Would someone like to inform Sen. Schuring of CORE's answer to his solution for protecting retirees while addressing double dippers?

From John Curry, June 29, 2010

CORE has floated the idea to protect the current 3% COLA for the first $30,000 of pension moneys and then 0% for every dollar over that 30K amount. That way, the six-digit double dippers aren't protected but those retirees who are on small retirement incomes are protected. Craig Brooks has floated this idea to the board and it fell on deaf ears....will Sen. Schuring also have a deaf ear on this issue. John

http://www.cantonrep.com/newsnow/x1609338483/Pension-reform-ahead-over-double-dipping

“We need to reform Ohio’s five retirement systems, but we need to protect typical retirees as much as we can,” Schuring said Sunday. “I’m very concerned about the way this double dip has evolved over time. It’s more than being hired twice for the same job, they are more than doubling their income. Many people today retire and continue to work but not in the same capacity and not see a doubling of one’s income as a result. That’s what is causing the issue.”

Pension reform ahead over double dipping

Canton Repository, June 29, 2010
By Melissa Griffy Seeton CantonRep.com staff writer

State Sen. Kirk Schuring, R-Jackson Township, acknowledges lawmakers have a lot of work to do before a pension reform bill is introduced later this year.

Read the Special Report on Double Dipping Superintendents

As a member of the Ohio Retirement Study Council, Schuring said the council will address the state’s double-dippers while protecting retirees who aren’t pulling in six-figure salaries and pension benefits that average $80,542 a year.

“We need to reform Ohio’s five retirement systems, but we need to protect typical retirees as much as we can,” Schuring said Sunday. “I’m very concerned about the way this double dip has evolved over time. It’s more than being hired twice for the same job, they are more than doubling their income. Many people today retire and continue to work but not in the same capacity and not see a doubling of one’s income as a result. That’s what is causing the issue.”

An Ohio News Organization (OHNO) survey found more than a quarter — or 27 percent — of school superintendents are rehired retirees. These educators are able to begin collecting pension benefits in their early 50s and continue collecting their regular paychecks.

The OHNO study found that while school superintendents earning $100,000 make up less than 2 percent of all rehired retirees, they receive the highest pension benefits: An average of $80,542 a year.

Of Stark County’s 17 public school districts, three have rehired retired superintendents: Jackson Local, Cheryl Haschak; Northwest Local, William Stetler; and Tuslaw Local, Alan Osler. All are making more money than when they retired more than seven years ago.

Stark’s other double-dipping superintendent retired 10 years ago. Larry Morgan, the 68-year-old superintendent of the Stark County Educational Service Center and the R.G. Drage Career Technical Center, brings home a salary of $149,689 — $23,504 more than he was making when he retired.

These local superintendents say they are only following the rules of the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio. STRS’ current formula for retirement encourages career teachers and administrators to tap the pension fund in their 50s. Otherwise, they are likely to receive far less in both their working careers and retirement.

Michael Nehf, executive director of the STRS, wrote in a letter to the Ohio News Organization, that the state retirement board agrees pension reform is needed.

“Educators must work longer,” he said, adding that the board submitted a plan to the Ohio Retirement Study Council last year proposing a number of changes. Among them: Increasing the service required for retirement to 35 years.

Steven Jones of Canal Fulton is not convinced reform is needed to address double-dipping superintendents. Jones sits on the Northwest Local and R.G. Drage school boards, both of which have voted to rehire retired superintendents.

“A very high number of public employees are rehired following retirement,” Jones said. “It is not a practice that is restricted to educators, but, unfortunately educators get a bad wrap on this. It is now hammered out on school boards that we are the bad people for hiring them, but we are going right along with the law.

“My feeling is you get the best person for the position. I don’t see why it should make a difference whether they were retired or not.”