Editor,
During its City Council meeting on Tuesday, Belmont proposes to rehire former Finance Director Thomas Fil, who retired at the end of 2020. The purpose is “provide extra help to respond to and recover from the financial impacts caused by the COVID pandemic and to respond to and recover from a reduction of property tax revenue.” This would circumvent the normal 180-day restriction on rehiring, as authorized by the state for pandemic response and recovery.
In reality, general fund revenue for the last six months of calendar year 2020 increased 6.6% from the prior year, and property taxes increased 14.6%, as shown on page 4 of the Monthly Financial Report for December. So, there is no financial emergency from COVID-19 that justifies rehiring Fil. Plus, Fil already created a pandemic response plan that his successors could follow in his absence.
At the start of this pandemic, Fil estimated the cost to Belmont would be over $9 million. That was a gross exaggeration. If the next six months are similar to the last six months, Belmont will suffer little financial impact from the pandemic.
If Fil really wanted to help Belmont, he would have postponed his retirement until after the pandemic ended. Instead, he retired in the middle of the crisis and expects to cash in by double dipping on his salary. The most logical step the council could take to save money would be to not rehire Fil.
Tim E. Strinden
Belmont
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(6) comments
Double dipping by city and county employees is a scam. When you're done... you're done. Go fishing.
I agree, Ray. It is very common.
Thanks, Tommy
If a retiree wants to hang out his or her shingle as a consultant, and compete with other subject matter experts for contracts... OK. But to stage a retirement "ceremony" then pack more salary onto a retiree's compensation for doing the same job... without even cleaning out the retiree's desk... is thievery.
Oh, and I'm sure the municipality will jump through all the HR hoops required by the hiring process...
Now, could there be an exception? Maybe. Something so urgent and critical that it makes sense to offer a temporary position? Maybe. But Finance Director in a city of 27,000 people? C'mon, man!
Ray--exactly. I have read about some police officers who retire at 55 with a full retirement (and benefits). The next day they start work for the sheriff's office, which is a different bargaining unit and draw a full salary. I think that's wrong.
Yes, there are some exceptions. For example, a short-term consulting gig.
Hey, Tommy
I feel plowing someone back into the same job that just becomes an opportunity to gouge the public coffers is wrong. But you bring up an interesting example... if you truly retire, should you be able to get hired by a completely different organization? And what about hiring a retiree to fill a completely different job?
Well said, Mr. Strinden. I’d say your letter applies to pretty much all rehires of the retired. I guess working for the government does pay, twice, and maybe even more.
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