Public pension 'spiking': No one's monitoring overtime spiking in Minnesota

pioneer press ^ | 12-9-12 | MaryJo Webster and Christopher Magan

[TurboZamboni]

It's unknown how many public employees are spiking their pensions by working huge amounts of overtime.

The problem is that no one is watching.

And that lack of oversight means it is also unclear whether there's any financial impact on Minnesota's public pension funds.

Some experts say it's become a pervasive problem nationally, at least among public workers who have the ability to work overtime in their final years before retirement.

"It angers those who are playing by the rules," said Ed Siedle, a Florida-based lawyer who has been dubbed the "pension detective" for his work uncovering abuse and fraud.

In Minnesota, the three statewide public pension funds -- which cover about 485,000 current and former city, county, state and school workers -- look for sudden, large increases in each person's total salary, but they don't look specifically at overtime.

"I don't know how much spiking there is across the plan," says Mary Vanek, executive director of the Public Employees Retirement Association, or PERA. "While we haven't identified it as a significant problem, we know of plenty of individual cases."

[TurboZamboni]

brokedebt mountain

[knarf]

Hmmmm

gov't ermployment up 73% ... give it 15 or so years and the bama boomers will be clamoring for their social security/pension and ... guess what?

There ain't no money.

the gov't workers retired against the gov't workers still working ...

Too bad I'll probably be dead and miss THIS fight.

[hal ogen]

How dare anyone criticize these “public servants”!

[knarf]

Seems no one’s monitoring this thread, neither.

[RetiredTexasVet]

It’s ok. Minnesota like progressive Californicate has lots of money so you don’t have to worry about .... but then, the great grand children might have something to say if they were born and aware of the debt they were incurring.