The financially troubled Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System quietly paid bonuses totaling $120,134 to three top executives last year, calling them "settlements" to compensate the employees for not receiving bonuses in 2013.
Any settlement, by law, must be approved by the board in a public meeting. But documents of the agreements don't indicate the board's approval.
The board oversees management of a $10 billion pension fund for public safety officers, correctional officers, judges and politicians. The agency previously used incentive pay to compensate its investment staff. But it suspended those bonuses in 2013 because of poor financial performance by the fund.