (the Deferred Retirement Option Program) to make it less costly to the city, rather than eliminate it as the mayor wanted.
Nutter in turned vetoed the plan, and now Council, by a 17-0 vote, has overridden that veto.
So, the revised DROP becomes law, though City Council majority leader Marian Tasco (right) says even that could be revisited.
"Modifying it -- tying the interest rate to the Treasury -- will mitigate the cost right now, for a moment," she told KYW Newsradio today. "And then we can figure out what we do with the program later."
But Mayor Nutter vows to keep fighting to abolish DROP outright.
"The bill that they passed is tinkering around the edges at best," the mayor said today. "We can't afford this program. It needs to go away."
Six current councilmembers including Tasco are enrolled in DROP. The other five -- Donna Miller, Frank Rizzo Jr., Jack Kelly, Frank DiCicco, and Council president Anna Verna -- are retiring at the end of this term.
Reported by KYW City Hall bureau chief Mike Dunn
