More than 1,000 former City of Houston employees who opted into an early retirement pension program earlier this year are facing severe financial hardship after waiting nearly five months for their promised payments.
Javier Medina, a former technician with the Houston Police Department, is one of the many retirees still waiting.
“This is one of my biggest regrets,” Medina said.
He retired in April after nearly 26 years of service. While he received his first pension check in May, no payments have followed since.
“I’m dealing with creditors and everything else that’s still going unpaid,” Medina shared.
The delay has left him reliant on his wife’s single income to support their two children, ages eight and nine. With bills mounting, Medina says he’s had to repeatedly submit paperwork—most recently on September 2nd.
“Two weeks ago, I received another form. I’m like, wow,” he said. “I went in-person and did the paperwork again, and now. I’m just waiting.”
What’s causing the delay?
The pension board says the delays stem from an unprecedented volume of applications. Typically, they process about 30 retirement checks per month, but the early retirement incentive brought in about 1,050 applications in just a few weeks.
“To be able to do over a thousand within 60 days—that’s unrealistic,” said Councilman Edward Pollard, who has been helping affected retirees seek answers.
Despite increasing staff by around 20%, the pension office has been overwhelmed, receiving more than 20 times its usual workload.
Real-life impact: Loans, damaged credit, and daily stress
Many retirees have been forced to take out loans, damage their credit, and live with constant financial stress as they wait for the payments they were promised.
“We’re limited in what we can spend. Everything’s gone up—car payments, insurance,” said Medina. “It’s really stretching us thin.”
Councilman Pollard expressed his disappointment:
“It’s just disappointing to see how everything is shaking out.”
A spokesperson for the pension board says all pending payments should be issued by the end of the month. But for many retirees, the financial damage has already been done.
“This is a cry out for help,” Medina said. “It’s going to take a long time to recover for this.”