So what's the deal with ex-Trustee Lowe's 'pension'; lips are sealed

When former Knox County Trustee Mike Lowe pleaded guilty to felony theft last month a big question on everyone’s mind was whether he would keep his pension

Well, first there’s no guarantee he has a pension, but he did have a county retirement account. At one time.

County officials prior to the early 1990s had pensions. The county then set up an “asset accumulation” retirement plan, which acts like a 401(k), and invited employees to join it. Most did. Hey, the 90s where booming and there was a ton of coin to be made.

From what I understand, Lowe was enrolled in the asset accumulation plan – or at least he got under it – before he left the county.

From what I’ve gathered, he also withdrew that money, but I’m not positive.

So, will he lose his pension for pleading guilty? No. He more than likely didn’t have one. Will he lose his retirement? No, he more than likely withdrew it (and probably took a massive hit from the IRS.)

Will we ever know?

Probably not.

I submitted a request to the pension board, which in turn was handed over to the board’s attorneys.

They told me to go play in traffic. Albeit, politely.

They said the pension board is unable to provide me with access to Lowe’s file or respond to my questions. The attorneys then cited Tennessee Code Annotated Section 10-7-504(f)(1) and said the information is confidential.

That TCA code notes the following as confidential:

Bank account and individual health savings account, retirement account, and pension account information, provided that nothing shall limit access to financial records of a governmental employer that show the amounts and sources of contributions to such accounts or the amount of pension or retirement benefits provided to the employee or former employee by the governmental employer.

Whatever. The board still could have said whether he keeps it or not. Answering that question is not confidential.

Pension board election set for 2-12

The Knox County Retirement and Pension Board will hold an election for two of its employee representative seats.

These elections are confined only to county employees, so if you don’t work for the county, then you can’t vote.

Which really doesn’t matter, since most of you probably don’t vote anyway.

Heh.

Anyhoo, the 9-member board is comprised of four county employees who represent different retirement plans (ie. school plan, sheriff's office plan); four county commissioners; and the county mayor, although the county’s finance director typically serves as his proxy.

Seat “A” currently held by Robin Moody, who serves as the board’s secretary and works in the school system’s benefits department, and Seat “B”, currently held by long-time member, Knox County Sheriff’s Office and current board chairman Rick Trott, are up.

According to a memo – click for it RIGHT SMACK HERE – potential candidates can obtain a qualifying petition from the retirement office.

The election is set for Feb. 12.

I’m not sure how much the election will cost, but probably not a whole lot. According to the election commission, the pension office folks will use their people to work Election Day, and they’ll use paper ballots to save costs.

(The election office will count ballots and provide locked ballot boxes.)

The last time the pension board held an election (It think it was a few years ago), a whopping 190 county employees voted in it.

Duncan retirement talks cost $568

For what it’s worth. Looks like one of the county pension board’s law firms billed the board some $568 in September as officials figured out just how much of his retirement former Knox County Trustee John Duncan III should get back.

At this point, it looks like he’ll get back all the money he put in. However, the coin from the county match will go into an escrow account (where it will still lose or gain) for now. If Duncan, who pleaded guilty to felony official misconduct in July, completes the terms of judicial diversion, then he’ll get the rest.

If not, then, well, no.

Here’s a look at the receipts from attorney Bill Mason of Kennerly, Montgomery and Finley:

Sept. 11: Billed for 30 minutes to the tune of $55.50 for an office consultation with Bill Mason, regarding “J. Duncan’s guilty plea to official misconduct and whether plea would result in forfeiture of retirement plan benefit.”

 Sept. 11: Billed for a one hour telephone conference with Pension Board Executive Director Kim Bennett for $285 regarding his withdrawal and rollover in his retirement plan, which is somewhat like a 401(k). According to the notation, the two discussed “the reimbursement of county and forfeiture provisions applicable for a felony conviction involving official county duties. There was also an office conference regarding “criminal law and status of the case and judicial diversion.” There also was a telephone conversation with Knox County Law Director Bud Armstrong about “county position on the charter forfeiture provisions.” And a telephone conference with Bennett regarding “further email from J. Duncan re follow up on same.”

Sept. 12: Billed $228 for 80 minutes. Apparently, the attorney reviewed the email from Duncan to Bennett. Attorney also drafted email from Bennett and Armstrong confirming the discussion from the previous day, and “with proposed response to J. Duncan re forfeiture provisions. Review her email to J. Ducan re same.”

