Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell technically retired last year after completing the city’s DROP program and getting an undisclosed though likely sizable lump sum payment of accrued retirement benefits.
However, Revell, 56, remains very much on the job, leading a department of 500-plus sworn and civilian employees and working under a new five-year contract that pays him a base salary of $225,000.
Revell spent his entire career with the Tallahassee Police Department, joining in 1992 as a patrol officer and going on to work in nearly every division, including serving as captain of Patrol and major over Criminal Investigations. He was appointed chief in December 2019.
“It is a complete honor to serve the men and women of the Tallahassee Police Department and all the citizens of Tallahassee,” Revell said in a text. “I am incredibly blessed to have this job and there’s still plenty of work to be done.”
Both the state of Florida and the city have Deferred Retirement Option Plans (DROP) that allows employees to technically retire but stay on the job for a period of time (up to five years at the city and eight years at the state).
While in DROP, their monthly retirement benefits accrue and earn interest, though they stop earning service credit used to calculate their retirement. Once they finish, employees get their accrued DROP benefits and their monthly retirement benefits.
Revell entered the city’s DROP program on Dec. 1, 2018 — a year before he was appointed chief of police — and completed it nearly five years later on Nov. 18, 2023, according to city records. At that point, he continued working for the city under a job classification open to high-level city executives.
He said he participated in DROP because it was too great a financial opportunity for anyone to pass up.
“That’s available for every city employee, every state employee,” he said. “It’s just a great benefit. You take that, the city invests that money for you for five years and at the end of the five years, you get that money back with the investment.”
The amount of Revell’s lump sum DROP payment is unknown. In response to a public records request from the Tallahassee Democrat, the city said such information was confidential under a statutory exemption pertaining to deferred compensation programs.
The city, however, did provide Revell’s monthly retirement benefit of $7,679. Those benefits along with his salary total just north of $317,000.
The chief’s first contract, signed Dec. 24, 2019, set his base pay at $180,000, though that increased through annual raises to $207,375 by late last year. His new contract, signed Nov. 1, 2023, set his base pay at $225,000.
However, City Manager Reese Goad said the chief’s total compensation went down about $19,000 because he no longer gets a tax-deferred retirement savings account and certain other monetary benefits that he once did under his old contract.
City Manager on Chief Revell ‘He’s doing a great job’
Once Revell completed DROP, he became an “other personnel executive” or OPE employee, a job classification held by only a few top managers at City Hall.
The other OPE employees are James Barnes, chief customer officer; Rob McGarrah, former Electric Utility general manager who now serves as HR director; and Steve Shafer, director of Underground Utilities.
City Manager Reese Goad said the OPE employment category allows the city to keep people on the job who want to keep working beyond retirement age, which can come early for law enforcement.
“Other employers … are taking advantage of these kinds of programs to extend the employability of people that traditionally are at the end of their career but are still relatively young,” Goad said. “They’re very skilled. They’re productive in the workforce. It gives you that extra opportunity. So that’s what we’re doing here.”
Goad noted that Revell’s first-five year contract actually spanned beyond his DROP period and that it was “always envisioned” that Revell wanted to work longer.
“He’s doing a great job,” Goad said. “We’ve got a lot of good direction in the department. So just from that point of view, you want to retain any employee that’s kind of meeting those standards: doing a great job and they want to keep working.”
The chief’s contract says he will serve an initial term through 2028 that will automatically renew for an additional two years unless he decides otherwise. The contract, which also includes a car allowance, calls for automatic two-year renewals after that.
Revell, who serves at the pleasure of the city manager, said he intends to serve through 2028. After that, he said, he’ll take another look before deciding whether to continue.
City Commission candidate accuses chief of ‘double-dipping’
The state requires employees who finish DROP to separate from the agency for at least six months, lest they forfeit their benefits, including their lump-sum payment. However, the city has no such requirement.
In the past, some well-known officials in the Florida Retirement System officially retired and separated from their agency to collect their DROP lump sum before returning to the job. And while that was perfectly legal under DROP rules, it sometimes sparked controversy and criticism.
Former State Attorney Willie Meggs left office for a month after getting a nearly $520,000 DROP payment in 2007. Before he ran for Leon County sheriff in 2016, then-Maj. Mike Wood left the department for six months to collect a $500,000 DROP payout.
Revell’s participation in DROP sparked interest from Dot Inman-Johnson, a City Commission candidate who filed public records requests seeking information about it. She criticized the arrangement and said it had been kept quiet.
“He’s really double-dipping from the city,” she said.
Goad denied that, saying there’s no double-dipping “because he’s earned and vested in the pension program.” He added the city is saving money because it no longer pays into a retirement plan for Revell, who’s barred from participating in the city’s pension or 401(k) plans.
“As it relates to what he’s earning as police chief, he’s on par with similar positions around the state,” Goad said. “As it relates to total compensation costs for Chief Revell, they are much less than someone participating in the pension program.”
Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or 850-599-2180.