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Retirement system belatedly admits huge Mautino error

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Illinois

* From a Rep. Jeanne Ives press release last May…

State records show [Auditor General Frank Mautino], who has also served 24 years as a state representative, stood to receive a starting pension of over $74,000 which is 85% of his final salary of more than $87,000. After just one year at the higher Auditor General salary, Mautino will receive 85% of his $157,000 salary, a starting pension over $133,000. That pension will compound at 3% annually for the rest of his life upon retirement.

“Frank Mautino has a campaign finance problem that mirrors those of Aaron Schock and Jesse Jackson Jr.,” stated State Rep. Jeanne Ives. “By all appearances, he is just filling a seat to maximize his taxpayer-funded pension benefits. Illinois doesn’t currently have a mechanism in place to strip legislators convicted of crimes related to campaign finance of their pensions. This is just another example of political insiders looking out for themselves at the expense of families and businesses.”

* But…

The State Retirement Systems of Illinois acknowledged Tuesday it provided incorrect information about former state Rep. Frank Mautino’s pension earlier this year.

According to that information, Mautino, D-Spring Valley, was slated to receive a nearly $60,000 jump in his pension after a year as the state’s auditor general.

But a spokesman for the retirement systems said Tuesday the increase actually will be about $19,000. The earlier mistake came to light in September, he said. […]

The pension agency, Houch said, miscoded Mautino as a Tier 1 employee, which means he was hired before Jan. 1, 2011, and would get greater benefits. But Mautino should have been classified as Tier 2, in which those hired on or after Jan. 1, 2011, receive less, Houch said. Mautino was Tier 1 as a legislator, Tier 2 as auditor general.

This basic math mistake happened in September and we’re only finding out about it now? Really?

Gotta love those rear-covering paper-pushers.

* Also, check this out…

“He will still receive a substantial increase, assuming he doesn’t get convicted of a job-related felony,” [Houch] said.

Nothing like rubbing salt into the wound.

* Look, Mautino still has a whole lot of explaining to do. I won’t make any excuses for him at all. It would be nice, however, if the feds expedited this inquiry so we could find out if our auditor general was sloppy, or crooked, or whatever.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Jan 6, 17 @ 12:11 pm

Comments

Interesting, then how does retiring under a reciprocal arrangement work now then? I had assumed a tier 1 employee in one system was tier 1 in all systems but I guess not.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Jan 6, 17 @ 12:20 pm
Speaking of expeditious federales and closure, is that NRI investigation still a thing? It was big news a few years ago.

Maybe someone should ask Director Comey. He can be quite a chatterbox on investigations, when he feels like it.

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Jan 6, 17 @ 12:28 pm
I presume if convicted, some if not most, of his legistator’s pension would be forfeited. Wasn’t that the case with one of our previously incarcerated Governors.

Comment by 618er Friday, Jan 6, 17 @ 12:28 pm
Pretty sure this is a GARS specific issue. For everyone else, I think once tier 1 always tier 1 generally applies.

It also appears from the statute that Frank would have had to elect to have the salary limits apply to him, I don’t think the system has been empowered to do it automatically.

(So those rear-covering paper-pushers may not actually be covering their rear depending on when Mautino made the election.)

Comment by Juice Friday, Jan 6, 17 @ 12:28 pm
If SRS made such a simple error with one data file (Mautino), it seems reasonable to suggest that there could be some similar errors.

Might be $billions!

The Auditor General should special audit this question at SRS. /.5snark

Comment by cdog Friday, Jan 6, 17 @ 12:31 pm
To anon @ 12:20. My same thoughts as well. Once you are in Tier 1, you remain in Tier 1 for any reciprocal system after the original system certifies. . .unless there’s a different provision for legislators.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Jan 6, 17 @ 12:36 pm
In related news, the State Retirement System corrected a long standing math error in the overall pension system. The unfunded liability of the systems actually stands at $111, not $111 billion.
The system regrets the error.

Comment by Michelle Flaherty Friday, Jan 6, 17 @ 12:37 pm
Not good. Unfortunately, stories like this one seem to get applied to everyone who receives a state pension and thus, they are the enemy. According to some, any/every state pensioner is living the life–yachts, European imports, luxury vacations. Hah. They need to seem my benefit and my bills. Of course, they’d believe I’m the outlier.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Jan 6, 17 @ 12:38 pm
I think there is still something not quite right here. The interpretation on who is Tier One used to be that even if you had one day of creditable service (like you subbed for a day), you’d be Tier One in any reciprocal system. However, GARS actually has more like five tiers:
- Tier One: Gets accrued COLA and last day rate of pay
- Tier Two: Doesn’t get accrued COLA
- Tier Three: Gets last day rate of pay, but it can’t be higher than the highest GA salary
- Tier Four: Gets final average salary over a four year average.
- Tier Five: The much-lower tier they put in place in 2010, similar to what we commonly call “Tier Two” for everyone else.