KCSO retirement plan set for vote

A little more than nine months after voters opted to close the Knox County Sheriff's Office pension plan, officials are set to implement a newly crafted retirement program - one that still maintains attractive benefits for law enforcement personnel, but won't cost taxpayers quite as much.

If approved, the Sheriff's Total Asset Accumulation Retirement plan, or STAR, would affect law enforcement and corrections officers hired after next Jan. 1. Current officers would keep their traditional pensions.

The Knox County Commission will talk more about the proposal during its work session next Monday and vote on it later this month.

"Law enforcement is a young man's game," said Commissioner Ed Shouse, a pension board member, who served on the committee that drafted the plan. "Do you want a 60-year-old man chasing down a burglar or a couple of 26-year-old guys? The cost is almost the same, but this plan encourages people to come into (the Sheriff's Office) and work 25 years and hopefully be able to take an early retirement in their mid 50s. "

STAR, a defined contributions plan, replaces the Uniformed Officers Pension Plan, or UOPP, a defined benefit plan that gives those with 30 years of service a pension at 75 percent of their two highest years' salary, plus a yearly 3 percent cost-of-living adjustment.

Voters initially approved the UOPP in 2006 after proponents said it would benefit the lower-paid deputies and jailers who could not afford to retire under the general county plan, which works like a 401(k).

The pension program, though, was costly and critics argued that it included employees not actively fighting crime. The stock market, too, was unkind and the plan's annual contribution costs jumped. This year, the county will put in $8.5 million, three times what was first projected, although $4 million of that will cover the bonds issued to fund the plan at its inception.

Officials, led by Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett, brought the pension plan before residents last year, and voters by a 3-to-1 margin agreed to close it and directed the county pension board to create a new one.

"The (pension) wasn't going to be financially feasible," the mayor said."But I think (the STAR plan) is going to be great for our law enforcement. It addresses their future needs and it's also responsible to the taxpayers. And that's what we wanted - something equitable for everybody."

The new plan requires employees to contribute 6 percent of pay and the county puts in 10 percent. In addition, the county puts another 2 percent into a medical reimbursement plan to offset medical premiums and costs for the retirees from the time they leave the job until they're eligible for Medicare.

Click right smack here to read the rest of this bad a$$ story.

Pension contributions up next year

Contributions to the county's three pension plans for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1, are expected to increase by about $500,000.

Knox County's pension board will ask the administration to contribute $4.5 million to the Uniformed Officer's Pension Plan (this is actually down a little bit from the current year); $1.75 million for the old school plan, which closed in the late 1980s; and $2.5 million to the old county employee plan, which closed in 1991.

Trip could affect a commish meeting

It's possible that the Knox County Commission could end up moving its April 22 meeting to a later week, so some board members can head out to a conference in California.

Each year around April, a number of pension board members head out to the Wilshire Conference, which is typically held in sunny San Diego, Calif. (Ok, OK, I won't make any cracks about how they also have the opportunity to spend time on the golf course or at the zoo, since they do – at least this incarnation of the pension board – attend the real conference meetings and the other stuff is during downtime.)

Wilshire gets paid a good amount of coin to handle the county's pension and retirement investments. (And yes, taxpayers do pay for this trip.)

This year's conference is set for April 21-23. The county commission meting is set for Monday, April 22.

During today's pension board meeting, members talked briefly about possibly moving the commission meeting, maybe to the following Monday if enough commissioners go on the trip.

“We'll talk about it and see,” said commission Chairman Tony Norman, who sits on the pension board along with three other commissioners.

Pension Board Executive Director Kim Bennett went around the room asking folks whether they would attend. (By the way, she's not sure, although she will send one member of her staff.)

Commissioner Richard Briggs said he wouldn't; Norman and commissioner Ed Shouse said they weren't sure; Nick McBride said he didn't think so, Casual Chris Caldwell said he wouldn't; Joe Snyder said he wasn't sure.

Steve Glenn wasn't at the meeting, and Commissioner Mike Hammond – heck – I don't think anyone asked him.

The deadline to register is around March 25. My guess is that the meeting won't be rescheduled, but I wouldn't be surprised if the pension board  move its meeting up a week earlier.

Two to return to Knox pension board

Knox County Pension Board members Nick McBride and Joe Snyder were re-elected to serve on the board. (The elections were on Feb. 14. No, seriously.)

Only county employees vote in these things. Joe got 30 votes. Nick received 130.

Hahahahaha. Big turnout.

Anyhoo, Nick's seat seat represents county employees under the traditional retirement plan and the Sheriff's Office plan. Joe's seat represents school employees who are not covered in the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System, which covers state employees, public school teachers, etc.

