As Miami officials ask voters to approve $450 million in borrowing for new police and fire facilities, a Spotlight analysis of retirement records reveals another major long-term public safety cost: The city’s police and fire retirement system paid out nearly $192 million last year in pension and cost-of-living benefits.
More than 360 retired City of Miami police officers and firefighters currently receive annual pension benefits exceeding $100,000, including 195 collecting more than $120,000 a year and 73 receiving at least $150,000 annually, according to a Spotlight analysis of retirement records obtained through a public records request.
The largest current pension totals $222,659 a year.
The records identify 1,836 retired members of the City of Miami Firefighters’ and Police Officers’ Retirement Trust who currently receive monthly pension payments, offering a detailed public snapshot of the city’s public safety retirement system.
The retirement trust — which administers retirement benefits for former City of Miami police officers and firefighters — is financed through city contributions, employee payroll deductions and investment earnings.
During the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2025, the trust received approximately $127.5 million in city contributions, compared with $21.1 million from employees, while investment earnings added another $177.3 million.
Under the city’s pension ordinance, Miami is required to contribute whatever amounts are necessary to keep the retirement system financially sound.
The trust paid approximately $160 million in pension benefits and another $31.6 million in cost-of-living adjustments during the year, for total annual benefit payments of nearly $192 million.
Those payments accounted for roughly 68% of the approximately $282.4 million in pension benefits paid across all of the city’s retirement systems during the fiscal year, according to the city’s annual financial report.
The remaining $90.4 million, or about 32%, was paid through retirement plans covering general and sanitation employees, elected officials and participants in several smaller city pension programs.
Pension obligations often extend decades beyond an employee’s career. Among the public safety retirees identified in the Spotlight analysis, the average recipient has been collecting benefits for more than 18 years.
The longest-retired employee in the records, former Miami police officer Jack Q. Early, has remained on the pension rolls for more than six decades since leaving retiring in February 1965.
While the records include all public safety employees, the highest pension payments are heavily concentrated among former firefighters.
Of the 1,836 retirees identified in the records, firefighters account for just one-third of the total yet they represent nearly three-quarters of all public safety retirees currently receiving annual pensions of at least $100,000.
The disparity extends beyond the highest-paid retirees. The median annual pension for retired firefighters is approximately $89,300, compared with about $59,900 for retired police officers, according to the Spotlight’s analysis.
The difference grows larger at higher benefit levels. Firefighters account for 157 of the 195 retirees collecting at least $120,000 annually and 65 of the 73 retirees receiving at least $150,000 a year.
The records also suggest that six-figure pensions have become increasingly common among more recent retirees. None of the 438 public safety employees who retired before 2000 currently receive annual pensions of at least $100,000.
By contrast, 93 of the 250 employees who retired since 2020 — about 37% — now collect six-figure annual benefits.
Under the city’s retirement system benefit formula, pensions are generally based on an employee’s earnings near the end of his or her career, meaning overtime, bonus pay and other forms of supplemental payments can increase retirement benefits and the long-term costs to the city.
City officials have repeatedly declined the Spotlight’s requests for records showing each employee’s total compensation.
Read more: Inside City Hall: Miami’s Salary Secret
The 25 largest public safety pensions currently paid all belong to retired firefighters.
The largest annual pension, $222,659, is paid to former Miami Fire Rescue employee Reginald King Duren, whose public service has continued long after leaving Miami.
As he began collecting his pension upon retirement from the city, in 2014 at age 51, Duren was appointed fire chief of the City of Riviera Beach. In 2019, he moved up to chief of Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. He now works as a county administrator. For that job, public employee records show, Duren received a compensation package last year valued at $292,164.
The City’s 25 Largest Public Safety Pensions
| Retiree | Department | Retirement Date | Annual Pension |
| Reginald King Duren | Miami Fire | Jan. 1, 2014 | $222,659 |
| Maurice L. Kemp | Miami Fire | April 1, 2016 | $214,845 |
| Ruben A. Diaz | Miami Fire | Aug. 11, 2024 | $210,897 |
| Fernando Fernandez Jr. | Miami Fire | Dec. 1, 2014 | $208,719 |
| Joseph F. Zahralban | Miami Fire | April 1, 2024 | $207,691 |
| Alejandro R. Fernandez | Miami Fire | Aug. 1, 2022 | $201,986 |
| Ruben Bargueiras | Miami Fire | April 1, 2013 | $200,056 |
| Juan L. Meizoso | Miami Fire | April 1, 2014 | $199,156 |
| Yamilee C. Diaz | Miami Fire | Jan. 1, 2026 | $198,348 |
| Roy John Hamlin | Miami Fire | June 1, 2013 | $197,435 |
| Robert M. Jorge | Miami Fire | May 1, 2024 | $196,025 |
| Craig L. Dunn | Miami Fire | March 1, 2014 | $194,803 |
| Tyrone J. McGann | Miami Fire | Jan. 1, 2025 | $192,149 |
| Michael S. Shelton | Miami Fire | May 1, 2014 | $192,098 |
| Arturo J. Gomez | Miami Fire | Jan. 1, 2025 | $191,859 |
| Michael J. Winchester | Miami Fire | Jan. 1, 2025 | $191,839 |
| Eloy J. Garcia | Miami Fire | Aug. 1, 2024 | $190,897 |
| Charles D. Maree | Miami Fire | Oct. 1, 2011 | $189,129 |
| Hugo Rodriguez | Miami Fire | Dec. 1, 2014 | $185,191 |
| Julio A. Mestas | Miami Fire | Nov. 1, 2014 | $184,710 |
| Thomas D. Parks | Miami Fire | Aug. 1, 2023 | $182,807 |
| David Duenas | Miami Fire | Feb. 1, 2023 | $182,705 |
| Ronald G. Khawly | Miami Fire | April 1, 2015 | $181,857 |
| Allen Randall Joyce | Miami Fire | Oct. 1, 2011 | $179,324 |
| William Hernandez | Miami Fire | July 1, 2023 | $179,210 |
I have no issue with public servants getting a substantial pension for their work — it’s one of the ways we motivate good people to do necessary work. I do worry about the future of this program if property taxes are abolished.