Jackson – The Jackson City Council approved an amendment to the city’s contract with the PERS program on Tuesday that will provide two years additional service credit retirement incentives for Jackson Police Officers. Also known as the “golden handshake” program, the incentive allows retiring officers age 50 and older to retire with an allowance based on their final salary and how many years of service they provided. City Manager Mike Daly said calculations are based on a 3 percent @ 50 retirement formula, making the City’s total cost 87 percent of the annual rate of pay. Two officers are currently eligible for retirement, making the highest possible cost to the city $103,951. Daly said only one employee has indicated a strong interest in retiring, which would cost the city $50,770 if that employee accepted. Daly said that in general, qualifying law enforcement officers can get up to 90 percent of their final pay in perpetuity. During the Fiscal Year 2009-2010 budget process, the city elected to offer an early retirement incentive in order to reduce the number of Police Officers from eight to seven and help alleviate budget concerns. The eliminated position was frozen last year and continues to remain frozen. City Attorney Andrew Morris said that since the authorization was put forward as an urgency ordinance, it requires a 4/5ths vote to pass as defined by California Government Code. This meant approval by all four attending council members. Mayor Connie Gonsalves was absent from the meeting. Councilmember Marilyn Lewis stated hesitation about voting for the amendment but voted yes. The urgency ordinance allows the City to implement the ordinance immediately. Daly said the interested officer has 90 days from Monday’s meeting to decide whether he will take advantage of the program. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.