The pension board is comprised on nine members. Four are county commissioners, two come from the school side, two come from the general employee side and one is technically the county mayor, although he typically uses the county's finance director as a proxy.

In addition to the pension board, there were elections to fill three seats on the county's Medical Insurance Appeal Board.

Timothy Wheeler, who got 57 votes and faced no competition, will represent seat C.

Stephanie Minor, who got 27 votes and also faced no competition, will represent seat B.

And, Tom Salter, who received 30 votes, will represent seat A. Tom defeated two others – Dennis Irwin (3 votes) and Jennifer Valentine (25 votes).

Cook lawsuit cost county $200,000

Apparently, the Barbara Cook lawsuit cost the county about $200,000, pension board members were told this morning. Or, rather: Attorneys for the pension board made $200,000 off the Barbara Cook lawsuit.

Heh.

As you might recall several years back, Cook, a former employee, accused the county and its retirement board of of holding employee pension deductions a lot longer than neeed before depositing them into retirement accounts. At issue was whether the coin belonged to the county, the pension board or the employees.

She filed the lawsuit in December 2008, seeking to recover the interest on behalf of the employees. In late 2010 a judge ruled in favor of the county. (Her legal team dropped the county pension board from the lawsuit. I'm not going to get into how ridiculous a move this was, according to what some local lawyers have told me.)

Anyhoo, the issue was discussed because the pension board is looking to increase its insurance coverage. The board didn't take any action this morning, but its administration will look at it in the upcoming months.

Feb. election for two pension seats

The Knox County Pension Board will hold an election on Valentine's Day for two seats. Yeah, odd choice of days, but whatever.

Up for re-election are Joe Snyder, who represents school employees who are not in the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System, which covers state employees, public school teachers, etc., and Nick McBride who represents county employees under the traditional retirement plans and the Sheriff's Office plan. (There's certainly more detail in what they do and who they represent but this is about the easiest way to describe it, and let's face it, most of you really don't care about this stuff.)

The election, which will include voting locations at the Death Star, the detention center and some libraries, among other locations, is for county employees only. It will cost about $5,000 and the county's finance department and human resources department will cover it.

From what I understand only a couple hundred people out of a possible 5,000 typically vote in these.

Yeah, big surprise there.

 I'm figuring Joe and Nick will seek re-election.

Those wishing to run can pick up those petition things in the county's retirement office on Jan. 3. You need to get 25 signatures from employees who participate in the retirement system. They forms are due on Jan. 31.

The retirement office will have more info early next year.

 The pension board is comprised of nine members. Four are county commissioners. Two come from the school side, one from the county mayor's office and two come from the general employees side. You can find out more stuff right smack here.

Was that pension meeting sunshined?

The county pension board's documents committee met yesterday to talk about the new retirement plan for the Knox County Sheriff's Office. Story right smack here.

One item of note that wasn't in the article: I'm pretty sure this was not a sunshined meeting. I'm not 100 percent positive, but I certainly didn't get anything from the pension board office, nor did I see anything in the legal section.

If true, this is the same thing that happened back in 2006 when the first plan was put together: The media and the public for that matter were not informed about the committee meeting dates. Subsequently, they got no coverage and no one knew just what the heck kind of plan we were going to get. (Pension board officials said they put up a notice on a wall in the Deathstar. That wall, by the way, was down a long, narrow hallway that folks in the public – not counting county retirees and employees – rarely visit.

Anyhoo, I found out about the meeting on Tuesday while talking to Commissioner Ed Shouse. He mentioned it. I was pretty surprised. (Ed sits on the pension board and I should add that it's not his job to sunshine document committee meetings, but he does a good job of letting people know about this kind of stuff.)

I later get a copy of the letter that was sent to the five members of the document committee and a handful of others. You can find that bad boy, by clicking right smack here.

Now, if you're looking at it (you did click, right?), you'll notice that the memo actually states that Thursday's meeting is actually a rescheduled meeting from one that was supposed to happen on Tuesday. Yeah, I don't think the one on Tuesday was sunshined, either.

Further, you might also see that Thursday's meeting was set for 2 a.m. Thursday. Good thing that was a typo.

I think.

County pension board says leave it alone

Last week the Knox County Charter Review Committee, an unwieldy bunch that, maybe, one day will get down to the tough decisions, decided to give the county's pension board first crack at determining whether its budget should be approved by the County Commission (yeah, I'm laughing, too) and whether it should increase its size by adding four outsiders appointed by the commission and the county mayor.

You can find the story right smack here (although the headline, which I don't write, is completely misleading).

