LintasArtikel.in About 1 in 10 pensioners are rehired, draw a second public paycheck James Reed retired in 2004 after 31 years with the Oregon State Police. He was a healthy 52-year-old with an equally robust pension, just shy of the $100,000 he was making on the job.
Retirement didn't last long. By 2007, Reed was working for the Sherwood Police Department. Today he makes $89,000 a year. And he's still collecting his pension, which has since risen to about $109,000 a year.
It's called double dipping, collecting a paycheck from a public employer and a public pension at the same time.
In 2011, there were 10,005 double dippers in Oregon, according to data obtained by The Oregonian from t
he Oregon Public Employees Retirement System. That's almost one in every 10 retirees drawing a pension check from PERS.
They worked anywhere from less than an hour to full time, sometimes in the identical job they retired from. They put in a total of 4.2 million payroll hours, the equivalent of nearly 2,000 full-time jobs. The median number of hours worked was about 300, while the median pension was about $34,000.
Rehiring retirees is a practice that public employers endorse as a cost-effective way to keep qualified staff and meet temporary staffing needs.
Yet it's potentially expensive for PERS. And in a state with chronic, long-term unemployment problems -- particularly in rural areas -- the practice limits new hiring and advancement opportunities. It can also become a form of cronyism, allowing connected employees to pad retirement income with a paycheck.
"We should limit or eliminate the number of people who are working after retirement," said Mary Botkin, a lobbyist for The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, with 21,000 members in Oregon. "If you can't afford to retire, keep working. But if you're ready to retire, you ought to go and let them bring in new people."
Putting retirees in top management positions is particularly problematic, she said.
"There may be a greed factor we didn't anticipate."
TAKE A DIP
There are double dippers everywhere: welfare workers, engineers, corrections employees and doctors. The
Oregon's Employment Department hires retirees, as does PERS itself.
For some, double dipping is a way to supplement skimpy benefits and make ends meet, from food on the table to health care premiums. For others, including a slew of "retired" professors and doctors, double dipping provides a glidepath to a more comfortable retirement, the opportunity to help out in a pinch, or both.
Lorraine Davis stepped in last year as
Acting Provost for the University of Oregon. She received pension benefits of $148,000 on top of $160,000 in salary for 1,321 hours.
Timothy Kennedy, a professor of engineering at Oregon State University who retired in 2009, worked 780 hours last year, and drew a pension of $138,000.
John Barry, a kidney transplant specialist at Oregon Health & Science University, retired in 2010. He received pension benefits of almost $195,000 last year, and worked half time.
The circumstances vary with every retiree.
Former Gov. Ted Kulongoski draws a state pension of $58,514 a year and teaches part-time at Portland State University.
Multnomah County District Attorney Michael Schrunk rehired several of his most experienced deputies after they retired.
Lake Oswego Schools Superintendent Bill Korach collected $240,000 in PERS benefits last year -- one of the top 10 pensions in the system. He says he donated $40,000 to the district last year. That's the equivalent of his after-tax pay in a year he was forced to work half-time due to state limits on retiree hours. This year, he reached full retirement age, so he can work without restrictions, with a $140,000 salary. He says he has a substantial tax burden, however, and plans to make another donation.
Schools are by far the biggest employers of retirees. Many are substitutes. But it's also common practice for teachers to retire early in the academic year, then collect both a pension and a paycheck for some portion of the remainder -- referred to as being "on the bubble."
VALUE OF EXPERIENCE
By state rules, that's fine. PERS retirees are allowed to work up to halftime -- 1,040 hours a year -- for a public employer covered by PERS without affecting their benefits. Those who qualify for one of the patchwork of exemptions adopted over the year have no limits.
Agencies who hire retirees -- and some employ hundreds -- say they get good value by bringing back staff with specific expertise who can hit the ground running. It's cheaper, they say, because employees working less than half-time don't earn costly benefits, from medical coverage and sick pay to further pension contributions.
"We need to stretch all the assets we can and figure out all the ways you can get the job done with the least money," said Schrunk, the Multnomah County D.A.
Yet employers acknowledge the perception problems. And PERS officials say there can be a cost.
The earlier full-service members retire, the more it costs the system. Under PERS' full formula retirement method, for example, it costs almost 14 percent more to fund the pension of a 60-year-old with 30 years service than one who sticks around until 65 and retires with a higher salary and 5 years extra service.
Another issue: Pension systems depend on contributions from current employees and employers to support benefits. If employers don't make contributions on part of their payroll, it undermines the economics. Recognizing that, some states require contributions on double dippers' salaries, without adding to their benefits. Oregon doesn't, and PERS officials insist the impact of 4.2 million payroll hours by double dippers in 2011 is inconsequential given the size of the active payroll.
Federal tax law requires a "bonafide" retirement before someone can be rehired full-time. Under state statute, retirees can return for unlimited hours after they reach full social security retirement age.
That's why
Tom Hughes gets a $114,468 salary as president of the regional government Metro, while drawing an $80,000 pension from 30 years teaching at Aloha High School.
It's why longtime legislator and Portland Community College faculty member
Margaret Carter can collect $93,000 while employed full time as director of community outreach at the Department of Human Services, at a salary of $102,000.
Source ; Oregon