Monday, April 11, 2011

Double dipping TDCJ retirees may be a thing of the past if Ledge has it's way

By Tobias Richards, Backgate Website

More than six-thousand state of Texas employees are Double Dipping. It's when a person retires, collects a pension, gets hired back and collects salary. This is costing residents $400 million a year said KRGV , a TV station in the Rio Grand Valley. A bill is pending right now in the state legislature that would ban double dipping in Texas. Under the bill, if a retiree comes back to work for the state they would not be able to continue collecting a pension at the same time. Taxpayers could save $135 million if the legislature passes the bill putting to an end to double dipping stated KRGV.

Is it really smart to ban retirees from hiring back on with the agency ? Training an incoming new Officer costs TDCJ thousands of dollars each to train. And most new hires quit within the first year reports state. Seems like experience would win over new, fresh off the street Officers who seldom last a year.  The Texas Department of Public Safety is also affected by retiree hiring practices and could lose out on these experienced employees as well. These staff members have given years of dedicated service to the state of Texas and have earned the right to return to duty. Upon retiring,  if they return within a specified length of time, they do not go back through Officer training. Saving the taxpayers that money.

25 comments:

  1. This has been discussed at unit level for quite some time now, and one solution seems to be that they be allowed to return to work, but that their retirement is frozen, and the number of years they return for would be added to their time of service at retirement, thereby increasing their annuity. While they may not be getting 2 checks for doing one job, they will benefit in the end by getting a bigger retirement check when they finally do hang up their spurs

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    1. New boots are mostly useless. Rank will not put them on close custody they make a mess of it.Tthey do put them in chow halls and continue to mess that up .Rank has gotten weak and scared. when things kick off in the chow halls it is the veterans working close custody who respond. Stop treating new boots special, they are no.t. In the past they worked gates for years until they proved themselves now they go to A side and get a big head until something kicks off in the chow halls or rec. yards that's when they cant even call a decent ICS, location and what assets are needed. stop it scared rank your destroying tdc.

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  2. The only extra cost incurred by rehiring retirees is the hazardous duty, or longevity pay... the actually salary would be paid out to a new employee if not to the returning retiree. The answer...start the returning retirees at zero years of service when they return to state service... and start their vacation accurral back at 8 hours a month... and YES... I am a double dipping retiree..

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  3. They are getting 2 checks from the state and not paying into the retirement system.

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  4. Is the state actually loosing this much money or is it just a number the bean counters calculated on a computer program set up to find possible losses? Will this be retro-active or just for retiree's returning after a future date? I have no problem, for example, paying into the retirement system again provided my retirement is recalculated when I leave. And from what I see most of us retirees are far more productive than many of the new hires coming in. So the state is still getting what they are paying for. Besides what ever money is saved most likely will be spent on to benefit those that contribute to reelections funds.

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  5. Greedy. Not only are you taking jobs from people you're taking more money from the state. Better than new? B.S. You cost more and you're old and slower. You're on retirement you don't deserve two checks from the state.

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    1. I have 20 plus in and run circles around most new boots. No bad feelings just consider the sources.

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    2. New recuits wire up inmates and seasoned CO's can still run circle around these lazy kids that compare prison to high school!! seen 1st hand just a scared warm body!!

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    3. Those "lazy kids" are the ones that when all the talk fails you want backing you up. If you retire STAY RETIRED! Thats why you retired in the first place! You double dipping is just a crooked as the offenders themselves. And new recruits "wiring up" the inmates is because they dont know what there doing yet, everyone has there own way learning the system. These are NOT the OLD DAYS where you could just beat down a inmate because they didnt listen to you. Old bosses spend more time trying to hold onto there spot than help these new recruits because they already "assume" they will quit. So the new recruits dont stand a chance! I dont care if 49 out of 50 recruits quit, train them all them same then they might stay.

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  6. They probably need 2 checks after what the state pays. How can you retire and survive on that retirement check?

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    1. I am retired from working the prisons after 22 years and I am going through a divorce. I am deciding whether to go back to work for TDCJ because at this point in my life, the retirement I get does not cut it. Twenty two years equals out to a little over a thousand a month. We do need two checks to survive.

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  7. Why Texas?
    Who is funding the work?
    Who is involved?
    Board members
    READ THIS ONE!!!

    Teacher Retirement System execs get $8.2 million bonuses
    Monday, Apr 25, 2011, 01:19PM CST 3 comments Add comment

    By Mark Lisheron

    A lung-challenging dive into a Dallas Morning News story about state teacher retirement fund bonuses yields this pearl: If asked right now to pay out every dollar owed to retirees for the next 30 years, the fund would be almost 20 percent short.

    This thorough review of the $8.2 million in bonuses earned this year by 54 members of the investment management team for the $100 billion fund is also a stark reminder that taxpayer-supported retirement funds are supported by complex investments that carry with them risk and not piggy banks filled with the nickels and dimes of thrifty state employees.