Anyhoo, the pension board today, in an 8-1 vote, said screw that. Members said they don't need to add four more people to the board. Only Casual Chris Caldwell, the mayor's appointee to the pension board and the county's new finance director, dissented (no-doubt at Tim Burchett's request/demand).

County Commission Chairman Mike Hammond, also a pension board member, said:

“The worst thing we can do is put this pension program and these millions of dollars in the hands of politicians. And any time you're talking about appointees, you're talking about political appointees.”

Heh. Good point, Mike. (Also, the idea was to put financial experts on the board, and some members noted that the board has money managers, actuaries and other financial wizards under contract.)

The board also in an 8-1 vote (again, Casual Chris dissenting) said they didn't think it was such a hot idea to let the commission approve its budget. They argued that the budget, which is funded by the county and then reimbursed by the board is “revenue neutral,” meaning it costs the county nothing, so there's really no reason the commission needs to approve it. They also used the “we're independent from regular government” card.

That might be true. But that budget isn't exactly revenue neutral. You see, the money that the board uses to reimburse the county comes out of employee investment funds. And guess who contributes to those funds? Yeah, the county.

Pension costs to jump, Lobetti retires

Never understood why most of the local media ignores the pension board meetings. Probably don't understand it. Or maybe they can't get a pretty picture to go with it. Or something. This is good stuff. Seriously.

The pension board meets Monday morning. There's a couple items of interest. The board will talk about the county's expected levels of contributions this year for the three pension plans (two of which are closed).

Back in late January, I wrote a story about the expected increases. Click right smack here for that bad boy.

Here are some more solid figures:

• In the current year, the county contributed $4.1 million to cover the Uniformed Officer's Pension Plan, or UOPP. This doesn't count costs toward paying off bonds. In the upcoming fiscal year, which starts July 1,, it's expected to be $4.6 million.
• The county this year contributed $1.5 million to a closed defined benefit plan for general employees (it closed in the early 1990s when they went on the asset accumulation plan, which is like a 401(k)). For this upcoming year, the board is asking the county to ante up almost $2.4 million.
• The county this year also chipped in a little more than $1 million for the “Old School” plan (this doesn't count bond payments, too). The board is asking for almost $1.2 million for the upcoming year.

Altogether, we're talking about an increase of $1.6 million.

In the meantime, a couple of folks in the Sheriff's Office are retiring effective April 1 (although I think they've already left).

First up is Dorothy Pinkston, the wife of former hellraisin' county Commissioner Paul Pinkston, the sharpest dresser on the commission and at one point an arch enemy of a certain former mayor. Dorothy worked for the county for more than 22 years. And no, she is not on the Sheriff's Office pension plan.

Next is Mose Lobetti, local political super spy, card player (or so the rumors go) and bailiff (when he's not a super spy). He is on the pension plan and worked for the county for more than 30 years. Actually, more like 3,000 years. Heh.

The board will talk about some other stuff, too, including its annual luncheon for county retirees and the charter review committee.

Pension board won't move; members may

As officials on the pension board wrestle over zillion dollar retirement plans, the board this morning did agree not to move its office out of the Deathstar.

As pension board Executive Director Kim Bennett said: “The move will cost easily another $30,000 to $40,000 a year.”

For about a year now, members have been in discussion about relocating the tiny office from the Deathstar’s third floor over to Landmark Plaza, at the corner of Papermill and Northshore drives. There are some advantages, like accessibility, parking, space, etc. But there are also costs.

In the end it came down to the county cutting the board a deal. I’m not going to get into it, because this stuff is already boring enough. Just know that the office is not moving. And that the spitting contest between the administration and the pension board could be over. At least on this issue. Then again . . . .

During this morning’s meeting the board also talked about a few other items that cost coin: traveling and the retiree luncheon.

So, the pension board office is staying put, but some members may be on the move as they have an opportunity to take two trips. One places them in San Diego around April 22 and the other in New York from May 5 through 10. Based on past records, the trips cost about $2,000 per person.

The California trip is the annual Wilshire convention. Wilshire is the board’s investment consultant. The New York trip is for the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems.

The reality is that the trips are probably worthwhile. From what I understand the current board members actually attend the meetings and the seminars. (This was not always the case in the past when some other folks served.) And, yes, they are allowed to play golf, but they don’t when the courses are held.

“It’s time very well spent,” said, Doctor, Colonel and County Commissioner Richard Briggs, also a pension board member.

Added pension board member, educator and County Commissioner Tony Norman: “Mike, I’m thinking about taking one of these trips so go ahead and write about it.”

