The Phoenix City Council on Thursday approved a plan to end pension spiking by city workers. That means employees can no longer artificially increase their salaries with unused vacation time and sick leave to boost their pensions.
The measure starts next July and affects all current and future city workers. Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton called it “a tough and responsible” measure that will save taxpayers a lot of money.
“We know that by not allowing future ability of sick leave time for example that the city is going to save about $65 million over the next 25 years," said Stanton.
Pension spiking got a lot of attention after City Manager David Cavazos announced his resignation and used his leftover sick and vacation time to boost his pension to an estimated $235,000 a year.
Opponents said the measure is unfair to long-time city employees. Some critics vowed to start a ballot initiative that would ask voters to move city workers to a private 401(k) retirement plan.