Last time it was the public museum.

This time it’s the pension scandal. Revisited. Again. How many times do the taxpayers have to get screwed by the Milwaukee County Pension Board?

The Pension Board has approved an “independent” investigation into the “pension buybacks,” and has acknowledged that the investigator will likely need the help of a forensic accountant. Here’s the cute part, though… The investigation will not be into the improprieties recently uncovered by the Journal Sentinel. Nope. They’ll be investigating the potential for other problems. Nice.

A former county auditor openly objected to this process, because she said it didn’t go far enough in looking for fraud in the buybacks.

What is the buyback scandal, you say?

An investigation by the Journal Sentinel found that about 350 county employees are going to get about $50 million extra through”buybacks.” The buyback program was an opportunity for county employees to convert “ineligible” employment time to “eligible” for pension purposes by paying a small bit of money. Employees essentially were able to “buy” larger future pensions, the ability to retire earlier, and additional health insurance benefits after retirement. The program was done in the early 1990s, and apparently violated Internal Revenue Service rules.

11 buybacks are slated to be rescinded, and another 200 are going to be “corrected.”

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