OK, no problem.

The pension board also hosts its annual retiree luncheon on April 10. This is the big fling-ding where all the folks get to hang out and eat a free (for them) meal, usually catered by Rothchild. They also have the chance to snag a door prize. Last year the event cost about $9,100, but donations paid more about half of that, Bennett said, adding that about two-thirds of the costs and a small amount of door prizes are already covered for this year’s event.

Pension plans to cost Knox more this year

Knox County will probably have to contribute between $5 million and $5.3 million to the Uniformed Officers Pension Plan, or UOPP, this upcoming fiscal year in order to keep it healthy, according to projections released this morning to the pension board.

That’s as much as $1.3 million more than the $4.1 million the county put in last summer. And that doesn’t include the $4.1 million in bond coin the county will also have to pay.

The Sheriff’s Office pension plan, however, isn’t the county’s only problem. Two closed plans – one for county officials and the old teacher’s plan – also need a cash injection. The county plan is expected to cost taxpayers another $600,000 to $800,000 and the Board of Education plan will cost an extra $150,000 to $250,000.

Last year the county plan cost about $1.5 million and the school plan cost $1.046 million.

The pension board plans to meet later in February to discuss the UOPP. At that time, members will talk about the plan’s liabilities, assumed rate of returns on investments and possible changes.

“We want to focus on the magnitude of the problem and what can get changed and what can’t,” said county Commissioner Richard Briggs, who also serves on the pension board.

Lobetti has two years to pay back coin

Yesterday, I noted how I had a bunch of scribblings left from Monday's pension board meeting. Good stuff. Heh.

Anyhoo, awhile back political operative Robert M. “Mose” Lobetti had a little debate with the board over some coin members say he owes.

Halls Shopper reporter Betty Bean wrote about it right smack here. Essentially, Mose, who has worked behind the scenes (and not so behind the scenes) on a number of political campaigns, including the recent failed effort by Mark Padgett to gain the Knoxville mayoral seat, is on the Uniformed Officers Pension Plan.

Yup, same plan that voters thought was for deputies, jailers and overall ass-kicking law enforcement officers out there risking their lives every day because they don't make a whole heck of a lot of money. But, yeah, he's on it, cause bailiffs (which are technically called courtroom security officers) are on it.

(Forgot one thing: Mose has also been involved in some Congressional races for the Duncans, but, uh, a trained monkey could run that family's campaign. They don't lose. In fact, if a Duncan doesn't get 80 percent of the vote, it's an upset. But, I digress.)

Soooo, some folks were pretty shocked that he's on the plan and owes some money. Again, read Bean's story for the background because I'm just jumping into what followed on Monday. Cause it's silly. And we like silly at Screams from da Porch.

Entertainment at the expense of others and all that.

(By the way, this guys is more connected to the incestuous relationships inside the Deathstar than then brick and mortar that hold the building together. So, if you think I'm picking on him – and I'm not – I don't really care. Public figure and all that. Plus, he goes around, wanting people to refer to him as “The Godfather.”)

So, the pension board/office wants the old dude to pay pack $13,000. (He should have paid it back a long time ago but, due to an “oversight,” he wasn't informed until – I think – earlier this year.)

That's the $11K he took out, plus some interest and 7.5 percent rate of return on investments even thought – during the lifetime of the UOPP – the rates have come in at negative 3.12, according to third quarter – it ended Sept. 30 – reports. (That was a mouthful.)

Heh. Good deal for the pension system. Bad deal for Mose. Now, Mose, 82, doesn't want to pay this back. And I don't blame him. But, if he doesn't, then he's not going to get the full benefits of the UOPP until the coin gets returned.

His attorney, Steve Sharp, also doesn't want him to have to pay it back. Can't blame him, either, since he's paid to not want Mose to have to pay it back.

Said Sharp: “Mr. Lobetti is not a wealthy man and $13,000 is a lot of money.”

Now, the pension board is willing to work with them. Members suggested giving him two years to pay it back. In monthly installments. (That would be $531.666 a month.)

Mose, visibly disgusted, didn't like that.

“They (the pension office) have known this for four years and didn't tell me, but I'm not blaming anybody,” he told the board.

Say what?

Mose, who makes $44,116.28 in annual salary, added: “It's going to be rough if I have to pay back (the money) every month. It may put me in bankruptcy.”

Now, historically, officials said, those transferred to the UOPP “had six months to repay any distributions to reinstate the time in the UOPP.”

Mose at one point also asked whether he could pay back part of the coin with a $10,000 life insurance policy or something or other he's had since 1950 when he served in the U.S. Navy.