    In the middle of a tepid economy and state budget negotiations that will almost certainly cost teachers their jobs, retirement fund managers are playing a furious game of catch-up from a 2008 market crash that saw the value of the fund portfolio drop $23.3 billion.

    In 2008 and 2009, according to the weekend story, top managers earned $6.5 million in bonuses for exceeding investment targets, but deferred payment because the fund operated at a loss. Restored to profitability in 2010, managers earned another $1.7 million in bonuses, and the $8.2 million total was paid out in January.

    And at least the public knows which investment manager got which bonus. Texas Watchdog has tried without success to get the state to divulge to taxpayers to whom they are paying pensions and in what amounts.

    R. David Kelly, chairman of the Teacher Retirement System board, told the Morning News that for the state retirement fund to compete in the investment world it must be managed by talent. Talent must be compensated or it will go someplace else.

    “If we don’t pay out incentive compensation when you had clearly superlative performance, it sends a bad message, and it causes people to ask just how big a discount are they willing to work for,” Kelly said.

    If this is, indeed, the reality, Tim Lee, executive director of the Texas Retired Teachers Association, says his members don’t like it much. The state’s 300,000 retired educators have not had a pension increase in 10 years.

    Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler, would like to end the incentive program. “You can hire fund managers and people right now in this environment, pay them good salaries, be competitive with the private sector, and I do not think it’s a requirement in this environment to pay incentive for these fund managers,” he said.

    Vicki Truitt, R-Keller, chairwoman of the House Pensions and Investments Committee, said the bonuses were necessary as incentives to erase that nearly 20 percent gap between the assets the fund has on hand and what it owes its retirees over the next 30 years. In the parlance of the certified public accountant, actuarial soundness.

    “We want the best advice we can get and to ensure the best returns for our investments,” Truitt said. “You get what you pay for.”

    ***
    Contact Mark Lisheron at 512-299-2318 or mark@texaswatchdog.org.

    However, most investment bankers will tell you, that bonus incentives can sometimes make up a large percentage of their annual income. While some may not view this as fair, it is probably below average for the industry.
    Susan
    Tuesday, 04/26/2011 - 10:06PM
    This is bull____.
    Wednesday, 04/27/2011 - 01:34PM
    Tell that to a retired teacher who has gotten nothing extra for 10 years.
    Ogden: Business income tax amendment could move
    About
    Why now?
    Why Texas?
    Who is funding the work?
    Who is involved?
    Board members
    Training

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  8. hiring retirees is an asset to the agency due to their vast knowledge and experience. this job is not for everyone and as soon as the state of texas realizes this the better off they will be. there is no substitute for experience.

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    1. I agree. This job is not for everyone. Yes I Am a retiree. Wait till you get the time done, and then talk. Beware of the future. You too may need a second check. Like Forrest Gump says,"Are you dumb or stupid?" You will see that finding a job in your home town at the same 40 hrs a week is not worth it at minimum wage. You work the same 40 hours and make 2 or maybe close to 3 times more.Retirment checks are not paychecks. You get a cut off of at least 500.00. Which was used to support my kids through school. If you don't know, our band students take 5 trips a year and you have to pay for them. School don't pay. That does not include the uniform cleaning fees.Unless you don't care about doing the best for your kids. Also Cheerleaders pay 2500 after they make it immediately. My daughter is in both!. My son plays football too. Don't forget the expenses of going to watch them perform. So yes I'm going back to my roots, because we have lost so much computer knowledge that the public don't want us. Being a Correctional Officer is what we do best.

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  9. It is very crucial for TDCJ to retain as many seasoned officers as possible as more than half of the staff is in fact less than a yaer into their career with a high turnover rate . This is tough work and if youve never been there you are clueless as to what all this job intells I am currently an officer and I am very grate for the 8 seasoned officers at our unit. If they retire and sit at home and do nothing cost the state experience and if they return to work they are just replaceing the new hire which would most likely not make the 1 year mark before quitting. Returning Officers actually save the state lots of money as they arent having to hire train and pay 2 new offeicers to only work 6 months and quit per year. I myself have been there 7 mnths and can tell you it is a hell hole and a whole world that you cannt understand unless you have been there in grey. I do not plan on staying long either.

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    1. Very well said. You speak the truth about my unit. I made retirement. Don't give up. The longer you stay the better you will be. Knowledge is power.TDCJ has a lot of jobs for you to explore.I keep telling people you wasting time if you work for a job with no benefits. You will retire to the grave because you don't get a check if you don't work. I guess till 62 if you collect social security. I wonder how much that will be. I know mine.

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  10. It is a disgrace! There are younger working adults who need the opportunity to GAIN experience and they will never get the chance as long as the double-dippers out there continue to work the system! I say NO pension if they are still working for the State. Go get a job at Walmart or do NOT retire until you can afford to do so!!

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  11. Let them old convict bosses come back.

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  12. Big O. See u in 3 months!

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