Nutter says DROP must go, no matter the price

City Council hearings on Philadelphia’s early retirement program for workers are getting closer to becoming reality.   Mayor Michael Nutter isn’t giving an inch.

Mayor Nutter says even if his expert and council’s expert disagree on how expensive it is, there is still no way the Deferred Retirement Option Program or DROP as it’s called can continue.

“That’s not the issue, the issue is the program is expensive, even the council consultant says it’s at least $100 million, the program changes people’s behavior how long they stay in government, when they retire for pension purposes,” said Nutter.  “We can’t afford the program any longer and it needs to go away, that’s the bottom line.”

Mayor Nutter hired economists from Boston College to analyze DROP and their cost estimate is more than double council’s number.

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Sources in council say they are trying to find a compromise,  but Mayor Nutter says he won’t settle for anything short of eliminating the program.

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