Pension Board attorney Richard Beeler told him that wasn't gonna fly – no, he can't sign over a policy to the county.

Apparently frustrated, Mose told the board that when he joined the pension plan he turned over $130,000.

He made this out to be a big deal. Let me tell you something: That $130,000 isn't jack.

Under the Sheriff's Office defined benefit plan he's going to get $33,087 a year in retirement, plus a 3 percent cost of living adjustment each year. That's 75 percent of his total salary.

Now, how much a year do you think he's gonna get with that $130,000, which no doubt would be worth about 5 cents (give or take a penny) right now because of the stock market?

That's what I thought.

Now, people might think I'm being harsh, but, seriously, quit your whining.

Additionally, some folks at the meeting (and Mose a few months ago) made it out that Mose just HAD to take that $11,000 payout – that it was just forced right on into his wallet.

Nope. According to pension board executive director Kim Bennett, he received the minimal required distribution, but because he was employed, “it technically wasn't required that he take it.”

So, round and around we go.

Now, Mose says he doesn't understand “why I have to pay the interest.”

Uh . . . . Huh?

He said if the board gave him two years, then he'd pay back the $11,000. (Screw the interest or whatever, I suppose.)

Huh? So, make up your mind. Do you have the coin or not? What are you gonna do between now and then to raise $11K?

Never mind, don't answer that.

Eventually county commissioner and pension board member Richard Briggs wanted this mess to end. He said $13K was “a big chunk of money if you don't anticipate it or get blindsided by it.

He suggested giving Mose two years to repay it “with one stipulant (that's French by the way for “stipulating”): That he can't die in two years.”

He was kidding.

If Mose does, then the coin (which we will now refer to as “debt”) will be taken out of his death benefits that will be passed along to whoever.

So, the board – which at one point had no idea what it was voting to approve – agreed to give the guy two years to pay back what will eventually be more than $13K. Mose said he'll pay it in one lump sum at that time.

Bennett said her office will recalculate the coin and come back with the exact amount of scratch later. It's going to be more than $13K, but she has two years to come up with the new number.

In the meantime, Mose ain't gonna die. He'll make sure Congressman Jimmy Duncan gets a law passed to prevent that from happening.

Retirement plan audits to cost $42K

Sat in the pension board meeting Monday for more than two hours. Exciting stuff, I'll tell ya. No, really. Good stuff. Heh.

Anyhoo, I've got a notebook full of information, most of it will never see print because we don't have the space, so I'll start dumping some of it here on the ole blog.

The County Commission recently (it might have been Monday when I was sleeping) signed a four-year contract with Pugh and Company, which will serve as its external auditor. The Knoxville-based company also will work with the pension board.

Some officials, particularly Knox County Senior Director of Finance John “Mad Dog” Troyer, have been itching to get someone to audit the county's six retirement programs.

Now, don't go and get too excited. For someone who operates with the glass half full, even I seriously doubt they're going to find anything. (Other than investment returns kind of suck. But that's true pretty much everywhere.)

In fact, Troyer called it a “straight forward vanilla” audit. (Although he might have said a “Donila” audit.)

The IRS looked over some of the plans (if not all of them) not to long ago and didn't find anything. (As I recall there were some payroll issues or something to do with the county not putting in interest or whatnot, but the plans were pretty much clean.)

The pension board will pick up the tab – about $42,000 for the first year's audit. Executive Director Kim Bennett said the scratch will come from a pot of coins set aside to purchase new software.(She hinted pretty hard Monday to the board that if she uses this money for the audit, she'd still need the software in 2013. In other words, fellas, don't be surprised if I put some extra coinage in there 18 months from now!)

ON A SIDE NOTE: Ann Acuff, who is pretty much second-in-command of the county's finance office is (or has) retired. I met her a few times and she has always been very pleasant and very helpful. Her effective retirement date is Dec. 1. She's leaving after more than 46 years.

That's pretty cool. So congrats goes out to her.

Pension investments: 'We're getting killed'

I sat through a three hour long county investment committee meeting yesterday. Because I love you all. No, not really.

Because no one else will. And, besides, I'm doing the acid god's work here, baby. Yeah.

Anyhoo, the county - like every other place - is getting killed. (I think those were pretty much the words commissioner and committee Chairman Ed Shouse used.)

Without boring you to death as to why the stock market sucks (thanks, in part, goes to Greece - the country not the crappy musical - as well as low interest rates), just understand that it does. Or did, at least, during the third quarter (July through September) of this year. Actually, it's sucked all year long. Who are we kidding?

