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Post by EagleDad on Sept 19, 2009 17:51:03 GMT -6
Here's an idea for everyone - Illinois is a right to hire/fire state. If the right person doesn't like your eye color, you are gone, no explanation, no questions asked. I don't know how that pertains to teachers, but it should IMHO. There's no such thing as a guarantee of employment these in the modern world. Removing it uncovers a whole new echelon of performance.
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Post by doctorwho on Sept 19, 2009 18:26:08 GMT -6
He may have been a good anesthesiologist, but like many doctors, he has absolutely no clue when it comes to financial matters. (Or he's just a lying sack of sh!t.) Does he know how much someone in the private sector would had to have saved in a 401k to spin off annual payments of 447k at retirement? what a pompous ass this guy is-- most people will NEVER save $447K in their 401K let alone that per year. Let me wake this idiot up from his own anesthesia - most large corporations have done away with defined benefit pensions - gojne- poof in a cloud of smoke - for some of us after putting in 25 years at the time... what a jerk wad |
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Post by doctorwho on Sept 19, 2009 18:28:26 GMT -6
Come on macrockett there are many issues I suspect we are in agreement on. My feeelings on pensions are strong because unlike a third high school (that some may feel was unneeded), defined pension plans are the"Gift That Just Keeps on Growing". Macrockett you show some convincing information regarding true costs of the new high school please elaborate as time permits to the cost value (time value of money). As I do a little calculation, if for the sake of argument we agree on a surplus cost of 100 million dollars, how does that affect the average taxpayer. I am not looking for a definitive answer , just a website where I could do my own calculations. On another note I could not help but notice in the last few years my real estate tax bill no longer breaks out the pension part of taxing bodies, anyone have some experience where I can find that info. The tax assessor was quite busy down on 91st street (I did not have the heart to ask them for the info.). By the way if anyone is going to contest at the Will county (91st street) location, the office is down to 2 phone lines, expect Monday to be very busy. I got to go, still have research to do to plead my tax case, at least the girls at the tax office smile when I arrive. tipping my hat to you on fighting for what is right on your tax bill-- good luck |
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Post by southsidesignmaker on Sept 19, 2009 19:14:13 GMT -6
Doc, Easy now I don,t want to get the smelling salts out. Half a million in pension and a crappy attitude to go along with it, just makes one wonder.
Seriously many of these examples are absurd and one must remember that the teaching staff that relies on these pensions do not have the luxury of social security (another system in serious need of an overhaul, though lets get to medicare first imo). The pension for the average retiring teacher is much less and considering the pay has been below market (well before the market crashed and burned), there needs to be some leeway for promises made.
Going forward though the idea of defined pensions plays like a bad record. I just hope that union management and others can see the long term situation these pensions will have. It will make a 100 million school at a yearly cost of +/- 7 million look like chump change when compared to the long term payout of the pension liabilities. But remember we will be paying in future dollars which makes the cost so much more palpable.
Has anyone figured "if there was a major bout of disinflation or near 0% inflation throw into the mix" what would happen. I suspect disinflation is a new idea for some, while a reality for others. An ugly reality if it proves to come true.
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Post by macrockett on Sept 19, 2009 19:15:34 GMT -6
Taxpayers on hook for city employee pensions
Comments
September 23, 2007
For every dollar the city of Chicago collects in property taxes, about 47 cents goes toward pensions -- for police officers, firefighters, garbage collectors and other city workers.
The amount of money in those funds is growing, but not as fast as the amount needed for current and future pensions.
These pension funds are invested in a variety of ways. How well those investments perform matters to taxpayers, as well as future retirees: If the investments fare poorly, taxpayers could end up paying more in taxes.
Three of the four city pension funds have invested in a "high-risk/high-return'' real estate company co-owned by Mayor Daley's nephew Robert G. Vanecko. The only one that didn't invest was the Chicago firefighters pension plan.
Vanecko's company also got investments from the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund and the CTA Employees Retirement Plan.
In a potential sign of trouble down the road, each of the pension funds -- like most public pensions these days -- faces a widening gap between its assets and the amount of money it expects to ultimately have to pay retirees.
Their investments are growing, but not as fast as the anticipated future pension payouts.
The CTA fund is in the worst shape of any public pension plan in Illinois, according to a recent state report.
