Findings from TUA’s pension project on Toledo, Ohio, are featured in this article from the Toledo Blade.
A Chicago-based advocacy group released Thursday a report estimating the top lifetime pension amounts due to Toledo and Lucas County public officials at between $3 million and $4 million.
Taxpayers United of America, which bills itself as a national non-partisan organization campaigning for tax accountability and pension reform, published the list, which details wages and pension estimates for 100 local officials and teachers, including Mayor Mike Bell and police chief Derrick Diggs. The group said it based its calculations on annual wage data, Ohio pension rules and a life expectancy of 85 years.
According to the report, Mayor Bell would take home a lifetime pension of $4.1 million over 30 years and police chief Derrick Diggs — who is listed in his previous position as deputy chief — would enjoy a $3.3 million lifetime pension. The report also estimates pensions for the heads of several Lucas County social service agencies, city department directors and police captains. However, many of the officials cited in the report no longer hold the positions stated and some have already retired.
The numbers listed are difficult to verify because government pension amounts in Ohio are not disclosed under public records laws. City spokesman Jen Sorgenfrei said she could not respond to the data in the report, pointing out that the methodology used was “flawed.” She declined to provide alternative numbers, stating that the city does not have access to pension information,
However, Taxpayers United vice president, Christina Tobin, said the group is confident the numbers are quite accurate. Moreover, the difficulty in verifying them points to the need for greater transparency in Ohio’s public pension system, she argued.
The organization is compiling similar reports on public pensions across Ohio and seven other Midwestern states. Ms. Tobin said the numbers show the current pension system is unsustainable and needs to be reformed. As it stands, the system places an unwieldy burden on government budgets and is unfair to taxpayers, she said.
“It’s the same pattern everywhere. The average household income is peanuts. Pension payouts are in the millions,” Ms. Tobin said. “I don’t think taxpayers will be too thrilled with the idea with the mayor making that sort of money.”
Adam Schwiebert, a research fellow at the conservative Buckeye Institute in Columbus, which also compiles data on public salaries and pensions, said the Taxpayers United numbers are “estimates at best.” He said the group relied on several assumptions, such as life expectancy and length of employment, which can vary considerably. But he echoed Ms. Tobin’s concern with the public pension system, saying it represents a $66 billion “unfunded liability.” His group advocates for a system closer in line with the private sector where workers pay into plans such as 401(k)s, he said.
“This is a tremendous fiscal issue facing the state and an issue of fairness,” he said. “We think Ohio should be forward thinking in funding its public retirement plans”
Christina Tobin, Vice-President of TUA, was featured in the following news story from CBS 2 Chicago.
CHICAGO (CBS) – Some public university employees have figured out a way to keep their jobs and double their salaries.
CBS 2′s Dave Savini has been investigating this lucrative, yet legal, sweetheart deal involving government pensions.
One beneficiary of this pension law is Mark Wilcockson, a Northeastern Illinois University finance director. Last summer, he retired from the university, started collecting his pension then, two months later, was hired back to do the same job.
“It’s a benefit I earned after 38 years working in the system,” said Wilcockson about his pension.
Before retiring, Wilcockson was earning $168,648. He returned to the job at a lower salary: $123,000.
However, add in his $101,312 annual pension and his income grew to $224,312.16, a 33% increase in cash.
“I’m sure you’re here because of my salary, my range, because it happens to lots of other people,” said Wilcockson. “There’s faculty. There’s people in the mail room that do this kind of thing.”
He’s right and, again, it is all perfectly legal.
Another example is John Hoeppel, a director at Northeastern Illinois University, who retired making $109,596. Two months later, he was hired back earning $96,000. Add in his $97,896 pension payment, and Hoeppel’s income went up 76% to $193,906.32.
CBS 2 found employees at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the City Colleges of Chicago, and Chicago State University who also retired and returned to draw both a university pension and a university salary.
State Rep. Daniel Biss, (D-Evanston) is taking action now to stop this double-dipping practice. He says the pension systems in Illinois are “troubled”. The former University of Chicago math professor says taxpayers are being hit twice and it needs to stop.
“You have people who are able to retire and move to a different job which is often in violation of the spirit of the law,” says Biss.
Earlier this week, Biss introduced legislation to force universities to reimburse the pension system for double-dipping employees. So, if a university allows an employee to retire and collect a $100,000 pension, and then rehires that person, the university would have to repay that $100,000 to the pension system. This could be an expensive proposition and put and end to the practice.
Christina Tobin, of National Taxpayers United of America, has been investigating the university pension system. She says the collecting of two taxpayer-funded checks needs to stop.
“It’s definitely taking advantage of a flawed system,” says Tobin. “Currently the pension system is unsustainable.”
Tobin says the state has failed to sufficiently fund public employee pensions, putting them in jeopardy, as well as the poorly designed pension system itself.
Wilcockson says you cannot blame retirees.
“There’s nothing wrong with what I did,” said Wilcockson.
The real blame, say pension experts, goes to lawmakers who created the system.
Biss’s proposal was prompted by the CBS 2 investigation. If approved, universities would still be able to rehire retirees, but would be required to reimburse the state for pension payouts to rehired employees while they draw a university salary.
Biss said many retirees get around laws against double dipping by being called “temporary employees,” even though they work full time.
Findings from TUA’s pension project on Columbus, Ohio, are featured in this Associated Press article at 89.7 NPR News. (The original version of this article referred to TUA as a “conservative” group. The error has been omitted below.)
A national group that works to cut pension benefits for government employees is highlighting some payouts to central Ohio workers as a sign of government waste.
Members of Taxpayers United of America began a tour of Ohio on Monday. A new report points to pensions that give a Columbus police deputy $213,000 in annual payouts, $215,000 a year for a state government employee, and $178,000 in annual payouts for a Franklin County government worker.
The group advocates ending pensions for new government hires and requiring workers to pay more toward their pensions.
