The city will ask voters next spring to approve changes to a proposed pension reform as the Phoenix City Council unanimously voted for it to be on the March 2013 ballot.
Mayor Greg Stanton said in a statement following the council’s policy session that “reform is an important issue, both to taxpayers and to city employees.”
Details of what exactly will go through modifications to the current pension program won’t be certain until later this year. The council will be presented with data in October, modeling the impacts of the possible changes to the city of Phoenix Employee Retirement System, said Brandi Ishcomer of the City Manager’s Office.
Staff will work with the consulting team during the City Council’s summer recess to gather that data, according to Ishcomer.
The proposed changes presented to council last December by the Pension Reform Task Force included modifying retirement eligibility. The changes would establish normal retirement age of 63 with a minimum of 10 years of service and an early retirement age of at least 55 with 10 years of service.
The proposed pension changes, if approved, would take effect July 2013.
“We have to do right by our hard-working taxpayers and our hard-working city employees so that a fair outcome benefits our city’s future economy as a whole,” Stanton said.
• Diana Martinez is freelancing this summer for the Ahwatukee Foothills News. Reach her at thedianamartinez@gmail.com. Follow her on Twitter @_dianamartinez.