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Post by macrockett on Sept 19, 2009 19:20:52 GMT -6
Union salaries boost pensions from city
Comments
September 14, 2009
Three men who once ran Laborers' International Union Local 1001 -- a union with a history of mob ties that represents Chicago garbage collectors -- are now getting city pensions based on the salaries they got from the union.
All three once worked for the city. All three moved on to work for the union. But even after leaving their city jobs, they remained in a city pension plan but got credit for their time with the union -- and, thanks to an obscure state law that allows all of this, were able to have their city pensions calculated based on their union salaries. In each case, the result was a higher pension.
The three:
Bruno F. Caruso -- a reputed mobster forced to resign from the union's leadership in 2001 -- gets a city pension of $97,205 a year, based on his salary with Local 1001. Caruso is a nephew of the late Ald. Fred Roti (1st), who, according to FBI documents made public only after his death, allegedly was a "made member" of the Chicago Outfit. Caruso was superintendent of pavement repairs when he quit to go to work for the union. Caruso contributed a total of $217,036 toward his city pension. So far, he has collected more than $850,000 since retiring in 1998.
Nicholas Gironda -- who's a cousin of Caruso's and ran the union after Caruso resigned -- has an annual city pension of $71,029, again based on his salary with the union. He was forced out of the union in 2004 amid an internal investigation by the union's parent organization. Gironda contributed $64,121 toward his pension. He has collected more than $600,000 since he retired in 1998.
Sam DeChristopher -- another union leader who resigned along with Gironda -- has a yearly city pension of $71,856, also based on his union salary. He began collecting his city pension shortly before he was forced out of the union.
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Post by macrockett on Sept 19, 2009 19:24:27 GMT -6
How Topinka got such a sweet deal
$141,482 A YEAR | And it's based on a salary she never was paid
Comments
September 11, 2009
Former Illinois Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka has one of the biggest state pensions -- and it's based on a salary she never received.
That's because of another of the many peculiarities of a pension system Illinois legislators created that enriches themselves and statewide officials like Topinka, who carefully crafted an image as a fiscal conservative so cautious with a buck that she bought her clothes at thrift shops.
Topinka's current yearly pension is $141,482.
That's 23 percent more than what she was making when she retired from state government in January 2007.
Topinka's pension isn't based on her final salary of $115,235.
Instead, it's based on a salary of $130,324 -- the salary that had been set for the state treasurer's post at that time but which the Illinois Legislature didn't fund at that level until seven months after she retired, according to Timothy Blair, administrator of the General Assembly Retirement System.
Legislators' pensions are based on "the salary they are entitled to, whether they are receiving it or not,'' Blair said. "She was legally entitled to it, but the raise wasn't funded until after she retired.''
For serving 20 years in state government, Topinka was entitled to a pension based on 85 percent of her final salary.
But she held office -- as a state legislator and treasurer -- for just more than 26 years.
So, under the state's pension system covering elected officials, she got an additional 3 percent for each year beyond 20 years in office -- a total bump of 21 percent.
She has also gotten two automatic cost-of-living raises of 3 percent each -- and she'll keep getting those annual raises as long as she lives.
Topinka, 65, a Republican from Riverside, didn't return calls seeking comment.
Topinka is attempting a political comeback, running for state comptroller next year. If she wins, her state pension will be suspended.
She has the second-highest pension of any legislator. Ten percent of retired lawmakers have gotten more than $1 million each in retirement benefits.
In the two-plus years since she retired, Topinka has collected $340,076 from her state pension.
And she's still getting another government paycheck -- $25,000 a year for serving on the board of the RTA.
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wow this entire article is disgusting!
