As Bell provided record-high pensions for Robert Rizzo and 40 other officials, the city cut the pensions for new police officers, claiming it could no longer afford their full retirement benefits.

Rizzo, the longtime Bell city manager who was charged with public corruption last week, stands to receive an annual pension of an estimated $1 million thanks to a major enhancement the City Council approved beginning in 2003.

But, three years later, the city created a two-tiered pension system for Bell police officers, with officers hired after that year receiving less generous pensions than other police employees. Before the change, Bell police officers were eligible to receive their full pension at age 50, which has traditionally been the model for police officers and firefighters in the state.

They usually receive higher pensions at a younger age in recognition of the danger and physical demands of their jobs. Under Bell’s two-tier system, officers hired after 2006 must work to 55 to receive their full pensions, according to the memorandum of understanding negotiated between the Bell police union and the city.