Double Dipping Government Employees Collect Pensions and Paychecks
Hinsdale police chief will collect pension, still work full-time
February 18, 2016
Pioneer Press - Police Chief Bradley Bloom is giving up his badge to take another job with the village, thereby allowing him to continue earning a salary while collecting his pension.
Village officials said they created the temporary position of assistant village manager/director of public safety specifically for Bloom, so younger officers could benefit from his experience.
Bloom, 56, is not ready to retire, he said, but after 34 years as a police officer, his pension will not grow enough to offset his contribution into the pension system, if he continued as chief.
The Village Board on Tuesday unanimously approved a three-year contract that pays Bloom $120,000 a year for the new full-time position. That's less than he currently earns as police chief. But in addition to the salary as director of public safety, Bloom will receive his pension, which will be 75 percent of his $151,576 annual salary as chief. And by Illinois pension laws, Bloom's pension will grow by 3 percent of that amount each year.
In comparison, if he continued to work as police chief, he likely would receive the 2 percent raises village employees have gotten the past few years, but he also would have to pay 10 percent of his salary into the police pension fund.
As public safety director, he no longer will have to pay into the police pension fund. He will contribute to the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, as other village employees do. But because his contract with the village is for three years, with two possible one-year extensions, he is not expected to reach the 10 years necessary to collect a pension from the municipal retirement fund."He will never collect two village pensions," said Village President Thomas Cauley, Jr. And the position will end when Bloom's contract does, Cauley said.
Like all retiring village employees, Bloom also will be paid for his unused vacation time, which in his case equals about $26,000, village manager Kathleen Gargano said. The village also allows employees to deposit a portion of the amount of sick time they have accrued and not taken into a post-employment health benefit plan, which can be used only for health insurance costs after they retire. Bloom's balance is about $27,000, Gargano said.
Other police and fire chiefs have retired from the department where they worked most of their careers and been hired in other municipalities, so they could collect both their pension and a salary, and potentially a second pension.
Hinsdale's previous two fire chiefs retired and joined fire departments in Western Springs and Bartlett, Cauley said.
But Bloom does not want to leave Hinsdale.
"This has been a very good job for me," Bloom said. "I like the community. I like my boss. I like the board."Including Bloom, six of the eight members of the command staff of the Hinsdale Police Department will be eligible to retire within the next two to four years, which will leave "a vacuum of senior management," Cauley said.
And village officials do not want to lose Bloom, especially at this time.
Because the command staff has been in place for years, there has not been the opportunity for younger officers to be promoted to leadership positions.
"It's a unique set of circumstances," Gargano said. "There's a tenure gap. We have a lot of people at the top and a lot of people at the bottom."Bloom will stay on to help mentor and prepare younger officers for leadership positions.
Cauley said this arrangement will allow the village to find the next police chief from its own department, rather than hiring somebody from outside.
Bloom said he looks forward to that role, which he begins Feb. 22.
The Police Department has worked hard as a team to develop a culture where officers understand and respond to the community, Bloom said. He believes the community is pleased with the performance of the Police Department and how it treats people. But the future turnover in leadership puts that culture at risk, Bloom said.
In his new position, he can help the young supervisors and leaders of tomorrow develop and preserve that culture, Bloom said.
His responsibilities will include administrative duties and overseeing information technology functions. But he will no longer be a police officer, with a uniform, badge and gun.
"I am going to miss that," Bloom said. "I am proud of being a police officer. But I still will be working with the same people."Hinsdale Deputy Police Chief Kevin Simpson will serve as acting chief effective Feb. 22.
Taxpayers should make a citizens arrest on this taxpayer thievery!
Workers do not pay 12.4% to social security. That is split with the employer. People(professionals with degrees and licenses)in the private sector typically enjoy matching 401k plans and bonuses. They also tend to earn more "lifetime" earnings, thus are able to enjoy nicer homes, cars and vacations. This is a fact. It is called public "service" for a reason. Folks seem to confuse that with indentured servants.
Under Madigan leadership we'll never see the reforms needed to fix this mess.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-04-04/news/ct-met-villa-park-race-20130404_1_ex-police-chief-political-drama
No, this is an example of how people game the system. A local government created a job for this guy out of thin air. Nothing Rauner wants to do would prevent this. Nice try.
By your own logic, the "system" is broken allowing this guy to game said system.
He's specifically trying to reform pensions and restrict collectively bargained rights such as double dipping on pensions.
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