Citing a desire for pension reform, Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio released details of the 50 biggest pension payouts the city is making to retired employees.
DiCiccio's report estimates these 50 employees will get combined pension payouts of around $173 million, leading DiCiccio to compare the Phoenix government to that of Detroit.
See also:
-Phoenix Voters Could Decide on Replacing Employee Pension With 401(k)-Type Plan
The top of the list isn't surprising: The city's most recent city managers get the biggest payouts. Former City Manager David Cavazos, who retired last year at the age of 53, is second on the list, beat only by his predecessor, Frank Fairbanks. None of the retired employees are identified by name, but in many cases, you can figure out who it is.
Of these 50 employees, the average age of retirement is 56, with an average cash payout of nearly $200,000, and an annual pension payout of about $120,000.
In a press conference yesterday, DiCiccio used a former city librarian as an example -- a librarian who retired at the age of 58, with a cash payout of about $286,000, and an annual pension of more than $100,000.
The union-busting councilman, who's been a longtime critic of the city's pension system, especially in the wake of Cavazos' "pension spiking," in which unused sick time and vacation days are used to help inflate the pension payout (although DiCiccio did approve a $78,000-a-year pay raise for Cavazos the year prior).
There have been several pension-reform proposals made, and adopted, in recent years, although some of the proposals are getting a little more drastic. Phoenix voters will get to decide on one such proposal in November, which proposes phasing out the pension system in favor of a 401(k)-type program, which DiCiccio has somewhat endorsed.
DiCiccio's entire report on the 50 highest-paid retirees can be seen below:
Got a tip? Send it to: Matthew Hendley.
Follow Valley Fever on Twitter at @ValleyFeverPHX.
Follow Matthew Hendley at @MatthewHendley.