Sooooo, that means the county and school board are on the hook for shelling out more coin.

Shouse figures the county (that means, you, the taxpayer) could end up putting as much as $6 million to $8 million into the Uniformed Officers Pension Plan next year. And that's on top of the $4.1 million it already has to cover because there's a little thing called bond repayment debt. (Yeah, the previous administration probably should have raised taxes to cover this one.)

This year, the county shelled out $4.1 million for the plan (and another $4.1 million for the bonds).

Now, the county has a couple of other defined benefit plans that don't get discussed all that much. Well, they do, if you bother to show up for pension board meetings, but other than that . . . . whatever, I digress.

The county has two pension plans that closed down more than 20 years ago - one for school teachers that ended in 1986 and another for general employees that shuttered in 1991. For a long time, neither needed any extra scratch. During the past few years, however, they've lost so much that the county has needed to ante up.

This year, the county put $1.5 million into the county plan, and the school board contributed $1 million (plus another $1.4 million in bonds) for the "old school" plan.

Bob Cross, southeast president of USI Consulting, the pension board's actuary, said those numbers are expected to jump next year.

He'll know exactly how much in March.

Until then, the county is left praying that the stock market will turn around.

October numbers look good so far. But how long will that really last?

I'll probably have a story later this week.

Pension boredom office to relocate?

If you’re not into county pension board/office stuff, you might want to skip this one.

Then again, maybe not.

As the News Sentinel reported (click right smack here) a week or so ago, the city’s pension board or its officials or whatnot are looking into a proposed charter amendment that would require that all votes on board action take a majority of all seven board members to pass.

Who knows if it will pass. Politics are involved. You know how that goes.

Anyhoo, the county’s financial minister, John Troyer, wants the county pension board to look into the same proposal.

But, when he suggested it during the board meeting this past Monday, other members met with some blank stares.

(Yeah. I’m not too sure this one is gonna fly.)

Troyer was upset because board members are talking about moving the office from the Deathstar’s third floor over to Landmark Plaza, which is at the corner of Papermill and Northshore drives.

Last month, the board, in a 4-1 vote, agreed to let pension board Executive Director Kim Bennett look further into the proposal.

The county pension board, though, has 9 members, including four commissioners. It also includes county Mayor Tim Burchett, but let’s face it, he doesn’t like meetings, so Mad Dog John is his official stand-in. ANYWAY, as I was saying, last month, the four commissioners bolted early from the meeting to grab some grub at commission Chairman Mike Hammond’s monthly luncheon. That left JT and four others.

And when Troyer voted against the proposal to move, he thought he had won. (JT figured you needed five “yes” votes to get something approved.)

He didn’t.

Pension board attorney, former county law director and (newly appointed) nemesis to the county’s administration Richard Beeler (because Burchett doesn't want his firm to be the county's bond counsel) said it takes a majority of a quorum to approve a board action – not five.

JT didn’t like that.

The Actual Relocation

One a side note, Bennett said it would cost about $50,000 to move the office and about $32,000 (at least) a year more to maintain operations.

She handed out a worksheet, listing the four “cons” and the 11 “pros,” which made me chuckle.
I agree that her office needs more space. It’s like a matchbox right now. And, it’s not very accessible to the seniors who make up 91 percent of the office’s clientele.

But her other reasons?

“More flexibility in future needs for office.” Really? We hiring more people in that pension office?
“Free up floor space in the (Deathstar) for expansion.” Really? Is The Man with the Badge finally going to get that intake center he always wanted?

“Participants perception of independence.” Come on. Just go to a board meeting. The attorneys like to remind the administration every ten minutes that the board is independent.

“Larger board room available for board meetings.” Huh? There’s like a 100 big rooms in the Deathstar you can use.

OK, I’m rambling.

Count on the board approving this next month.

Count on Burchett, I mean JT, voting against it. (And maybe a few other folks.)

Some pension office 'boredom' news

Sat in the county's retirement and pension board meeting Monday. The big story that came out of it obviously was the board's move to shoot down a request from four civilian employees to join the upgraded pension plan for deputies.

I'm not going to recap it. (It's old by now.) And for the most part, the rest of this post is probably going to bore you, but I figured I'd get it on record anyway.(And I got nothing right now. Heh.)

Apparently pension board Executive Director Kim Bennett is looking to move her staff out of the Deathstar. (Can you blame her?). She's been looking around for some space which I believe will be in the downtown area, but I was dozing for part of the meeting, so I'm not positive. (Pension board Chairman Rick Trott suggested that she seeks space where retirees already go for services, which makes sense.)

