Report: Thousands of public employee retirees draw pension, salary simultaneously

Dee J. Hall, via a kind reader's email

From substitute teachers to cabinet secretaries, thousands of public employees in Wisconsin who retired in recent years returned to work, allowing them to earn both a paycheck and a state pension, according to a Legislative Audit Bureau report released Friday.

And while many employees and employers like the arrangement, the system can be abused, the report found.

The state lawmaker who blew the whistle on the practice last year, Rep. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, thinks it's time for it to be abolished.

"Steve is pretty emphatic -- he thinks the report indicates double dipping needs to end," Nass spokesman Mike Mikalsen said.

But Employee Trust Funds Secretary Robert Conlin said the audit bureau report supports continuation of the practice but with measures to crack down on those who cheat the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) by pre-arranging their return to government service. In a letter responding to the audit, Conlin said the Legislature should consider lengthening the mandatory 30-day separation between retirement and re-employment to cut down on abuse.

"The re-hire of WRS annuitants is a lawful practice that, as noted in the audit, appears to serve the needs of retirees and employers," he said.

From the full report [1MB PDF] Page 35: "We received 1,169 responses to our survey, which is an 82.1 percent response rate. [....] Milwaukee Public Schools and the City of Madison responded, but Madison Metropolitan School District did not, even though we contacted it about responding to the survey."

Posted by Jim Zellmer at December 14, 2012 8:14 PM
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