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Post by doctorwho on Sept 19, 2009 19:27:11 GMT -6
Doc, Easy now I don,t want to get the smelling salts out. Half a million in pension and a crappy attitude to go along with it, just makes one wonder. Seriously many of these examples are absurd and one must remember that the teaching staff that relies on these pensions do not have the luxury of social security (another system in serious need of an overhaul, though lets get to medicare first imo). The pension for the average retiring teacher is much less and considering the pay has been below market (well before the market crashed and burned), there needs to be some leeway for promises made. Going forward though the idea of defined pensions plays like a bad record. I just hope that union management and others can see the long term situation these pensions will have. It will make a 100 million school at a yearly cost of +/- 7 million look like chump change when compared to the long term payout of the pension liabilities. But remember we will be paying in future dollars which makes the cost so much more palpable. Has anyone figured "if there was a major bout of disinflation or near 0% inflation throw into the mix" what would happen. I suspect disinflation is a new idea for some, while a reality for others. An ugly reality if it proves to come true. I brought the spectre of deflation up to that financial genius on the Sun boards- jlyc - likely your Fred Flinstone - when the " would you have rather paid for the school up front instead of over 20 years due to time value of money- comment. ( of course I would have preferred not to pay for it at all) It is a distinct possibility - although like you said for those not familiar with what that could do- it is a far more daunting issue than inflation- agreed. And while I agree some on the 'average teacher' - that gap has been closing for years- especially in areas like ours and even much more so like in the north suburbs.... and social security- in order to make that count for anything 2 key points- one really mut work until their full retirement age to make it amount to anything ( for many that would be 70 before taking it - for us old timers slightly less- and a teacher can still work then and get their entire pension - with SS ones benefits gets reduced $1 for every $2 earned in another job over the minimum amount allowed. For some with a good job that would cancel out SS until full retirement age... teachers do not pay into SS- therefore taking that money and putting it in a 401K means it's actually their money - unlike SS. many people never live long enough to see a cent - and also unlike a pension - you can't will your SS to anyone. |
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Post by doctorwho on Sept 19, 2009 19:31:02 GMT -6
Union salaries boost pensions from city
Comments
September 14, 2009
Three men who once ran Laborers' International Union Local 1001 -- a union with a history of mob ties that represents Chicago garbage collectors -- are now getting city pensions based on the salaries they got from the union.
All three once worked for the city. All three moved on to work for the union. But even after leaving their city jobs, they remained in a city pension plan but got credit for their time with the union -- and, thanks to an obscure state law that allows all of this, were able to have their city pensions calculated based on their union salaries. In each case, the result was a higher pension.The three: Bruno F. Caruso -- a reputed mobster forced to resign from the union's leadership in 2001 -- gets a city pension of $97,205 a year, based on his salary with Local 1001. Caruso is a nephew of the late Ald. Fred Roti (1st), who, according to FBI documents made public only after his death, allegedly was a "made member" of the Chicago Outfit. Caruso was superintendent of pavement repairs when he quit to go to work for the union. Caruso contributed a total of $217,036 toward his city pension. So far, he has collected more than $850,000 since retiring in 1998. Nicholas Gironda -- who's a cousin of Caruso's and ran the union after Caruso resigned -- has an annual city pension of $71,029, again based on his salary with the union. He was forced out of the union in 2004 amid an internal investigation by the union's parent organization. Gironda contributed $64,121 toward his pension. He has collected more than $600,000 since he retired in 1998. Sam DeChristopher -- another union leader who resigned along with Gironda -- has a yearly city pension of $71,856, also based on his union salary. He began collecting his city pension shortly before he was forced out of the union. and we're being asked to turn over more control of our lives and money to the government - yeah, sign me up for that -  |
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Post by macrockett on Sept 19, 2009 19:34:12 GMT -6
Biggest pension in city, courtesy of labor
Pension for ex-city steamroller operator isn't based on his city paychecks -- it's tied to his salary as a powerful union boss
Comments
September 14, 2009
BY TIM NOVAK AND ART GOLAB Staff Reporters
City Hall's biggest pension doesn't go to a police superintendent, fire commissioner or even an alderman.
It's paid to a former steamroller operator named Dennis J. Gannon.
But Gannon's City Hall pension -- $153,649 a year -- isn't based on what he was paid as a steamroller operator and foreman for the city's Department of Streets and Sanitation.
Instead, Gannon took advantage of a little-known state law that allowed him to base his taxpayer-supported pension on his much-larger salary as president of the Chicago Federation of Labor, a private organization that represents more than 300 unions affiliated with the AFL-CIO.
And he didn't even have to retire as the federation president. He's still in that job, which paid him $215,484 in 2007, the most recent figures available.
Thanks to that law, Gannon now collects a city pension that's nearly three times what he made at City Hall. He began collecting that pension five years ago, when he was 50. By the time he turns 70, that city pension will have paid him a total of more than $3 million.
Gannon is perhaps the city's most prominent labor leader. When Mayor Daley was seeking cost-cutting concessions from city workers this summer, he turned to Gannon -- and largely got them.
Dates back to 1957
Gannon defends his city pension deal.
"I'm probably not the only labor guy taking advantage of that state law,'' Gannon said.
He's right. A Chicago Sun-Times examination of the state's 17 largest government retirement plans found more than five dozen retired government workers whose pensions are based not on their public salaries but, instead, on what they were paid by labor unions, lobbying groups and other non-governmental organizations.