So this is my guess of the real story here, which may or may not be true: Mautino started in the 87th GA. Tier three was added in the 86th GA. (I’m copying the statute below.) I bet SRS calculated him at his AG salary instead of as the highest GA salary. I could be totally wrong.

(Text of Section WITHOUT the changes made by P.A. 98-599, which has been held unconstitutional)
Sec. 2-108. Salary. “Salary”:
(1) For members of the General Assembly, the total compensation paid to the member by the State for one year of service, including the additional amounts, if any, paid to the member as an officer pursuant to Section 1 of “An Act in relation to the compensation and emoluments of the members of the General Assembly”, approved December 6, 1907, as now or hereafter amended.
(2) For the State executive officers specified in Section 2-105, the total compensation paid to the member for one year of service.
(3) For members of the System who are participants under Section 2-117.1, or who are serving as Clerk or Assistant Clerk of the House of Representatives or Secretary or Assistant Secretary of the Senate, the total compensation paid to the member for one year of service, but not to exceed the salary of the highest salaried officer of the General Assembly.
However, in the event that federal law results in any participant receiving imputed income based on the value of group term life insurance provided by the State, such imputed income shall not be included in salary for the purposes of this Article.
(Source: P.A. 86-27; 86-273; 86-1028; 86-1488.)

Comment by J Friday, Jan 6, 17 @ 12:39 pm
Tier 1 status is reciprocal between all of the reciprocal systems *except* the Judges and General Assembly systems. For those two systems, your status in another system doesn’t make you Tier 1 in either of those and the reverse is also true - Tier 1 status in JRS or GARS does not make you Tier 1 in any of the other systems.

Comment by Katiedid Friday, Jan 6, 17 @ 12:42 pm
Michelle…my belle. Priceless

Comment by blue dog dem Friday, Jan 6, 17 @ 12:44 pm
* “Look, Mautino still has a whole lot of explaining to do. I won’t make any excuses for him at all. It would be nice, however, if the feds expedited this inquiry so we could find out if our auditor general was sloppy, or crooked, or whatever.”

That sums it up quite well. I am not confident that if an investigation is held that the citizenry will ever find out about the results unless Capitolfax does it.

Comment by Federalist Friday, Jan 6, 17 @ 12:53 pm
Frank told me about this error at least 2 months ago. Like always the “news” that screws you travels a lot faster than the truth

Comment by Steve Schnorf Friday, Jan 6, 17 @ 1:06 pm
I can see how such a mistake might happen. Should not have, but when you start crossing between systems and the rules are a lot different, it’s understandable. I know I wouldn’t have tried to calculate it.

Comment by RNUG Friday, Jan 6, 17 @ 1:23 pm
I like Frank, I’m going to go out on a limb and say he is innocent until proven guilty.

Comment by Grandpa Friday, Jan 6, 17 @ 1:35 pm
If “Frank” is innocent, he’s guilty of doing the worst job possible of credibly making that case he IS innocent.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Jan 6, 17 @ 1:40 pm
So, did he actually collect any extra money?
If not, kinda a non-issue. They found it, corrected it, no harm no foul.

Comment by Bruce (no not him) Friday, Jan 6, 17 @ 2:44 pm
I agree with Rich that the biggest problem is how long this alleged misdeed has gone on with no resolution. Mautino’s continues to sign off on audits of state agencies issuing audit findings for similar and often not as egregious as the act he is accused of.

Comment by justacitizen Friday, Jan 6, 17 @ 3:11 pm
There was an old joke about “only 4 people really understand the State education funding formula-don’t ever let them all fly on the same plane.”

I think there are less than 4 that fully understand the GARS Article of the Pension Code and its interaction with the reciprocal act. AA is not one of that group. RNUG, I wouldn’t have tried to pencil it out, either.

Comment by Arthur Andersen Friday, Jan 6, 17 @ 3:11 pm
Citizen, I haven’t seen him accused of anything. What have you heard that he is accused of, and by whom?

Comment by Steve Schnorf Friday, Jan 6, 17 @ 3:15 pm
=If not, kinda a non-issue. They found it, corrected it, no harm no foul.=

Truer words have not spoken on this thread. From what I understand, this was just an estimate and no money went out the door.

Comment by Perspective please Friday, Jan 6, 17 @ 3:17 pm
No, Bruce, not a non-issue. He got his chops busted for it, his motives questioned, and his integrity in the public eye got smeared. Not a non-issue at all.

Comment by steve schnorf Friday, Jan 6, 17 @ 9:07 pm