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Highlands Today

Double-Dipping

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By GARY PINNELL

Highlands Today

Published: April 2, 2009

SEBRING - After Bob Germaine was elected Highlands County Clerk of Courts, he retired in December from his old job, senior director of court services. For the rest of his life, he'll get a check from the Florida Retirement System.

In January, as an elected official, Germaine started getting another check from Highlands County. His salary is $112,000 a year.

State Sen. Mike Fasano calls that double-dipping, and he's filed SB 1182 to end the practice, which he thinks is costing Florida taxpayers $300 million per year.

In June, when the St. Petersburg Times began looking at double- and triple-dippers, the Florida Retirement System had about 9,400 members collecting paychecks and pensions at the same time. It's still growing.

The Times assembled this widespread double-dipping list: 14 sheriffs, 11 circuit clerks, three state attorneys, four public defenders, 24 judges, eight property appraisers, seven tax collectors, two election supervisors, school board members from 44 of Florida's 67 counties, county commissioners from 21 counties, and officials in 26 towns and cities.

It's the same in Highlands County: Budget Manager Tim Mechling doesn't know about the constitutional offices of election secretary, property appraiser, sheriff, tax collector and clerk of court, but he thinks about a dozen Highlands County employees are drawing paychecks and pensions.

"That's just a straight guess, because we're not required to keep track of them," Mechling said. And that number could include federal pensioners or pensioners from other states. Before he retired a second time last year, the number also included the county administrator, Carl Cool, who opted into the Deferred Retirement Option Program, which was authorized by the state of Florida.

Another Side

"I don't really see where they're going to be gaining anything from it," said Phil Williams. Today, he is the chief of the Lake Placid Police Department. Before this millennium started, however, he was a lieutenant for Indian River County Sheriff's Office, supervising internal affairs, media relations and officer accreditations.

Lake Placid must pay a police chief, he pointed out, and Williams will receive his Florida Retirement System check whether he works there or not.

"I could go to Georgia, or South Carolina. I was offered a job in South Dakota," he said.

Mayor Tom Katsanis, known as a fiscal conservative in Lake Placid, understands why Sen. Fasano wants to save money.

"They're trying to cut their costs," he reasoned. "I guess the state has to cut back, one way or the other."

But he resents the Legislature telling local governments what to do.

"They're so screwed up as it is," Katsanis said. "And they're coming into my territory. We can run our business without them telling us how. If you have a qualified guy like Phil Williams, who is fully trained, and knows the law, and has good experience, should we hire him, or a neophyte?"

"They're going to lose a lot of talent," Williams warned. "These governments have spent thousands of dollars, schooling and training and cultivating the final product of that employee."

The DROP, he said, "seemed like such a great deal. There were a lot of bored, old retired people who wanted something to do. And what else did they know how to do? Home Depot? Wal-Mart?

Equal Treatment

"I'm doing a higher risk job right now than I did have," Williams said. "I certainly don't have any guilt feelings." Nor does Germaine.

"I worked 38 years for that check," the clerk of courts said. "If you were retired from business, you could run for clerk, and you're not going to forfeit your retirement check."

The Sebring City Council rehired Bob Hoffman after he retired as the city administrator because he was uniquely qualified for the job of mentoring new city manager Scott Noethlich.

"We needed him a little longer for this transition of the city administrator," Mayor George Hensley explained. "There are projects that Bob was qualified for, that would be very beneficial to us."

"I don't see a problem with people who come back to work," Hensley reasoned. "Suppose he retired and came back to work for XYZ Corporation? If that job needed to be filled, and you hired Jimmy Off-The-Street to do the job, you'd still have that person on salary."

Fasano's bill affects every employee in the Florida Retirement System who then takes a new job under the FRS, said Greg Giordano, Fasano's chief legislative aide. Current retirees who have new FRS jobs are grandfathered. If the bill becomes law, the FRS would suspend retirement pay for employees who take new jobs under the FRS after Jan. 1, 2010.

Highlands Today senior reporter Gary Pinnell can be reached at 863-386-5828 or gpinnell@highlandstoday.com.

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