The practice goes back to at least 1957, when Illinois legislators passed a law allowing employees of the Illinois Municipal League -- a non-governmental agency that lobbies Illinois lawmakers on behalf of suburbs and cities -- to be part of the state's generous pension plan. Other laws expanded the practice.
Among those who've benefitted:
Reginald L. Weaver, a former elementary school teacher in Harvey, gets a yearly state pension of $226,485 based on his salary as president of the National Education Association in Washington, D.C. He began collecting his state pension in August 2008, a dozen years after he took a leave of absence from the Harvey schools to become a labor leader.
Weaver, 70, has 44 years of service with the Illinois Teachers' Retirement System, including 12 years with the NEA and the Illinois Education Association, two labor groups representing teachers. Weaver contributed about $200,000 toward his state pension, state records show, while the unions contributed about $492,000.
"It's unfortunate that people focus on a pension rather than why kids in urban areas aren't receiving the education they should," Weaver said. "Those are the kinds of things I wish people would focus on.''
Kenneth Alderson gets a state pension of $175,479 based on his pay as executive director of the Illinois Municipal League. Alderson, a onetime state employee, spent 36 years with the lobby group. Before he retired in January 2008, the league gave Alderson several raises that helped him get one of the biggest pensions from the Illinois Municipal Retirement League, the state pension plan for local governments.
Alderson contributed $148,678 toward his state pension -- he has already recovered all of the money he invested -- while the Illinois Municipal League contributed $1.7 million toward his pension, according to Louis Kosiba, the retirement plan's executive director. While Alderson gets to benefit from being in a government pension plan, his pension won't cost taxpayers any money, Kosiba said.
James J. McNally, another former steamroller operator for the City of Chicago, gets an annual city pension of $114,935 based on the salary he made as business agent for Local 150 of the International Union of Operating Engineers. His pension is twice his final city salary as a foreman of steamroller operators.
McNally, 53, started working for the city when he was 18. As a city employee, McNally was a member of Local 150. He went to work for the union in 1995 as its business manager, helping negotiate contracts with government agencies, according to the union's Web site.
Credited for union service
While McNally worked for the union, he remained in the city pension plan, getting credit for his years of service with the union. He had 34 years of combined service with the city and the union -- enough for a maximum pension -- when he decided to retire in March 2008 so he could collect his city pension. Shortly after he retired, McNally was appointed vice president of Local 150.
McNally contributed nearly $271,000 toward his pension. So far, he has collected more than $160,000.
"I really don't know how I found out about this," McNally said of the pension law he took advantage of. "I had to pay the city's portion, as well as my own portion. It was a financial hardship on me. I guess good things come to those who wait."
Gannon's pension deal is just like McNally's. Gannon was 19 when he started driving a steamroller for Chicago's Department of Streets and Sanitation in 1973. He'd moved up to foreman, making $55,700 a year, when he took a leave of absence in 1994 to go to work for Local 150 as business agent. Gannon never returned to the city payroll -- but he remained in the city pension system, piling up credits for his union service. He joined the Chicago Federation of Labor in 1995, while continuing to amass credits toward his city pension.
Since retiring Jan. 31, 2004, under one of Daley's early-retirement programs, Gannon has collected about $800,000 from his pension. Gannon had contributed $403,175 toward his pension, including an unspecified amount the Chicago Federation of Labor was required to pay on Gannon's behalf.
"I worked for the city since 1973," Gannon said. "I got no free meal ticket here."
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Post by macrockett on Sept 19, 2009 19:41:04 GMT -6
A year after retiring, Jones to get 51% boost
$168,661 A YEAR | Longevity bonus plus annual cost-of-living hike
Comments
September 11, 2009
Emil Jones Jr. is about to hit the pension jackpot.
The retired Illinois Senate president's state pension this year: $81,016.
In January, a year after his retirement, it skyrockets 51 percent, to $122,334, far more than his final Senate salary of $95,313.
That's when the Chicago Democrat cashes in on two pension sweeteners that legislators set up for themselves: a longevity bonus for serving more than 20 years in the Illinois Legislature and a cost-of-living increase.
Jones also has three other government pensions:
$41,824 a year for his 21 years as a City of Chicago sewer inspector.
$3,188 for his two years as a Cook County employee.
And $1,315 for his 1½ years as a laborer with the Chicago Park District.
