{"id":217383,"date":"2026-06-12T12:34:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T12:34:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/217383\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T12:34:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T12:34:29","slug":"allentown-considers-deferred-pension-program-for-police-officers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/217383\/","title":{"rendered":"Allentown considers deferred pension program for police officers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Allentown is weighing whether to offer a deferred retirement program to its police officers, which would allow members of the force to defer their retirement and continue working for several years while also accumulating pension payments.<\/p>\n

While supporters said the Deferred Retirement Option Program could boost police officer retention and recruitment, several City Council members said they feared the program could cause too much additional financial stress for the city. Council has not taken any formal action or voted on the program.<\/p>\n

Allentown police Chief Charles Roca said Wednesday that implementing such a program could help stave off a possible cliff of officer retirements. Forty officers will become eligible to retire at the end of this year, he said, which could leave the department severely shorthanded.<\/p>\n

According to a city memo, Allentown\u2019s DROP would allow officers to defer their retirement for up to five years. During that time, they\u2019d receive their regular salary plus their pension payments, which would be placed into an interest-accruing account managed by the city. That money would be paid out upon the date of their retirement, upon which they\u2019d also start directly receiving their monthly pension.<\/p>\n

While opting into the DROP, officers would work and receive their salaries and benefits as usual.<\/p>\n

Police officers in Allentown become eligible for retirement pension benefits after 20 years of \u201cpensionable service to the city,\u201d which could include years on the Allentown police force or purchase of previous police or military service.<\/p>\n

Roca said that the program would be a win-win for the city, helping in its retention and recruitment efforts by offering an enviable bonus to officers who might otherwise retire.<\/p>\n

He called it a key investment in Allentown public safety, which he said is more important than ever in the wake of two shootings in the last several weeks that left two teenagers dead.<\/a><\/p>\n

The city has the funding for around 230 officer positions, but employs just over 200 due to vacancies. The city generally only hires around five to 10 officers each year due to stringent hiring requirements and a limited pool of qualified applicants, Roca has said, so filling vacancies is difficult.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s Fraternal Order of Police held a vote that showed the majority of unionized officers are in favor of a deferred retirement program, and approved a memorandum of understanding outlining the terms with the city administration, which indicates city leaders are in favor of DROP, too.<\/p>\n

But City Council could throw a wrench in those plans, as several members appeared skeptical.<\/p>\n

According to a city-commissioned study, DROP could increase Allentown\u2019s state-mandated contribution to its pension plan by $1.1 million-$2.8 million annually.<\/p>\n

City Council members said that, while they are in favor of staffing the police department, they are worried about the cost. Allentown Council narrowly approved a 4% tax increase and $135 hike to the city\u2019s trash fees in 2026, and several City Council members said residents could not afford another tax increase in 2027.<\/p>\n

The city also issued a $134 million bond last year to finance infrastructure investments, including a police headquarters and a life safety and wellness building that would replace the city\u2019s fire and health bureau buildings.<\/p>\n

With the cost of those investments and general inflation causing financial strain, several council members said the city may not be able to afford the program.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t understand how the DROP is going to help our budget,\u201d said City Council member Candida Affa, chair of the council\u2019s public safety committee. \u201cIt\u2019s not a good time, and I don\u2019t see that it would make such a difference in our police department.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roca cautioned City Council that Allentown would see an increase in mandatory overtime costs for the police department in 2027 if the dozens of retirements he predicted occur this year. Mandatory overtime would both cost the city and challenge police officers who may have to work longer hours without a choice in the matter, Roca said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you are talking about investment and what is important, if we go down to the number of 160 officers, it will result in massive amounts of mandatory overtime. We can\u2019t afford that in the summer coming up,\u201d Roca said. \u201cWe have realized some incidents of violence which are very, very bad for our community, but we are not going to sit back and do nothing about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also criticized past city administrations for failing to raise revenues enough to adequately staff the department. Allentown has fewer police officers on average than other cities of similar size,<\/a> according to FBI statistics.<\/p>\n

Frank Kane, Allentown\u2019s managing director, said city department leaders have been asked to make cuts of at least 10% to their own budgets in 2027 because of increasing financial pressures the city faces.<\/p>\n

In addition to the major capital investments it will make in the near future, the city could also be on the hook for an additional $6 million thanks to a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision that rules that cities and boroughs are not allowed to levy stormwater management fees against state agencies, Kane has said.<\/p>\n

Council will hold a vote to either approve or reject the program at a later date.<\/p>\n

Reporter Lindsay Weber can be reached at Liweber@mcall.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Allentown is weighing whether to offer a deferred retirement program to its police officers, which would allow members…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":217384,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120,433,182,139,28,432],"class_list":["post-217383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news","tag-lehigh-county","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-top-stories-tmc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217383"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217383\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/217384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}