"Pension Spiking": California Fire Chief Retires at 51 with $240,000 annual pension.

The Virginian ^ | 7/21/2009 | Moneyrunner

[moneyrunner]

Can we understand why the state of California and its cities are in deep financial trouble?

Pete Nowicki just turned 51 and was eligible to retire. So he did. His pension was full pay (nice), plus he sold his unused vacation and holidays, raising his pension from a very healthy $186,000 to $240,000 - per year.

Pete Nowicki had been making $186,000 shortly before he retired in January as chief for a fire department shared by the municipalities of Orinda and Moraga in Northern California. Three days before Mr. Nowicki announced he was hanging up his hat, department trustees agreed to increase his salary largely by enabling him to sell unused vacation days and holidays. That helped boost his annual pension to $241,000.

..The boost was legal, and Mr. Nowicki said he is receiving a permissible pension. "People point to me as a poster child for pension spiking, but I did not negotiate these rules," he said.

Is this an isolated case?

Mr. Nowicki's situation isn't unique. ....

[bestintxas]

Another article of the problem of bloated public employee pensions.(It will make you mad)
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/07/public_workers_versus_the_publ.html

[ClearCase_guy]

Whenever budget cuts are necessary, they usually seem to hit children’s reading programs, or meals on wheels for seniors. Doing something about inflated pensions for state employees never seems to be considered. How odd.

[Spok]

This is precisely why California must be allowed to solve its own problems. The federal government absolutely should not be taking money from working Americans to fund this kind of idiotic extravagance.

[mbs6]

I have two college degrees, including a Bachelor's of Computer Science from a top level program. I also am a partner in a successful small business which takes lots of work to keep afloat. I'll consider myself lucky if I ever have a single year where I earn $180,000, let alone more than $200,000!

There is virtually no chance that I'll retire in my 50s and when I do so I certainly won't be collecting 100+% of the money I was earning at the time.

Simply put, people like me are Mr. Nowicki's benefactors. Without us working stiffs in the private sector, generating REAL WEALTH (and producing large tax revenues), these government goons would have to face the real world.

[jrp]

Read the whole article. This joker is collecting his pension plus being paid $175K by the county as a “consultant” until they find his replacement. How much more of being brazenly ripped off by their own neighbors are the people of CA going to take?

[CaspersGh0sts]

A firecheif in other parts of the country brings in, say, 70k-80k.

This guy is making more than those, as another poster pointed out, generating real wealth. Definitely making more than the majority of doctors in California, who have at least 11-years of training prior to earning a full salary.

There’s a lot of risk and importance in fighting fires, but I can’t believe this is at all appropriate.