Jones, 73, began collecting those pensions 16 years ago, while serving as a state senator.
He didn't respond to interview requests.
Jones was a state senator in 1989 when the Legislature passed a law to enrich the pensions of legislators who serve beyond 20 years. At that point, they qualify for a pension equal to 85 percent of their final salary. For each additional year, they get 3 percent more. They have to be retired for one year before they get those bonuses.
Jones spent 36 years in the Legislature -- with those 16 years beyond 20 years of service entitling him to a 48 percent bump in his pension in January.
Others who have received longevity bonuses include Senate President James "Pate'' Philip (R-Wood Dale) and Rep. Ralph Capparelli (D-Chicago). Longevity bonuses are available only to those who held office before 2003 -- when legislators outlawed the bonuses.
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Post by Arch on Sept 19, 2009 19:54:03 GMT -6
This state is so F*'d.
It's a top down attitude that people think they can do whatever they want and make everyone else pay for it.... BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO.
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Post by macrockett on Sept 19, 2009 19:54:56 GMT -6
Pension millionaires
Dr. Alon P. Winnie
Former anesthesiology chairman, U. of I. Medical Center and Cook County Hospital
Age: 77
Final salary: $157,779 in 1998 from UIC, unavailable from Cook County, where he retired in 2001
Combined pensions: $447,233 a year -- the richest government pension in Illinois
His pension contributions: $462,697 for state pension; unavailable for county
Total pension received: More than $3 million since 1998
The story: A renowned anesthesiologist who wrote several textbooks, Winnie was 65 when he started collecting his state pension in 1998. Continued working at Cook County Hospital until December 2001. Gets two pensions: $162,293 a year for his 21 years with the state and $284,940 for his 22 years with the county. The pension plan for state university employees has two different formulas; Winnie took the one that nearly doubled his pension.
Quote: "We probably work harder than other physicians do,'' Winnie said. "If you were with a good company, you'd have a helluva lot better benefits.''
Dawn Clark Netsch
Former state comptroller
Age: 82
Final salary: $84,529 in 1995
Original pension: $71,850
Current pension: $114,733
Her pension contributions: $87,562
Total pension received: $1.4 million since January 1995.
The story: Chicago Democrat served more than 22 years as a state senator and comptroller. After losing the governor's race, she retired in January 1995. For serving more than 20 years, she got a 9 percent pension boost. Also gets cost-of-living increases.
Today: Northwestern University law professor
Quote: "I know I get a big pension. What am I supposed to do? Refuse it?'' Netsch said. "There's no question there has to be changes made in the public employee retirement system.''
Arthur Berman
Former state senator
Age: 74
Final salary: $59,657 as a senator in 2000
Original pension: $119,439
Current combined pensions: $196,700
His pension contributions: $109,293
Total pension received: $1.3 million from the General Assembly pension plan since September 2001.
The story: Chicago Democrat's state pension isn't based on 85 percent of his final salary as a senator, but on the $140,516-a-year job he got from the Chicago Board of Education after he left the Senate. He's one of many legislators who used a law they passed to get inflated pensions based on taking a short-term, higher-paying government job. Also got a 36 percent longevity boost for serving 32 years as a legislator, plus yearly 3 percent cost-of-living raises.
Today: A lawyer
Quote: "What I receive in pension is what the law provides for me,'' Berman told the Sun-Times six years ago, when his pension was $164,612.
Timothy Degnan
Former state senator
Age: 69
Final salary: $35,661 as a senator in 1989
Original pension: $88,006
Current combined pensions: $119,421
His pension contributions: $85,291
Total pension received: $1.2 million since August 1995, when he was 55
The story: Nearly tripled his state pension by having it based on the $103,536 salary he got as Mayor Daley's first patronage director, rather than his final Senate salary of $35,661. It's one of many ways legislators have inflated their pensions. Degnan spent 11 years in the Senate, leaving in April 1989 to work for Daley, whose patronage operation he ran until he retired in 1995. Gets automatic 3 percent yearly cost-of-living raises.
Today: Runs Glenrock Co., a supplier of construction materials.
James R. Thompson
Former governor
Age: 73
Final salary: $93,266 in 1991
Original pension: $79,276
Current pension: $119,912
His pension contributions: $84,996
Total pension received: $1.7 million since 1991, when he was 55.
The story: His pension has risen 50 percent since he retired, thanks to cost-of-living increases.
