Several inquiries have been made recently about officers who have been temporarily elevated to a higher rank without actually having been “promoted,” i.e., going through an exam required by the employer in order to be placed on a list and certified eligible for promotion, and being selected for permanent promotion to that higher rank.

These temporary elevations, which include higher pay while serving in the higher rank, have been authorized in the City’s Pay Ordinance, and the higher pay has been characterized under one or the  other of two categories:  Contingency Assignment Differential (“CAD”) and Temporary Assignment Differential (“TAD”).

Based on the language of the City Ordinance authorizing CAD and TAD, as well as its own governing statutes, the Board of Trustees of the Police Retirement System is of the opinion that these differential pay allowances do not constitute “earnable compensation” so as to be counted when calculating an officer’s average final compensation for purposes of determining the officer’s pension payout.

The Board of Trustees at its meeting on August 30, 2023 adopted a Resolution setting forth its position on CAD and TAD, and the reasons why.  This Resolution can be viewed at the link below.

Resolution on Contingency Assignment Differential/Temporary Assignment Differential