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Candidates running for the board of the Georgetown Divide Public Utility District and a few readers have written in to complain that the information contained in the article comparing the compensation package of Hank White, general manager of GDPUD, with that of Jim Abercrombie, general manager of the El Dorado Irrigation District was unclear or incorrect.
They pointed to information on GDPUD’s Website regarding salary information as evidence for their complaints, with particular emphasis on the amount paid by each district toward their general manager’s retirement.
However, it appears that confusion in how to interpret the salary information on GDPUD’s Website accounts for the misunderstanding.
In EID’s case, the district pays the full employee contribution to PERS for Abercrombie, which is $13,500 a year. In addition they pay $9,881 in Social Security and Medicare taxes for him. EID also pays the employer’s contribution as does any government agency on the Public Employees Retirement System.
In the case of GDPUD, both White and GDPUD pay into PERS. However, according to White, when he retires he won’t receive any portion of the employer-paid fund nor does he have any control over it.
Instead he will draw his retirement from funds he has deposited into PERS until they are depleted. If he dies before his portion of the fund is depleted, his heir receives the balance but none of the employer-paid fund. If he lives past the point where his fund is depleted, he receives pension payments from the Employer Fund until he dies. Since he has no way of knowing if he will ever collect on payments from the Employer-paid Fund, he doesn’t consider it part of his current compensation, although the district still has to show it as an expense.
The same circumstances apply for Abercrombie, though EID pays 100 percent of the employee’s contribution.
Contact Dawn Hodson at 530-344-5071 or dhodson@mtdemocrat.net. Follow @DHodsonMtDemo on Twitter.
The Mountain Democrat does not necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post. Read our full policy
Pat SnellingOctober 25, 2012 - 2:08 pm
Point being: If the taxpayers/ratepayers dollars are paying $250,030 into the "Benefits" listed on pg 17 of the GDPUD Budget (approved just 4 months ago), AND if those dollars were part of the "Employment Agreement" between Mr. White and the Board, then Hank White is COSTING the District $250,030 a year......... "Not knowing if he is ever going to get it" is the lamest statement I have ever heard for NOT counting how much the district has to PAY Hank White.
And how many tens of thousands of dollars is this?October 25, 2012 - 5:00 pm
Ms. Hodson is no investigative reporter when she non-inquisitively writes: "EID also pays the employer’s contribution as does any government agency on the Public Employees Retirement System." These water district GM's are breaking the backs of ratepayers with their ratepayer paid tens of thousands of dollars pension contributions that cost far more than they disclose to their good friend Ms. Hodson and, in turn, to ratepayers. Perhaps the Grand Jury can get the true numbers that both GDPUD's White and EID's Abercrombie work overtime to conceal and grossly misrepresent.
Frustrated Dealing with Incompetence!October 25, 2012 - 10:38 pm
Dawn writes: Since he has no way of knowing if he will ever collect on payments from the Employer-paid Fund, he doesn’t consider it part of his current compensation, although the district still has to show it as an expense." Geez Louise this is one dense lady! This is an actual cost to the district for having this GM at this salary. Who cares if he lives long enough to collect it? I suggest that Dawn take a class at CalPERS if she is ever going to intelligently write about this topic! Somebody help this poor lady. Rumor has it she has fallen to Hank's charms. Another one bites the dust.
Annie C., Cool, CAOctober 25, 2012 - 11:10 pm
As a former CFO, I wholeheartedly disagree with the portrayal Ms. Hodson presents re: the pension. What she really should report is what it costs EID and GDPUD to employ their GMs. It is clear that it costs $250K per year to employ Hank White. The fact that he may not live to collect the pension GDPUD (the rate and taxpayers) pays to CalPERS is absolutely off-target and one of the lamest tactics I've seen from the Mt. Democrat to date. Is there not an editor or publisher above Dawn that is willing to stop this blatant biased nonsense reporting?
Maria CapraunNovember 04, 2012 - 10:09 am
The GDPUD General Manager's Pers Retirement cost the District 39% of his salary. His cost to the District: Wages $150,381 Benefits total $ 99,629 PERS Retirement $ 59,669 Medical (Health)$ 21,425 Social Security/Medicare $12,461 Life Insurance $ 294 Dental/Opt $ 3,654 Unemployment $ 397 Workers Compensation $ 1,729 Bottom line Total Cost for the GM is $250,013