Today: Four-term Republican governor is a rainmaker at Winston & Strawn, the law firm that defended former Gov. George Ryan for free.
Ed Kelly
Former Chicago Park District superintendent
Age: 85
Final average salary: $76,835
Original pension: $57,627
Current pension: $95,714
His pension contributions: $79,983
Total pension received: $1.7 million since 1986
The story: Pension has risen 66 percent since he retired, thanks to cost-of-living increases. Kelly spent 37 years with the Park District, including 15 years as superintendent. Also ran the powerful 47th Ward Democratic Organization under the late Mayor Richard J. Daley.
Quote: "I was in my office at 7 in the morning, and I was the last to leave,'' Kelly said. "I don't want to be put in the category of some politician that has two pensions, three pensions.''
Dr. Riad Barmada
Former head of orthopedic surgery, University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago
Age: 80
Final average salary: $334,355 a year
Original pension: $262,968 a year
Current pension: $364,165 a year
His pension contributions: $787,226, including interest
Total pension received: $3.58 million from the State Universities Retirement System since January 1998
The story: Barmada was 69 when he retired from UIC after 36 years. Government pensions increase 3 percent a year, which now gives him a pension that exceeds his final salary.
Quote: "I don't think it's really overboard,'' Barmada said. "They don't talk about the years of service and the much lower income you get.''
Henry "Hank'' Bangser
Former New Trier High School superintendent
Age: 60
Final average salary: $307,375 in 2006
Current pension: $230,531
His pension contributions: $455,244
Total pension received: $1.1 million since July 2006.
The story: Got 20 percent raises each of his last four years at New Trier, a common practice school districts use to inflate pensions for educators -- paid by taxpayers statewide. Legislators have tried to curb this practice, now requiring school districts to make pension contributions for any raise beyond 6 percent. Now that he's 60, Bangser's pension will increase 3 percent a year. If he lives to 80, he could collect nearly $8 million.
Today: CEO of Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates, a recruitment firm that New Trier used to pick Bangser's replacement. The company was started by William Attea, a retired school superintendent from Glenview who has collected more than $2 million in pension money since 1994.
U.S. Sen. Roland Burris
Former attorney general, comptroller
Age: 72
Final salary: $93,333 in 1995
Original pension: $82,904
Current pension: $121,747
His pension contributions: $134,680
Total pension received: $1.4 million starting in 1995, when he was 57
The story: Chicago Democrat served 12 years as state comptroller and eight as attorney general. After losing race for governor, retired in January 1995. Pension has risen nearly 50 percent thanks to cost-of-living raises.
Today: Has been under fire since December, when then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich named him to fill President Obama's former U.S. Senate seat. Has said he won't seek election to the Senate seat next year. With his state pension and $174,000 federal paycheck, annual pay is $295,747.
John Friedland
Former state representative
Age: 71
Final salary: $35,661 as a legislator in 1992
Original pension: $89,656
Current combined pensions: $132,705
His pension contributions: $66,716
Total pension received: $1.7 million since January 1993, when he was 55 -- the youngest that a legislator can collect a state pension. Collected more pension money than any other retired legislator.
The story: A Republican from South Elgin, Friedland was a pension expert and served on the Senate Pension Committee. Was among the first legislators to get an inflated state pension based on a job with another government agency -- a practice since outlawed for those elected after 1995. Friedland got a $96,000-a-year job at the Fox River Water Reclamation District, working for just two months so he could nearly triple his legislative pension. Got an extra 12 percent for serving longer than 20 years, plus 3 percent cost-of-living increases.
U.S. District Judge George Lindberg
Former Illinois judge, comptroller, legislator
Age: 77
Final salary: $87,780 as a state appellate judge
Combined pensions: $114,973
His pension contributions: $86,767
Total pension received: $1.7 million from three state pension funds since 1989
The story: A Republican, Lindberg served seven years in the Legislature, four years as state comptroller, two as deputy attorney general and 11 as an appellate judge. Began collecting his state pensions in 1989, when President George H.W. Bush appointed him a federal judge in Chicago.
Today: On part-time status as a federal judge, paid $174,000, making his combined annual income $288,973.
Quote: "I contributed 11 percent of my salary,'' Lindberg said. "It's painful when you're paying in. It's been a good investment.''
Manford Byrd Jr.
