Phoenix City Council to vote on pension spiking again
Oct 31, 2013, 7:31 AM | Updated: 7:31 am
PHOENIX — The pension spiking issue in Phoenix isn’t dead yet.
Pension spiking is a term used to describe a process where Phoenix City employees can include unused sick leave and vacation time to boost their pension.
The Phoenix City Council voted 5-4 last week to reject a plan that would have ended pension spiking by July 2014. After the vote was taken, Mayor Greg Stanton said, “I assume we’ll be seeing this issue again soon.”
Today’s the day.
The city council will meet at 10 a.m. to re-vote on the proposal. Stanton said he scheduled today’s meeting after four of the nine council members filed a motion for reconsideration.
Two council members were part of the group that voted to support the proposal.
“That was Councilwoman (Thelda) Williams and Councilman (Tom) Simplot,” said Stanton. “(The other) two supported a different policy or plan. That was Councilman (Jim) Waring and Councilman (Sal) DiCiccio. All four asked me to get this back on the agenda as soon as possible.”
Stanton said he was legally obligated to schedule a meeting at the earliest possible date.
“We’ll be here on Halloween,” he said.
The Mayor said it’s possible that some council members may change their votes.
“Some may feel that this plan is better than nothing…They may feel this isn’t the perfect plan, but they may feel that this is a good plan,” Stanton said. “I feel it’s the right plan.”
Stanton was in the minority when he voted in favor of the plan last week.
When asked whether he and the city council are rushing the vote to make it look like they’re doing something about pension spiking before next week’s city election, Stanton replied “I can’t speak to that issue.”