Anyhoo, the move could save between $27,000 to $40,000 a year. Right now, the office spends almost $139,000, which includes overhead, spaces, maintenance and phones. Low estimates, according to some numbers Bennett passed out Monday would cost the office around $98,800. The predicted high is about $112,000.

The office currently operates in about 2,100-square feet and are looking for a little more, using 3,000-square feet as the baseline. (Yeah, I told you this stuff wasn't exactly thrilling.) The board, though, would probably still hold meetings at the Deathstar.

If the office moves, the city will get a first look at the open space.

Just figured I'd bore you today.

My fault officials delayed everything

I want to send a heartfelt thanks to the pension board members and some county commissioners for not taking care of business while I’m on vacation.

I mean surely that’s why the two panels delayed key issues many expected them to take a stand on Monday, right?

They were waiting for me to come back.

It’s not like the pension folks haven’t had some time to think about a proposal (to let to let four civilian employees jump onboard a retirement plan voters two years ago narrowly approved because they thought it was strictly for law enforcement and correction officers) since November.

Why not wait another month to make a decision?

Yes, the panel had some good reasons to initially delay it. That’s understandable.

The applicant’s attorney had some personal issues to take care of and had to bow out. But they’ve got a bad-ass attorney right now (the last one was pretty bad-ass, too, by the way.)

In fact, when the feds and Sheriff Jimmy “J.J.” Jones finally come crashing down on me, that’s who I’m hiring. Uh, that’s a bad joke – not reasonable cause. But I digress.

Anyhoo, according to News Sentinel Rebecca Ferrar – the poor sucker our editors tapped to cover a day’s worth of meetings for me – the good pension folks who love doling out money to lots and lots of attorneys (even though we have a pretty darn good group in the county law department that will do it for free) held off voting this time presumably because members wanted the pension board Executive Director Kim Bennett to write the county’s Top Cop and The Man with the Badge and ask him for details about the applicants’ duties, abilities and responsibilities.

I understand.

It’s tough, picking up the phone and making that call yourself. It practically killed me to do it when I wrote a story about this in one day. Tough stuff, folks. Tough stuff.

The board, according to my esteemed colleague, also must determine whether the four are deemed uniformed officers. That’s another tough one.

Because it is hard folks – hard I tell you – to call the merit office and ask yourself. It took me hours to muster the courage when I did it.

And, it’s also hard to look at these folks and determine whether they’re carrying guns and sporting shiny badges.

Heh.

I tell, you, they’re just waiting for me to get back because they love me.

The commissioners love me, too – unless they read my blog – because they must want to share the glory of their decision-making with me.

Because the commissioners also delayed a key vote on a controversial isssue – whether to seize control of the fee office budgets.

Granted, it was a 6-5 vote to table the proposal, so – then again – maybe five of those folks don’t like me.

But, I understand this one, too.

These good folks only had a week – that’s seven days or 168 hours – to mull over an issue.

Maybe they really needed more time to digest it. Maybe it really isn’t about me. Could I be wrong?

I mean, it’s not like any of the local bloggers or media outlets during those seven days actually reported on the issue. Right? Do a google search. You won’t find anything. I’m sure. Really. Do one.

And it’s not like anyone – opponents, critics, crazies and others – called the commissioners, proudly claiming their stance. Just ask them.

And of course, no fee officers, like Criminal Court Clerk Joy McCroskey or Circuit Clerk Cathy Quist – held public tours of their officers last week, even after the commissioners requested it.

(Feel the sarcasm, baby. Cause, as I recall, only Commissioner Amy Broyles took the tours, along with the media.)

Wait, did I just say there were more media folks taking the tours than there were commissioners?

Hearsy!

I must not have said that. I must have rambled it.

My bad.

Oh well.

The public understands. Oh yes it does.

You never hear the public complain about public officials delaying votes. If it does, it does not understand the need for transparency and research. No sir. The public doesn’t.

And hey, even if the executive branch and legislative branch takes control of those budgets, it won’t go into effect until the FY 2012-13 budget, so everyone has more than a year to figure out how to count your coins and spend your scratch.

But really, we get it. The elected and appointed leaders wanted to wait on me.

They don’t want to study this thing to death. They don’t want to call in The Pope and seek input from him. They’re just, er, waiting.

Seriously, why decide today on something you can put off tomorrow?

In the meantime, I look forward to the fourth Monday in April when we get to hear the same information we’ve been hearing all over again.

Cause that’s when we’ll finally get a decision.

Or not.