Milwaukee facing pension scandal

Posted 7:22AM on Friday 8th February 2002 ( 23 years ago )

MILWAUKEE - A year ago, the Milwaukee County government made its employee pension plan more generous instead of giving bigger pay raises. But reporters did the math recently and found out that some of the politicians involved stand to get million-dollar payouts when they retire. The findings have caused a scandal in this state long known for its squeaky-clean government. Five Milwaukee County officials, including the plan's chief negotiators, have resigned. Eight others are being targeted for recall by citizens groups. And the state Justice Department's criminal division is investigating. The changes in the pension plan enabled the county to offer only a small pay raise to its full-time work force of 5,800 and avoid a major tax increase. Employees who had worked past their retirement dates could collect retirement benefits retroactively, and employees could collect a bigger portion of their unused sick time at retirement. The pension fund could cover the extra cost because of good investments over the past decade. But then, in recent months, the Web site Milwaukeeworld.com, Milwaukee Magazine and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel took a closer look. The reporters found that the new formula would mean a lump-sum payment of $2.3 million to County Executive F. Thomas Ament, who became eligible to retire in 1996, and payments of $1 million or more to several other county officials. Steven Huff, counsel to the county pension board, said a federal law caps how much Ament, 64, could receive. Still, if Ament were to retire in 2004, he would get a lump sum of $559,000 and an annual pension of $102,000. Ament and county board members have said they should have asked more questions before approving the plan in November 2000, and Ament has signed waivers preventing him from collecting the higher benefits. Enacting it was ``a major mistake,'' Ament said last week. ``I don't believe county government should have the potential for these kinds of payouts.'' The pension rules governing elected officials and other nonunion employees can be changed by passing an ordinance and getting each person's consent. But rescinding the rules for the 4,400 full-time unionized employees would further require the reopening of contract talks, something the biggest union refuses to do. Its current contract expires in 2004. About 300 county employees have retired or plan to retire soon, in most cases because they fear their pension benefits will be rolled back, said Jac Amerell, the head of the county's pension office. Citizens groups have begun a drive to recall Ament and seven members of the 25-person county board. ``I think the vast majority of people don't trust Tom Ament and don't trust county government,'' said Bryan Olen, spokesman for Citizens for a Responsible Government. Ament, who was re-elected in 2000 with about 80 percent of the vote, has filed a lawsuit challenging the signatures that the group has gathered in its effort to force a recall election. The pension plan ``is just one more indication that something is terribly wrong with the way our legislators are acting in a state that has been known as the most upright state in the nation,'' said Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause in Wisconsin, a government watchdog group. District attorneys in two Wisconsin counties are already investigating whether state employees illegally used state resources for political campaigns. And in Milwaukee, Mayor John Norquist has been accused of sexual harassment by a former aide. Norquist has denied the allegations.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/2/203117