Former Chicago schools superintendent
Age: 81
Final average salary: $131,952
Combined pensions: $168,224
His pension contributions: $125,561
Total pension received: $1.7 million from the Chicago teachers pension fund since 1990
The story: A 36-year educator, Byrd spent four years as superintendent. Was ousted during the 1989 school reform movement, but continued working for the schools as a paid consultant. Retired in March 1990. Also has a small state pension from five years as a Downstate teacher.
Quote: "I don't think they were unfair to me,'' Byrd said, noting his pension is less than what many suburban superintendents get.
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Post by Arch on Sept 19, 2009 19:59:02 GMT -6
Crime really does pay.
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Post by macrockett on Sept 19, 2009 20:00:09 GMT -6
In Chicago, a public pension -- and a paycheck
Retire on Friday, start a new job on Monday -- and we pay for it all
Comments
September 13, 2009
BY TIM NOVAK AND ART GOLAB Staff Reporters
John Plezbert found a painless way to double his income.
He retired.
Plezbert was just 49, a few weeks shy of his 50th birthday, when he retired in June 2006 as Mayor Daley's first deputy commissioner of general services -- a job that paid $124,944.
Three days later, he started a new job -- as the $155,324-a-year first deputy director of the mayor's Public Building Commission.
Between his city pension and his city job, Plezbert now makes $246,721 a year.
Plezbert, 53, is a Bridgeport resident with ties to the Daley family's longtime political base, the 11th Ward Regular Democratic Organization.
Under state law, people with 30 years of service with the city of Chicago or Cook County government can start collecting a lifetime of pension checks when they turn 50. Other government workers have to wait till their 55th birthday.
Increasingly, clout-heavy double-dippers retire from one job as soon as they can, then, like Plezbert, find another government job covered by a separate pension plan.
t's a benefit t"It's no longer a pension they're receiving based on their inability to work; it's just another level of compensation,'' said Laurence J. Msall, president of the Civic Federation, a Chicago watchdog group that has studied government pensions in Illinois. "There's no reason why the government would provide such generous benefits, which are then compounded by service in other units of government -- all paid for by the taxpayer.''
'It's a benefit to the taxpayers'
Thomas G. Byrne and Dana V. Starks, two high-ranking police officers, each retired with lucrative pensions, then immediately started high-paying jobs in Daley's cabinet.
Byrne has nearly doubled his taxpayer-paid income since he retired from the Chicago Police Department four years ago. Now the city's streets and sanitation commissioner, Byrne takes home a combined $272,584 from his City Hall paycheck and his police pension.
Starks saw his yearly income jump 53 percent when he retired from the Police Department to take a job at City Hall as the mayor's human relations commissioner. Starks now gets a combined $263,897 from his city job and his police pension.
Starks and Byrne didn't return calls seeking comment. Byrne's spokesman referred questions to Daley's press secretary, Jacquelyn Heard.
"I am, by no means, faulting taxpayers for looking askance at this," Heard said. "The thing is, they are out of no more money than if the jobs had been given to two other people. In some cases, it's a benefit to the taxpayers because we're getting someone with a higher skill level.
"In the case of Dana Starks, he was due his pension, and he was going to draw that from the Police Department. At the same time, we needed someone at the Department of Human Relations. Here, we have a person who has the skill sets. He can hit the ground running. He can start improving relations throughout the city. He had other job offers, and we didn't want to lose him.''
There's a better way, according to Dawn Clark Netsch, a former Illinois state comptroller. She thinks government employees should no longer be allowed to receive full retirement benefits if they retire as young as their 50s, saying that only adds to the financial problems facing all taxpayer-funded pension plans in Illinois.
"One of the things that has to be done is to raise the retirement age," said Netsch, who was 68 when she began collecting her own state pension. "The unions will be unhappy. But that's too bad. It's something that needs to be done because people are living longer. That's one thing that adds enormously to the [pension] liability. It accumulates hugely because they live so long.''
'Why should I give up my pension?'
Cook County Commissioner Earlean Collins also gets a pension as a retired state senator. She argues there's nothing wrong with someone collecting a government pension at the same time they get a salary from taxpayers. She makes $85,000 in her county post and collects a $75,921 yearly pension.
"When I left the Senate, I left the Senate to retire,'" said Collins, who so far has collected more than $700,000 in pension checks. "Later, I decided to run for that [County Board] seat. Why should I give up my pension? You think I don't have a right to my own money? Every politician is not out here ripping off. Tell the truth about the whole story . . . that it's legal. Change the law so you can't do that."
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