Posted on 05/13/2009 10:07:59 PM PDT by george76
CRAIG BOWEN'S SALARY during his final year as chief of the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District was about $221,000 a year. So how did he end up retiring in December with a tax-advantaged annual pension of $284,000?
The answer provides an amazing case study that highlights problems with public employee compensation and reveals tricks that allow workers to spike their pensions at the expense of their fellow employees and taxpayers.
The Bowen story has some similarities to the case I examined last month of Peter Nowicki, the chief of the Moraga Orinda Fire District who was able to turn his $185,000 annual salary into a $241,000 yearly pension. While each public agency has different rules that provide new ways to take advantage of retirement systems, many of the lessons can be applied across the board.
In Bowen's case, residents of the fire district serving Danville, San Ramon, Alamo, Blackhawk and Diablo should pay close attention because they got shafted. The San Ramon district's flawed compensation system and generous rules for pension calculations allowed Bowen to increase his starting pension from about $193,000 to $284,000 a year — a 47 percent increase.
The pension will be increased in future years for inflation.
Bowen was only 51 years old when he retired at the end of 2008.
(Excerpt) Read more at contracostatimes.com ...
Wow, i knew pension plans were a problem, but I didn’t realize they were this generous.
http://b2.caspio.com/dp.asp?AppKey=92721000f5a6h1f9a6j5j3d3f5d5
______________________________________
You can view the same data for many CA cities and counties, as well as CA state universities here:
______________________________________
More on CA pensions:
California State Workers - Retire Early - Collect $100,000 to almost $ 500,000 - FOR LIFE ! (FR thread)
A new Website - shows the names of nearly 5,000 retired state workers who are collecting at least $100,000 a year.
-end excerpt-
Worth reading the entire article. The CA public pension system is outrageous.
Link didn’t work for me. Try this one:
http://www.contracostatimes.com/danielborenstein/ci_12265599
Fascinating - the guy must have planned that for years.
The problem I have with the system is the “public safety” workers, as this article singles out. I found the benefits of the average employee to be pretty much in line with private employer pension plans.
The sick thing is, that despite exposé after exposé, they refuse to do anything about it. Instead, Arnie&Co mislead the public into believing that the only solution is to throw the entire system out and hand it over to their Madoff-like cronies who would like nothing more than to skim a healthy portion off the top.
I want state employees to get a fair and competitive salary with reasonable and competitive benefits. I just want the state to have a stripped down mission with vastly fewer employees. Both are possible if we could ever find ‘leaders’ that were truly interested in serving the public.
My guess Michigan isn’t far behind, but I have no data to prove it...
Disagree there. I haven't seen much better than a 401(k) or 403(b) anywhere. Given the job security and medical benefits of State employment, their retirement package is IMO, opulent.
The End of Prosperity: How Higher Taxes Will Doom the Economy--If We Let It Happen
The chapter's entitled: Bankruptcy 90210: As Goes California, So Goes the Nation.
Scary preview of coming attractions...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.