Scott Walker was elected by a public irate over the pension scandal.
And yet, six years later, we're still hearing tales of lack of oversight. From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Milwaukee County pension officials say they mistakenly overpaid former House of Correction superintendent Richard Cox and will seek a refund of more than $100,000 - one of 115 newly discovered pension payout errors.
The disclosure comes in a new filing with the IRS that admits numerous systemic mistakes caused pension overpayments and underpayments from 1994 through the present. The county is seeking refunds in some cases.
Necessary reviews of payouts were left undone and the county's own pension laws were not followed in the various cases, says the IRS "voluntary correction" filing. It comes nine months after a Journal Sentinel investigation of county "buyback" pension benefits prompted a similar admission to the IRS.
Some large overpayments were made in several disability cases in which recipients' pensions were not reduced by significant other income they earned in non-county jobs, the county says in its latest filing.
Most of the errors involve the county's failure to track down certain retirees who left county employment years earlier and are owed pensions.
In addition, County Executive Scott Walker has been notified that the IRS is now auditing a county pension program that covers certain temporary employees not enrolled in the regular county retirement system. The audit's scope is secret, but pension officials previously said that separate program had not made payments to several thousand former workers typically owed $100 or less.
The total price tag on the mistakes has not been determined, but could approach $1 million including pensioners' and the county's liability, according to estimates based on the county's filing.
Walker declined to comment Wednesday, saying county pension lawyers had advised him and Pension Board officials to remain silent.
Being county executive is hard work!
Besides not maintaining the baseball diamond at Washington Park or repairing the rutted roads of countless other parks, besides not developing a comprehensive transportation system for the county, besides not managing HOC -- what the hell has Scott Walker been doing?
115 new pension payout errors. What secretary will Walker fire now?
Local boards of directors -- imagine what Scott Walker could do for your company!
It is about time someone besides myself (a county employee) saw the truth about Scott Walker.
Posted by: Matt | March 28, 2008 at 05:47 AM